We start Latin in kindy here, using Getting Started With Latin. I can't recommend it highly enough!! It is a *great* introduction, and super simple to implement (even for those of us who have never had any Latin ourselves). After taking 6-12 mos to make our way through GSWL, we move on to Lingua Latina (slowly!) I think, for best results, it is helpful to have some basic English grammar before beginning. All eight parts of speech for sure, but also some basic parts of the sentence (subject, predicate, prepositional phrase). Being able to identify direct object and indirect object is helpful, too, though my first child learned first as we went through GSWL. I recommend going through Grammar Island and Sentence Island of MCT and the practice sentences, or FLL level 1 and maybe even 2. If you want to start Latin now but your kids haven't had English grammar yet, you could start GSWL while at the same time start reading through Grammar Island together. Go through GI rather quickly (maybe a month), then start Sentence Island and Practice Island. In my experience, the two programs complement each other really nicely.

chesskid.com You can join for free and play loads of games, as well as a few puzzles every day and I'm not sure what else. There is also a membership that allows you to watch loads of really excellent instructional videos, as well as more puzzles and such. You can get the membership 50% off if you buy through homeschool buyers co-op (I think it is usually 25$/yr through the co-op).

We start ours on Suzuki piano at 4 yrs old. I agree it is as much ore more about the parent's willingness than the child's. If you are up for it, and the teacher agrees, then I'd go ahead and start him. If you are iffy about lessons but want to encourage him, here are two additional ideas: 1) Buy Suzuki Piano book 1 (and CD). Some of these songs are the same as those in the flute and violin books. Have your older DS help your younger DS figure out the right hand of the songs (it sounds like he is already doing this, but just make sure it is in the same key as the written music). Then have your older DS play the left hand while your younger DS is playing the right hand. Super fun :-) 2) See where your DDs' flute and violin books overlap with the Suzuki Piano Book 1 (not only in song but in key). Then have your older DS teach the left hand part to your younger DS (the first few are super easy patterns). Then have younger DS play left hand on piano while a DD plays the melody on flute or violin. These are just ways to encourage your DS to make music and will buy you some more time before having to pay for lessons. But meanwhile it could also help him develop his ear more as well as coordination and skill.

I want to watch NBC broadcast tv recorded and fast forward or skip ahead. Just the regular stations, not cable ones. This is what we have: Laptop Kindle Android tablet Small flat-screen tv, but no service Ideally, we could watch on the tv, but the laptop would also be fine. I really just want to subscribe to something for a month (Hulu? Or something else???) and watch regular nbc tv (I don’t think I care about cable stations). I do not have a cable provider so can’t use anything that requires that. I guess I’m looking for the modern-day equivalent to an antenna and a VCR, LOL. Ideas?

How do you handle this? What if you don't know for SURE that they are faking? DS10 generally likes school ok (although of course prefers his free time). However, a couple of weeks ago he complained of a stomach ache and needed to go to the bathroom a lot. I figured something he ate disagreed with him, and I told him maybe he needed to just sit on the toilet for a bit. Fast forward to now... he has now used this "excuse" numerous times over the last couple of weeks. I call it an excuse because it never seems to happen except when he is supposed to be doing school. Kinda suspicious, in my book... Any ideas for how I can deal with this and suss out whether he is legitimately sick? I don't want to take him to the doctor if he doesn't need it, but I also don't want to be uncompassionate or foolish if he does. DS is generally a trustworthy kid, so I feel bad being suspicious, but the timing is a little weird...

Ohhhhh my goodness, that is all kinds of wonderful! I had started making our own "by civilization" list and so appreciate your sharing yours so I can quit :-) Now I just wish I could get iTunes (or Audible or WMP or ANYONE!) to let me break up my HOTAW audiobook into chapters so I could make playlists by civilization....! Btw, love the handy bookmark at the end - already emailed that to my Kindle as a reference for when I listen to my audiobook. Wahoo!!!!! Thanks again!!!

Ok, thanks for cluing me in! Sorry if it was a dumb question, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't missing out on something amazing :P I was just confused because I had just also ordered two other items and they are arriving on Monday with my Prime membership, so I couldn't understand why this one is Wednesday. I know, right?!?! LOL

We are new to Amazon Prime and I don't understand what this graphic means: The item in question is $34.95, but it looks to ME like if I buy it with 1-Click with Wed selected, I will get it free. But in reality, it just bills like normal. The shipping is supposed to be free anyway, since we are Prime members, so what is the graphic talking about? What is free on Wed, and what is $6.99 on Tues? And if it really is supposed to be FREE - which is not what my invoice says - how do I get ahold of their customer service? I've ordered this way twice now and both times it has come up with a regular priced invoice. Am I doing something wrong??

