I just recently began teaching a couple of psych courses and am enjoying them. They are evening courses as most students have full time jobs during the day and work on their degrees in the evening. I was most intimidated by the technology side of things but have gradually picked it up. I am now in the process of making some small adjustments to our daily schedule, especially on Wed. and Thurs. My kids are in 11th, 5th, and 3rd. My 9th grader attends a magnet school where my husband teaches. rmiz

Hello, I've read several threads regarding materials to prep for AP Am Hist. My daughter has been reading The Am Pageant (about to start ch 9), recently finished the John Adams DVDs. I also purchased the Teaching Co. lectures and have seen the first 12 or 13 lectures. THere is no way we can cover all the chapters from the textbook even if we did a chapter a week!! She usually reads the chapter twice and does the study guide that goes with it and then she takes a ch test with questions I pull from the study guide. Question: What do we focus on from the text? Is there a list of which chapters are the most important? Would it actually be enough to focus on the lectures from TC? how would you do grades from that? Your guidance would be greatly appreciated!! thanks rmiz

Thank you so, so much ladies!!! This really gives me a good glimpse of the level of commitment that this would demand from me as well as my daughter. I am beginning to realize that it would be difficult to do if we start it in late Aug. or Sept. I might want to get going in early summer and work through the summer. That means I need to make my purchases in April or May and get my planning done in advance. uuuffff sounds like tons of work!!! thanks again rmiz

As I said, this is my oldest so everything is new to us/me. I have not heard about APUSH yet. I will research it. I have already downloaded a topic outline from CB site. I am beginning to look at what texts have the highest recommendations. It sure seems like a heap of work!!! rmiz

Hello, I do not frequently ask questions but I lurk regularly. I am in the planning stages for next year. I would like my dd to take the AP test for American history and have begun researching. THis is my oldest child so this is all new to me. I could use some help!! If your student took the AP exam in Am. Hist.: -what textbook did you use? -did you use a study guide? -did you purchase practice tests from previous years for extra practice? Any thoughts or suggestions are welcome. tia rmiz

Hi, My daughter is on week 26 of the Ancients program. Last week I received the box for World Hist. WHat I like about it: THe weekly grid is very well organized and it has the small box for my disorganized child to check the box when she completes each task. There is a blank spot for the weekly math, science, language, and other activities or subjects. THe books selected are excellent! (We, I read most of it out loud, just finished the Iliad and she is currently working on her essay about the Greek concept of seeking self glory, which is coming along well. ) I like that my girl is getting a thorough study of the OT and she is having to think about what she read. WHat has been difficult: Early on it feels like the student is struggling just to keep her head above water. It just feels like it's coming at you 100 mph. HOwever, it forced my daughter to learn to "keep up". I am sure you will get more details. Overall I am very pleased with choosing MFW for high school. It is worth the money. rmiz

Hi, I seldom post but I really wanted to reply. My girl and I are really enjoying it. It is not easy, quick, fill in the blank kind of stuff. It requires thinking and quite a bit of time reading. I think the only thing she does not like is The Answer Book bc she says it goes on and on. I am overall very pleased with it and plan to do year 2 next year. We are doing it very much as it is written. I will probably do Illiad on audio to make it easier on her. Actually, the only thing she is struggling with is Biol. No surprise. SHe is an artsy kid who plans to become an animator. This was a great fir for her and I want to thank Crystal for her encouragement (on another board) to try it. rmiz

Hi, R&S 5 English has 119 lessons rmiz

boscopup, can you add a little bit about the age/grade/difficulty level of the activities in the biblioplan guide??? I am thinking of doing that for next year. mythreebears, I was wondering about that too. tia rmiz

My dd is in 8th grade but I am starting to research. My dd is very artsy and plans to study art and maybe become an animator. She is ADD so organization is very important for me. These programs both look good. From what little I have been able to sort out Notgrass looks more intensive/challenging but DWaring seems to have more flexibility for various learning styles. what could you tell me about these if you are familiar with either or both?? TIA rmiz

I downloaded and then printed the first 20 or so lessons of Sheldon's PLL. My impression was that it was more of an upper elementary program. It was definitely too advanced for my 2nd grader! It is excellent, though, and I can see possibly see doing it in 5th grade or maybe 4th grade. Also, my understanding is that it has been out of print for probably decades. rmiz

Medieval Mom, I am considering it with a 6th grader. He has not had any Latin yet. I may start in January. Sweet home Alabama, It's great to hear of your success with it. you mentioned your son is in 2nd grade and you guys have encountered some grammar with which he was not yet familiar, in your opinion, what would be a good grade to start the program??? I ask because in the past (with my oldest) I have made the mistake of starting thing a little prematurely and the frustration level escalated quickly. Needless to say we quit stuff. I am attempting to not repeat that mistake again. Also, could a 6th grader who has never done latin work it independently?? TIA rmiz

