Monique and Deanna, I am thankful you responded in behalf of TOG. I think I am the queen of the greener grass philosophy..... I look at TOG about every 6 months or so. I WANT to like it!:001_smile: I love the way it is organized. The colorful layout appeals to me. I love that everyone studies the same thing. Maybe even the expense can be kept reasonable. What about the time it takes to prepare for lessons? My concern comes from using Konos years and years ago. I think unit studies are wonderful, but with Konos, I had to pick and choose (much like TOG) and I quickly learned that I needed a plan. Konos didn't go well for us because I did not manage it well. From then on, I've been careful to purchase curriculum that was more open-and-go and that had lesson plans. TOG has a plan, but I would still pick and choose. The time factor (teacher-intensiveness) is what I most fear even though I want to love it.

This is awesome, Donna. I know so many people love TOG, but you've just got to love the pick-up-and-go of MFW. Of course, that's not to say it is without challenge or preparation. It just sounds easier to actually DO. I appreciate your response!

Thank you for your reply! I've heard Streams is a dry text, but if it and SOTW can be spines for reading and outlining, I'm ok with that. There are plenty of other spines out there, but I get myself in trouble when I don't keep it simple. Could you share what your schedule has been for BF Ancients? How many days/week and how many minutes/lesson. How time consuming is it for kids to read books and work on assignments from the study guide? Do you have any experience incorporating SOTW? I will need to do this because of my youngest child.

Thank you, Sue! Your response does not surprise me. I hear so much good about MFW. Anyone else?

I like both of these for high school. Could someone compare/contrast them: cost, time, and *fun* aspects? Honestly, I am quite concerned about the time TOG might take. (I've never used either curriculua.) Yet, I love the aspect of one curriculum for everyone. I have three kids 12, 10, and 6 years old now. We will do ancients next year which would be a good time to try TOG. I am just most concerned about picking/choosing what to do every week and the TIME it would take. Even though I keep looking at it, this is the thing that makes me shy away. If I'm going to try it, it seems like now is the best time since we're starting at year 1: ancients. With highschool in mind, which of these is both easier to do and the most interesting for kids? (Not to mention easiest for mom, considering teaching multiple grades along with house cleaning, meal prep, and all the unplanned surprises that life throws.) Thanks!

I am planning to use BF Ancients with my 6th and 7th graders next year. A 2nd grader will listen in too. We will use SOTW as a spine with the AG. I don't mind making minor modifications to improve interest. If you have done this study, are there any books you would skip or are there any books you would add to enliven the study of ancient history? Films, documentaries, art, music, etc??? Thanks!

What edition of Lial's BCM do you all recommend? I'm interested in the text, solutions manual, and the DVTs. What is a reasonable price? Where is the best place to buy them?

Elizabeth, I've just been looking at Alabama's courses of study, and at first glance, I'm in good shape if I choose life science for 7th. The Alabama COS lists: 7th grade Life Science; 8th Physical Science; 9th Physical Science core (I don't know the difference between the 8th and 9th physical science courses); 10th biology; 11th chemistry; 12 physics. I'm certainly in a new level of homeschooling. I feel a little like a fish out of water. I am grateful for so many like yourself for timely help. Thanks again.

Elizabeth, thank you for getting back to my original question. All of the discussions to day have been so helpful. With your point in mind, a broader (and even secular) 7th grade science might be more appropriate. Ok... back to the drawing board.:001_huh:

Amazing! I appreciate this point. I can hardly believe I'm discussing ps because we've always homeschooled. My kids don't want to go to ps, but I won't even pretend that I can teach upper level courses. I have a couple of "homeschool highschool" workshops lined up in the next few months that I will attend. If I could "manage" upper level courses, then that would be our ticket to keep homeschooling. I don't mind saying, however, that homeschooling highschool really intimidates me. I'll certainly take these last two comments to heart. Thanks for the heads up.

Thanks everyone! I called BJU today, and they will send a sample week DVD to me to view. I hope this is a good fit for us.... I want it to be. I'll compare BJU with Apologia and Prentice Hall just to see which one I like best. CPO is another one I've considered. Their life science program looks interesting. Debbie, I get frustrated when creationists and evolutionists argue with each other too. I feel more comfortable with the creationists just because I believe God created the heavens and the earth, and I feel a little creepy when the evolutionists weave their perspectives into science. When they argue, though, they all act like children. Whichever we go with-Christian text or secular- we're looking for the best to communicate science to our children. Please keep the comments coming. I'm still interested in which science best prepares jr. high for high school work.:001_smile:

Debbie, What secular science will you use? I ask just for comparative reasons. Our ultimate goal is to have a great science program for our kids. We are Christians and would present a Christain perspective no matter what. It's important to us to have a compatible presentation of science for our children... (for example, the names of the parts of an atom would be the same whether studying it from a Christian text or secular, but the layout of the text and language used would help us determine which is best for us.)

Debbie, How many days/week do you do BJU Life Science? How long do you spend on lessons/experiments? What is your routine/schedule like?

Thanks, Debbie! We've done Real Science For Kids and the Apologia Vol. 3 book Land Animals on the Sixth Day last year and this year. If we went with BJU, I feel like it would be the most challenging science *ever* judging from what I've read on this board. I'm a little intimidated but at the same time, it sounds like it would be an appropriate (and hopefully fun) jump into logic science. I would not assume I could teach this class, and I want it to be as independent as possible..... trying to make steps towards independence. That is why I would use the DVDs. The expense.... ugh.... but to get the most bang for the buck means a lot to me. Thorough science, experiments, microscope work, professional teacher: this might go far as far as teaching her how to think and study goes. I have two other kids who will be in 6th and 2nd grades next year. If I went with the DVD option, I think I would let the 6th grader watch the lesson but then do a more WTM approach of reading a separate book and notebooking/report writing. I would try to follow the BJU scope and sequence and do "fun" science with the 2nd grader to keep science on his level and all of us together. Does this sound doable or too lofty?

