Orthodox6, I think you responded to a thread I started about SS Biology. Thank you for that! I just happened to click on this particular thread this morning to read; I was so disappointed to hear about the mistakes you have found. I don't have any specialty in biology- I just have my high school experience from many years ago, so I would not tend to recognize a flaw. Yep, I chose this text for it's self-teaching aspect. Dd is working through it mostly independently. She has started outlining to help her self-study which is working for her. I'm just curious... how far along did you and your student get in the text before changing? I wonder if the text gets better. Would you mind giving some examples of the mistakes? I just want to see what you are talking about. I REALLY don't want to even consider having to change- we are well into the year now. I had always planned to use SS Biology- from several years ago. Any more specific information will be helpful....just to understand how flawed the text is. I felt so good about buying the second edition thinking any flaws would be corrected from the first one. Thanks!

OhElizabeth.... Gotcha. I like the idea of using the SS book and picking topics that most interest dd. There are 34 chapters- should be able to omit a select few. Thank you for your Amazon list! Reading a bunch of topical books like these would certainly liven up a text book subject. Is your dd reading these as her biology? Are you incorporating a textbook? Deee.... I agree. Biology is hard due to the amount of learning complex ideas and memorization. We used the physics first approach to hopefully prep for biology. This has actually helped. Dd is very familiar with the chemistry concepts covered at the beginning of the text. I totally agree that it is better to do the experiments along with the corresponding chapters. When her Precalc class started, she basically had to put most of her other school work aside just to have time for class work and home work. Math was very challenging. Because of this, we thought it would help her with time management/ time efficiency to do the labs at the end of the year. When she gets comfortable with the math routine, maybe we can start doing some experiments with the chapters. Changing the labs to the end of the year was an act of survival (to be dramatic about it). Orthodox6.... It is true (where I live/ in my hs covering) that a DE biology class can follow a high school level biology class. Both classes earn credit and appear on the transcript. Thanks, ladies!

Hi Nicole, I'll be the first to tell you that spelling has been one of the most frustrating subjects for me to figure out for my kids. I'll tell you what we've used that I've most enjoyed and thought worked best. For late elementary/middle, Apples and Pears laid a good foundation. You would mostly use this with late elementary/middle school, but it could be used for remediation. Book A is VERY easy, but Book D has more challenging words. http://www.prometheantrust.org/usshop.htm Scroll to the bottom of the page. Spelling Power was really good for its use of time and level of words. http://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/language-arts/spelling-power You give a pretest to determine where to start, and there is a CLEAR method to progress that only takes 15 minutes per day. I loved this..... I only changed because of its weakness: It doesn't present a clear rule to word relationship IMO. I really wanted my kids to understand a spelling rule and apply it to words that explicitly followed that rule. Currently, I'm using How to Teach Spelling. http://www.christianbook.com/how-to-teach-spelling/laura-rudginski/9780838818473/pd/41847?event=ESRCG The easiest way to use this curriculum is to buy the workbooks that go along with it.... There are four workbooks; you choose the one appropriate for the grade you are teaching: http://www.christianbook.com/how-to-spell-workbook-grades-12/laura-rudginski/9780838818541/pd/41854?event=CF This curriculum is spot on for teaching rules and words that follow. It also incorporates phrases and sentences for dictation. I use the workbook with my student but also fold in the Spelling Power method of study. So, on Monday, I'll use the workbook and write a new rule in a composition book for my ds. We'll do the exercises from the workbook that correspond to this rule. Tuesday-Thursday, I'll find the corresponding pages in the HttS text. He and I use a white board and spell the first 10 words together noting the "weasels" (the potential spelling problems). Then I "test" him on those 10 words. If he misses any, I'll make him write each word 5x each. The next day, we'll retest the words he missed the previous day. Then we go over the next 10 words, test them, and write 5x any he misses. On Friday, I'll test him on the words he's missed during the week and also dictate sentences to him from the HttS book. The next Monday, we return to the workbook to learn the next rule, and the routine repeats. I know several spelling programs that have been popular here over the last few years that you might consider: Spell to Write and Read http://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/language-arts/back-home-industries?&sp=1016&event=Homeschool|| Megawords http://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/language-arts/megawords?&sp=97288&event=Homeschool|| Apples http://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/language-arts/apples-spelling-and-vocab?&sp=117489&event=Homeschool|| The Spell of Words http://www.christianbook.com/the-spell-of-words/elsie-rak/9780838801550/pd/361155?event=SP1016|192064|1016|192064|1016 The Logic of English http://www.christianbook.com/page/homeschool/language-arts/logic-of-english?&sp=1016&event=Homeschool|| How to Teach Any Child to Spell/Tricks of the Trade http://www.christianbook.com/teach-child-spell-tricks-trade-pack/gayle-graham/pd/623777?event=ESRCG See more here: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=spelling&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1 I can imagine a list like this is not what you were hoping to get. Curriculum can be very finicky. A way to avoid curriculum hopping may be this: Simply note misspelled words in English essay assignments. Notice the weasels! Practice writing them together and then test them. Make your student writes each missed word 5x. The next day, retest the word. Give a sentence in dictation. BE PERSISTENT. Using everyday writing assignments will automatically reveal the spelling errors in words he commonly uses. These would be the words you certainly want to correct so that he'll use them correctly in the future. Choosing a spelling curriculum/helping my kids with spelling has been quite frustrating. I understand your pain.

