I own both texts but ended up going with Foerster because I really wanted a high school text and I think the word problems are just plain fun yet challenging. I do like that Lial's had many easy and affordable resources available such as solutions, dvts, and tests. My 2nd ds is preparing for algebra next year and I did splurge and buy the tests from Pearson to use with Foerster. I also own Math Without Borders, but not all students may need that. As far as review, Foerster's doesn't have a specific cumulative review like Lial's which would have been nice. I may have ds this year do a review after each chapter by assigning an few even problems from previous chapters as usually they are only assigned odd the first time around. Oh, and I did like the Quadratic Formula earlier because my guy's brains start slowly shutting down by May/June and new material doesn't sink in very far.

That's good to know ,regentrude, especially since Khan Academy is free. Since you said you own so many of the TC courses, what do you, or anyone who wants to comment, think of the Algebra 2 lectures?

I am leaning towards using Spectrum chemistry next year with my 10th grader. I have been reading all the chemistry threads with great interest and think a lecture component may add to this course. I have only seen the TOC for these lectures and not an actual sample so I am wondering if these are more conceptual or mathematical and if they would be redundant with Spectrum and Bridge math. I am also open to other suggestions as long as they are not too pricey. I am still saving for both of my guys science. TIA

I know this is an older thread of mine, but I finally had a revelation yesterday to just show ds what science options he had and let him pick. Surprisingly, he choose BJU 4th ed. earth science. I say surprisingly because he is not usually my reader and I told him BJU would be 5 days a week instead of 4 days per week as with DIVE. The only downfall is it is much more pricey than DIVE.

Sounds like you need to develop a line of wall colors for home educators. I originally wanted a warm, orangy color for our study but just wasn't brave enough.

Our study (school room) is painted "Silvermist" by Sherwin Williams. It is a calm blue-gray color which can work with many other colors as accents. I wanted a grown up color since this room can be seen from the rest of the house. The only negative is that is a little darker than I originally wanted for this northern-facing room. Another pretty, refreshing color, if you like green, is lemongrass by Sherwin-Williams.

Math - Foerster Algebra Writing - IEW - hopefully across the curriculum - Grammar - Easy Grammar Ultimate 8th Science - Dive Earth Science (maybe) Geography - PAC World Geography w/ lots of added literature Spanish - Visual Link 1 Bible - Rod and Staff Bible 8 Spelling/Vocabulary - Rod and Staff Spelling 8 Other - I will probably add health/sex ed, art with geography focus with younger brothers , PE is baseball and soccer over the spring and summer, and unofficial home-ec,

We have one ancient desktop for our study (schoolroom). I purposely have it set up so the screen can readily be viewed from the other room. I have a macbook for myself to surf with and do banking and online ordering. I am actually looking for a new desktop to replace the one we have. I want ds to do teencoder as an elective but our computer doesn't have a dvd-rom drive. I would also like a bigger screen. Personally I could not stand working with a tablet or ipad, even my 13" macbook screen is too small. We use HomeSchoolTracker and I want to add my 3rd ds to the schedule, but it is going to make their schedules hard to read on our small desktop screen. Laptops are nice, but mine almost makes it too easy for me to be anti-social with my family.

I don't know if anyone posted the one Dave Chandler uses but here it is http://mathwithoutborders.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/Alg-I-Prob-Assignments.pdf We also used his videos along with the book.

Thanks. That does help. I didn't give midchapter tests the 1st time around and several times I didn't realize that ds didn't really understand something till we got to the end of the chapter. I think I will splurge on the tests and really purpose to make sure 2nd ds understands the work before moving on. Again - thanks for checking and taking the time to answer.

g1234- Could you describe the tests? I used Foerster algebra last year with my oldest and really did not like just using the practice test questions as my test and I hated having to make up my own. I am planning on using it again this year with my next ds and am considering buying the tests. Is it just end of the chapter tests or are there also quizzes and middle chapter tests (like suggested in the TM)?

I found WWS to be stressing. I think part of it is the labeling of " Day 1, Day 2, ect. where some "Days" the assignments were really too much to finish in one day. I had to let ds take several days to do some of the assignments. There were also several times that we could not really understand exactly what was required. I had to figure it out by trying to connect the teacher book samples to the student book.

Thanks for answering. I like your reasons for using BJU. I really like the look of the BJU text and if this was for my oldest, a strong reader, I wouldn't hesitate to use it. Second ds already has a full plate for next year and extra reading may be too much. I like your plan with the lap books for each unit. I often find BJU offers too much in the way of helps and assessment and I end up getting overwhelmed. In contrast, I do like how DIVE is planned out for 4 days per week. Open ended assignments do not generally work well with this child. I am hoping for more maturity this year. There is a BJU motel meeting coming to my area next week so maybe we will check it out and see how deep the interest level is. This ds surprised me last year when he choose AOPS for pre-algebra after I showed him several options.

I know this has been asked before but it is still fairly new. I am looking for earth science for my 8th grader next year and it is either DIVE or BJU. BJU seems interesting, just way more involved than either of us may be able to handle. Plus it is quite expensive.

