Well, a strict "school" schedule for the 9th grader, while keeping the same routines as usual for the 6th grader and the 4yo, seemed to work really well today. And, it helped me see where I have been over-reaching a bit, and need to lighten up. =) I know, it's just one day! But, my Ds was so happy that school was *done* at 5:30 (and he got to go see his girlfriend - yuck!). I did notice that he stayed more focused, and I didn't feel like a constant nag, since there were no real decisions to make, just a schedule to follow. Thank you, Nan, for your thoughts.

Yes, the big challenge is history and lit. Well....and writing, too! But, I see after my attempt to get an hour-by-hour schedule down on paper that I'm asking for too much formal writing in history. My thoughts are still not very congealed, but I'm very thankful you posted this "minimum" requirement. It's just something to know if we do *this* and do it really well, then I can turn off that little voice in my head that's always pushing for bigger and better, ya know? thanks!

I have to go now, but really quick: I would say our days run about as long, and probably include as many breaks - they're just not planned as well. They more or less happen due to day-dreaming or other children needing things. In looking at your very organized day, I'm wondering what is your priority when it comes to making the assignments - the amount of the work, or the clock (or, maybe your kid is just a better worker, and always get the work done in the amount of time you've allotted :tongue_smilie:) So, for example, would you insist that the 20 pages of Oedipus be read, even if that took an hour and a half? Or, would you reason that an hour is enough, and adjust the assignment for the next day? (And, how did you determine "20 pages"? Or, did you just record it after they were read?) Thanks for listing your schedule (again!). It always prompts me to do better!! (Oh - and do you keep the same schedule every day?) ETA: Actually, I guess it's not really hi-jacking because I think the OP's friend must be in the same tight spot I find myself in over and over again - not having the confidence or the experience to know "this" is the right amount of work. When should I adjust in mid-stream, admitting that maybe I over-reached? And when should I stick to my guns? It is a constant drain feeling like I never plan it "right". I do know that my DS would *never* be able to "plan" his own work at 15yo. He just doesn't have the big-picture perspective to handle that yet.

KIHW has been Out-of-print (OOP) for quite a while. You will be fine with the newer one - especially if you follow the new WTM recommendations which are basically to take notes from the Kingfisher, and then find a passage from a living book to outline. (Sorry - just noticed your kids are younger, so definitely stick with the newer. Who knows what will be available by the time they're ready for logic stage!) HTH

So, if you had a "writer" you would use MCP? (She loves having her own "real school books" to write in -we started the R&S books precisely for that purpose.) Thanks!

Unfortunately, we have stalled out on Lesson 30 of OPGTR for the last 3-4 months. I haven't really cared, since my dd (4yo) has been enjoying the Rod & Staff preschool books, and she can *spell* CVC words even if she can't read them. I figure it will come in time. But we are starting the last preschool book this week, and she wants to know what the next book is going to be. So, I'm thinking maybe Explode the Code or Modern Curriculum Press Phonics (both are recommended in WTM). But I can't find any sample pages - only scope and sequence listings. Is one preferred here in the hive?

I've been dying to ask someone - Are houses built differently up north? I'm in Atlanta - it's been down into the teens at night. I've been baffled that while I can keep the heat out in the summer time, I can't seem to keep the warm in. Isn't insulation supposed to work both ways? I thought I was just being silly thinking houses might actually be built differently up north, yet I honestly can say I would never make it if my house were this cold all winter.

Ah - good to know. Thanks for posting!

:lol: My parents came to pick up my DD one Friday last year for the weekend, and I was doing Latin with my oldest one when they arrived. My Dad actually did pretty well translating what was on the board. (I think he had two years of Latin - he keeps a real tight lid on his life.) Anyway - he then proceeded to tell me Latin was a waste of time and we should study a "real" language....:glare: (Guess that Russian he took in high school came in *real* handy - LOL!)