Ok. Thanks! Dd and I will give all this some thought. It does make sense to complete a regular biology class- whether its SS or something else (maybe CK-12 biology) because it prepares her for possible dual-enrollment biology (just an option for 12th grade at the moment) and for college biology. If she follows this route, the suggestions for outlining the text and Cornell notes will be very helpful. I would hope to be able to use Khan, YouTube and CK as needed. We hate limited internet..... We truly can run down to the library for free WiFi, but it's a bit of a chore. It also makes sense to change from biology to something like botony. This makes her 11th grade year possibly more manageable/enjoyable and also gives her strong background for future landscape architecture courses.This is definitely worth considering. You all have been wonderful. I really appreciate all the help!

Ok.... I need to ask.... Generally speaking, I have always had the impression that colleges are looking for high school courses in biology, chemistry, physics, and at least one advanced course and labs to go with most of these sciences. SS Biology would check that box exactly. If we were to tweak the course to cover only plant related biology, would that still satisfy colleges? Would they accept such a class as biology, or would they think, "Well, you know enough about plants, but you haven't studied anything about animals?" I'm sure I should call the colleges dd is most likely to attend for a bottom-line answer, but since that isn't an option on a Sunday morning, I thought I would go ahead and ask here. So, are there any negative consequences if we modify this general biology class and turn it into more of a plant biology (botony) course???

I was away most of the afternoon yesterday and didn't respond last night. Wow, ladies! Thanks so much for the ideas! I figured there would be several good ones here! ;) I especially appreciate that there are suggestions for the SS Biology text as well as suggestions for other ways to complete this credit. Dd is struggling with the time it takes to get all of her subjects done. If I could modify the text or specialize in plant biology, that might free up her time while doing "enough" to make it a full credit. It is another busy day here. I will have to check on the courses mentioned later. Again, thanks so much for all the help! Please keep the ideas coming!

Thank you, ladies! I thought about Khan, but I had not heard of Crash Course Chemistry videos.... do they teach about biology? One huge problem we have is that we have satellite internet which limits our data. We have to be VERY careful about streaming video. Using Khan or YouTube is only a once-in-a-while luxury, unfortunately. The CK-12 book I've looked at before. Same thing applies for the video componant, but I'll take a look at that. Chiguirre, thank you for the ideas about test study. We sort of do this, and it has helped. Please keep the ideas coming!

Dd is self-studying biology using Science Shepherd. We also use the Parent Companion which gives me questions to ask her as a help to review each chapter's information. (This is not really helping her.) She is a dedicated student and is truly trying to learn the material, but she's bogging down from detail-overload in the text. I would like to know if you all can suggest any way to help her self-study biology. Her science background is 9th grade: Conceptual Physics, 10th grade Apology Chemistry, and now 11th grade: SS Biology. The routine is to read a chapter, answer questions, review the chapter with the parent, do this for 2-3 chapters, then take a test. She's saving the labs to do at the end of the year. I'm open to alternative ways to studying/testing biology. I think the information is valuable for her to know; I'm simply willing to make it more palatable for her. One career that she is considering is landscape architecture. We've looked into this; and there is quite a bit of biology involved, so I don't want to skimp. Of course the landscape architecture thing could change, but she needs a good biology background just in case it does not. Her other subjects are PreCalculus (outsourced), American literature/composition (outsourced), American history/government, and some electives. This course load is challenging for her so that time is precious. She would prefer a live teacher for biology, yet we thought we could handle biology as a self-study. Videos might be a good idea but only if they don't add any unnecessary time to her already tight schedule. They would need to be REALLY good videos for us to add them in. She is reading about material that just sits as words on the page. She needs help making biological concepts come to life- to be explained. Yep- she needs a live teacher, but we are in this situation and don't have one. How would you suggest she self-study biology? Any ideas? Out of the box ideas are welcome. Any ideas are welcome.

