I did call our library and they don't have anything, surprisingly since we're in a good sized city. I do have a friend with a scope that I guess I could take advantage of.

I have read through all the threads I could find and keep finding the same information. We will buy the Advanced Dissection Kit from Home Science Tools, but how can we get some really awesome and helpful labs done inexpensively for the first half of the year. I don't want to invest in a microscope because my children have vision problems that would pretty much make it useless unless we got a really expensive one that I can't afford. I keep looking at the various kits at HST, even the chemistry ones, and can't decide what would be the most helpful and useful. I'd like to keep it at less than $75 since I'll be purchasing the dissection kit later. Any ideas?

I have just the student text and a workbook, both that I found used. Honestly, I don't really care for the workbook. We just read through the student text, and I assign the exercises to either be done on paper or orally. We use Cambridge as a supplement to Memoria Press Latin, but I really like it and can see using it as a main course if you don't prefer the grammar translation method. I think the main thing is to focus on keeping up with the vocabulary, as it accumulates quickly. We made flashcards for that.

That's interesting. Around here our local high schools allow 9th graders to take AP Psych, with no experience of stats. It is considered one of the easier APs and one of 3 that 9th graders are allowed to take. That's what I was going by. I sure hope there aren't any prerequisites!

If my dd wants to take AP Psychology, should she also do history the same year? It looks like Psychology is a social science elective, so I'm assuming she'd still do history at the same time. Is that correct? This would be for 9th grade. She wants to get her feet wet with one AP in a topic that she's very interested in.

Thanks! I do have a copy of Unit 1. I guess I'm wondering whether we'd need to go through each book in order or if we can jump in at book 2 or 3. Book 1 has lots of vocabulary that she hasn't learned, although the grammar is all very easy for her.

Has anyone transitioned into Cambridge Latin having already studied Latin? My dd has finished all 4 of Memoria Press Form series and wants a break from the grammar-translation method. What level should she begin Cambridge? I don't want to waste too much time by putting her too far back, but I also want this next year to be an "enjoy Latin again" type of year (so not too terribly demanding). She's going into 8th grade and plans to study Latin all through hs as well.

The sample for the Teacher Guide does show a schedule for lesson plans, so that would be helpful. Although it looks like there are a lot of pages scheduled for each reading day, possibly more than I'd like for one sitting if I read it aloud. I was planning on using Mystery of History, which seems super similar to this. I'd love to hear thoughts on how the two programs are different! Thanks for describing the writing style as you see it, that's exactly the kind of feedback I'm looking for!

Has anyone used The World's Story for history? I know it is new so I'm hesitant to try it, but I love the pictures and how art work and architecture are integrated with it.

I realize these are new products and probably haven't had tons of users yet, but am curious to read reviews. Does anyone have an opinion on these? I'm looking at The World's Story: The Middle Ages for my rising 6th and 8th graders.

They give pretty good samples of each light unit on their website. I think you could pick it up in any grade level and that it pretty much goes through the Bible. We haven't used it but I'm considering CLE for Bible next year. From reading through the samples I get the impression that it is what I'd call "straight Bible teaching" vs. being devotional in nature. Now their reading curriculum definitely has some devotional/character training aspects to it.

I got Wheelock's used online for a few dollars and I'm really impressed by it, too! I also picked up Cambridge and that is a fun and interesting course. Now to figure out to combine and supplement with all these great resources...!

No, online is not an option financially, nor is dd interested in that. I do assume that as some point in the future we will need to go that route, but for now we want to keep it at home.

2girlsmommy, thanks for sharing your sequence. MP lesson plans are great, aren't they! It sounds as if you are doing this on your own at home, is that right? Are you planning to prepare for the AP exam on your own? I really like the Form series, and I personally have no problems with Henle. However, my dd is adverse to continuing with Henle and I want to keep her enthusiasm for Latin alive. In general she is not one to complain about curriculum choices and happily complies with whatever I pick out. Henle Latin seems to be the exception, so that is why I'm looking for other options.

This is very helpful, thanks! It looks like starting with LA 2 after Henle I is the recommended route, and I do really like the idea of "filling in any holes" and just cementing what she has learned. There was lots of grammar in the Form series, but now having to keep it all straight while reading a longer passage is a bit daunting. I think we're going to do Latin Alive with readings from either Cambridge or Lingua Latina as a supplement and to keep up interest. While I do understand and agree with the grammar-first methodology, I think having the context of reading continuous stories will add interest and booster her enthusiasm.

