I bought the new high school geography for my daughter to use next year in 9th grade. I would say about half of the books are easier, middle grade level books. The other half seem to be adult level nonfiction. I'm okay with the easier level, because there is SO much to read. If all the selections were high school/adult level, it would be a very heavy workload, even picking and choosing what to do from the available options. I looked at Sonlight's high school level courses, and they also use a lot of easier reads mixed in with more difficult. My younger daughter is going to be doing Build Your Library Level 7, and for the most part, I think their book choices are more on level. From looking at the high school levels, it seems like more are higher-level books, but there aren't quite as many to read.

We had cheesy potatoes with smoked sausage and peas. It was so yummy!

Semi-related: Are the free videos available right now the same as the DVD seminar? I had planned to buy TTC for next year, but I don't want to spend extra money if I don't need to! I've watched the first 3 of the videos that are available for free right now, and they are great! Lana

Are the textbooks required to do this class? I can't determine if I still need to purchase the books or if everything is included in the self-paced class.

I'm going for the first time! Our local homeschool convention isn't until May, but it's small just about defunct. I'm super excited about attending a huge convention this year!

Planning for my oldest dd's 9th grade year has been tough, I almost forgot to think about younger dd's 7th grade year! Tentatively, I'm planning: Grammar: Analytical Grammar, Season 2 Spelling: Rod & Staff, Grade 7 Vocab: Vocabulary from Classical Roots, A & B Writing: Wordsmith (depending on what I choose for dd14) Lit: Various good books, both modern and classic and some to go with history Math: CLE 7 Science: Apologia General Science, possibly in a co-op setting History: Hakim's History of US, first 5 books (to Civil War) Geography: Drawing the USA, possibly adding in some state review with Memoria Press Bible: Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study Extras: Piano/voice lessons, homeschool choir, maybe co-op, maybe art lessons

Where did you find the Hewitt syllabus for The History of US? Is the company active again?

We have used part of Jump In. It was okay, but neither of us were crazy about it. I have heard good things about The Power in Your Hands. I actually recommended it to our co-op for the high school composition class and it was well received. I'll have to take another look at that one. I already have both LAoW and EE on my list of potentials! BraveWriter is probably not in my budget, but I'll take a look at Lantern for sure. The class titles sound very much like what I am looking for. Thank you @Lori D.! You are a true treasure on the WTM boards. I always look for your responses to posts because I know they will be very thoughtful replies with a true fountain of knowledge and experience.

OK, I have more questions. I've been reading more about WTTW, and the general consensus is that there isn't a lot of explicit writing instruction, and that a student who isn't already familiar with a 5-paragraph essay may have trouble. Do you agree, and if so, what would you recommend for more direct writing instruction? My dd14 is a reluctant writer. She does well with grammar/mechanics and sentence structure, but struggles with putting ideas to paper. We have used IEW SWI-B this year, and it has been great for her. She (and I) would both do better with direct-to-the-student instruction where I am in a support role rather than the main instructor.

Thank you all for the great insight! I am about 95% sure we will go with this for next year now!

My dd has been working through the Figuratively Speaking book and reading a lot of the literature. I am considering Windows to the World next year for 9th grade, but it uses a lot of the same short stories and novels that she has read this year. Would it be overkill to use WTTW next year? We have not done any literary analysis this year, just read and discussed the stories. My thought was that the analysis might be easier since the literature would already be familiar. Thanks! Lana

This will be my first post in the HS board! My oldest will be a freshman next year...yikes, it's gone fast! I usually have everything pretty much nailed down by this point, but not this year! English: Vocab from Classical Roots Book C and D, IEW SSS 1-C (unless I find SWI-C cheap!), Literature to tie in with Geography Math: CLE Algebra 1 Science: Apologia Biology, done in a class setting at someone's home History: Leaning towards Oklahoma History, possibly adding a semester of Guest Hollow World Geography as well Bible: No idea yet! Extras: Choir, study skills class (non-credit) this summer, Driver's Ed next summer

Amtrak is running a special right now, buy one ticket get one free. I don't know how long the sale is good, but it might help reduce costs! Also, if you're going to any national parks, buy the annual pass. It's like $80 and pays for itself in 2-4 visits to a national park. Well worth the money IMO!

I love Informed Delivery! Not only does it show your mail pieces, it will also show any packages that are in the USPS pipeline. Porch pirates are an issue here, so I like having the extra notification of what's supposed to be in my mailbox each day. My only issue is that junk mail shows up, but the statements from our brokerage accounts can't be scanned. Lana

I learned that as basic phone etiquette as a child. When someone says, "Mrs. ___?" when I answer the phone, I always say, "This is she." (And if they say my name incorrectly, I always say, "There's no one here by that name." Saves me the trouble of listening to their spiel!)