I have done the middle level with my elementary students. We love MtM and have done almost all of the artists in the program. However, I would agree with PP that it is not at all a high school level course. The content is good, just very basic. For a high schooler I'd be more apt to look up Sister Wendy's history of art videos on YouTube or something similar.

My DC like Typing Instructor for Kids.

Oh, and we also did it all orally. Occasionally for GSWL I wrote it out on the whiteboard so we could analyze the cases more easily, but I have never had to do that with GSWS since the grammar is far simpler (maybe partially because GSWL is already behind us).

I haven't done GSWF, but I'm a big fan of GSW- series in general. I did GSWL with my DS when he was 6 (took us a year, but we went slower than necessary), then we did GSWS when was 9 (took about 3 mos). DD is 6.5 and I finished GSWL with her about 5 months ago, and we are just now wrapping up GSWS. We tend to do a lot of "grammar discussion" around here. For DS, he was already well into FFL3 when we started GSWL (so he had learned English grammar fairly well before starting GSWL). But for DD, I used the GSWL and GSWS experiences to introduce some grammar concepts to her that we maybe had not yet covered as formally in English yet. I found it worked well for us in both situations. I do, however, recommend using a spaced repetition flashcard system like Anki to review vocab regularly. Keeping the vocab really fresh makes the GSW- experience go so much more smoothly.

Ahhh, I see. How about trying a book like this then? I have it on my Wishlist but haven't bought it yet, so I can't review it myself. But maybe this could get you started more cheaply than a mod class? Learn to Program with Minecraft And these too - Minecraft Modding for Kids Adventures in Minecraft

Has he already done other programming? You could start with Scratch (super easy to start with because you don't even need to install anything, you just do it on the website). We like using these two books to start out: Super Scratch Learn Scratch I also just got this as our next programming step Hello, App Inventor! I'm interest in Minecraft programming for DS, also, but Scratch is a super easy (and cheap) way to start and get some of the basic logic concepts down.

Yes, I agree that different techniques work well for different people. Although I'd also add that, for any learner, using multiple modalities is better than using only one (even if the one you use is the "best" for you). See it, hear it, say it, write it... organize it, imagine it, etc...

We do tons of memorization around here (in fact we will do Bio this fall, too) and this is what helps us: - Rather than Quizlet, use a spaced repetition system like Anki. It is a far more efficient way to learn than traditional flashcards. - Include "connection" cards, even though they may seem easy and are not in the study guide. They just help you remember the context of other cards/vocab words. For example, if you have to learn herbivores, carnivores, omnivores, producers, consumers, decomposers, autotrophs, and heterotrophs in a chapter, add an Anki question that might be something like "What are some different ways to classify organisms, and why is it helpful? - Get and use a study partner. It is great that you and DS have each other to learn with, but make sure you are learning as much as he is (not just making him learn it). That will make it easier for both of you. Go through your Anki deck together each day (well, 4-5 times a week at least). As you learn the cards (particularly as you get to know them *well*, not just at the beginnning when they are new and unfamiliar), treat the cards as narration prompts. See how much info you can tell each other about the topic at hand. Then one of you peek at the answer, and if anything was missed, ask a question to the other person to prompt them for the info. - Connect as you review, even if the Anki card doesn't include that connection. As you learn more, connect it to what you already know, so that you are building a web of related information. Do this in narration/conversational style with your DS. Discuss, discuss, discuss. - Keep reviewing Anki cards from the old chapters as you add the new ones. This is the beauty of spaced repetition! The old cards get spaced out so you don't see them often, but they do come up often enough for you to continue to remember the info. Continue to review them, and as later chapters use that earlier info, you will be amazed at how easy it is to learn, since the earlier info is still fresh in your mind. - When you are really struggling with remembering something, work at organizing the information more and see if you can figure out a pattern, or a visual cue to help you walk through the info. Creating charts, diagrams, and drawings help us a lot in recall, because it helps reveal patterns, as well as gives us a mental image we can "look at" in our heads. Sometimes I then like to put these images into Anki so we can look at them regularly to really cement them in our minds. - If you still can't remember something even after working with the info to organize and connect it, set it aside and figure out a mnemonic for it. Mnemonics are great when needed, but only when needed. :-)