Jenn, MFW schedules a time every Friday for the parent and student to discuss each week's work. They provide a guide/outline to suggest how to lead the discussion. Overtime, you establish a routine. This discussion can be as involved or as basic as you want to make it. As for parent discussion questions on par with ToG, MFW does not have that level of detail for the parent. You could certainly read from the list of questions for history to use as a guide. The student would have already answered them. You could read the lit books to have common/shared experience. You can certainly read the same Bible passages; MFW strongly suggests this. I certainly don't want to mislead you. MFW is like ToG in that the curriculum integrates history, lit/comp, and Bible. MFW is unlike ToG in that the curriculum is not written to be as complicated and detailed. Yet, MFW is definitely college prep material. When my oldest used AHL, she also had Conceptual Physics, geometry, Spanish I, and a couple of electives going at the same time. If history, lit/comp, and Bible had been more involved, there is no way she could have kept her head above water, so to speak. In fact, we were flexible with the assignments as they were because she WAS swamped several times during the year. Many, many weeks, we kept our discussions to, "Tell me what you learned in history....What was important (significant) or interesting?" I asked questions that would help her see the influence of Bible history as it related to ancient (AHL) and world (WHL) history. Discussions would take place over coffee in the mornings, at lunch, as we drove here and there..... They also took place on various days- not just Fridays. We were very flexible. I really, really hope you like MFW. We love it. It takes the pressure off of me as the teacher, and the integration of subjects makes learning history, lit/comp, and Bible relevant to the student. Time is used in an efficient way because of this. I am concerned, however, after reading your last post. If you are expecting MFW to be too much like ToG, you may be disappointed. It just depends on what your expectations are.

We are using My Father's World for high school.... 9th and 10th grades (ancient and world history). They integrate history, literature/composition, and Bible for 3 high school credits. Lesson plans are written to the student. The parent/teacher grades papers and checks to make sure assignments are done. A once-a-week meeting is scheduled in each Friday so that the student can discuss what was learned during the week. We've never used ToG, but I've read enough to understand how overwhelming it is.... MFW is not overwhelming. It is college-prep level but not as stressful as ToG. It is sort of expensive, but if you consider that you're paying for 3 courses, (3 high school credits), the cost is more reasonable. For American history in 11th and 12th grades, we're using A History of the US 2nd Edition by The Teaching Company (The Great Courses). This is a DVD program. Dd pops a disc into her computer and watches/takes notes on a video. Each is 30 minutes long. We're letting history be an "easy" credit this year since math, science, and American Lit are hard classes. (11th grade is beginning of American history through the Civil War AND government- A Noble Experiment. 12th grade will be post-Civil War through Clinton, I think.... AND econ/personal finance that I think we'll outsource).

Just wanted to offer a heads-up just in case.... I read and LOVED Where the Red Fern Grows when I was in jr. high. It was required reading in 7th grade? I think. As each classmate finished the book, many were in tears! I understood once I finished. The book has a sad ending- it REALLY pulls on your heart-strings. It is an incredible book, but if your kids are soft-hearted or elementary aged....... the sad ending is something you would want to know about ahead of time.

SaDonna, I chose to cover physical science in 8th grade to prep for high school physics and chemistry; after reading a lot about the physics-first approach, I decided this was how I wanted to cover science in high school. My oldest used CPO Foundations of P.S. in 8th grade, but in hind-sight, it was not a great choice.....at least for us. (Others have loved CPO.) My oldest (dd) used Hewitt's Conceptual Physics in 9th grade using a kit from Labpaq. I'm not sure which kit we purchased.... might be able to find it if you'd like. This purchase happened before the Labpaq company reorganized; I'm not sure if they still sell the kit or if it would have the same number. The kit only has about 9ish experiments. We do 7 of the 9. My dh teaches this class.... he's a mechanical engineer and makes this class understandable and fun. For 10th grade, we outsourced chemistry with a teacher who used the Apologia text. I wanted my second kid to take Derek Owen's physical science in 8th grade. (I really like Derek Owens, yet we've never actually taken anything from him. He is so very helpful when you're trying to decide on his classes! His physical science course is available for purchase on his website.) My ds really wanted to study earth science, so we went with the BJU Earth Science course instead following his interest. For 9th grade, he is also using the Hewitt CP book with Labpaq just like his older sister. I will follow CP with chemistry again with him. Something my kids loved during junior high.... Exploration Education. This might fall under your category of packets- not sure. My oldest never used it, but my second kid (with younger brother's "help") did. He used it when he was in 7th grade, but EE can be used through high school level. It is a physics course on disc that incorporated very hands-on experiments. It would make a wonderful after school program. Personally, I'm not sure I would actually use it for high school credit, but it is really wonderful for the type of student who loves physics and hands-on experiments. Of ALL the science programs we've tried, EE was the favorite by far as far as my boys are concerned. EE was a fantastic prep for a higher physics class. It was a great stepping stone. Let me know if you have any other questions! :001_smile:

