Hi, My son is currently in Grade 11 and for math this year he is finishing up Saxon Advanced Math and doing the first part of the Saxon Calculus book (a la Art Reed). I'm also planning to have him write his SAT2 for Math2 at the end of Grade 11. Right now I'm trying to make some plans for his Grade 12 year, but I'm not sure what he should do for math. I am considering two options: have him finish the Saxon calculus book, or have him do some kind of business math or accounting course. My son isn't sure what he wants to do after high school, but has been thinking about computer programming and/or carpentry, so either of these math options would be okay. My problem is that I don't know what is out there for business math or accounting. Can anyone share some recommendations? Thanks so much!

I've never heard it called "tomato staking" either, but it's what I'm doing with my 16 yo Grade 10 ds. He's ADHD and highly distractible. I tried letting him work on his own last year, but he just wouldn't stay off the internet. This year I have him sitting beside me so that I can monitor his computer use, and he is doing much better. He actually does his assigments whereas last year he was skipping a lot of stuff. He also really struggles with reading comprehension so I need to work with him on his literature and history assignments. For the most part this has been very helpful for him, but at times it does strain our relationship. It's very draining on me to have to spend the entire day sitting with him, and since I'm watching him all day I tend to micromanage him more than I should. My son really wants to be independent and struggles having me hovering over him. After all, he is a young man now and I really should be stepping back. So at times it can be rough. I also feel bad because I'm not spending very much time with my 13 yo Grade 8 dd. She's a good independent worker, but I really feel like I'm leaving her on her own too much and that we are missing out on a lot of great discussion time. So, for next year I am considering having my son do several online classes. This will give him focused instruction time (that isn't from me) and will give me time to spend with my dd. He's using BJU Biology online this year and doing very well with it. I hope this is the answer.

I've struggled with this whole issue too, and at times I've felt like I was going crazy trying to sort it all out. I experimented with the various philosophies over the years, and with a lot of trial and error I found a way to combine some of the various philosophies in a way that works for us. Generally I've stuck to a classical model based on the "developmental ages" of my children and used that as my overarching framework. Just understanding the grammar, logic and rhetoric stages has been incredibly helpful for me. Not only does it help me understand my children, but it also helps me choose age appropriate curriculum. It also helped me understand what was really important for my children to focus on and where to put our time. Knowing this has helped me naturally develop the following pattern. I teach the fundamental skill subjects in a classical way (math, grammar, spelling, etc.) I teach the content subjects in a Charlotte Mason-ish way (history, literature, science, Bible) In other areas I take an unschooling approach and provided my children with tools to investigate and learn on their own, in their own way, on their own time (arts & crafts, computer skills, special projects or interest driven studies). I've found that using this combination works really well for us. I also found that it's important for me not to "marry" one philosophy, and try to do everything exactly the way the philiosphy dictates. I found that this just isn't realistic for us. Some subjects just naturally lend themselves better to a classical style, or Charlotte Mason style, or to an unschooling style. I also find that it is important to stay somewhat flexible. Each of my children have different learning styles, and over the years they have had various weaknesses that needed special attention. So, each year when I plan my curriculum, I look at where my child is at developmentally, where their strengths and weaknesses are, and what style of curriculum would suit their needs at that time. The age of your children is something to consider as well. When my children were really little I tried unit studies, and what was nice about that was that we could all work together, but now that my kids are older they need to work individually, so unit studies aren't our best option anymore. I'm also finding that as they are getting older their preferences are changing. While my son used to like studying science in a Charlotte Mason way, he now thrives on textbooks and online classes. Applying a homeschool philosphy has turned out to be an organic process for me. So, although it can lead to confusion, having knowledge of all these philosophies really is a great thing! What helped me was that I treated this knowledge as a tool to make me a better teacher and to help me run my homeschool according to my children's needs. At times it was tough not to let a certain philosophy "run" my homeschool, (especially if I re-read a particular book), but if I took a deep breath, stepped away from it for awhile, and looked at what my children (and I) really needed, I was able to take control and not get overwhelmed. I hope this helps :)

My Grade 8 daughter is using WWS1 and I'm impressed with what she is learning. As we have been going through the program I've been wondering if my Grade 10 son wouldn't benefit from going through it as well. He's done most of the Rod & Staff writing assignments from the Grade 3-8 books. He's also done a lot of IEW over the years. He's not a bad writer, but I'm seeing things in WWS that he hasn't covered in such detail. Should he go back and work through WWS at this point? Or should he just move on and continue with persuasive writng? I guess I'm not sure if he really needs to work through WWS or not. What would be a good way to "test him out" on WWS? Thanks!

My 8th grader is having a hard time too. She's used IEW for many years, but was starting to complain about it so I thought we would try WWS. Initially she liked the change, but now that she's deeper into the book she's starting to complain that it's too hard. As someone else in this thread already mentioned, I think that WWS is forcing her to think, and she doesn't like that because it's hard work. Even though she's not loving it, she's been able to do the assignments and her writing is really improving. In fact, I'm so impressed with her writing that I'm even contemplating having my Grade 10 student do this book as well. So, we are going to stick with it, but change how we work through the book. Instead of having her try to complete each "day" in the book in one school day I'm just going to have her work for a certain amount of time each day. That way she can work through the book at her own pace and won't feel so pressured with those longer assignments.

I had a similar pile last year, and I was overwhelmed with the choices. Because I couldn't decide, I tried to combine things. What I found was that as the year went on some of those things dropped to the side, and in the end we were left with Sonlight G. It was the one constant in the whole year, and the one that we actually finished. So my advice is to go with Core G. Just one note...my dd was in Grade 7.