I think the method Monica gave you in the link is the easiest - and it really is quick and easy once you have done it a few times. You are right that having the correct pics is the complication. For this, though, I just use Google images - Google the word, click on images, pick the image I want, right click and select Copy, then go back into Anki and Paste it into the field where I want it. It's pretty quick for concrete nouns, locations, etc. Finding audio clips is trickier, but I'm going to check out the database Monica mentioned. For my Chinese deck, I use an add-on I downloaded that was created by some other Anki user. Somehow he has managed to make a card type that is tied in to a language database that exists online, and when I type in the character I want, it autopopulates the entire rest of the card - including definition, tones, pinyin, and some other stuff, **including** and audio clip! It is seriously impressive. Wish I could find something similar for Latin and Spanish :-)

Ooh, always love a book recommendation, thanks - I'll definitely look that one up! I love the *idea* of images on flashcards, but I have yet to make them that way myself. I grabbed a shared deck for Spanish, though, and a lot of the concrete nouns and verbs it contains have images. I totally agree with the idea behind it - that you don't want to be "translating" your vocab; you really want it to become an "idea" in your head (and actually, that same idea is behind our doing the "use the word in a sentence in the target language" and "define the word in the target language" methods). Ten words a day over the long term (especially if it includes reverse cards) seems aggressive to me for a spaced repetition system. I can see doing that at the beginning to ramp up a bit, but over the long term that could lead to huge review stacks. We have about 1000 Latin vocab cards currently (only Latin ->English, the reverse cards are currently suspended), but because we added them gradually, they are very spaced out we only get about 20 reviews per day, and we get those done in under 5 min easily. When I add a new chapter, I will add about 5-10 words a day (I suspend the reverse cards for now, so it will be 5-10 cards). It will take us less than two weeks for all the chapter's vocab to be added by Anki (assuming 50 words in a chapter, and we review about 5x per week). The review stack grows quickly during that time, but then we will have a couple of weeks off where no new Latin vocab is added, and the stack will get whittled down again. I also love the idea of adding audio clips. Our Chinese cards do have those (they are added automatically when I create the card - it is so impressive!!!) I don't add them to our Latin or Spanish, but I am considering adding phrases to our decks (especially things we would need in regular conversation), and would love audio clips for that. Unfortunately I might be the one recording them, which is obviously less than ideal, LOL!

Hmmm, re: foreign language vocab - are you fluent in the language you are adding for DS, and is that part of why you are adding so quickly? I am not fluent in the languages we study (Latin, Chinese, and Spanish), so our learning probably progresses slower than yours, thus we add cards more slowly. We have sometimes found ourselves overwhelmed with cards, but if that happens, I simply stop adding new cards for a while, and get the current cards pushed out farther. Then we start adding new cards again. I keep different decks for different subjects, and we are usually adding new cards for a couple of subjects at a time, while at the same time whittling down our other decks as we continue to review them. Then we switch around which decks I'm adding to. It produces a nice ebb and flow to our Anki reviews. Another thing I have realized is that it is fine if our Anki deck lags behind our learning. I suppose *ideally* they would be completely coordinated, but that just isn't practical around here. Most often that is because I haven't had time to create the cards yet, but other times it is because I don't want to overload us with new cards too fast. Currently in our Latin studies, we are reading through chapter 21 of our book (Orberg's Lingua Latina, which has about 50 vocab words per chapter), but we are only through chapter 16 in our Anki cards. We do periodically reread the texts of chapters 17-20 to review the vocab and grammar introduced, and then by the time we have the chapter in Anki, the vocab is very easy to learn and so it gets pushed out the the future fairly quickly. How were you doing your foreign language vocab drill when you got burned out? Presenting the word in the foreign language, and DC responds with English, or vice versa, or something else? I've been playing around with how we do it and am always looking for new ideas. In the past I have mostly done the above - I give the word in the target language, he responds with English. But lately we've been making it more conversational, as well as more integrated between the languages we study (and hence more challenging, too). Here are some of the things we are trying lately. For these examples, Anki presents a word in our target language and then: - DS has to use the word in a sentence in the target language (a good sentence showing that he knows what it means, not a lousy sentence, lol) OR - DS has to define the word in the target language OR - DS has to give me the meaning of the word using a different target language (e.g, I give him a Latin word, he tells me the Spanish or Chinese equivalent) (obviously this only works for words we know in both languages, but that list is growing!) OR - DS has to define the word in a different target language. This sounds like it could become totally confusing, but honestly I have been pleasantly surprised that thus far it has not caused confusion between our languages. And a pleasant side-effect is that sometimes our Anki review session becomes a lesson in and of itself, you know? For us, reviewing in this way is more interesting and more effective (especially for learning conversational skills). We don't always do it (it is a bit slower, depending on how well we know the words), and we don't usually belabor individual cards - if it takes him too long to figure out a sentence or definition in a target language, I just let him give me the English and we keep moving. Or sometimes I will ask him a prompting question of my own in the target language, or even give him a sentence or definition (after all, I need the same practice he does, since I am learning alongside him). Then, even though he couldn't think of the sentence or definition himself, he is still getting listening and comprehension practice of a sentence, and hearing the word used in context. All that being said, if your and your DC's language skills are such that you can add words really quickly to Anki and thus your daily review deck ends up enormous, maybe adjusting deck options might be a good idea. How many new words are you adding a day, and for how long will that continue? Are they from a textbook, and if so, how many vocab words are in the whole book? Could you just continue to add until you finish the textbook, then give your DS a month or so before starting the next textbook, and during that time he could keep doing Anki so that by the time the new textbook starts, his daily review deck is small again?