Thanks. For those of you who are recommended Stewart, do you mean all 3 books or just Book 1? Alte Veste Academy - I would love to know how to make that work. Most of the time trying to just get my 3 younger boys around the table to discuss anything is a major chore. Do you just meet with 1 child at a time? It sounds so freeing.

My ds just finished Rod and Staff English 7, and although he did fine on he tests, his grammar knowledge doesn't seem to transfer to his writing assignments. I would like to try a more practical grammar that helps him to really think while writing. He did WWS this year and neither of us are really enjoying it. We will probably go back to IEW next year. I have considered Fix-It by IEW, and he is doing some editor-in-chief to help. I really don't want to do R&S 8 next year. I would rather focus on writing. Unfortunately he doesn't have the most knowledgeable writing instructor. Thanks

My 2nd ds is one chapter away from finishing all three books (the non-CA version). He did earth science in 5th , physical science in 6th, and is just finishing life science this year in 7th. There is some natural review built into the books. For instance, ds was learning about bones this week and it included a mini lesson on the types of levers, forces, and mechanical advantage. I remember doing that last year but much more in depth in the physical book. I don't think your idea is crazy. If I were to break up a book, I would do it buy units trying to cover about 7 per year as that is what each book is. I think one may be only 6 units. Some units are very independent, like the astronomy in earth science and the human biology in the life science book. Other units seemed to flow together but I don't remember which.

Mt ds went from CLE 600 to AOPS Pre-Algebra. It is a very different type of math. I gave him the choice last year of either continuing with CLE, using Lial's (which was sitting on the shelf), or trying AOPS (I let him read the sample chapter). He choose AOPS, and it is much harder and not for everyone, but he hated the 4 pages of CLE everyday. He did do Rightstart from K-4th which is a conceptual math along with Singapore Challenging Word Problems so he was not new to math that makes you think outside the box. I am glad for his 2 years with CLE to get him to cement his facts though. HTH

Agreed. Posted in view of the ocean ... Outer Banks NC Back to school next week

My 2nd ds is finishing up Rod & Staff 7 this week and we both really want a break from it, but I do not want to stop grammar completely. I am considering Analytical Grammar, but looking over the post test, I think he could do it. Is it beneficial for him to go through the entire AG program or could we just do some reinforcement workbooks? I am also considering the High School reinforcements for my oldest who is going into 10th. He has specifically asked me for grammar review. He did R&S 3-6 and CLE for 7th and 8th, but feels he is forgetting it. I have also looked at Easy Grammar Ultimate for both of them, but it doesn't seem as in depth of a review. Another reason I want a break from R&S for 2nd ds is that we need to focus on writing next year. He is doing WWS 1 this year, but I am considering returning to IEW next year so I also looked at Fix-It grammar, but it seems more teacher intensive. Any thoughts? - I am circling about curriculum decisions when I should be gardening.

DS is doing AHL this year and is using Science Shepherd biology instead of Apologia. He is not here this week for me to ask if he finds the literature boring. I am not very restrictive on his extra reading as he has already read all the books in the suggested book basket. This is my child I can hand a book to and tell him to read it and most times he will do it quickly. I'm not sure how this program will work with my next ds who is not that much into books unless they are really interesting and then it takes him forever with much nagging to read it.

Here's a sample of how we do it: Day 1: Lesson 1A (go over words w/ child 1st) Day 2: Lesson 1 B / C (I don't think there is a C yet in 2nd grade) Day 3: Lesson 1 Quiz Day 4: Lesson 1 Test (if you don't get a 100 on the quiz) Day 5: Lesson 2A The 2nd and 3rd grade levels can be done in 4 days because part c is really short. It could be added on with B or done just before the quiz. My 7th grader also has a part D he does on quiz day. I don't do a M-F schedule. My youngest DS is in 2nd grade but is already on Lesson 10 of the 3rd grade book because we do spelling everyday unless he has an off day for doing well on a quiz. I also sometimes let him have "test day" off even if he didn't get 100 if it is obvious he knows the word and just wrote it wrong. I do tack on missed words in future quizzes until I know they know them.

I just found them fun to try. I bought the heirloom tomato variety pack from FedCo seeds last year and had so many interesting tomatoes. Now we enjoy them every week as sauce for our pizza night. FedCo does not knowing sell GMO seeds. They do sell hybrids though.

I second EM Paragraph Editing. I found some of the books on PDF online. If you do a search you may find the 5th grade one and see if it is for you.

I have not finalized my plans but it looks like this will be it: History / English / Bible " MFW WHL ( I may add in an IEW course) Math: DS completed Forester's Algebra 1 in January but wanted a review, so he is doing both a LOF algebra and geometry book concurrently and will move into LOF algebra 2 after that. (LOF is his choice, personally I could never learn math with those books) Science: Beefed up DIVE Earth Science along with Pearson text to supplement. (He did biology this year and I want to wait till 11th grade for Chemistry) Foreign Language: Visual Link Spanish 2 Electives: I am pretty much letting him decide. I offer :laugh: :Fine Arts, Technical Drawing, Computer Programming, or whatever else we find interesting. PE : I also require him to log exercise time. This has not gone too well this year and I may need to get more specific with it.