I used a couple TLP guides for my 9th grader last year. I found we were able to get through one a quarter, with doing all the vocab and discussion questions, but limiting the number of add-ons. Typically, my dd read a chapter & answered the related reading worksheet question(s) each day. She spaced the vocab assignments out, one assignment each day, with a vocab test on Fridays. (I augmented with another vocab program...) Because she is an awesome speller, she didn't need to do any of the spelling activities... (We also didn't not do any of the grammar, opting instead for a separate grammar program. IMHO, the "grammar" portion is not terribly useful.) We used the "personally thinking" questions as the basis for an end of the week discussion time. Finally, we typically only chose a couple projects and pen-and-paper suggestions to do for each book, but that was partly because she was doing a separate writing course that involved a LOT of writing practice. On average, it probably required around 3-4 hours a week to do all this... I liked the guides, but I also felt I needed to augment with other resources to teach literary analysis. And, if you are having them do the pen and paper assignments, you may need another resource to actually teach them good paper writing (SWB's audio lectures, wordsmith, or Jensen's, for example) I don't know if this is really any help at all; maybe others out there who have used them more will have more helpful comments...

I too am putting a lit course together that sounds really similar to what you are doing (up to and including the extra related reading in history, AND your daughters' spelling talents!!). Sadly, several of the works I wanted to use did not have PP or Total Language Plus guides, so I'm going to have to use resources like SparkNotes to put study and discussion assignments together. :glare: Also, related to Ellie's post about shorter works - have you considered getting your hands on a lit text, and using it for some shorter works? I'm going to use a PH text, because it comes with ready-made opportunities for comparing literary works... Finally, and this may be overkill, have you also considered putting together a list of "outside free time" reading? Some other posters (I can't remember who, but I think it was on a post about a four year high school plan) came up with some pretty extensive lists that I really thought sounded good. No major assignments related to them, just extra reading, hopefully that will be just plain enjoyable.... When I see this in writing, I start to worry that I'm going to make my poor dd's head explode with all the stuff I'm planning for her to do...;)

I'm loving these suggestions, because I've been struggling with this for my 10th grader. We did writeshop I last year, and need to move on. Loved it, but it has its limits, and dd really does need to be able to write papers, not just paragraphs. Right now I'm planning on doing a combination of SWB's MP3 program, along with Wordsmith Craftsman and Jensen's Format Writing. I know - a total mish-mash, and it may not work, but I'm hoping that with all these resources one will emerge as something close to a silver bullet. I like Jensen's because they give you suggestions for what topics to write about; I'm planning on using the SWB outlining/writing in connection with our other history, lit and science reading. Since we won't be starting this until the end of August, I can't say if it's going to work, but all three resources are ones I've heard good things about. Actually, I'd love to hear from any of the rest of you about whether this is a bad plan or a good plan... :confused:

I'm a member of the "don't like Saxon Math for my kid" camp. The Christian School both my kids went to used it - worked ok for my oldest, who just graduated hs, and who detests math but got through AP Calc ok. For my youngest, who needs lots of reinforcement in each math concept to learn it, it was a disaster. In 8th grade (before I brought her home to homeschool), I actually had a tutor for her who is a college professor who runs a math tutoring center on the side. He feels the Saxon approach is problematic for lots of kids (though certainly not all), because it doesn't offer enough reinforcement of concepts, and is not as sequential as some other programs. BTW, it's not just Saxon - We repeated Alg I with Teaching Textbooks this past year, and found some of the same problems. I will be using MUS Geometry for my daughter this year, because it appears to offer more practice on each concept. Bottom line - it works for some kids, and not for others. From my experience, if you're finding it isn't working for you, CHANGE NOW!

Eaglei - Dickens - great literature, yes - but as an English lit major I can say I have freed myself enough to say...ENOUGH. Do you really want to read it AGAIN? You only have so many heartbeats. If you're not enjoying it - and you've already read it (twice???) - move on to something you might love.

