I have used both Rosetta Stone V.2 and V.3 and can tell you that the differences are HUGE. I'm all for saving money, but really, there is no comparison. If you are making the Rosetta Stone plunge, version 3 is much better organized and is much easier to use with fewer glitches. Almost everything about it is different. We have enjoyed V. 3 very much. DD(12) is almost through level 2. I think that although the actual speaking to a person is harder, it has given her a wonderful foundation for how the language works and sounds. Native speakers say that she has a beautiful accent. Again, she would be hard pressed to carry on a conversation at this point, but she is learning the language much as a two year old learns language. She is getting the foundation for speaking. She understands far more than she can say at this point, but isn't that the same as a small child? I think this is a wonderful start. In order to develop fluency, I fully expect that we will need to enroll her in a conversational course at a later point. Hope this helps! Jen

Wow! This looks awesome! Has anyone out there used any of these courses? They seem too good to be true! Jen

Hello, I am wondering if anyone has used the math software from Bagatrix? Algebra 1 Solved, Geometry Solved, etc. Supposedly, you can enter in any problem and it will show you step by step how to solve it. http://www.bagatrix.com/products.htm Has anyone tried this? It looks like it would be a godsend if it actually worked...... Jen

I bought this on another board and specifically went to THIS board to ask the question to try to keep things diplomatic, yet get needed advice. Here is the original posting wording: Sonlight World History Part II for Sale - Almost Complete (This was followed by a long listing of books) I followed up with the following email: Me: Could you please tell me what year your Sonlight 7 is? Thank you. Her: Part 2 is from 2009. Please let me know if you have more questions. Me:I am very interested in your part 2 - is it missing anything? What is the condition? Her: Everything is in excellent condition. It is missing the following: Arrow Over the Door Number the Stars The Sherwood Ring The Best Christmas Pagent Ever Great Expectations Angel on the Square Stowaway I used those books from my local library. Thank you. If she gives me the schedules, I m going to just drop it, as I really just need the schedules to get this to work and I'll have to just live with the fact that I should have specifically asked "Your world history Part II from 2009 includes the 2009 instructor's guide, correct?" To me, if you say it's from a certain year, you're talking about the instructor's guide. So, I guess I've learned the hard way. The seller offering to send me the used schedules does make my major issue go away, and if it was a misunderstanding, then she is doing what she thinks is fair. I just thought I was buying something resellable as well. Now I will just nervously await the emailing of the schedules. Thank you for all of the perspective building advice. Jen :glare:

The seller will send me the old schedules, but will only refund my money MINUS the original $25 shipping and expects me to pay shipping back to her. GRRRRRR!

I have now heard from the seller that her listing did not include the instructors guides. She thought she was including them as a bonus. However, I saved all of our emails and forwarded her the email in which I asked to know what year her core 7 was from and if it had anything missing or any marks. If she was selling only books, why would she have replied that the core was from 2009????? She has said she could try to send me the used schedules via email if she can find them all. Any thoughts? I don't feel like simply sending me used written all over schedules makes up for this - I thought I was buying a very complete core (I need to resell it eventually, so I figured that into what I was willing to pay). What do you guys think? Jen

I am definately not trying to jump the gun or slam the seller. I want to be very clear that I am just looking for opinions on how to fairly resolve this. I appreciate several of the responses, and it's helpful to know that people don't think I'm off base for being upset. I am just trying to figure out how I want to resolve this in a diplomatic, fair way. I also want to be clear that I am not coming from a perspective that the seller was being intentionally dishonest. I am working from the idea that she didn't think about the implications of not having the schedules. Naive, perhaps, but hopefully not intentionally trying to deceive me. If anyone checks this and has an instructors guide from 2009 WITH the schedules for sale (general science also) or better yet, just the schedules, please let me know! I like the idea of finding out how much it will cost to replace and then asking for a refund of that difference. Any other constructive ideas/solutions appreciated! Jen

Hi, I need a little advice. I just bought a Sonlight Core 7 from someone on the boards. I asked exactly what was missing, and knew that several books were missing, but everything else was there. The core finally arrived. The books are exactly as described, but there was a note on the instructors guide "This does not have the weekly schedules but everything else is here." Ummmm, what??????? The history AND science guides have no schedules. I feel like I have a canoe but no oars. I have not heard back from her yet, but I am really upset. I need suggestions as to how to handle this. So far, I've just let her know that I am very unhappy and asked how she thinks we should resolve it. Any suggestions? Thanks for any help. I'm out of budget and time, as we are supposed to be starting this NOW. Thanks, Jen

