I am planning for next year and flipping between SCM, AO and Alveary. Doing SCM now but feel my high schooler needs more of a challenge and I dont know how to make that happen. SCM doesn't give the handholding I need. AO feels more challenging, but again, I dont think I will implement it properly. The Alveary is very, very tempting. They claim to have all of the help I need to become the most amazing, fantastic, unbelievably well prepared teacher. What a promise. Wondering if anyone has used and feels it is worth the cost. What if I dont use any of the lesson plans and just the teacher development? Still worth the cost? Any input would be appreciated.

I am using WWS1 for my 9th grade daughter. We are halfway through - started it last year, paused, and now picked it up again. We have never done much as far as writing curriculum, just oral and written narrations since forever. She used to do quite well narrating, but I think hormones dissolved that part of her brain. Now she just likes to write IDK (I don't know) on everything. Hoping the step-by-step, specific, clear instructions will help her learn the skills without having to use the little grey cells. I trust they will come back eventually. My question is twofold 1) How do I grade her work for high school credit? I know their are rubrics in the teacher's manual. Do I just assign point values and use that, or make up something myself. 2) Do I continue to assign written narrations for history and literature, or is that too much?

I really need some advice. I have a 16 year old son going into the 11th grade. We have mostly done Charlotte Mason style writing narrations and it has not worked for him. He has never progressed past a paragraph summarizing the chapter. He is not particularly academic and really does not have an easy time writing at all. He typically has very little to say on a topic, even one he cares about. Writing persuasive essays is just excruciating for him, even when I let him choose a topic. I am completely incapable of teaching writing, I dropped out of high school in 11th grade and never had an opportunity to do any kind of higher level writing. I am not sure why I thought I would be able to home school my kids through high school, but here I am, doing my best to give them a classical education. Currently he is working through The Power in Your Hands. It is going o.k., but I feel he really lacks the foundational tools Susan talks about in her seminars. I am wondering if I should go back to Writing With Skill and just do all three books in one year, the way they do it in the WTMA Preparation for Rhetoric Course, or just continue with Power in Your Hands and hope something clicks. I know going "back" will frustrate him. His younger sister is in WWS1 right now and starting where she is will make him feel behind. My gut just tells me the remedial work would help him so much and make Rhetoric doable for him his senior year. I want to give him all the tools he will need to succeed in college and life, but I also don't want to hurt his spirit and make him feel like a failure. Any suggestions?

Yes, most of those things are what I am aiming for. Your post made me realize I am already on a solid foundation in more areas than I give myself credit for. We havent been as rigorous as some, but my kids have been doing some latin, a four year history rotation and great books. I suppose writing and grammar are my main weakness. My younger kids are not as resistant to writing, my oldest is just plain allergic. The little ones write stories, use beautiful vocabulary, grammar is a little lacking, but overall they write things that are enjoyable to read. Thank you for your input.

Thanks HomeAgain. Yes I would like him to study formal logic, but not this year. He will be pretty pegged with difficult books and writing. I do have him in an Intro to Debate class that uses The Fallacy Detective. I dont think he will do competetive speech and debate, but the class teaches how to construct an effective argument, which seems useful in life. I would like to do some formal logic with him his junior and senior year.

Thanks. I was kinda thinking the same thing, using WWS and breaking from it now and then for one of the MFW assignments. It looks like MFW assigns an essay a week, so maybe I could do a few of those. My instinct is that essay format can be taught in one lesson whereas the skills taught in WWS will actually make his properly formatted essays worth reading. We actually did about 4 WWS lessons the last month of 9th grade and I was very pleased. My ds was even impressed with his governing metaphor paragraph in week 18. He said “ wow I cant believe that came out of me.” His grammar is pretty weak. I was going to have my 5th and 8th grader working through FLL 4, then Grammar for TWTM. I know FLL is maybe too young for an 8th grader, but our “gentle” CM grammar methods left us a bit lacking. My oldest cannot work with my middle child, they are going through a love/hate thing right now and its miserable to teach them together. So doing family grammar is out. I think I may just let him do Easy Grammar 10. He is also doing First Form Latin so he should get some grammar that way as well. Any other ideas on getting the most from a classical education in only 3 years?

I suppose I should introduce myself first. My name is Crystal and I have 3 kids, 5th, 8th and 10th grade in the fall. We have been homeschooling 9 years. Mostly Charlotte Mason style. Mostly using My Fathers World curriculum, modified to suit us. My ds is going into 10th grade and sadly CM writing methods have failed him. Probably more true to say MY implementation of CM writing methods has failed him. He is a very reluctant writer and good literature and narrations has NOT produced high school level writing. Those who told me “be patient it will come” were quite wrong. So now what? I have been doing some research and want to switch to a more classical homeschool. I think having used CM methods, history, science, art, music etc will be an easy transition. I think the biggest change will be language arts. We have even been doing Latin for a few years so really I think we are very close. My big dilemma is where to go with mostly my 10th grader but also the younger ones. My 10th grader will be using MFW Ancients next year. The program has some writing instruction, mostly how to structure an argumentative essay. It contains grammar, but mainly review by helping you correct your essays. I think it would be a fine guide for a student who had more writing experience. I am wondering if I should let him go for it and sink or swim. Or put him in WWS and skip the MFW essays (although the topics assigned are so good, like comparing Greek gods to the true God). Or some combination. And what about grammar. Quick and dirty like Easy Grammar. Or try Grammar for the WTM? Which honestly may kill him. I have neglected writing for so long hoping something would click, now I feel I have failed him. What can I do?