Well, I did mis-speak somewhat. My DS is *not* translating Cicero, though he is working through the last half of Henle I this year (with Memoria Press - I simply couldn't keep up). I guess the movie presented as "normal" that kids would have *mastered* Latin and Geometry and really deep literature by the end of 8th grade - though I will consider us successful if we master them by the end of high school. I probably thought of LCC because I also just signed my ds up for the 2nd semester of Henle with Memoria Press - and I read through the LCC info there just to sneak a peak. I really don't have the where-withal to change what we're doing now - a statement which would qualify for a LOL smily if it weren't so sadly true! I'm certain the level of the tutoring in the movie went right over my dh's head, and none of my friends would have considered that level "normal". But, we are *all* products of a the deep South - and Southerners are *forever* being derided as ignorant - so the thought is always in the back of my mind that maybe we really are! Thanks for letting me vent!

DH and I re-watched "The Man Without a Face" over the weekend. In 1968/69, Mel Gibson tutors a kid who looks younger than my 6th grader in translating Cicero and Geometry so he can get into a boarding school and escape his mother. So...I'm pinching myself thinking - everyone who *knows* we're doing Latin thinks it's crazy or a waste of time. And this kid is translating Cicero in what I would guess is the 8th grade. (He graduates 4 years later.) He's reading Shakespeare and the Aeneid like it's no big deal. And doing Geometry. Now, my 9th grader is doing those things with some attitude thrown in. And, I realize it's just a movie. But I am suddenly left feeling like I was born a Southern hick, raised a Southern hick, and no matter how hard I try to improve myself, my kids and I will just always be Southern hicks. I feel so ignorant, so I just have to ask: So...Did *all* kids in the 60's study at that level? Or, just the ones going to private school? Or, just the ones who didn't live in the South? Do all kids going to private school study at that level now? And, as reluctant as I am to look at LCC - would we be studying at that level if we had followed LCC instead of WTM?

Specific questions: 1. Did you find the general Medieval information helpful for understanding patterns that recur in Medieval lit? IOW, while reading *any* piece, did you find yourself thinking "Oh, that's what Lewis was referring to," and understand something in the text that maybe you would have glossed over without it? 2. One thing I really like about "Heroes" is that Kreeft gives specific line numbers in the text to support his discussion of the themes and literary devices. This has been really helpful. My son isn't about to read The Iliad *and* a book about the Iliad. But I can make note of the line numbers Kreeft mentions, remember the gist of his discussion, and then in my discussion with my ds, we re-read those lines. It helps us keep our discussion centered on the important passages. All that to say....does the Lewis book cite specific portions of the text to support his assertions? I already have Invitation to the Classics - which gives a general discussion about the plot/themes of each work and a few discussion questions without answers - so I don't need that. I really need hand-holding finding specific places in the text that would be good to refer to while writing an essay. Thanks for your help!

Thanks! Did you stick to reading just these? If not, did you find any other guides that you particularly liked? I found one by C. S. Lewis on the Amazon page you linked, have you seen it by any chance? Sorry so many questions!!!

really by any author, but something that includes the "major hits" of the WTM list. any rec's? Thanks!

I'm not real sure this will answer your question, but I just wanted to point out that in 5th grade WTM-history "outlining" is simply finding (or creating) a topic sentence for each paragraph (3-5 paragraphs is enough). There is a new section in the new WTM that has specific questions you can ask to help guide your child in creating a good topic sentence. But, the most important part is allowing/forcing your child to limit what he includes in that sentence. (You are not looking for a single sentence summarizing the whole paragraph - I made this mistake with my first one! There should be "good stuff" left out - those will be the details under the topic sentence once you reach 6th grade.) Then on another day, after reading some other material, you can either assign a "narration" (like in 4th grade) or you can assign a "report" of one paragraph. Follow your writing program - if you've covered how to structure a paragraph, use those directions for the "report" paragraph. I think it's the 2nd ed. of WTM that says if you start out with a "paragraph" of 3 sentences, that's great! (But, if you just do narrations for 5th grade, don't sweat it!) So, if you have to start with 3 sentences in your outline, and 3 sentences in your "reports" - that is a great start! It may not sound like much, but if you do this consistently, you will see great results. (One disclaimer: I used WTM methods and R&S exclusively for my oldest one - he outlined from KIHW and used SOTW for his extra readings. I have no complaints. However, my 2nd one is using IEW more than WTM outlining. Both WTM and IEW are really good! Once you get past the basic stages, they really start to complement each other very well. I brought in IEW to bring in as many male influences as possible.) HTH,