As an avid Anki devotee and evangelist, that was a fascinating read, thank you for sharing! I can't imagine homeschooling without Anki, but I can totally see how Anki could become a nightmare for some, as it did for the guy in the article. I’m glad to see how his perspective changed and helped redeem the method of spaced repetition, because it really is such an effective way to learn. But ultimately it DOES need to be/become more than “spouting out the answerâ€. More on this in a subsequent reply… Regarding poetry, I will say that we do not use Anki to memorize long texts or poems verbatim. I have tried this in the past, and honestly, we tend to not like Anki cards that require lengthy verbatim recitation. I totally identify with his comments on "efficiency" and wanting to get the reviews "done". Long verbatim texts are just not well-suited for Anki, IME… though I am always trying to figure out how to better use the system for this, because we DO memorize some lengthy text/poetry (though nothing as long as the entire book of Mark, as the guy in the article did!). My latest plan is: Read the poem regularly and really study it, as he said. Think about the meter, the patterns, the figurative language, etc. Memorize little by little using a methodology like that on Simply Charlotte Mason Have a deck in Anki that contains all the “really long verbatim†cards, whether they are text, poetry, whatever… The only things that go in that deck are things that are *already* learned, and which can be spaced out by at least a week already without forgetting. I like them being in a deck of their own, because it keeps them from popping up in the middle of a bunch of quick cards. That used to drive me crazy… we’d be chugging along and all of a sudden we would hit a card for Exodus 20, or for the Nicene Creed, and it would bring our reviewing to a screeching halt. Ugh! Space out the adding of new cards to that deck so that you don’t have to review more than about one a day. Right now we have a poetry deck, but it only has about 20 poems in it (and they aren’t too terribly long) – but since we know them all, they end up widely spaced and the deck does not overwhelm us. If a verbatim text starts getting hard to remember, it needs to go back into the Simply Charlotte Mason method, OR it needs to be accepted as “good enough†and move on. I’d love to know your thoughts about it and what you have found in your own research and/or experience. This is an area where I always feel like we are not where I want to be. Though honestly part of it is that I get BORED with learning things verbatim. I really wish I didn’t!!! But I do.

I second this recommendation, btw. LOVE iTalki! We have a Chinese tutor we use on there (a native lady who lives in China and Skypes with us - how cool is that?!). Also, there is a notebook section where you can write entries in your target language, and native speakers will suggest corrections to you (for free). It is so wonderful!

If he is verbally GT, I'd switch to Latin, do GSWL and then Orberg's Lingua Latina (either on your own, or better yet, using Dwane Thomas's Lingua Latina online courses, which are priced very reasonably at $25/mo to watch the class videos all you want!). He will learn a TON of grammar in Lingua Latina, and Spanish will be a cinch after that. Read Dwane Thomas's post here about why Orberg's Lingua Latina is so great... because it IS! Learning Latin might be a cinch after really learning Spanish thoroughly, too. But Lingua Latina is SUCH an awesome book for learning Latin I just had to throw it out there. FWIW, my DS is also very strong in LA. As a bitty kiddo (5-6) he loved grammar, but after we finished 3rd grade grammar (FLL 3) in kindy, I started DS in Latin at 6.5 with GSWL. We went slowly, and then a year later we started Lingua Latina. He has just turned 10 and we are still at it (it is not a fast book; it is equivalent to two years of college Latin). Meanwhile when he turned 8 we also started learning Chinese (its grammar is SIMPLE compared to Latin, but vocab and tones are a challenge), and after he turned 9 we added Spanish (very informally, through DuoLingo and reading Spanish children's books and Magic Treehouse in Spanish together). Spanish grammar AND vocab are simple after all we have learned in Latin (and truly we are able to almost immediately read books like Curious George and Magic Treehouse in Spanish, simply because of all the Latin we had done through Lingua Latina). So anyway... I know that isn't the Spanish answer you are looking for... but just wanted to share our love for Orberg :D

