I did a google books search for books to teach foreign languages through direct method. I did find a few. The two for Spanish look quite good and very similar to Lingua Latina. The French and Ancient Greek books I will need to look through some more, but they are possibilities. I would still like to hear of any programs that teach by direct method similar to Lingua Latina. http://books.google.com/books?id=_esRAAAAIAAJ All Spanish Method - By Guillermo Franklin Hall Aviles http://books.google.com/books?id=KcxEAAAAIAAJ Poco a poco: An Elementary Direct Method for Learning Spanish - By Guillermo Hall http://books.google.com/books?id=G5AXAAAAIAAJ The First Year of Greek - by James Turney Allen http://books.google.com/books?id=XW0XAAAAYAAJ Beginner's French - by Max Walter http://books.google.com/books?id=r5oRAAAAIAAJ French by the Direct Method - by Johann Philipp Rossmann http://books.google.com/books?id=7AQCAAAAYAAJ The Mastery of French: Direct Method - by Gustave Pierre Fougeray

Are there other language programs like Lingua Latina - particularly Spanish or French?

Are you in the United States? I have heard that google books are blocked to many (most?) other countries due to copyright issues.

We always vote opposite each other. We may have voted the same on a school board member or something, but we've never voted the same on anything above that - not even sheriff or anyone. We occasionally vote the same on amendments though. :)

I am very pleased that my husband is a very conservative republican, as I tend toward liberal democrat - though we both have libertarian leanings. I worried about this before we had children, but I have become much more tolerant and a better listener thanks to my dh. We discuss politics all the time and are happy to include our children in the discussions. I think they will grow up to be quite tolerant and capable of listening to opposing views before making an informed decision. If so, I feel we will have done our job as parents. I would imagine some of the children will lean one way and some the other. Dh and I take great joy in canceling the other's vote - especially for president. We are always trying to come up with (fun) ways to prevent the other from voting - it has become quite a tradition. :D

Maybe an Elizabeth Berg novel? (I don't know which one. :))

We wil be going from Saxon 7/6 combined with Singapore 5 to Dolciani Pre-Algebra and Singapore 6. HTH!

Thanks Jenny! I have a good relationship with our county homeschool liaison and know what I would need to provide if necessary, but we are hoping to move in a few months and will be in a new county. Maybe I had better get a bound book - as I will be coming in in the middle of a school year and have never really heard anything about how homeschoolers are treated in that particular county. I am sure each county has a different interpretation of "contemporaneously with instruction." :rolleyes:

I would consider this to be a completely secular program. I think this is the only unit that even uses the word religion. And there is no reference to God or Jesus just questions about religion. Gulliver's Travels has questions about morality, but does not assume a Christian morality. And one of the units has questions about worldview, again never a mention of a specific worldview. Some of the links may be to specifically Christian sites. There are so many per unit I have barely skimmed the surface. But none of the links I did go to were religious in nature. It is my plan to check all of the links before each unit and put the ones I find appropriate (I am guessing all of them,) into a folder so my dd can work much of the time on her own. There is also a list of books and poetry she can read on her own for each unit, but I am not yet comfortable with the kids "surfing" the internet so if she needs additional information from the web she will have to search while I am around. :) There is a page of resources on Christian worldview. Books that would help a student to interpret literature and literary terms from a Christian standpoint and I think books that cover history from a more Christian worldview -to use as references.

I have never heard this! I do not keep mine in a bound book. Where did you read this? Thanks!!!

No, there are no answers to these questions. She considers them questions for the student to think about or focus on while reading. She strongly suggests writing in the focus books or taking notes during reading in order to support answers to these and similar questions when writing essays. The entire guide is written directly to the student. It is designed so that the parent doesn't have to have any role other than grading the papers. The parent can direct assignments, hold discussions, find resources, etc. but that is all optional. She specifically states that the guide is set up like a college course in order to help students learn to study on their own using a syllabus. But, she also states that one of the benefits of homeschooling is the ability to adapt curriculum in whatever way works best for the student and family! :)

There aren't really any questions which require a response. There are questions meant to enhance reading, thinking and discussion. And then there are one or two essays assigned per unit as well as an author profile to write. There are NOT example responses for each essay. There is a model and sample for each type of paper that needs to be written (approach paper, author profile, literary analysis essay, etc.) And there is a rubric for evaluating the papers.