My children retain what they are interested in, regardless of the delivery method. My daughter enjoys history and literature and has no trouble retaining what she learns with Sonlight. She loves the stories and remembers things we read about years ago in PreK. She's also used reader anthologies and history textboooks, and learns just as well from them because she likes history and literature. My son is not interested in history and literature so he doesn't retain much. I've tried helping him retain more by using literature based methods. I've tried textbooks with lots of repetition, worksheets and tests. I've tried adding in fun activities, puzzles, games, crafts, and hands on projects. I've tried using oral narration and discussions. I've tried requiring lots of written work. I've tried musical memory cd's. I've tried movies. I've tried field trips. I've tried letting him choose topics that he wants to learn about. What I've learned is that none of these things helps him retain the information because he simply isn't interested. He would much rather be doing science experiments, playing on the computer, or riding his bike. He just isn't interested in history or literature. Is it the result of using a literature based method? No. Its just how my son is. That being said, my son actually has retained a few things over the years, and it comes out in surprising ways and at surprising times, and never when I'm actually asking him about it. :lol: It seems that there were tidbits that momentarily sparked his interest, and he does remember them. Sadly, they are few and far between, but there are some! What I do appreciate about Sonlight is that the books are rich, and there are so many of those tidbits for a child to latch onto. I really noticed this when we tried using textbooks for awhile. Textbooks just didn't have the depth that the Sonlight literature does. Also, Sonlight builds a lot of repetition into their programs, and they cycle through world history several times over the years. This will also help with learning and retention. So despite my son's lack of interest and retention we are continuing with Sonlight. Out of everything we've tried I know it will give him a rich, varied exposure to history and literature and will provide a great opportunity for him to pick out something that interests him. Hope this helps. :001_smile:

You could also use Elegant Essay, or Windows to the World, or the new Writing Research Papers as well, without any previous IEW experience. These are stand alone programs. They are also book based, so they are much less expensive than IEW's DVD based courses. Elegant Essay teaches basic essay writing, including persuasive essays. Windows to the World teaches literary analysis and how to write a literary analysis essay. Writing Research Papers teaches the obvious, but has several levels of difficulty.

I've used SL since the PreK level and discovered early on that I did not like their approach to teaching LA. Once I discovered TWTM I followed most of it's rec's instead. For grammar we used Rod & Staff. For spelling we used All About Spelling and Sequential Spelling. For word study we used Vocabulary from the Classical Roots, and for writing we used IEW. I'm glad I chose to do this in the earlier grades because it gave my dc a good solid language arts foundation, however my goal has always been to have my dc transition back to using Sonlight for their upper core writing assignments. Now that my son is about to start his first upper level core I want to follow the Sonlight schedule as much as possible, so here is what I am planning: Vocabulary: Wordly Wise & Analogies Grammar: finishing R&S and possibly do Abeka 11 & 12 Writing: SL assignments. We will also do IEW's High School Essay Intensive. Literature: SL reading schedule and discussions questions. I'm also planning on having my dc do an SAT prep book. Just because I am a curriculum junkie I also have several other things sitting on my shelf that we will use for reference if needed: Teaching the Classics, Windows to the World, Writer's Inc., Format Writing, and some IEW books (Elegant Essay, Writing Research Papers, and Life Science Based Writing Lessons).

Yes there is a DIVE CD for chemistry, and you could use it with the BJU Chemistry textbook. http://www.diveintomath.com/chemistry-11th-grade/

My son will be doing biology next year and I'm trying to decide between using BJU Biology with the BJU DVD's, or using the BJU Biology text with DIVE. My son is currently using BJU's Physical science along with the DIVE'S Integrated Chemistry and Physics CD and has been doing well, so I had just planned to continue on with DIVE for Biology. However, my son has now expressed a possible interest in medical school, so I want to make sure he has a very thorough biology course. We live in Canada so we don't have the CLEP option or AP, but he will need to write the SAT2. I understand that the main difference between the two is the amount of time spent listening to lectures (daily with BJU as opposed to weekly with DIVE). My son is very bright and has had no trouble understanding the concepts presented this year despite only having a weekly DIVE lecture, but Biology is harder, and his Biology marks is going to be very important if he wants to go to med school. I don't want to mess it up. I guess I sort of feel like using the DIVE CD is taking a shortcut. Am I wrong in thinking this? What would you do? Do DIVE, add in an SAT2 prep book, and stop stressing so much? Go with full BJU? Or what about doing DIVE and adding in more of the BJU materials, like the chapter review questions, or the tests? :bigear:

Does anyone know if there is a forum or yahoo group for Dive Science users? I've looked but haven't been able to find one. If you know of one would you post a link please? Thanks!!

:bigear: Anybody?

Has anyone had their student write the SAT2 after completing Dive Biology? If so, how did they do? Any advice?

I actually have both Saxon 8/7 and Algebra 1/2, but I thought I'd go with 8/7 because it includes some basic math review as well as pre-algebra. I thought that doing a basic math review would help make the transition to Saxon a bit easier on her. You know...start her with a review of something familiar before moving on to new stuff. My dd needs lots of review to make things stick. My ds used Algebra 1/2 but he had been using Saxon for several years already and was familiar with it. He is also very math inclined and thought 8/7 looked too easy for him. If I understand correctly, Saxon 8/7 contains a mixture of basic math review and pre-algebra, but Algebra 1/2 contains only pre-algebra. I also thought that you could move a student directly into Algebra 1 after completing EITHER 8/7 or 1/2. I don't believe that you need to do both. Perhaps I'm wrong? Yvonne - why do you think that Algebra 1/2 is a better choice than 8/7? Is it because Horizons 6 prepares them well enough that they don't need that extra review that 8/7 has? I appreciate your input!