Hi! My oldest, is starting high school level classes next fall. We are struggling to come up with her schedule, but I think I am finally narrowing in on my choices. I need to ask about writing. This dd is an extrememly gifted writer. I am wondering if I need to do a seperate writing course for her, or if we can just have her do all the assignments in her other courses? I've struggled with this question for a long time. She has been using CW this year, and is bored to tears by it. It is absolutely not challenging her in the least. I know that as a high schooler, I didn't have any sort of seperate writing class, and did very well in college. I'm wondering if it is really necessary? Thanks!

I need some help sorting this out. My older children started out in public school, and when we started homeschooling, we just told the state, that they are the next grade. No big deal. My youngest two, not so easy. In our state we must declare grade designations for our children, starting when they are 7. For this coming school year, I am struggling with what grades to use for reporting. We also have to turn in a scope and sequence to the state. Anyway, my dd will be 7 in mid-September. If she was in public school, she would be starting 1st grade in the fall, and currently be a kindergartener. Now, her birthday does, indeed, come before the September 15th deadline...so she technically, could possibly be a 2nd grader in the fall, but it is highly, highly unlikely that she would be. She is tiny for her age, and while she is smart, her best friends tend to be those with late summer or fall birthdays, that are about her same age, and are in kindergarten this year, and will be 1st graders next year. However, her big sister, is only 15 months older, and is absolutely, 100 percent, a third grader in the fall. As far as schooling goes, she will be doing MUS Beta next fall, and after testing, tests at mid-to-end-of-2nd-grade reading level right now. She's fully participated in SOTW Ancients this year, and our Apologia Astronomy course, and has beautiful penmanship. It seems like she is well ahead of a public schooled kindergartener, academically (only)...like her best friend. This is my one child who insists that she is going to public school someday, so I don't want to mess this up too badly, or it could be awful, as far as putting her in school in a few years. However, my husband is very much against her going to ps, and we are comitted to homeschooling forever. Lol. I guess, I'm wondering if it would be best to say that she will be a first grader in the fall, even though she seems to be doing much more than kindergarten work currently, or if it would be better to say that she is a 2nd grader? If I say she is a 2nd grader, that would set her up to graduate when she is 3 or 4 months from turning 18...which seems reasonable. It just seems odd to "hold her back" when she seems to be functioning well as a 1st grader now? I don't know. Darn the stupid reporting system. If it was up to me, none of my children would have a grade at all. They would just have their own, customized education schedule, and that's that. Any input would be highly appreciated.

We were going nuts with all sorts of programs to LA too, and I just switched to CLE for my 9 and 7 year olds. They are both loving it and doing great! I don't think it is at all too easy. I tested them, and they both tested on grade level this spring, so, I put them into LA 400 and 200 right away. We will work on it all summer, and be ready for LA 500 and 300 in the sometime in the fall. They love the way everything is presented, and the no-nonsense way that they practice concepts. They LOVE the workbook format, over Rod and Staff...which is what we switched from also! We are using Writing Tales with it (which is, imho, the most wonderful writing program on the planet). I was using Sequential Spelling, and dropped that. They love the more tradtional way that CLE does spelling. They love the practice. I feel that their spelling lists are appropriate for a 2nd and 4th grader, and not something they can breeze through without any effort...both are "good" spellers, but not outstanding. All is going better than expected. If you are very concerned, you could alway order a Lightunit or two, to have them try over the summer, and see how it goes? Anyway, we homeschool for almost entirely for academic reasons, and if I didn't think CLE was outstanding, I would be switching. HTH!

I wish I had the option of participating or not. My husband's company is all about the building industry. We've seen a 33% drop in income over the past 2 years, and a loss of opportunity to advance his career, because of the "hype." For us, it is not hype. It is as real as it gets. We have 5 children at home, and this is harsh. We no longer shop at Gymboree and Gap...it is the thrift stores for us. We used to eat out regularily, and now we live on homemade bread and rice and beans. We used to travel to beautiful places, and now we stay home and watch movies. My children used to be involved in many extra activities, and now we try hard to scrape out enough to take them into town for the "freebies" and get them to the doctor and dentist when they need it. The recession, or lack of, has hit us hard, and while it may not be a universal recession, it is certainly alive and well in my house! Last night my Dad asked me if we would be buying new furniture for our new home...and I tried to remind him that we were building this new house to save money, not spend it. We are fortunate enough that we live in a place that has retained housing values...so that we can get out, and try to make a more wise choice this time around. Sigh. I have a hard time when people say that nothing is really wrong. They aren't living in my shoes...or more importantly, my children's old, worn ones. There may be no issues with some places, but if you earned your living on the front lines of the housing crisis, you may feel differently.