That is a great question... We listen to *loads* of audiobooks around here, so I'll tell you what we do, FWIW. I have a DS10, DD6, and DD2. Personally, I would not play an audiobook when my kids are noisy. Noise drives me CRAAAAZY, and an audiobook would 1) add to the noise, and 2) encourage my kids to talk even LOUDER over it. That would drive me nuts, so no, in our house, we do not listen to audiobooks when I am in the room and my kids are noisy. If I am *not* in the room (and they are not doing schoolwork), technically they can turn on whatever audiobook they want and be as loud as they want, LOL. Though I wouldn't generally encourage having an audiobook on when no one is able to listen to it; I think it would just contribute to higher stress for everyone, and I think it could teach kids how to "tune out" the audiobook, and that is probably not something you want to teach (at least I don't). My kids generally don't bother to turn on an audiobook in a loud environment. Also FWIW, I bought classic iPods on eBay for DS10 (when he was 7) and DD6 (when she was 4) and put docking stations in their bedrooms, the kitchen, den, schoolroom, and playroom. I load up their iPods with oodles of audiobooks and music, and they can put on what they want, whenever they want, *unless* they are doing school (then they have just a couple of instrumental playlists to choose from; no distracting lyrics or audiobooks). If DH or I are in the room, though, we might veto. Prime quiet listening times for my kids are bedtime and mealtimes. They also like to listen when doing quiet activities like playing with clay or drawing. DD6 also likes to play in her room by herself and often listens to audiobooks then. So, you mentioned that you have four kids under 6; if I were you, I'd consider giving any child over 4 opportunities to listen to audiobooks when the littler ones are not with them.

Awww, I'm sorry that happened. I would TOTALLY do the same thing! And I agree with all the PP - don't give yourself too much grief, this kind of thing happens to everyone :D That being said, I have realized that if I am not *learning with* my kids, yet I am making them *learn*, they will quickly pass me up. As a result, I've started making myself learn everything with them. I do not mean simply reading the material passively; I mean really *learn* it. Memorize it (this is the hardest part and requires the most self-discipline, frankly). Wrestle with it. Organize it. Notice patterns. Make comparisons. Have discussions. We do this using Anki extensively. Basically everything we learn, I put into Anki and we review constantly. It helps ALL of us learn, and the more we add to Anki and review, the better all of our wrestling/organizing/comparing/discussing/etc. goes. I've been shocked at how easy it is to learn this way. Not that it doesn't still take a lot of work - it DOES! - but if you really internalize basic facts, vocab, etc., it is amazing how much easier it is to add additional learning to that foundation. Basically, it is the common neoclassical idea of memory work, but for everyone, not just little kids. If they have to learn the emperors of Rome, then I have to learn the emperors of Rome. If they have to learn a location, or a date, or a vocab word - then I have to learn it, too. Among other things, over time, this makes me a much better teacher. (Actually, for the youngers, it makes my job MUCH easier because I can just spout all kinds of things off the top of my head, whereas for my eldest I have always had to rely on our curricula.) Anyway, just a thought, if you are trying to figure out how to keep up with your kiddos. But I'm sure you are doing great! :-)

Sorry if this is a totally dumb question - it certainly shows that I am not nearly as well-read in all these people as you are (sorry, never even heard of the Donnelly guy, and I've not read the EFL thread you mention)! - but why is learning Latin always considered to be inherently different (and harder) than learning any other language (including any other heavily inflected language)? I love reading about educational philosophy and researching curricula (and I currently have about 15+ Latin programs on my shelf, which is not even including the 10+ that I've already tossed!). But what is my *goal* in studying Latin? Is my *goal* "to use classical (or EFL or Donnelly or whomever) methods" (whatever "classical" even means these days!)? Or is my *goal* "proficiency in Latin". For us, it is clearly the latter. And so I have finally sought out polyglots, not classical education experts. I want to know from people who have a *proven* track record in independently learning languages (especially languages of very different types) how THEY have really been able to do it. And I want to know this not only so that we can gain proficiency in Latin, but also in Spanish and Chinese, which we also currently study (and none of which was I even remotely skilled in when we started). At the end of the day, similar methods seem to apply to all. Anyway, this probably doesn't help you, if your goal is to apply methods of Donnelly et al... just throwing it out as an honest question! :D