That's what I was thinking! If you haven't done a timeline, you could use the review cards to create one, and that way they can "see" where the info they've already covered fits in with the new (especially your 10yo). Really, I would just mention the event or person on the card, ask what dc remember, and move on to the new stuff pretty quick. Best wishes!

One thing that helped mine was for me to fill out some sort of "organization chart" while we were discussing what had been read. I see you have R&S listed as one of your sources. If you read through the writing assignments, then your kids should be familiar with ordering paragraphs in the order of time or in the order of importance. If not, perhaps this would still be helpful - idk. Anyway, I would usually use a more formal-outlinish "list" for discussions that lent themselves to writing in the order of time, and a cluster organization (a circle with the topic thought surrounded by other circles with details) for discussions that were more focused on cause/effect or reasons supporting an opinion. I usually write out our discussion ideas on a 2' x 3' portable white board, and then let my ds use those notes while writing his reports/paragraphs. I do remember having to require a minimum of 5 sentences at one time because the narrations were devolving into one run-on sentence, written as quickly as possible. I think that's when I came up with this system. IIRC, at first I required a sentence for each "blurb" of information, and a concluding sentence.

Blessings and congratulations!!

:iagree: I readily admit my 3 sil's (all sisters) are very, very enmeshed in each other's lives, and so I know in the back of my mind that they give "extra" presents to each other and to each other's kids. If it's not blatant in my face, then that's cool. But, the Christmas gift exchange when my kids got $5 gifts while all the other cousins got $200 gifts...and the sisters and MIL all got $200 purses while I got a t-shirt. Well, my kids were finally old enough that Christmas to see the disparity and have never wanted to go back.

The TWSS would be ok for my 9th grader ~ but I think an elementary student would be overwhelmed because Mr. Pudewa is introducing many, many things at once - always saying, "Now, you *won't* do this to your students!!" And, he really talks *to* the students in the SWI videos. He is sillier in SWI-B, more serious tho' still humorous in the SWI-C. I haven't seen the SWI-A. hth

This looks much better than what I found. Thanks!

We are doing Apologia Biology, if that makes a difference. I guess it might since several rubrics I found Googling mentioned including bibliographies from independent research. Neither my DH nor myself ever did "independent research" in high school (and we're both music people), so I'm hoping that just using the textbook will get us through.... Thanks!

I have read here that you do not *need* the TWSS if you have the SWI. But, the SWI does not include all the Units presented in the TWSS. I know you won't really understand what I'm saying, but I am using the SWI-B with my 6th grader. It is missing Unit IV of the TWSS, and I felt this was a necessary baby-step for my son before doing Unit VI. So, I'm very glad that I have both. The TWSS is wonderful for getting "teacher training" - inside tips, thoughts about student's work - what to expect, when, what, and how to correct things. But, my boys really like learning from someone beside Mom, and Mr. Pudewa is a very talented teacher. I haven't used the SICC.

I have been somewhat panicked about not having any real quizzes or tests for TLI (my oldest is in 9th, so we're doing it "for credit"). But....if you look at Chapter 14, there is a short review exercise for each chapter - the perfect amount for a quick weekly quiz. We're on Chapter 11, so it's a bit late for us - but surely this will help someone!

:iagree: I have my 6th grader using some of the SOTW-1 AG maps this year, and I wish that fewer things were pre-labeled. So, if I can find one that's similar in the SOTW-4 AG, I use it instead. I never have used the map directions in the AG. We have always copied the map info from whatever history encyclopedia we happened to be using. I did this with my oldest one - the only "geography" he ever had - and was very surprised by his high geography score on the ITBS.