SaDonna, I just happened to see your question today. I rarely check the logic board anymore. Would you clarify the question you would like answered? I'm not sure you're referring to something I posted or something Redsquirrel posted. I can tell you that after using CPO with my (then) 8th grade daughter, we ended up not really liking CPO. We found errors in the end-of-chapter questions/answers that discouraged us from using the curriculum with our other kids.

Holly, This is the DVD series: http://www.thegreatcourses.com/courses/history/american-history/history-of-the-united-states-2nd-edition.html It is not on sale right now, so it is outrageouly expensive. Each course the Teaching Company sells goes on sale each year. You just watch for the sales and buy when the price is low. The spine we are using is from this DVD series. It is not a heavy kind of thing. The spine that corresponds with this series contains 84 lessons (chapters). Each lesson is just about 3 pages long and corresponds with the DVD lessons- the pages are about 5"x8". (IOW, it is a small book. Thick, but small.) At the end of each chapter, you'll find suggestions for extra reading and also 2 questions about the content of the lesson. In the middle of this spine are map pages- just for reference. In fact, the entire "spine" is simply a reference type book for the DVD lessons. I think when most on these boards mention a "spine", it generally refers to a text book type book with a lot of information that will lead a student through a history course. This book we are using for a spine is not as thorough. I'm having trouble making this clear..... Each chapter/lesson is more like a summary than a text chapter. There- that's better. You could certainly add a more traditional spine to this if you wanted. We're keeping history simple, so we're not. Does that help?

We're keeping it simple this year with American history. Dd is using TTC's A History of the US 2nd edition. We're combining history with government this year and will finish American history with economics in 12th grade. She'll read just a few books to go with history/government, but she's also taking an outsourced American literature/composition course. With the DVDs, she reads the chapter in the course book, watches the video, takes notes, answers the questions in the course book, and will discuss American history with her dad during the year.

Trying again.....

Thank you, Lori! Wonderful suggestions as always! Our history and government is most likely going to be more on the lite side than many others on this board. I'm trying to keep dd's schedule manageable. She'll have American Literature and Composition outsourced as well as Pre-Calculus (Wilson Hill Academy) and Science Shepherd Biology (with me). I'm fine with letting history and government be lite. The "story" perspective will help her retain the information. G5052, I like your thought of considering both sides, but I'm not sure we have the time to fully explore both sides. Do you have any suggestions how to keep these books balanced? I really want a supplement- an "easy" read- something that will engage dd without requiring a lot of heavy analysis. I hope that doesn't sound like we're trying to shortchange either history or governmnet. The Bluestocking books are the only ones that I know of that cover this subject like I'm wanting to do. Another idea..... I would love to know if there is a book of historical fiction or nonfiction that would be written as a story that relates what government is and how it functions in story form? As an example, we are currently watching the DVD series on West Wing as a family. This has been a wonderful way to introduce government even before we start school. This series is giving dd context for government study.

Dd will use A Noble Experiment for 1/2 credit for government. I would like to supplement this with some "easy" reading books describing our government. I'm looking at the Bluestocking books Whatever Happened to Justice and Are You Liberal, Conservative, or Confused?. Please tell me if this is a good idea or not. I'm not familiar at all with these books- cant' get them at the library. If not these books, what would you all recommend? This dc wants history/government told as a story. Whatever we use to supplement ANE needs to capture and hold her attention..... so not a dull, boring text iykwim. (We're using TTC's A History of the US 2nd edition for history with 1776 by David McCullough and other similar-type books- not entirely scheduled yet.) This is A Noble Experiment: http://www.zeezok.com/A-Noble-Experiment-The-History-and-Nature-of-the-American-Government-COMBO-SET_p_64.html What do you think of these books? What other books would you recommend? Thanks!

