I would like to add some Latin reading to my daughter's schedule. Could anyone suggest readings they have enjoyed? Our history focus will be on Ancient Greece and colonial America and our science focus will be botony, earth science and marine science. I found Columbus' First Voyage at the Bolchazy site. http://www.bolchazy.com/prod.php?cat=latin&id=6137 And I found The Life of Washington and a few biographies of ancient Greeks at the Perseus Digital Library. I will be looking through these over the next few weeks. Could anyone recommend any other Latin readings I could look into? Either online readings or books for purchase would be fine. I would like to avoid the standard readings that would be included in a study of Ancient Rome or used on the SAT II/AP tests as she will cover those later. Thanks!

I will be using Put That in Writing Level 1 this coming school year followed by level 2 in 8th grade. I believe it was recommended to me by 8FillstheHeart. It sounds like it might be a program that would work well for you also. http://www.barrettsbookshelf.com/

Core classes: Latin - online Greek - online Geography - online Math - Dolciani Algebra I Language Arts - Put That in Writing Secondary classes: History, Science, Literature, French and Art Afternoon classes I pull together myself - all 4 children taught together Focus will be on: Ancient Greece, Colonial America, Botany, Marine Science and Earth Science primary components: Teaching Company DVDs Excellence in Literature guides Memoria Press guides For Sea guides Mapping the World with Art Phonics of Drawing First Start French Ambleside Online

We consider ourselves to be classical homeschoolers. 9 hours for dds 12 and 10 7am-1pm and 3:30pm-6:30pm. We have a 15 minute break around 11:00.

Thanks for the feedback! We are going to give it a whirl this fall and see how it goes. :)

bump :)

How are children enjoying the CW Primers? And could they be used with a 1st grader? DD will be on the older end for 1st grade. We will start in Sept. and she will be 7 in Nov. She can read and enjoys writing. This year she did a phonics program, a handwriting program and the first half of FLL. For 1st grade I was thinking about finishing FLL and doing the CW Primers along with having her read aloud to me daily. And then in 2nd moving into Primary Language Lessons, Sequential Spelling, Cursive handwriting and reading aloud. Would the CW Primers fit well into that schedule?

Island Eyes: The Adventures of a Shell http://www.amazon.com/Island-Eyes-Adventures-Laney-Lee/dp/0688060943/ref=sr_1_18?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1269967218&sr=8-18

I would imagine most people say it because they have no desire to do so and it sounds much more polite than saying how they really feel. My dh and I had the opportunity to say to a lovely couple not too long ago, "Oh, we could never own a farm." :D Could we? Probably. Will we? Never! :lol: And this is no slight on farm owners. They have my admiration and respect. I love owning a vegetable share and picking up my fresh vegetables right from the farm. But, it is not a lifestyle that would ever appeal to us.

We are currently using Keepers of Life and have Keepers of the Animals to use in the next year or two. I've never seen the teacher's manuals, but haven't really needed one for anything. I pull from the book here and there using other resources as well, rather than going cover to cover. We dropped our regular science and are doing a Botany class for all four kids through the spring. We are working on expanding our garden and adding additional plants and flowers around the outside of the house in addition to the curriculum. I think they are beautiful books with an excellent balance of information and fun.

Oak Meadow puts out a teacher's manual to go with each student syllabus.

I think the cost is on the actual registration papers. It is somewhere around $375 per semester (for each class) unless you are a FL resident then they are free.

Kathie, That link doesn't work for me. Is it just my computer?

Is anyone doing the beta version or online class of Classical Writing's Heredotus that could give a review of the program? Thanks!

Oh my goodness! That is so funny. So many coincidences today. :D I had to forward the link to my family. It is just like my uncle to do something like that. What a small world! LOL

Jennifer, I went to the link to see the picture of your dad and can you believe the man on the left is my uncle!! I literally fell out of my chair laughing. :lol: Obviously, I'm not up on the family news.

Oak Meadow is secular and offers online, teacher graded or do-it-yourself options for their science classes.

Unfortunately, my daughter has no desire to do any outside classes in the fine arts. But, I did find that Oak Meadow offers four credits for Fine Arts: Art History, Drawing, Music and AP Art History. I think my daughter could do at least two of those adding in appropriate Teaching Company DVDs and that would look quite solid and should be fairly painless for her. :D

In the past I've had to call Oak Meadow customer service to place an order for a Teacher's Manual. I've always had wonderful customer service from OM and they've always been happy to provide the current ISBN numbers so I could buy the textbooks elsewhere.

We've had to readjust our schedule a couple of times as the CLAA has grown and changed. Now that the CLAA classes update immediately after the student passes an exam (rather than the day or two gap when they were updated manually) we have changed our schedule again. We do CLAA classes from 7am to 1pm, five days per week with a ten minute break around 11am. We always begin with the three core courses - grammar, arithmetic and catechism. Then the kids do the enrichment classes as time allows. DD 12 spends on average: grammar - 10+ hours per week arithmetic - 8+ hours per week catechism - 3 hours per week geography - 2 or 3 hours per week chronology - 2 or 3 hours per week vocabulary - she is not getting to this class at all at this time systematic review of subjects - 2 or 3 hours per week In September when we begin a new term, we will do CLAA classes five days per week from 6am to 1pm with the same break around 11am.

We will use the credit procedures pre-determined by our local school board for dual enrolled public high school students. Levels 1 and 2 of foreign languages count as 1 credit. Levels 3 and 4 count as .5 credit. Most science and math classes count as 1 credit and most history/humanities classes count as .5 credit.

Thanks, I will have her do a TC course or two. She isn't interested in taking an outside class. Hopefully, we can get to the art museum in Chicago while we are up in SW Michigan this summmer.

If a student definitely plans to go to college - likely for sciences, maybe humanities - how important are fine arts credits? I know I can contact colleges directly, but I'm just wondering from those who have sent kids to college - how important fine arts credits (not counting those majoring in the arts) seem to have been based on personal experience. Many high schools/colleges seem to break down subjects into: Math Science English Foreign Language Social Studies / History Fine Arts Electives So, how important are fine arts credits (or a lack of any fine arts credits) on a homeschool transcript and if they are important what could a student take to get a high school credit in fine arts? Are music history and art history fine arts credits? They seem like humanities/history credits to me. We have a full schedule already and dd isn't interested in adding any more fine arts than necessary. :)

We do quite a bit every day and the MOST important thing for us is to always get started on time. If we don't start at 7am the whole day falls apart. (And it is only dd12 and dd10 that need to start at 7, many days the two younger kids aren't even out of bed yet.)

We have been using MCT off and on for five years. We've used levels one, two and three. DD12 will begin level four somewhere around May. For us, the grammar books are excellent - especially now that there are practice books to go with each level. I plan to use all six levels for each of my children. I also like the vocabulary series although we aren't currently using them. I'm not willing to let them go and may get back to them now and again. I no longer use the poetry books. It seems many people consider it the backbone and/or best part of the program - but for me it was too time consuming and difficult (as the teacher) beginning with book two. So I quit using them. We no longer use the poetry at any level. The writing did not give me enough actual instruction on how to teach a student to write. But, I have come to realize I do not consider myself a stong enough writer to be able to properly critique my children's writing - either essay or poetry. All of my kids will take writing and poetry online with someone else grading their writing. That said, I do really like the Essay Voyage book. I think it is a great book for someone that can already write an essay. My dd 12 is currently reading through it. But she will continue to take writing classes online to learn new skills/techniques.