No, I don't think she needs more time on the basics, although this second half of 4Form has been tough because of the lengthy readings and having to apply all that she has learned. She has not enjoyed the Henle readings at all, although I'd say she really likes Latin in general. I don't want to squelch her enthusiasm by doing Henle II next year as a stand alone program. But, you're right, I don't want to waste time by moving backwards instead of forwards. After looking at that comparison chart, it looks like she's already learned most of LA books 1 and 2. I'd hate to jump into another program late in the game and loose momentum. One concern is that I have read Henle is not as ideal for AP and NLE practice as Wheelock's, and supposedly Latin Alive is written from Wheelock's and just as good? I would love to add readings and more "interesting" parts to our Latin. Thanks for the suggestion of Lingua Latina. Do you think that would be better than Cambridge for that kind of a supplement?

My dd (and I) will be finishing Fourth Form/ Henle I this year. Henle is fine, but I'm looking into other options. What else would be a good program for an 8th grader who has done Henle I and has a good grasp of it so far, but would like something a bit more interesting to keep that motivation going? I'm looking at Wheelock's and at Latin Alive. Wheelock's seems to be like the most thorough and efficient path to AP Latin, but honestly Latin Alive looks much more appealing. If she did Latin Alive, would she start with book 1 or book 2? Can she still get to AP Latin by 11th grade? Can we get by without the DVDs?

We used full MP for a couple of years, took a year + off, and now are back to full MP (and I've already ordered next year's books). We left for some of the same reasons mentioned above. I was getting bored and wanted more freedom to just read and notebook, without doing the guides and tests and such. What I found was that it became harder, not easier, for us to do that than simply follow MP plans, and my kids were retaining far less. Sure they enjoyed just reading and making a notebook page more than working in a guide and studying for a test, but they weren't mastering any of the material and forgot it so quickly. No, MP isn't necessarily fun or entertaining. The joy comes in thoroughly learning the material, and reaping the benefits of hard, disciplined work. I feel like MP is helping me teach my dc good study habits because they are learning that they have to constantly review material. These skills will help them succeed in the future with any kind of class or work they find themselves doing. Don't look at the student books as workbooks! They are meant to be guides. They guide the student through the readings by helping them thoroughly understand and remember what they have read. This is so different than just reading a chapter, or even than reading plus narrating (which we always did). This requires them to pay attention to details that they might have missed, and helps them weed through all the information and pull out the main ideas and facts worth remembering. Even the tests themselves are great tools for this! They force the kids to work and re-work with the material until they actually know and understand what the book is about. Kids can do a lot of this independently, which I love! However, I do make sure to meet with the olders to go over their guides each day because it is so helpful to discuss the material together.

Grammar: Rod and Staff 8 (first half) Literature: Wind in the Willows, Treasure Island, Tom Sawyer, As You Like It with MP guides, plus American Poetry and Short Stories Writing: Classical Composition Refutation & Confirmation Latin: Fourth Form Latin Greek: First Form Greek Math: College of the Redwoods Pre-Algebra Geography: MP Geography III History: Mill's Book of the Ancient World and Book of the Ancient Greeks, Illiad and Odyssey (with MP guides) Science: ? I don't know. Why is this always the hard one? Maybe MP Book of Trees or Nature's Beautiful Order, or maybe Apologia General Science.

So, I'll ask another way. What don't you like about Memoria Press? That information might help, too.

We use the art cards as part of our morning time, so they are in a basket along with our Bibles, verses, poems, etc. I flip through them like flashcards and the kids race to identify the names of paintings and the artists. We do spend time discussing the current one of the week, but the rest are just for continual review. Btw, that's for my older kids. You can keep doing parts of MP enrichment every year even after siblings move past the ages. A bonus of this is that my kids have learned to differentiate between styles of various artists. When a new piece comes up, I'll sometimes have them guess who the artist might be. If it is one they have seen before in an earlier year or week, they often recognize the similarities. It's like making friends with paintings :).

What do you like, specifically? I think Veritas Press is similar for many subjects, such as literature, geography, and art appreciation. I think Memoria Press might be in a class of their own for the way they do classical studies and other rotating subjects, as in going deep vs. wide and aiming for mastery over a smaller portion.

I love workbooks for these early years and have used them with each of my kids. The ones mentioned are great, plus Developing the Early Learner and Memoria Press Alphabet Books, Number Books, and Numbers and Colors.

You could do First and Second Form in one year at that age. Some classical schools do that with new students coming in at those levels. Honestly, I think they are much easier to understand than Henle! The layout is clearer and more organized, IMO. Or just do a Form a year and ease into it. First and Second are much simpler than Third, though, when the work really steps up a few notches.

We're also using Memoria Press's States and Capitals. They even have a review book for the next year. The daily work is easy and interesting, but the hardest part has been memorizing the locations of each state. It is helpful that they break it up by regions.