If I have one year (maybe two) to prepare a child to go to school for 8th or 9th grade. Which one of these would you choose? Is there something better? It seems like a class that focuses more on biology/chemistry (BJU) would be more appropriate than one that spends time on earth science (Apologia). She is not an earth science gal. She is science minded, and wants to work with animals specifically horses. She'll be in 7th grade next year, and we have not decided if we will homeschool highschool or not. For those of you who have used BJU Life Science, would you share your experiences? I've heard it is teacher intensive and tough. I would love to know more specific details. If we used the DVD/Homesat option, would that make science more like independent work for her?

Specifically, I am trying to find language arts skills that are not parts of speech and diagramming. That is what AG is being used for. For example: Punctuation (covered in Season 3, but I don't want to ignore it until then.) Capitalization Types of sentences: declarative, interrogative, imperative, exclamatory, compound, complex S/V agreement; helping verbs, regular/irregular verbs; tense Word usage: Synonyms, antonyms, homonyms Business/friendly letters I think I'll just need to get a basic grammar book and cover skills that only supplement AG. We used Easy Grammar this year to take a break from Abeka. Rod and Staff gets so many good reviews, but I really don't like having to write out sentences. For some reason, CLE doesn't just excite me even though it also gets great reviews. I might have to study this more. Cathy Duffy reviewed Christian Liberty Press: Applications of Grammar which looked pretty good: straightforward, contains some of the points above, but with no color. It's a possibility. We really struggle with finishing lessons in a timely way. I'm trying to find curricula that is straightforward. Easy Grammar has been good for that. We could do this again, but the lack of color is a significant disadvantage for my kids. They respond so much better to colorful text. (Abeka) One more thing to muddy the water: Since spelling/vocabulary are also part of language arts, I would LOVE to find something that helps us develop writing more mature sentences. We used IEW Themed Writing: Early American History this year: fantastic! Now I need to refine the skills we learned: write really good sentences with mature vocabulary appropriate for upper elementary/jr. high years. I found Great Editing Adventures and Great Explorations in editing. These might help us with this. Ugh! Maybe AG is enough. I don't mean to make this complicated. Is AG with Great Editing a good combo for 6th and 7th grades, or do I need something more rigorous like Rod and Staff, CLE, or Abeka???? What about Editor in Chief as well?

We use and love Analytical Grammar, but it only covers grammar for Seasons 1 and 2. (We will be using Season 2 next year.) I have one who will be in Season 1 next year. What would you recommend for other language arts skills to supplement AG? For example, synonyms, homonyms, antonyms, business/friendly letters, sentence types, etc... This would be for 6th and 7th grades.

Ladies, I read about Kinetic math this morning, and I think they are supposed to be coming out with a pre-algebra soon. I emailed them for more info. Just wondering about a combo of Lial's BCM with Kinetic. I wonder how that would compare/contrast with Lial's BCM with DVTs. Any thoughts? Who has used Kinetic Math? Do you like it?

We used MUS in grades 1-5 and Horizons for grade 6. Math is not an intuitive subject for us. What would you choose for pre-algebra? I've narrowed my favorites to these: Lial's BCM (DVTs are a bonus) Life of Fred Pre-alg with Biology Chalkdust pre-alg A combination of any Other: what is your favorite? We need lots of hand holding, and this child likes colorful pages like Horizons. I know LoF isn't colorful, but I think the story aspect will make up the difference. I'd LOVE to hear more from any of you who have uses LoF pre-alg w/Bio. There are not many posts about this. Thanks!

Thank you, Peela! :001_smile:

Thanks, ladies. Do you all think it matters if high school is begun with Ancients or Early Modern? (Another way to think about it: which is better to use to finish high school?) Whatever we do next year will, consequently, push us to either start high school with Ancients or with Early Modern.

This is what I was wondering. This year my olders finished the second of two years of American history while I read SOTW Ancients to my 1st grader. I need everyone on the same history next year. I can either make my youngest repeat Ancients, or I can make my olders skip Ancients and go to Middle Ages, or we could try to do both. This would be challenging, but K-12 covers ancients and middle ages in one book. There's another issue here: Depending on what we do next year, my daughter could either start high school with early American history in 9th or in Ancients. Do all of you have opinions which is a better start for highschool? It breaks up like this: 7th: ancients/middle ages; 8th: early/late American; 9th: Ancients; 10th: middle ages; 11th: early modern, 12th: modern OR... 7th: ancients; 8th: middle ages; 9th: early modern 10th: modern; 11th: ancients; 12th: middle ages

Do you use this book to complete a study of Ancients and Middle Ages in one year, or do you break these into two years? How hard is it to study both in one year using WTM suggestions? Has anyone done this?

Michelle, I can't answer your question, yet I'm hope someone will soon. If you don't mind, I'd love to ask you if you liked Apples and Pears. If you could do it over, would you use it again or choose something else? I will have a 2nd grader next year, and I'm thinking about A&P for him.

I'm curious about homeschooling on computer like K12. (I'm not talking about *live* on-line classes.) Would you all give me a list of these to research? Which ones are your favorites? Which ones are a value for the money? What are the advantages/disadvantages of schooling this way? Could you share about your experiences? This is for jr. high and would eventually go into high school, and would need to be accredited. I know about K-12 and SOS.... what are other options like this?