That's good advise. I would have gone from a pre-planned guides to too many assignments of narrations! THANKS! Pam

OhE-- Great to know! I am putting this in my file of options. Pam

So refreshing to hear it from someone else! ::sigh of relief:: Pam

I'm thinking of ditching BP and striking out on our own. Scary thought. :) I never stick with a pre-planned history guide and end up feeling defeated and frustrated. They all have too much or too little (mostly too much), and I have too much trouble making decisions, get too many books, and don't do any because we're overwhelmed. What if we just read Guerber and SOTW. We are in Middle Ages this year. I have a lot of the BP booklist I can add IF we get to it. If not, we read the spines. Or should we stick with BP and drop all of their 'extras,' like cool history, discussions, maps, timelines, crafts, and giants of the faith? Just do written narrations? I'm about ready to grab a BJU (or something of the sort) textbook and forget it all! AND, I'm fretting over 9th grade coming up next year. Just tooooooooooo much on my plate right now! And I'm not sure if I'll be making it better or worse??? :( Pam (boys, ages 10,12, & 14--none are strong readers)

We LOVE Lyrical Science! Pam

Thanks I'll keep this in mind. Pam

I meant... "just the primary writing program, Teaching Writing Structure and Style/Student Writing Intensive (IEW TWSS/SWI)." And maybe... "the continuation course (SICC)." Not ALL of the IEW as a company (with all of their Lit. and Grammar, etc.), but as a Writing Program, as quoted above. ETA: And just Andrew Pudewa materials. I have not read good reports about some of the others, such as Elegant Essay. I don't know why I thought everyone could read my mind. :) Pam

Going all the way through IEW, what doesn't it teach that you would want to touch on at some point? Pam

Interesting I never thought of that. Pam

What did you use before PZ? IF you did use something else. Pam

I have been digging into all the reviews I can find, but they mostly seem to be dated 6 or more years ago. Is anyone using it? Did you use it? How far did you go in it? Does it have a high 'dropped it' rate? How was retention? Pam

I bought and sold LFC, and we are doing LL instead. If we make it through LL2, what would we do after that? I was thinking of LA, but I'll need to look at the TOC to see what is taught....unless someone has that all figured out. :) Pam

That is so funny! I was going to ask if anyone had ever heard of Artes Latinae. That is the only Latin program I knew of when our oldest 5 were homeschooling. I knew nothing about classical education, etc., back then. We only toyed around with AL, and I sold it eons ago. We had cassette tapes that went with it. :) I actually know someone who probably still has it. I am going to call her! Pam

If you get the pdf only, do you get EVERYTHING that you would get on the CD, even the mp3 (through download) and video access? It looks like that is what they are saying on the web site, but I want to make sure. Pam

Good thought! Pam

Do you purchase the book and CD or the CD only? If you print your own pages, are there a lot of pictures throughout the book? I can only see samples for the 2 lessons/book. I don't want to spend a fortune on toner. :) Pam

That sounds great! I am going to check out the Anki.... Thanks! Pam

I haven't read what ages LL is for. Would it suit a somewhat slower learner 8th grader who only did SSL years ago? Can 10, 12, and 14 year olds do it together? Or would it be better to do the 10 yo in GSWL first? Pam

I'l start... We did SSL years ago. We are doing GSWS now, but I really want to go back to Latin. I have bought and sold PL and LfC more than once. :( I am REALLY looking for reviews of LL! Pam

Couldn't help myself! :) What are you using for Latin? Did you do Latin prior to middle school? If you did, did you stay with the same company? Pam

We are doing Essentials in Writing for 7th and 8th graders this year. My boys are REALLY liking it! MORE than half the battle. :) Pam

Thanks... I never seem to get past 'here.' I forget there are other boards. :) I didn't realize there were others with the same syndrome as me!! I'll check it out. Pam

By looking at your signature, you are not using CAP FFC this year. Can you compare CAP and MP French and tell us why you switched? Pam

7th and 8th graders are both doing Exploration Education as well as some Tinker- Science and Engineer projects from Kiwi Co. In the past we did some Apoloia, RSO, and smidgens of others, but mostly interest-led. Pam

Thank you for your review of first hand experience! Pam