Analytical Grammar - no need to decide on levels, just work through the entire book

The Write Foundation I suggest beginning with Level 2, which teaches paragraphing skills and the basic 5-paragraph essay, narrative writing, style, editing and poetry, and go through that at a pace of one lesson per week - 30 weeks. Then, go through Level 3, which teaches more advanced essays, the research paper, and timed essays. Level 2 includes models for each assignment, and your students can do the brainstorm, outlining, and writing for the model, so they really understand the assignment. We have many writing materials on our shelves, and TWF combines the best of different curriculum to teach many skills. The students will do some part of the writing process every day, and they will have choices for their assignments. If you are doing a weekly schedule, it will look something like this: Monday - set up the week (notebook, style worksheets, editing, etc.), Tuesday - example assignment (brainstorm, rough draft, write), Wednesday and/or Thursday - assignment, Friday - poetry. Also, TWF is open and go and easy to teach -- not frustrating for student or teacher. After TWF, your students can work through a lit analysis curriculum like "Windows to the World" and practice what they have learned in TWF by writing in subject areas.

Fwiw, we are doing a 2-month free trial with ALEKS. Dd thinks it works well with MUS. MUS is the teaching/learning new concepts portion of her math, and ALEKS is the review. With ALEKS, you pay a monthly fee, but can move to another course if you finish a course or need different placement.

Have you looked at Tricia McQ's website? clepprep.tripod.com You might want to do that and join her yahoo group. The ladies on that group are helping their children pass numerous CBEs, earn degrees in multiple ways, etc. Lots of encouragement, inspiration and tips there.

To everyone with silvers, golds and perfect papers, congratulations!!!! So very exciting. I will add that dd got a gold, and she is beyond thrilled. This entire year has been difficult -- Latin II, violin, math, science, catching up on credits, friends, etc. As Amy made the NLE announcements, dd was worried as the levels kept going up because she thought she hadn't done well. The NLE award has made this year much better. Whew!

If possible, can your son do some timed writing prep prior to the test? IEW has a dvd set for this. We took a Bravewriter course on timed writing, and it made all the difference in the world. Bravewriter has a class beginning May 12.

Following this thread, since we have our first tour next week. We know a lot about the university, so I don't know what we should ask, etc.

Chrysalis Academy, That book is now on my wish list for summer reading along with...and I actually have some book moneyl

Hey Colleen, In addition to the prep books mentioned, you might want to read "The Perfect Score Project." It's a fun read with some good tips. In our home, we prepped as follows: reading, writing and math as part of daily school, Bravewriter's Timed Essay course, and many practice tests on Saturday mornings with conditions simulating the test followed by analysis of errors. After analyzing the practice tests, we addressed problem areas; i.e. Analytical Grammar helped one dc with the English score, weekly timed writing for another, algebra review, etc. We used several different study guides.

This is just wonderful!!

Based on your post and experience with our dc; i.e. whizzer, plodder, and basher/clasher, I would stay with MUS and go as far as you can. Go through the Honors problems even if you have to whiteboard the work. Also, after your dc finish MUS Algebra I and Geometry, you could use other materials to assess mastery; i.e. ALEKS, Saxon tests, and you could supplement with algebra word problems, etc. Assessment with unfamiliar materials is a good idea with struggling students. I would get a foundation in place with the least stress possible.

Books by Wendell Berry - Jayber Crow, Hannah Coulter Some of the non-fiction books suggested on the Circe website: Amusing Ourselves to Death, etc. Wide-ranging: The Education of Little Tree -- Forester Carter Things Fall Apart - Chinua Achebe A Night to Remember - Walter Lord Band of Brothers - Stephen Ambrose The Dollmaker - Harriet Arnow Cry, the Beloved Country - Alan Paton Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston Wonder O' the Wind - M. Phillip Kellor Death Be Not Proud - John J. Gunther The Hiding Place - Corrie Ten Boom

Start the 4-year history cycle earlier. Or, condense the cycle. The senior year will be packed.

Many things, but I will post just one: Complete most of the progym before high school. Since posting just one thing on a do-over list is like eating just one potato chip, here are two more: Recognize early that a math curriculum is not a good fit, even it has worked beautifully with other dc, and find something else. Use Dena Luchsinger's "The Reader's Odyssey" with reluctant readers.

