Yes, I have and it went really well. They basically made up a complete curriculum for you with books and how often to read them and a simple schedule of how to cover it all. They had many books I had never heard of and will work with you on what is best for your family. They also are very good about answering questions later on and trying to help you implement along the way. It is a great resource! Let me know if you have any specific questions. :)

You can start anytime but you only have availability of the lesson plans until the end of June I believe. July starts the new year with lessons I believe. Yes, they are using Nicole's science program for forms 2 & 3. Yes, I enjoyed using those last year but am not currently... (Form 4-6 - don't have you using them since she hasn't completed them all and that in the upper years she focuses on the three subjects one per term where as in the Alveary you do all streams of science each week so in essence we are doing Botany/Biology (2 days), Chemistry (1 day) and Physics (1 day and then 1 day of a lab in 9th grade) each week with one day focusing on a lab and lab work of Biology in the afternoon. I am really liking this because the kids will not forget those subjects when we just focus on one at a time. In the end I can still on their transcript put one year of each but we will be just stretching them out for three years and then the final year we plan on doing dual enrollment). There is no problem in swapping things out it is just used as a tool for you and you are not enslaved to it. I know that at AO they are many "purists" and it just isn't that way at the Alveary. HTH There is no problem in using something that is closer to your tradition however many of the reads are more tilted closer to a more Christian doctrine. You should check out the book lists to see if that will work for your family. Free reads list are quite extensive for each form there is a good page-2 pages. Focusing on historical reads and biographies that need to be read. HTH, let me know if there is any other questions I can help with. :)

I am loving it. The "connections" my kids are making are great....I love how it is so interconnected. For my 1st grader I was often wondering how much he was remembering and taking in but we went to the pumpkin patch yesterday and he was able to take all we had read about bees, flowers, etc. and was able to answer every question the instructor asked! I couldn't believe it! I plan on staying with it....I did make a couple of changes where he should for his age be at 1B but I bumped him up for most subjects to 1A and then just kept him at 1B for science since he had not had those books yet. It is very easy friendly can use what you want you don't have to do everything.... and we did have to make two different book choices since my son had read those but for the most part I have done everything as scheduled. I am most excited about how they have done the foreign language...it has really worked so well and it was definitely a different way of teaching that I could have come up with. It's working so well! We just finished week 9 so we will be having exams in a few weeks, I'll post my thoughts after they take them. :) We are in the pilot for forms 4-6 as well (for my 9th grader). I am liking most things there are a few things I don't know how well they are working but they are not the big subjects....for the most part I am really liking all of the choices and the schedule that I have laid out for us has worked beautifully....no more stress of trying to get it all in! Or feeling bad that we are not covering "enough" to me it is a perfect amount of work and it has gone smoothly. I'll be curious to see how exams go to get a better feel of how much has sunk in. :)

My middle son is practicing this year and is in 9th. I didn't make a big deal about it this year since it was a practice and a baseline for us. He started at 8ish and was done at 11:30. I hope he took the right test....I dropped him off with instructions and of course didn't follow them exactly.... :glare: teenagers! He was taken to a room with 9th graders so hoping he took the PSAT and not one for the 9th graders (that is a bit different). He said he did really well with the reading portion and the math without calculator portion but when he got to the calculator portion had trouble...(expecting that since he is still working on Geometry & Alg. 2 this year combined so hasn't had all of the math yet.) Interesting to see how everyone else felt it went. I was in the stressful boat last year with my oldest so I know it can be stressful! But time will go pretty quickly. :) :grouphug:

I have talked with them and they seem really nice, just no info on their courses....curious to see if anyone has tried them. Taking notes for my next child in line. :)

My son has taken the following DE courses at Bluefield: Comp 1 & 2, British Lit., Music App., Computers, Sociology, Statistics and none of them required any "online" classes. The classes are set up and the student works through it. They do have deadlines to have the work completed at a certain time but no set time where the class meets. And attendance if the class requires it deals with forum posts or assignments. HTH

Truett is taught from a religious perspective. My son felt that the classes at Truett had a more "religious" feel then the classes at Bluefield. The best contact information for Truett is Hannah Wisdom...she is overworked for sure but is very sweet and does her best to get back to you within a few days however sometimes when its peak season it takes her a week or so. Her email for info and what classes are offered each semester is: hwisdom@truett.edu There is no link that I know of but I can send you the list of classes offered if you want to PM me. They are taking classes enrollments for the spring I believe this month and November if that helps any. Glad to help, I remember the struggle and we just jumped in and hoped for the best. So nice though to have some feedback! :)

Here is our experience.... Bluefield College - great for getting the "credit" I didn't find the courses difficult at all, not like what we are used to when it comes to rigor in the liberal arts education right! :-P It seems until you get more into a major the classes are not too challenging. We have experience with: 2 Writing/Grammar courses required, British Literature (the only class my son really had to work to get an A in...) Music Appreciation, Personal Computers, Statistics (pretty light), Intro to Sociology, Microeconomics Another note..... Bluefield is on a 8 week schedule for courses Truett McConnel U- free for those in Georgia...lucky! These courses we have not found too difficult either but my son seemed to enjoy most. American History I & II, Government, American Literature (not too fond of this one not organized very well my son had to help her through page numbers since everyone had different editions...uhh) Can we say it usually goes by the teacher! TMU - uses a typical semester based schedule for courses In regards to ease and help of registering for the courses Truett outweighs BC but for those who have to pay for the course BC is cheaper than TMU so that was a consideration for us. TMU is about $300 per 3 credit course which isn't bad and cheaper than our CC here and so for certainty its worth the extra $150. It's hard to plan now since BC won't let you sign up until a few weeks before classes start so not knowing what you will get is stressful so TMU is great in that you can actually plan and be guaranteed to get in months in advance. HTH :)

