My sister who would love to homeschool however cannot is looking into private christian schools for her kids. The school she is looking at uses BJU from K-12 I am only familiar with their upper level science. I have not used anything else, can you please let me know a few things about it. 1. How does it compare in rigor? 2. Is their phonics similar to Abeka? 3. Is it a good college prep program? 4. How is their math? What comparison is there to it? Any other comments would love to hear! Thank you all so MUCH!!!!

Thanks everyone for your replies....so nervous coming out of being a long time user of Saxon. But my youngest exceeds my older two and I feel will not be taking the same path as them. Besides being very mathy he started reading 2 mths prior to his 4th birthday. I really like Memoria Press in the early grades just trying to decide on what path to take. I have heard good things about R&S and Singapore just want to make sure I give him solid background before Algebra. Liking the time factor of R&S...:) Saxon always took up and hour or more in elementary which I always thought was a bit long! Silver Moon ~ when did you switch your older two and do you mind telling me what they used after? I am really trying to stick to one program in elementary and not skipping around as to not miss anything. Any other thoughts? Thanks again!

My son will only be 4 1/2 but is very mathy like his father....:) we did memoria press prek this past yr and he did well and loved it. Dont know much about rod and staff and the rigor and preperation for later yrs. In elementary my older boys used Saxon cause it was easy on me even though they didnt care for it :-/ but they did really well after pre-algebra we left and did harold jacobs and forester. What would you recommend? R&S, Singapore? Granted looking for something not to hard to implement. Thanks

We used Typing Instructor for Kids in 4-5th grades. This year in 6th had him review and practice speed every now and then. I made my kids start typing their papers in 6th grade. We haven't taken any other former computer classes yet, as long as they know word before 6th I am happy. :)

I had my son read 3 living books along side of Apologia Chemistry and I dont think it was too much. Disappearing Spoon was one of them. :)

My son took last fall, he liked it well, he had not taken the course yet but did not seem to have any problems. Finishing it this year so he took it just prior to taking it. I wont do this again cause I like to do labs and assignments together as it ties in but thought we'd try it. He took Apologia Chemistry this yr which is okay but had nothing to do with the labs. HTH

Basics: Pros: great class for potential, liked the texts used and the structure of the class, my child learned a lot and enjoyed it besides mishaps that occurred (won't go into detail) Cons: took a LONG time returning tests and papers ranged from 3-4 wks. sometimes longer! Docked heavily on missing classes and she didn't seem to care as much about your situation. Was run like a college class and she acted like a college professor. (However, I never had a college professor quite like that...of course I went to a Christian school) :-) If it helps to clarify, we won't be going back with my other kids. :-( HTH

Awesome....thanks for sharing!!!!

Yes, we have pm me and I'll give you more details....:)

We have done the last series in the Greek year this past month, and my son has really enjoyed it so we are planning on doing the Romans year 2 next year. Thanks for all the comments!

Flat Stanley was a hit here too, didn't see it mentioned. There are many others to the series. My son wanted to read the whole book straight but we ended reading 1/2 of the book at a time. ha! He is 3 1/2 so it might be better for the younger crowd but my older boys loved it and read it on their own in early elementary. Other books my 3 yr. old listened to and liked was: Wizard of Oz, Mr. Popper's Penguins, Fantastic Mr. Fox, Mouse and the Motorcycle, and The Chocolate Touch (that is all we have tried so far on chapter books) in case anyone has any younger kids in the mix. :) Great list!

