Our biggest "this isn't working" changes this year have been to latin. For dd10 we dropped Latin Prep for SYRWTL Latin and added in Lingua Latina. This seems to be a very good combination for her. For dd8, I have set aside Lively Latin until November. She did the first few chapters last year. I do think it is the right program for her, I just need to get a better handle on what I am trying to get from the program. Right now it seems too all-over-the-place for me. I don't think this is a problem with the program so much as me not reading through the whole thing and getting down on paper my goals for each chapter. I need a solid plan of where we are going in each subject and I haven't done that with Lively Latin. I am going to purchase LL2 and read through the student and teacher books for both levels and establish my plan before we continue. Right now she is doing Song School Latin with dd4 and both are enjoying it. I've also made a small change to dd8's language arts. We dropped FLL3 for Good English (a free online book.) While I loved FLL1/2, I have found FLL3 to be somehow too cumbersome. I am surprised by this, but Good English is working fine and is more in line with where I am going with grammar. Other than that, the kids have asked for more science and art, as they do every year, so I am still working on that. :)

CNN.com with a smaller box of our current local weather conditions

I would doubt it, so long as school attendance is determined by the states. Right now every state is different. Florida only requires school for those ages 6-16, so basically 1st-10th grade. And an 18 year old is considered an adult. I think it would be difficult to legally require schooling for any student over age 18.

:bigear:

Mornings (four hours or so, less time on Day six) Math - six days Foreign Languages - six days Language Arts - five days Afternoons (two or three hours) Days 1, 3, and 5 - American History and Science Days 2 and 4 - World History and Literature Day 6 - Geography, Art and Music

Thanks for the additional suggestions. My problem is that I would really like a program that focuses on learning through reading rather than learning through speaking. I would love to have an audio of someone reading the text, so she could hear it spoken, but the main portion needs to be reading focused - the grammar and vocabulary are learned by reading a graded story or text. Again thanks for all of the suggestions - any others?? :D

In the morning we do math, language arts and foreign languages - each child separately. In the afternoons we do history, science, geography, literature, music and art all together. I do plan to separate the girls for science next year. And each child has a literature list to read individually on her own time.

3 children in karate $150.00 per month for classes - total for all three children (two classes per week, per child) $20.00 for each new belt (usually two per year, per child) $30.00 when a new uniform is needed - first one is free (I have purchased two in two years)

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far. Unfortunately, everything I have looked at seems to fall under grammar-based, coversational, or supplementary materials. I am still looking through some of the links though. Thanks for the link to the World of Reading website. It has an excellent selection of books and CDs for most any foreign language. Here are a couple that look especially interesting for French: http://www.wor.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=3510 http://www.wor.com/shopping/shopexd.asp?id=3345

Any suggestions?? I have First Start French. It is going fine, but slowly. But, my dd seems to do much better with direct method or reading method - I'm not sure what other similar type programs are called. I want to find a good direct French program and supplement with First Start French. I see lots of audio programs and a few grammar-based programs, but no programs like Lingua Latina, Cambridge Latin, etc., for French. Is anyone using something like this?

Thanks so much for your replies! I have been giving it quite a bit of thought and have been reading the other threads on outlining as well. I guess what it comes down to is that I DO expect a sixth-grader to be able to write a paragraph with an original thesis statement. I don't believe waiting until high school before beginning to teach thesis writing or essay writing will be beneficial in our home. And I really don't see the benefit of spreading out the outlining of factual information over four years. I do see the benefit of outlining an author's key points and supporting material and I do see the benefit of outlining an author's essay to study how that particular author ordered his information and to discuss his logic and style. But we are going to limit the outlining of factual information such as Kingfisher history or a science text to fourth and fifth grade and begin shifting our focus to the outlining of ideas and the development of a thesis statement in sixth grade. I really appreciate everyone answering my questions and helping me to clarify exactly what I expect from my children as they get older. :001_smile:

Like many others - I taught without a teaching degree or certificate. I voted other. :)

Has he spoken to the business owner about owner financing? It isn't a great market for selling businesses - the owner might be willing to work something out.

http://www.amazon.com/Kids-Can-Draw-African-Animals/dp/1560102756/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1221711566&sr=8-1 My children like this book. My dd8 still uses it regularly to illustrate her stories.

I'm evaluating our classes and find that my dd is getting very little out of the outlining exercises. They are time consuming and I am beginning to question the point. I think the outlining of key ideas and supporting evidence is important (such as in Adler's How to Read a Book.) But, what is the point of paragraph outlining? I asked my daughter to write a paper from her outline today simply because I wanted to see how the outline would help her in writing her paper. She could do a fine rewrite of what was in the chapter based on her outline. But that was all she could do. It was the author's work rewritten. She had copied facts into an outline and then rewritten them into a fact based paper. But, there were no ideas in her paper. Her paragraph outline couldn't take her from the facts in the book to a thesis of her own based on the ideas behind what the author had written. I could see spending fifth grade on outlines - for paragraph study. Making sure the student has an understanding of topic sentences, bodies of a paragraph, supporting material, paragraph styles, etc. But what about grades six through eight? I know SWB suggests doing the paragraph outlining until grade 8 and then moving into the outlining for student's writing their own papers. But, I don't understand the value of the four years of paragraph outlining. I would think I will need to reteach outlining based on key ideas, key phrases and supporting evidence when the child is older anyway. When will the paragraph outlining be useful? I only remember writing outlines of ideas for writing papers or preparing for tests - never paragraph outlining. I need to see the big picture. How will four years of paragraph outlining be beneficial to my children? Is it used in high school? Is it a difficult enough skill to master to require four years of practice? It quite possibly is - I just need it explained to me in a larger context. Thanks!! :D

Dali's Landscape with Butterflies http://www.postershop.co.uk/Dali-Salvador/Dali-Salvador-Landscape-With-Butterflies-8700402.html

http://books.google.com/books?id=xchEAAAAIAAJ Here is a link to an online book - Good English Book Two - 5th and 6th grade I think it is more like Intermediate Language Lessons. But, it has picture study, poetry, literature, grammar and composition.