I think Saxon's Algebra I and II, the old versions, are enough to prepare for a standard pre-calc course since Saxon Advanced Math, the next text in the sequence, is a rigorous course, and it is a pre-calc course. Our children worked one lesson per day for all the books, so they finished in one year. For the Advanced Math and Calculus lessons, the lessons sometimes took 1.5 hours to complete.

ALEKS math has statistics. Homeschoolers can get a two-month free trial. Also, a 3-hour free trial to see if the course is a good fit at all.

Given what your dd had done and the choices, I would do LTOW. Is there any way she can do LTOW 1 this summer and LTOW 2 in the Fall? The actual writing in LTOW 1 might be somewhat easy for her, but the invention work is challenging. After LTOW 1 and 2, she could move on to advanced literature courses.

TWJ lessons on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday will need about 35 to 45 minutes of teacher time. On Wednesday and Thursday, the student will need input on his writing. Each essay has an editing checklist. There is no teacher prep time for TWF. Btw, I also have "The Lively Art..." TWF is a more comprehensive curriculum because it covers different types of essays, extended essays, research papers, poetry writing, and timed writing. It does not need to be supplemented. Each level has 30 lessons, usually one per week.

Another option. The Write Foundation Use Level 2 if your son needs to work on paragraph construction and basic essays. If not, use Level 3, which covers different types of essays, the research paper, and timed writing. Level 3 would be a good fit for the junior year as prep for ACT and SAT writing. TWF teaches composition and style. It uses highlighting, graphic organizers, and outlining for the prewriting phase. The author of TWF used IEW and other popular curriculum, so elements of the material will be familiar to you. TWF is easy to teach even though it does not have dvd instruction. Level 2 instruction is as follows: Monday - set up the week, Tuesday - read/discuss model with student or write model using provided brainstorm info, Wednesday and Thursday - independent writing by student, Friday - poetry writing. TWF is thorough, so after finishing it, you can move on to literature analysis if your son has not done that combined with writing across the curriculum.

Jean in Wisc - I 'liked' your post, but really, I love it. OhElizabeth - So true about the time for foreign languages. Some students will need to study much more than others, and they have to accept that even when friends seem to be breezing through school and have oodles of free time. This can apply for other subjects as well. Arch at Home & Oh - Yup, yup and yup. Planner, planner. Structure. Support.

One possible scenario for average/reluctant writers and readers. Analytical Grammar - If students need grammar work, use AG during Grades 9 and 10. The Write Foundation - Use Level 2 for Grade 9 and Level 3 for Grade 10. TWF includes suggestions for reading/literature. The two levels will take students through many paragraph forms, style techniques, 5-paragraph essays, and longer research papers. Assignments include writing checklists to teach self-editing. After TWF, take Bravewriter's Timed Writing Class during the 1st semester of 11th grade as prep for ACT/SAT. During the second semester of 11th grade, work through "Windows to the World" for literature analysis papers. Also, work on college app essays during the second semester of 11th grade. During 12th grade, students will be ready for advanced literature work or AP. Also include essays in other subjects.

Yvonne, Thank you! I didn't know about these. Dd is finally understanding math and even able to reason through some word problems, but I want to expand on this. Where did you start in the series? 1togo

Tagging onto this thread. We have a dd who responds to word problems in the same way, and I am exploring options for helping her visualize and translate word problems. Just throwing this out, but which do you think is a better option? Using Singapore elementary materials and working through the portions that deal with word problems or AOPS? Does AOPS help with the visualizing and translating issues? Btw, I am not sure if those are the correct words to describe her problems, but what comes to mind today.

We prepped for both the ACT and the SAT by taking complete exams on Saturday mornings with simulated conditions; i.e. breakfast, clothing, calculator, time, etc. Fwiw, I think prepping is essential, but I am not sure what to think about the practice test scores. One dc did not score especially high on the practice tests but did very well on the actual tests (one time only for each). Another dc made perfect or close to perfect scores on all of the practice tests (over and over and over), but didn't get those results on the actual tests.

Agreeing with Lori D about "Windows to the World." It is excellent and would a great follow-up to the TtC discussions your daughter has already done. Jill Pike (IEW) has a syllabus for WttW that expands it to a year-long class. The syllabus begins with TtC, so you would have those weeks completed.