Potters School Schole Academy Wilson Hill Academy Scholars Online

I know it is awesome! Of course I have many old books and typing them in is a pain but it went so quickly with my newer ones just scanning the barcode! You will be amazed at how quickly it will go! :)

It depends how mathy she is and your goals. I have tried many options and have found Derek Owens as my favorite. It's great because you can go at your pace, don't have to worry about meeting in a class (a certain time etc.) don't have to deal with kids issues, rudeness, problems, distractions, etc. you get my drift. :) And if you don't want to do any of it he will grade it all for you and you can be totally hands off. I have used him with both of my older boys and have NO regrets. I would not recommend Jann in TX UNLESS your child struggles with math or is not a fan. I have found it is not very thorough and I know many like her on the board but we did not have good experience with that option for many reasons. HTH :)

Oh yeah, I didn't have to pay for membership yet but I will when I have to...worth it!

Yes...I love it!!! I have scanned all of mine but haven't done all categorizing. I am up to 1800 books....eek and that is after my purge last summer! I still haven't scanned my husband's collection upstairs which is close to 1000. They sure add up! :-P But all the books that I have are on there I just need to categorize them....one day! But it has saved me so much money because when I'm at a yard sale or library sale and look through books and think now I really wanted that book...do I own it? I can just look it up on my app and so I don't make duplicate purchases it is great!!! It was worth the few months of scanning them in! I HIGHLY recommend it!

Complete "boxed" curriculum that is still Christian classical I would recommend Memoria Press like previous poster. It's all laid out and would be easier if you like the laid out kind of style....ie. (checking the boxes. :) Sonlight also might work for you as well. Good luck with your new adventure!

I love Anne White's Plutarch guides. She breaks up the text into lessons that are very manageable and I think easy enough to use with elementary age kids. Not sure what age you are looking for but my 6 yr. old tags along with my 9th grader and he gets just as much out of it as my older child. Don't sell them short particularly if they have been read to a lot. Here is link to one of her guides....HTH :) https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0994797729/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I put my son's logic under electives.

FWIW, I think children learn to read in various ages and ways. I used to be such a stickler on phonics programs and making sure they have ALL of those special sounds memorized but I don't think now it is necessary. My youngest son taught himself to read at an early age and I did for a few months try to "teach" all of those special sounds to help with spelling when he was at a school age. He hated it and well, I don't know if it was very productive so I dropped it. Granted he is still young and the verdict is still out on whether that will hurt him later on, but I seem to think not. I feel reading will help with a lot of "gaps." I would definitely encourage reading aloud to him whether he "likes" it or not but try to find some books that would engage and interest him to pull him in if having difficulties there. Also, read to a part where there is a cliff hanger or somewhere that will draw him in and then stop reading and see if he picks up the book to see what happens! :-P You might be surprised at how much he is listening but just "complains" about it. Another way we get a lot of reading done is through audio books in the car or have the kids listen to some while doing chores or other activities. It is amazing how many books you can get in by "multi" tasking. I also would require him to read some on his own at least 30 min. a day free reading. Reading is mandatory at our house and with hope that eventually they will be life long readers/learners and that reading on their own will be natural. :) However, I do have one who is more into fitness and athletics not reading....so his reading mostly consists of only fitness books/magazines...etc. Uhhh....that's okay every kid is different but find something that your kid is interested and then dig in. Hope this is some help to you.

No problem, glad I could help. :)

Great thanks for the info! At least he got commended.... where he wants to go to school he can compete for NM Scholarship there just needs to be commended or higher. :)

In the state of VA it was a high number this year in what they were predicting. I was still pretty confident that he would get commended due to past scores and what they were anticipating and him just missing the semi-finalist number by a couple of points.... but haven't heard anything. Will they send out letters for commended? When will they all be out? Thanks!

It was okay, my son used them several years ago for Latin 2. We were not a fan, not very rigorous and would be okay if just wanting a basic understanding or working with a language and not wanting to spend a large chunk of time on it. I am not sure about other classes there many really seemed to like it. My son also did not like it because there is no 'on the mic' participation everything is in a chat box and so really wasn't a fan of the setup. The teacher was very nice and accommodating though and for that I was thankful. We only used for a year and didn't go back for I didn't feel it was enough for the money you spent. Hope this helps!

Always appreciate LoriD's comments and she is right! I could have graduated my oldest two years early but didn't want to do that because then he couldn't compete with the National Merit or any other good scholarships. He still took college courses (dual enrolled which means he took college classes while he was still in high school) you just would not be labeled as a full time student. My son will have just under 60 credits when he graduates high school and he gets to compete for all of the scholarships. HTH :)

Yes, I agree with Silver Moon.... either Rod and Staff or Analytical Grammar. However I feel you might have better luck with Analytical Grammar if he hasn't had many years of formal grammar it might be hard placing him in the Rod and Staff even though its great. Analytical Grammar would be great because it is complete and you can go at your pace. HTH :)

So we are very new to this curriculum however I like what I see. My son has already had two years of Latin using Latin Alive but wanted to make the switch (I think it's more user friendly to do by yourself). Wondering those who have used it how you implemented it in your homeschool? What does your days look like? I am wanting to get through Units 1-3 (or at least half of unit 3 this year and then maybe do unit 3 & 4 slower. Would appreciate any suggestions! Thanks!

A few others that were not mentioned: Five Children and It Five Little Peppers and How They Grew The Tales of the Odyssey (Mary Pope Osborne) Matilda The Penderwicks series Little House series Liberty Kids series