Paula in MS~ So funny you just posted this as I just finally finalized what I was going to do next term. Prayer does work...:-) We decided to skip Omni I for now due to age and some of the questionable books, I feel for this age. We decided to go ahead with Wilson Hill Omni 2 too! We are halfway through Latin Alive I this year too, but my son decided he wanted to work and get it done this summer so he can move on to Latin 2 next year. He wants to finish his Latin studies... I require at least 3 years so he can move on to studying Arabic. So I had a Landry Academy credit and instead of paying $600 for him to take Latin at WH we just decided to let him take it there and save us some money and it is nice that it meets only once a week. As to the writing we decided to stick with IEW for now, he has taken IEW since 3rd grade and so we wanted him to continue since he is doing well. We decided to try an online writing class that meets in the summer for 4 wks. it focuses on the different type of essays which I wanted him to work on this year anyway. I figured if we could get this done in August before his online classes begin it would help in overload. I do know that they write many "small" works in the Great Conversation and a couple big papers during the year so I felt this would be enough practice. If not, will work some more at home with me this year. Good luck to you too!

Great post...thanks everyone...this is great! All my ideas have been mentioned.

So....finally done planning...yeah!!! Took me since Jan. to decide. ha... My 10th grader: History/Literature - Romans Media (not sure how many units depending on how many DE classes he takes) w/me World Civilization I - DE Composition I - DE Pre-Calculus - Derek Owens Physics - Derek Owens Bible - Old Testament w/me (1/2 credit) AP Latin - Wilson Hill German I - finishing year one w/ Rosetta Stone & native speaker tutoring (1/2 credit) Music Appreciation - DE (taking this summer) Health/PE - Total Health w/me & running and weight training If first semester goes well he wants to also take: Biblical Ethics and the 2nd Compositon class DE second semester....we'll see Looks like a lot, but I think he can handle it...:-)

Yes, it is hard deciding. I know I don't want to do math and Latin, but I hate to do too many online classes. I was hoping on not outsourcing more than 2 online classes additional to his one class of Algebra at the coop. So besides Latin what is most important...Writing, History or Literature? Thanks!

I am trying to decide on my middle son's schedule next year and having a hard time staying in budget. I don't want to over burden him with too many online classes since it takes up a lot of time being in class as well as doing the work and the money factor!! Also, I know for instance math is not my cup of tea after Algebra and well I seem to be tapped out after Latin I. However, I feel strongly about having a good writing program and don't know if I am hard enough on grading that. I also have a hard time reading all of the great books ahead of time to be able to discuss them well with him. Having 3 kids with such a large age gap can be tricky. So what do you feel is the most important "class"? Thanks in advance! I am so tired of agonizing this year on curriculum. I have been debating since January, normally I am done by then. Please help me finalize things!!! Algebra I - local coop one day a week (Harold Jacobs) Bible- OT finishing w/me Grammar, Spelling - w/ me (Rod & Staff, Spelling Workout/ Voc. Roots) Science - w/me thinking BJU Physical Science Questions: Writing, Latin, History, Literature (would love to have done Omnibus with WH but doesn't work with time issues. Thinking of self paced primary through VP and secondary live VP) Writing- would like to do Elegant Essay or some writing that focuses on essays- expository, persuasive, etc. or should I go with Memoria Press...ahhh!! Latin- Latin Alive? Also, how important is Latin and going through AP he wants to start in on Arabic as soon as he can but wanted him to have a few years in before switching over thinking of at least 3 yrs. My head is spinning!!! :willy_nilly:

Thanks, yes his writing is good. He took Rhetoric this year and was in class with all 12th graders. He did really well, so I think he is ready. What history would you take? U.S or World? This year we did Ancient History/World......He is thinking of majoring in aeronautics or law. But who knows right, they change their minds each year! ha!

You can help me....:-P I am working on my son's who will be in 10th grade next year. He is very advanced, motivated and likes to do self paced learning. I have been contemplating whether or not to let him take college courses or continue on with me (he has been accepted in several online dual enrollment programs and our local cc who would allow him to take them online since he isn't driving yet). Granted he is surpassing me...:-( What I was thinking and then you can help me decide...:) Hist/Lit - either Romans Road Media (Yr. 2 Romans) or would you let him take DE classes and what? Writing - Intro to Writing DE Pre-Calculus - Derek Owens Physics - Derek Owens AP Latin - Wilson Hill German I - with me & local German teacher Bible - finishing OT with me What History or Lit. would you have him take World or U.S? He has had in regards to his HS credits for History/Lit so far: U.S. History, American Literature, World History & U.S. & British Literature, Ancient History and Literature (he started HS classes in MS) Should I add anything else? Thanks!!!