Thanks Kareni, I think I will just go with the nine credits. She can't drop the English/art. She has to attend the full program if she goes. She is only 10 (but will be 11 shortly.) In some ways it seems I am planning way ahead, but really, if she wants to go to the charter school I have to supply a transcript beginning with this year's classes. We need to attend the registration meeting in April. And she begins her online classes next year. It all seems to come up so fast. In the blink of an eye, I am no longer planning ahead, but scrambling to keep up. :)

The 5.5 will be: Latin (1 cr)- taken with Scholars Online Greek (1 cr)- taken with Scholars Online Math (1 cr) - taken at home History/Literature (2 crs) - Great Books taken through GBA or ETS Modern Language (.5 cr) - taken at home The science credits are solid - the charter school is specifically for science. (I don't know if I would consider the English and art worth 1.5 credits. But, I don't think I can do anything about that as they are given by the school.) I know it looks like a lot, but this particular dd of mine is capable and willing. She is a good student and doesn't want to drop anything from this list. Should I just insist it is too much? I think she can do it, but nine credits seems like quite a bit to me. I could let her try, and drop something if need be. But really, I think she can do it and am more concerned with how this will look on a transcript. Dd is very focused and would like to go to a competitive college. I don't want a transcript that looks padded and will in the end hurt her chances.

I was thinking 28 credits (7 per year.) Now, the town we are moving to has a charter school for 9th-12th my dd would like to attend. We will be going to the open house in April to be sure. If she does go - she will receive 3.5 credits per year from the school. If I add that to the work she does at home she will have 9 credits per year. There aren't any additional classes we want to drop, and there aren't any that we don't want to show up on her transcript. Does 9 credits per year look ridiculous? Should I just drop one of the classes she does at home from her transcript and look on it as more of an enrichment class? :) Or could I list one class as a summer class (even though she did it during the school year)? We school year round so even the semester break down isn't completely accurate. Her 3.5 from the school would be 1 credit English, 2 credits science, .5 credit art. So each year she would be getting 3.5 from a high school and 5.5 from a homeschool transcript made by me. I guess what I am actually asking is how many credits are too many?

I had to run over to the MFW site, as I had not seen their high school program. Foster's books would definitely be light reading compared to what is being used in the MFW program. But I do not consider her books to be grammar level either. I tried to use one when my dd was in second or third grade and the only one enjoying history was me. :D I dropped it right away. There are more age appropriate books out there. I am reading the Columbus book now with dd10 and it is going well, but I am reading it aloud. When dd8 sits in, much of it goes over her head. I have to explain what is happening as I read. I really enjoy her books. The language does not have that elementary feel. The books are interesting and quite detailed. I use them as read-alouds because I actually enjoy reading them and enjoy discussing them with my dd. They are so detailed, I am afraid my daughter will "miss out" if she reads them on her own (or maybe I am afraid I will miss out. :001_smile:) I would not consider them to be "high school" level, but for a supplement they would be fine. Genevieve Foster is one of those authors where a person either really likes her books or really, really doesn't. So it is a good idea to read through one and see what you think. They are all similarly written. HTH!!

DD10 is currently using "That is soooo Fiddler on the Roof." She heard it on some movie and uses it all the time - not just when it could possibly be relevant. She has seen Fiddler on the Roof several times and was quite pleased that she understood what was meant during the movie. (A movie she isn't even allowed to watch, she just happened to be passing through the living room.) It makes her laugh every single time! Sometimes she just says it out of nowhere - not even in response to anything. The way she says it makes all the other kids laugh too.:confused: DD8 is always using the word horrid. As many times as we hear it in a day, you would think the child has a really rough life! It drives dh crazy, but I hardly notice any more. :)

I don't know why it wasn't picked up, but it has never been revised so it is shorter than the rest of the series. It is only 188 pages. You may want to keep an eye out - I bought mine for $10 or $15. The World of William Penn covers the years 1660-1718, so that would be the correct order.:)

That is a tough one. The Foster books really don't line up well with Oak Meadow. I think they really need a good eight weeks each - maybe longer. If you assign dd Augustus Caesar and Columbus in 7th it won't line up with anything she is studying in OM7. For an already uninterested child, I don't know whether that would accomplish much. You are talking about 800 pages of reading separate from her history studies. The books do not have to be read in any order. OM7 is in the Civil War by lesson 10. So I would probably choose one book to read with OM7 - maybe Lincoln or Washington and use the other two (Smith and Lincoln or Smith and Washington with your U.S. History in 8th, which I assume you are putting together to go along with OM 8 Civics.) I would spread each Foster book out over ten weeks with a reluctant student. If you want to do Caesar and Columbus this year with dd in 6th since they do line up with OM6 - maybe you could read them aloud to her? I also think the books are fine for 4th if you are planning to read them aloud! Note: There is also the World of William Penn - but it is OOP. For some reason, it was never reprinted with the others.

Mama Linx - Do you have a link or a website to Lengua Espanola? Thanks! latinteach - Thanks for the Greek suggestion. This looks perfect. (Here is an online set of exercises that appear to go with the book.) http://www.vroma.org/~abarker/tsintro.html