Gosh - you are at such an amazing point in your life, I hate to see you struggling over this. I had an emergency c-section with my first (and I was 35 at the time) - and while I was in the hospital I questioned whether i would EVER be able to take care of my baby. But once I was home it was smooth sailing. My doctor thought I was insane when at 2 weeks i asked to go back to the gym and get back to weight training. BTW - I had my second VBAC, so I don't know how it would have been if it had been another c-section. But that's another option to consider, as others have said. I would have to say that each baby is different, and even though your first was hard, your second may be a piece of cake. Whatever happens, please please please remember that this is a miracle that you don't want to forget to treasure. Blessings to you, and please let us know how you are doing.

I had the teacher's edition, and used it for a couple of things (great ideas for illustrating how much sugar is in our diet....), but for the most part, just the student text would work fine...

My son took both - aced the ACT, struggled with the SAT. They test differently - I think other posters have said this, but ACT tests basic knowledge, SAT tests test-taking skills...ok, so maybe not quite that cut and dried, but close. ACT may test for slightly higher level of math, but doesn't penalize wrong answers. We were told conflicting things about what colleges accepted what test, so by all means check, but in the end taking some practice tests may tell you which would be best:glare:

Lots of people in my homeschool group use it, but it totally didn't work for us. I wish I had given up, instead of trying to push through. It probably depends on how your child learns - I abandoned Saxon because we need a more systematic, lots of practice to achieve mastery approach. My dd hated the DVD lectures - they are just numbers drawn up on the screen, lots of talking with steps left out on the visual display. If your child is a mainly auditory learner it would work, and if your child does not need much practice on new concepts before they move on, it may work for you - but my dd is NOT an auditory learner, and she needs LOTS of practice on individual concepts, so we will not be doing TT again.

oh no - where did the post I was almost finished with go? Forgive me if this is a repeat - I'm really new, and somehow my post just disappeared... anyway, we did Field Biology this year. I loved that we learned a LOT about our area. There are college level syllabi you can find online, or you can just put something together yourself, which is pretty much what we did. Field identification, field journaling, tracking changes through the seasons, learning about the "original" medicine cabinet in our plants - lots of different options. You might have a local conservancy group that would like to have your homeschooler put together a brochure about plants/wildlife, too. we didn't do them, but you can also do soil composition and water quality labs. What I loved was we got to be outside, we learned about the ecology of our area - and now I recognize the birds that come to our birdbath and ALL the plants that I see on my hikes through our canyons!!!

I'm just now planning my 10th grader's world lit curriculum myself, and my now-graduated son went to private Christian school, so I should probably defer to others more experienced on this board, but as a former English Lit major I couldn't help commenting - I think I would move the Brit lit selections you had questions about to 12th grade, and put, at least, Cry the Beloved Country and All Quiet on the Western Front in 10th grade. I know Les Mis is a classic, but I think it depends on your kid - my straight A son despised it, and when you have a book that long that you hate, well...What about Cyrano de Bergerac? Also, are you counting Shakespeare as poetry? What about one of his plays for 10th grade? BTW, I totally concur with your idea to add read-alone "outside" reading that's not quite as intense, but adds a different perspective. I think I'm going to add some of your ideas into my 10th grade reading list!!! Anyway, for what it's worth, those are my thoughts - good luck!

I only have experience with Wordly Wise, so I may not be much help. Some thoughts - I like that it has reading selections where the student sees the words used, although they come at the END of the lesson, which isn't always helpful. I also wish it worked with the word roots, so that my dd would get more reinforcement on how to figure out other words. She also likes some of the online activities, although I'm not always sure how much they help her. I find I have to supplement with other activities for each lesson (having her use the words in her other writing or writing original sentences with them). In summary, it's working ok for us, enough to continue, but I generally use supplement it with other vocab building (linked to our lit studies).