Would love to hear how you liked these classes or what they were like? Were looking at Classical Studies Year 1. Thanks!

Would love to hear how you liked these classes or what they were like? Were looking at Classical Studies Year 1. Thanks!

Kristin, I am contemplating the same thing for my middle son. My oldest was so ready for Omnibus at 7th grade (and did very well) but not so sure about my middle son. It is such a tough call, we are thinking of possibly doing an online class using Memoria Press Classical Studies for introducing him to online classes and maybe doing the rest w/me and through self paced making up many of the books in the Omni book. MP covers a few books but I was planning on supplementing the rest. They offer the Greek study for the 1st year and their 2nd year I believe focuses on the Romans. Then I think he would be ready the following year to jump in at WH. Good luck in your decision!

For WH, you could possibly read ahead but you would need to remember everything when writing papers, exams, etc. The instructor in the class grades the papers as well as all of the tests. It is totally hands off for the parents. My son had about 6 papers at VP I believe but it has been a few years going off the top of my head, not sure about WH, we are still looking into switching here. The WH list for year 2 is below: Textbook: Omnibus 2 ISBN-10: 1932168443 ISBN-13: 9781932168440 The Hobbit Tolkien, J.R.R. 395362903 Fellowship of the Ring Tolkien, J.R.R. 978-0547928210 Two Towers Tolkien, J.R.R. 978-0547928203 Return of the King Tolkien, J.R.R. 978-0547928197 Confessions Augustine 978-0872208162 Ecclesiastical History of the English People Bede 978-0140445657 Nine Tailors Sayers, Dorothy 978-0156658997 Rule of St. Benedict Benedict 978-0375700170 Beowulf Tolkien (translator) 978-0544442788 Song of Roland Sayers (translator) 978-0140440751 History of the Kings of Britain Monmouth 978-0140441703 Macbeth Shakespeare 978-0198324003 Sir Gawain and the Green Knight Tolkien (translator) 978-0345277602 Henry V Shakespeare 978-0198320333 Inferno Dante (Esolen translation) 978-0345483577 Canterbury Tales Chaucer 978-0140424386 The Reformation Nichols, Stephen 978-1581348293

Here is the booklist for WH for Omni I not sure what year you need I have year 1-3 available that Bruce Etter (Headmaster) sent me. If you need another year let me know. Textbook : Omnibus 1 ISBN-10: 1932168427; ISBN-13: 978-1932168426 Primary Books The Epic of Gilgamesh 978-0-374-52383-1 The Code of Hammurabi 1-59462-338-4 The Odyssey (Homer) 978-0-14-026886-7 Histories (Herodotus) 978-1-4000-3114-6 The Oresteia (Aeschylus) 0-226-30778-6 The Last Days of Socrates (Plato) 0-140-44928-0 The Early History of Rome (Livy) 978-140-44809-8 The Aeneid (Virgil) 978-0-67972952-5 Julius Caesar (Shakespeare) 978-0198328681 Secondary Books Till We Have Faces (Lewis) 978-0156904360 The Chronicles of Narnia (Lewis) 978-0064405379 The Best Things in Life (Kreeft) 0-87784-922-6 The Screwtape Letters (Lewis) 978-0060652890 Holiness of God 978-0842339650 HTH

I am curious to hear about the self paced option myself. My son took Omni at VP and it was great courses but very time consuming and demanding when doing both Primary and Secondary classes with them (not to mention very pricey!) I have talked alot with the Headmaster at Wilson Hill (who used to be at VP) and as you can see from their book list it is a bit less in regards to the number of books they require. I also like the fact that they combine both classes (primary and secondary) into one. Seems simpler that way and a bit cheaper than VP. Can't help much with self paced but thinking on that option for my middle one. :)

I have heard great things about Foerster's talking with math majors...:)