My is going to do government with the first part of American history in 11th grade and economics with the second part of American history in 12th grade. She is going to use A Noble Experiment for government. We have it, but we have not started school yet...... next week. This is a curriculum on DVD with a workbook. She will do it independently. There are plenty of grades, but it is not heavy on writing- I don't think there are any writing assignments. It saves time at the end for state/local government study although I think that is more of a self-study. The semester-credit ends with the viewing of Mr. Smith Goes to Washington. A Noble Experiment is published by ZeZok Publishing and is also sold at CBD. http://www.zeezok.com/A-Noble-Experiment-The-History-and-Nature-of-the-American-Government-COMBO-SET_p_64.html http://www.christianbook.com/experiment-history-american-government-teacher-resource/9781610060042/pd/160036 I don't know what we'll use for economics in 12th grade. We may outsource it. Our school covering offers an economics/personal finance class for 1 high school credit. I would like to know, howver, if there is anything like A Noble Experiment that would cover economics just in case we tackle this course at home.

Regentrude shared this with me when I was planning CP a couple of years ago... Just Google "high school syllabus for hewitt's conceptual physics". I found several different high school level syllabi that way.

I used EE with my son when he was in 7th grade. He followed the high school lesson plans and LOVED it! EE was the BEST science we've ever done. (His younger brother joined him... He was too young to fully use the program, but he participated by listening to the lessons and helping his older brother with the experiments. Both of them still talk about how much fun they had to this very day.) As a high schooler, EE would be light but doable, I think. It does make sense to beef it up some. I don't have any strong recommendations for how to do this- maybe a DVD topic from The Teaching Company- The Great Courses??? You could also simply take the topic at hand and research it further either online or from the library. If you are open to a different suggestion, I would recommend looking at Derek Owens Physical Science. This would be more high school level. Truthfully, I wish I had known about this before buying EE only because it would have been better prep (I think) for high school. You can buy DO's Physical Science instead of the internet streaming. That is a plus. In 9th grade, my oldest used Hewitt's Conceptual Physics. Dh taught that class. He is a mechanical engineer, and the two of them had the BEST time as he discussed the topics at length making the concepts crystal clear to her. They also used a LabPaq for labs. I don't remember the kit number, but it was one that only had a handful of labs.... maybe 9 in all? Dh was not interested in quantity of labs but rather quality. He also used any from real life examples as they happened to explain physics. Dd learned so much with that class. I'm not trying to talk you out of EE, but I do think you are on the right track trying to supplement it for high school credit. YouTube and Google might help you find specific videoes. Khan may also be a good resource. If EE topics form a base, I think you would be trying to increase the breadth and depth. You may also want to also try to find a way to apply it to real life applications. I know Regentrude who teaches physics uses simple experiments for physics but brings out the lesson's breadth and depth with analysis. You could search on her name to read more about this. If you were to use Derek Owens, you would not need another text. Although we have not used this, I believe it includes labs and is a class taught well. If there is any religious content, it would not detract from the science. You can preview the lessons online before you buy as well. Just a thought!

Wilson Hill Academy offers AP Calculus AB. http://www.wilsonhillacademy.com/go-sign-me-up/

UPDATE: I emailed VLS to ask them about this situation. The reply was that the lesson plans are offered with the Instructor's Toolkit for Teacher's Resources. These are not offered with Level I program neither advertised any where on the website. If you've purchased VLS, don't worry about not having the lesson plans. Based on my experience, it is intended to just go through the program as is. There is a 3-in-1 workbook that IS advertised on their webpage. It is a FREE resource and goes along with Level I only.

I got the lesson plans through Visual Link. They only have lesson plans for Level One. It is reassuring that you've just followed the computer directions. Thank you for responding.

Did you try to use the lesson plans? I'm having trouble following the lesson plans because they don't match what I'm seeing on the computer screen. This has been incredibly frustrating to try to understand. For example, if the lesson plans say to do Leccion 1, Groups 1&2, Part 1, there is NOTHING on the computer screen with these terms. Also, nothing on the computer screen lessons is numbered. The lessons for Culture in the plans are no where to be found on the computer! I would like to follow the lesson plans because there are oral quizzes that I can give ds or discuss the material with him to make sure he is understanding the lessons. I've spent this morning trying to figure out how to read the lesson plans and match them to what I see on the computer screen, and I have had little to no success. This makes me feel like ditching the plans and having my ds just keep up with time alone following the order suggested on the computer tutorial. If we don't use the lesson plans, it will be very awkward and difficult to try to use the oral quizzes. Based on my morning's experience, the Visual Link Spanish program may be fine, but the non-matching lesson plans are terribly confusing and frustrating. Should I just ditch the lesson plans and have ds just go through the program in an orderly way OR should we try to figure out how to use the lesson plans (with handy dandy quizzes)????? HELP!