Thanks! I got a reply on the K-8 board too. Great info! It will help me figure this out!

Thank you!!

Cross-posting with K-8 board... I'm looking at American history with Notgrass for fall. Can someone tell me the difference between the older and newer edition? Thanks!

bump. Anyone know?

I'm looking at a used set for American History. It was published in 2005, but this doesn't appear to be the current edition? If it isn't, can someone tell me, what has been changed, besides the cover? Thanks so much!!!

THANK YOU!!!! We haven't had the chance to get out and do much this year...so this little day will be a big deal for the kids! What a great list! Much, much thanks! Kelly

Hi! We have the opportunity to be in Denver on Saturday, for the day. We have never spent any time there, except at the zoo, and I am wondering if there is anything fun to do, that doesn't require a lot of $$$, for 7 people? It seems that there is an Earth Day festival outside of town a ways, that is free...so that may be a good option. Does anyone know of anything else? Not the Coors factory. Are there any markets that would have interesting things to see? Neat, big book stores? Outdoor activities that aren't far from the city? This trip couldn't have come at a worse time, as far as money goes, but we all need a little bit of a break anyway, so we are trying to make the most out of it!:001_smile: Thanks!

Thanks so much for that alternate viewpoint! I like what I see...I'm just worried about missing out on the technical side of literature. Perhaps the combo of the two, is just what I'm looking for! I was thinking to spread DITHOR out over 2 years, per level, anyway. Perhaps, this is just the answer. Combining them. To me...learning to read a book, poem, short story, text of any sort...is the absolute key to all learning, hand-in-hand with writing and expressing thoughts and ideas. I'm much more concerned about this issue, really, than all other aspects of my children's education. The old, give a man a fish and feed him for a day, teach a man to fish, and feed him for a lifetime, mentality!:001_smile:

Great...makes sense! MIch elle~When you do CLE, then whole books, and back, do you use a reading program for the whole books, or do you just read the books?

OK, I'm reading all the writing posts, and realizing that I am not alone. Dd is an incredible writer, and although I understand writing, she can out-write me any day. I need someone else to help her go further. What on-line programs do you recommend? We have no local co-ops or classes available. TIA!

I think our "1st grade" year has been a glorious success! All the olders were in public school for 1st, and have not come even close to covering all the material that I have covered with my 2 youngest this year! Even my highly academically gifted oldest, was seriously short-changed, compared to what these two little ones have accomplished! We came into the year with absolutely no formal education whatsoever. No formal math, no formal reading. They each knew the basics of addition, and some very minimal alphabet recognition. (These two, who have September birthdays, were 5 and 6 this year, and are seriously active children...no time to sit and listen before this year.) Anyway, we started with 100 EZ Lessons for reading and finished that right after Christmas and are now working our way through K12's (off-line) phonics program. My 6yo is reading at a solid 2nd grade level and my 5yo is reading at a solid, end-of-1st grade level. Both are progressing rapidly and have very, very good decoding skills. We also used ETC books at the beginning of the year, along with 100EZ. K12 has its own workbook pages, so we no longer use ETC. We also use Zaner-Bloser handwriting. We use MUS Alpha! Three cheers for MUS. My 5you has a better understanding of math at 5.5 years, than any of the rest of my dc did! I'm very impressed. We have done SOTW 1 along with olders. 6yo loves to tell anyone and everyone stories from her history lessons. Not only is it highly impressive and a great brag, but she loves it and I'm thrilled for her! Ds loves the battle stories and all the cool coloring pages! We are using Apologia's Elem. Astronomy book. So fun! Ds thinks he will live and work on Mars someday! We dabbled in French this year, and they both picked it up so quickly! Mostly just Muzzy, but I can't believe what they learned! We are looking for something for next year to take it further. We mess with art and music whenever we get around to it. Mostly once each week, but it is mostly just my own thing. We've used Color the Classics and Classical Kids for music and SOTW AG projects for art. Fun! We will add Artistic Pursuits for next year. I can't think of anything else this year. IMHO you just can't go wrong homeschooling these little ones. They learn, learn, learn, and in a quarter of the time it takes their public schooled counterparts. Too awesome!