Thanks to both of you!! I actually erased what I had written (which is what Cadam was responding to) because I posted to the wrong board. :D So, thanks for the answers to both questions!!

I have seen a little garbage can, that says post deleted. How do you do that?

Sorry! Posted in the wrong place!

Are you doing ancients? For American history I use History of US (Hakim) for outlining practice. And for our study in mythology I use D'Aulaires Norse and Greek Myths for outlining and narration work. If you think CHOW would work well, I would use that and focus more on narration, skipping the outlining practice, on weeks that CHOW doesn't line up.

I purchased this program. I don't plan to use it this year (dd is too young) but I have read the whole thing. There are nine units all very similar to the example unit. The program is written to the student. The student is expected to research the topics, look up unknown vocabulary and use a writer's handbook when writing papers without specific instruction or worksheets. There are clear instructions on how to write each type of paper required throughout the year - including a sample of each type of paper. It is assumed the student already has the ability to write a standard essay and is familiar with standard literary terms (or capable of learning them on her own.) Each unit builds a bit on the one before. An assignment in one unit may refer back to a previous unit. The reading and writing requirements increase throughout the year. There is a great deal of reading included, but it would be very easy to tailor to the student by limiting which context reading is required. I purchased LL7 over the summer thinking that was the program I would use through high school, but after reading it over realized I was looking for something different. I think this program will work very well for us. I am happy I purchased it a year ahead as I now know exactly what to focus on this year to prepare dd to use the program next year.

We have three new programs this year that I am pleasantly surprised are working so well. I purchased all three as supplements and didn't expect any of them to be working as well as they are. All three have become primary programs, bumping other programs to supplementary status. :) Sequential Spelling Lingua Latina Writing with Ease

I sort of see seven as the dividing line. We talk about maybe having six some day, but to have more than six would require things like a special vehicle (most standard vehicles don't seat more than eight) special seating arrangements when you go out for dinner (around here there are tables and booths for six-eight or you can push two tables together, but at nine it becomes "party seating") and even our boat has an eight person seating maximum. Seems arbitrary, but for us four to six seems comfortable and seven or more seems large. :) But my dh and I both come from families where 3-4 is standard, so it is probably a question of what you are used to.

http://www.factcheck.org/ Basically, are they usually correct in their fact checking? Or are they "stretching the facts" themselves? :) Thanks!

I heard that in Singapore the children start school at age 7. So.... Level 1 - age 7-8 Level 2 - age 8-9 Level 3 - age 9-10 Level 4 - age 10-11 :)

Thanks for the replies! To clarify, I am not worried or feeling pressured. All of my children start kindergarten work when they are ready and simply progress from there and we do not even do a pre-K program at home. But, when I do register him with the county, I also assign a grade level. So I was just thinking out loud. I do want to hold him back; I see many benefits to starting later. But, I wasn't sure if there were any downsides. I just wanted to see if there was a stigma attached to graduating at 19 rather than 18 or if it would seem unusual and imply that he had "failed" somewhere along the way. :)

We are thinking of registering our son one year behind from the very beginning. I figure I can always choose to graduate him early and Florida allows you to go to college (free of charge) beginning in 9th grade. So I really don't see any downside - unless it is really uncommon. He is only 3 1/2 - so we are just thinking ahead. If he went through the normal school years after being "held back" from the beginning he would graduate about one month after his 19th birthday. I would like to put some distance between himself and his sister who would only be one grade ahead of him otherwise. (Ability and maturity-wise you would think there were at least three years between them.) If his maturity at age 3 1/2 is any indication - he will certainly need the added year anyway. :D :D

Lisa, What Latin program does FLVS use? I didn't see it written in the course description. Thanks!