I, too, just read The Core. After doing so I ordered the Foundations Guide in order to get a clearer grasp of what to memorize when. I see the memorizations as a great addition to what we are already going during the week. My kids do awana, so they have already been memorizing for years. Having had my oldest just transition to an 8th grade magnet school district, I can now see areas in which I should have demanded more, and, therefore, what I want to do differently with the younger ones. It was a good read. Her examples are excellent and I am looking forward to adding in history and science memorizations. rmiz

CLE math is solid, thorough, there is plenty of practice of material covered in previous lessons, it is a workbook format, affordable, etc I have to add one drawback I found is that when new material is introduced there is only a little practice of that new material, and then the lesson goes on to review. THe idea is that this new material will then be reviewed for a long time so the child will (eventually) get it mastered. However, my child struggled with it because he felt like he had so many things he had not yet mastered and still new stuff was being added. I would pause with the workbook and spend a couple of days reviewing only those couple of new subjects just recently introduced. Another possible drawback is that the sunrise edition only goes to the 800's or 8th grade. THey are now working on algebra 1. HTH rmiz

I think you and I are reaching some of the same conclusions at a similar time. I ordered my Foundations guide last weeks. I am going to incorporate as I am able to do w/o getting myself too frazzled about it. We are doing Am. History so we will probably go with cycle 3 this year. Hoping we can give each other feedback over the next few weeks. rmiz

Thank you so much... SO the audio CD's would be high priority to purchase..... ANother question, do any of you use the spelling plus that Ms. Bortins recommends in the core??? rmiz

Hi, last year for 1st grade I used the CLE learn to read with LA combination. If you were to take a look at what the child will have covered by the end of LA 110 you might be surprised by how advanced it is!!!! IMO, it looked more like a beginning 3rd grade grammar level!!! We did not begin it until Jan., so when June came about we were in LTR 107 and LA 103. We did not pick up at this point bc I am doing MFW Adventures and it uses Primary Language Lessons. I would encourage you to look at the samples in the cle web site. Your child may be up to the challenge. It is a very solid program. BTW, my girl did a lot of reading over the summer and her reading level really took off. I would guess she is reading somewhere around 4th grade level at this point. So, I may come back and finish up the LA program later in the year and think of it as a 2nd grade LA program. HTH rmiz

anyone??

Hello ladies, I had spent the last several weeks researching various options. Just recently read The Core. I read several threads- more than once- and I finally placed my order for the Foundations guide yesterday. I am really excited about it!! *My oldest is in 6th grade this year and will possibly attend a magnet middle school in the area next year. I only have him for this last year!!!! He is doing BJ math, Real Sci. 4 Kids chemistry, R&S English, Wordly Wise, Amer.History combo, Awana, swimming, etc. *My two youngest -"second generation"- are currently in 2nd (here at home doing BJ math, MFW Adv., piano, Awana, and tons of reading, etc.), and Kinder boy in ps with an excellent teacher who runs an advanced/GT style kinder class. He will come home next school year. Here are my questions: *I only have oldest ds this year: what do I focus on?? He leans toward science interests, if that helps. *SUggestions for the two littler ones?? THis is not our first year hsing, but I did not "discover" the classical approach until recently. I am trying to bring in a stronger foundation in our schooling. TIA rmiz

THanks Kai, I will research your suggestions. At this point with my 6th grader I will be using R&S Eng. 5 (this will be our first year using it and I was encouraged to go back a year), Bob JOnes math 6 (much of it will be review after CLE so we are moving faster), Am Hist. from Sonlight condensed cores 3 & 4, Real Sci 4 kids Chemistry (I am a former chem teacher and dh teaches physics), I will attempt to incorporate ideas from TWTM like book summaries, etc. I will also start mind benders A1 and A2 and see how we progress through that. In the fall semester we will do basic conversational Spanish and I am hoping that in the spring we can switch to some Latin. thanks again. rmiz

I forgot to add that this is not our first year hsing. It will be our 6th year. I have been using a variety of resources, I would say I have been ecclectic. thanks, hoping to get some input rmiz

Hi, I have been reading for a few months but this is the first time I post. I purchased TWTM about one and a half yrs ago and read most of it at that time. I have re-read about half of it recently. My oldest will be starting 8th grade in a magnet middle school in the area and I think it will be a good match for her. She has been evaluated for GT as a result of some screening they did the week of orientation. I am willing to bring her back home for high school if we decide that is what we need to do. I will have a ds starting 6th grade, a dd starting 2nd and youngest ds who will attend K at a local ps. My question, what advice would you give to someone just now adopting a classical approach ?? Is there much I can do with that 6th grade boy at this stage of the game?? 2nd grade dd had a somewhat relaxed last couple of years but may very well be my most academically inclined child, how do I now transition her to a higher level of academic expectation?? TIA for any suggestions and ideas rmiz