I think there's a place for standardized tests in public education -- where teachers and parents are not sure of the abilities of a child and want to quantify their child's knowledge in relation to other children. But standardized tests just don't make much sense for a homeschooling parent who's already paying close attention and knows what their child's strengths and weaknesses are. I've been an item writer for the SAT-9... and we're in the middle of doing the ITBS and it's kind of silly. The test is ridiculously easy in some ways (math and reading) and then in other ways (social studies and science), it tests random knowledge about civics or weather that we just haven't happened to have ever discussed. Standardized tests aren't bad... and it's worth exposing your kids to a standardized test as a part of their education... and as your kids seem to be pretty high performing, I'm sure you'll find the results satisfying... but I think you'll be disappointed if you are hoping the results give you any useful information.

I'd consider The Paragraph Book series for explicit paragraph writing instructions. I'd also include something to help with writing mechanics / grammar like "Writing Skills 1" (both by EPS).

My older daughter is a "natural speller". I've tried to show her cool spelling rules and she just looks at me blankly and says she doesn't need those, she just imagines the word in her head. She knows how to spell because she reads a lot, not because she's ever been taught about English orthography.

I vote LOF too. You might also add in "Sixth grade math minutes" by CReative Teaching Press. It's just a quick easy spiral review that takes a minute. We do it as a warm up.

For upper elementary or middle school, consider Galore Park religious Ed materials. We've also used a guide to World Religions from Teacher Created Resources which was very good.

I think the Keys to series is best for remediation, and Life of Fred is best for enrichment. My older daughter loves LOF and thinks that the keys to series involves a gentle persistent hammering of math into her brain. On the other hand, I've had very good success with it with remedial high school students.

It's a bit workbooky, but it's free! http://www.pass.leon.k12.fl.us/Book%20Subject%20Areas/Social%20Studies.aspx

EPS "The Paragraph Book" or "Writing Skills" could be a good choice.

It depends on the kind of program you're considering... A serious funded PhD program? No way! A professional degree or MA for working adults? Possibly. There will be sacrifices... Consider what you're willing to give up.

How about Galore Park Jr History. You could probably do all three in a year. They are very Focused on British history after that. Core knowledge might be another place to look though the organization isn't necessarily chronological. Big educational publishers (glencoe, houghton mifflin, etc...) will also have good options if your kids are good readers... Look for the middle school history textbooks.

We did LP1 after LL1... But honestly, I would start with Latin Prep 1 regardless. It goes plenty fast and shouldn't be much of a review.

Cool... We gave it late too... I can't remember when, but it was near the deadline. I'll be looking out for that!

Congrats! My daughter treasures her medal and is hoping for another from the Exploratory Latin this year. Are the results out for this too?

I haven't seen any modern secular textbooks with offensive material, but religious publishers and vintage texts are sometimes rife with it. I sort of actually have a secret morbid fascination with it.

MM is great, but Keys to... works well too. It is procedural and moves slowly, but theres a place for that too. Go with whichever you feel better about.

My 8 yr old was motivated by the rainbow magic fairies. I refused to read them so she had to. They might be complete drivel, but they were just the thing for her. And there are like 100's of them!

That's happened to me before but with A different medication. It was horrible, but not life threatening. In your positiin, I'd call a dr in the AM.

I prefer SM, so I'd vote for that. Plus, if your younger is using the same, it'll be easy to pass the textbooks along.

We just use it as a source for homework... so I have the girls (my 4th grader and her 5th grade buddy) read the related chapter to what we've been working on. I also have or will use: brainpop, McHenry (Cells, botany, human body) Lyrical life science, lots of videos etc...

Your daughter sounds a lot like mine. Look into: Horrible Science (try bookdepository.com for different titles -- they're fun paperbacks) Story of Science (start with Aristotle) Ellen McHenry Cells, Botany, Brain If you want something more workbooky, I'd suggest Galore Park Jr Science or SYRWL Science. Look for samples on the Galore Park website. If you want something more textbooky, try CPO Science. Somewhere is a link to the Life Science online version free.

I think grade level is pretty arbitrary in schools and especially arbitrary in homeschools. So, like most of us, I connect grades simply to chronological ages and not to ability or knowledge or maturity. With few exceptions, this is the same way that schools and camps and sports programs and Sunday School or other religious education programs tend to categorize kids. So... If I were you I would "promote" them every September into the new grade entirely based upon age. I suppose an alternative would be to celebrate the completion of each textbook and the "promotion" to the next one.

:iagree:

Don't second guess yourself. There are lots of good solid programs out there. If cle is working for you, and your kids are learning and improving and feeling successful about math then stick with it.

I won't be buying any books until it's much closer to fall... but I think we'll be doing this: Math - Finish SM6 then continue with some pre-algebra, but I'm not positive how I'll organize it and what I'll use. LA - Move from paragraph writing to essay writing (will use some community college ESL writing books I have on hand), Pentime 5, possibly Sadlier-Oxford vocabulary Science - Continue biology (using Lyrical Life Science, CPO, McHenry Cells, Botany, Brain, Brainpop), continue Story of Science Newton (Read-aloud) History - I think we'll go with non-European world history (aka all the bits we've skipped since we've only been focusing on Europe) using OUP history. Alternatively, we'll start US History with Hakim. Latin - Continue Latin Prep 1 Other stuff - Piano (Piano Adventures), art and electives (at PS), French (possibly), also I'd like to include a little bit of set theory and formal logic in math, and a bit of philosophy and rhetoric in writing... but we'll see.

I agree with Tara that Latin for young elementary students isn't an efficient use of time... What they learn in a year can be mastered in a few weeks when they're in middle or high school. But for a fun taste of Latin, Minimus is awesome. My daughter loved it and still reads through it periodically.