I'm thinking about all of this, and also wondering... If you use CLE Reading only, do you, and if so where do you, fit whole books into a child's year? Are they avid readers and read for fun in bed at night? Do you schedule time out of their school day for them to do silent reading? My younger dc, while they do love to read a good book, are not the type to choose reading over other, more acitive, activities. (Much unlike their older sis!) Any great advice on scheduling great whole books, into a school year, already crowded with wonderful learning opportunities?

That helps a great deal. If you were to use both CLE and DITHOR during a school year, would you schedule them one after the other, or inter-mixed throughout the year? I was a lit major in college, and while I absolutely do not want my children to miss out on reading whole books, I have no intention of allowing them to lack the ability to intelligently discuss and understand literature. I want it all, and it seems like very few elementary level programs possess both characteristics. I was impressed by K12 last year, but with 5 children and the cost of K12, we simply cannot use that program. Thanks!

Can someone please tell me what the difference is between what a 3rd to 5th grader can get out of these two programs? I have been searching for lit program for my younger children for quite some time. Drawn Into the Heart of Reading looks good, but I am wondering what I could gain or loose from CLE? We are using CLE for the end of this year and next year, for our Language Arts, and I have been very pleased with it, in every way. It seems to be an excellent fit for my dd's, and I am wondering if their reading program would be the same? Thanks!

We are starting high school transcripts next fall, and this is a wonderful thread! I am wondering about this... In our state, we are required each year, to turn in a "scope and sequence" for each and every required subject, which covers everything but foreign language and other electives. (Which I include anyway.) This scope and sequence is extremely complete and gives a detailed list of everything we study in a year. I am wondering if this list would come in handy for some colleges? I'm wondering if I hold on to these, and include a completion date with each class listed, if this would count as a transcript? Our state university only requires a list of classes by subject for admission and an ACT score for the state scholarship. I'm trying to think beyond that.

I've looked at this for American History for my oldest, and it looks wonderful, but I've read that many don't feel that it is in-depth enough. I like that it looks so much more conversational than what she has been using before. She will be in 9th in the fall, and I was hoping to find something that was easy to use (for me) and interesting (for her). We already have The Teaching Company History of the US and American Identity to use along with whatever else we use for History. I'm having a hard time making up my mind. I've got American Lit totally covered, so I'm really only looking at Notgrass for History. We also have our own spiritual program...so that isn't an issue either. Is Notgrass really for high school, like they advertise, or is it a better fit for jr. high or lower? TIA!

Cheyenne to be exact! We started homeschooling over a year ago. We have 5 children and are loving it! Glad to know there actually are others in the state!

Thanks for the input. I have level 2 here, so I think I will finish out the year with that, use it over the summer, and then start with level 3 in the fall. There is so much in them that is total review, and that she is very firm in her understanding. Also, the reading level is appropriate for her at this point...a year from now, it would not be. (She is reading at a 5th/6th grade level.) I hate to go backward too much. By next year, I'm thinking, so much of it would be much too simplistic. She seems to like it much better than R&S, because of the workbook format, so that's nice!

How much review of previous years is built into CLE LA? I tested my 7yo and she got 77 correct on the level 200 test. I thought that was pretty great, considering that I was prepared for her to do much worse, based on the things I've read. In the test, it says that if they score a 70 or better, they are ready for level 300. Now, almost all of the errors that she had, were due to having never covered the material in the problem. (We have been doing Rod and Staff 2, Sequential Spell Level 1, and Writing Tales 1 this year.) I'm concerned with having her move to level 300 for the fall, because of the material that she didn't get correct. Will that same material be reviewed in 300, or would I need to go back and do those portions of 200? She picks up on Language Arts concepts quickly and is a wonderful reader and speller. If the material is covered at all, she will get it and be able to go on as if she had done it in the past. My concern is that it will be completely missed if she goes to 300. Any thoughts on this? TIA!

I tried it this fall and didn't like it either. I have no problems teaching writing, and have a full range of ages and abilities in my home, as far as the children go. It just fell flat. Not interesting at all. I'm using CW for my 12yo now, and she thinks it is oppressively boring...she is a natural writer...but better than WA. For the rest of my younger children, I'm using Writing Tales...which they all love. Even my dd who detests writing has learned to enjoy it since we started WT1, 16 weeks ago. I just wish there was a program out there like WT that went clear from 1st to 12th grade!

I've got 5 kids to school next fall...and I would love to work on Latin, but I really don't have a lot of time to prepare/study over the summer...we are building a new house. Anyway, I would love to learn Latin along with them, but I just can't commit any more time to lesson planning and studying than what I am now doing. My children will be 6, 7, 8, 10, and 13. Thanks!