I guess I've just lost perspective. Both girls can learn and retain things. Here is an example of why I feel frustrated. I taught my DD(13) a lesson about negative and postive numbers. We always do numerous examples, independent work and then she teaches it back to me. This helps a lot. Anyway, all of this went well. The next day she couldn't remember - this is easy peasy stuff! She sailed through the other challenging problems in math and started to CRY when she reached negative and positive numbers. This is a review of third grade stuff! I patiently retaught the information, searching for new ways to help her understand. Now she REALLY grasps it. The next day, you guessed it. No idea. My husband went over it with her. Fast forward to Day 7 of this. My father comes over and teaches her. Today, she completely messes it up again. SHE STILL CAN'T REMEMBER! A negative times a positive equals a negative. A negative times a negative equals a positive. AAACCK! This same child is having no problem handling complicated word problems within the same lesson. It is this way with a lot of subjects; I can never tell what she is going to retain. We have the same issue with telling time on a regular clock. Some days, no problem. Other days, she couldn't tell me the time to save her life. I have two kids like this. They have different strengths (younger one is a wiz at Spanish and Math, older one excels in reading and writing skills) but both fall apart over the little things. Most of the time I keep my chin up and remind them that we're homeschooling so that we can move faster in some areas and slower in others. Recently, I just want to lay my head on the desk or pull out my hair. Thanks for the encouraging words. I really, really needed them today.

Does anyone else feel like homeschooling a kid with ADHD is like the movie "Groundhog Day"? (In the movie the same day keeps happening over and over, but the main character is the only one who knows that it is repeating.) I teach things to the kids but they seem to have very little retention. I try all kinds of different strategies, but feel I am pounding my head against the wall. Someone remind me that my kids are better off homeschooling than in public school!

My two daughters and husband all started out with adderall xr and then just regular. It was horrible for us. All three of them lost weight and became depressed. My oldest had daily breakdowns. My younger daughter has inattentive ADHD and takes focalin XR. It has been a lifesaver. She can eat and is able to focus. She doesn't seem to have a crash time. It is the perfect solution for her. Focalin XR was a disaster for DH and for my oldest daughter. Perhaps because they have hyperactive ADHD or just different body chemistry? DH ended up with Concerta. My oldest is just exercising a lot because nothing seems to work for her. Meds can be so tricky and are so individual. I would stay away from adderall due to all the effects.

Hello, I am trying to decide which way to go with math next year. My daughter has done a variety of math programs. We are about halfway through Saxon Algebra 1/2. She has done very well with this. Our biggest problem is that 30 problems take about 2 hours to complete. However, I'd rather take more time to finish a book and teach her excellent math skills than have it take only an hour. I am really stuck between Dolciani and Saxon. I am NOT a math person, so I love the Dive CD's and detailed solution book for Saxon. She has adjusted well and is maintaining an A average. However, I hear wonderful things about Dolciani. My daughter would like to be a vet, so math is very important. I would appreciate any feedback. Jen

Hello, I am trying to decide which way to go with math next year. My daughter has done a variety of math programs. We are about halfway through Saxon Algebra 1/2. She has done very well with this. Our biggest problem is that 30 problems take about 2 hours to complete. However, I'd rather take more time to finish a book and teach her excellent math skills than have it take only an hour. I am really stuck between Dolciani and Saxon. I am NOT a math person, so I love the Dive CD's and detailed solution book for Saxon. She has adjusted well and is maintaining an A average. However, I hear wonderful things about Dolciani. My daughter would like to be a vet, so math is very important. I would appreciate any feedback. Jen

We all want to do the right thing for our kids....it can be so hard to determine what the right thing is, especially when there are learning issues. While I personally find Calvert BORING, I think it is very structured and provides a solid overview for kids without being overwhelming. It is manageable to get done in a reasonable time frame each day. If there is a subject that is not working for you (for us it was Spelling and literature) you can always change it out for something you like by just replacing it. For example, we used Sequential Spelling every day instead of Calvert Spelling. Easy peasy to switch out. If you're not using their testing services, you can do this as well as take extra time if he's having a hard day, etc. You can always add things you like to make it more your own as you see how he adjusts. I'd suggest buying a used set so if it doesn't work well, you haven't thrown $1000 down the drain. I hope this helps! Remember, it's not failing to use a structured program. In fact, it may be just what he needs. Jen

My kids have really enjoyed the Noeo Science series....we are doing level 2, so others may have to weigh in about lower levels. We like that it uses "real" books, and is taught in a way that encourages the child to discover information for themselves. We love the experiments and have really enjoyed ourselves and learned a ton! Jen

We have been doing Noeo Chemistry II and LOVE the format! It's bringing the fun and joy back into learning for us. What I love: 1. They use real books like Usborne Encyclopedia of Science. 2. The schedule is easy to follow and can be adjusted to do blocks of time (2x week science, 1x week lab) instead of daily work. We save up all of our weekly labs for a lab day on Thursdays. We have a great time, and I only have to think about labs once a week. 3. I like the idea of writing down what you are learning. It was a little open ended for my kids, so I typed up quick outlines so they could fill in the information and learn the skill of outlining. It's working really well. I wouldn't do this until level II level though. I think Level I would be better to just let them write down what they understand and get used to the program. 4. We really enjoy the fun books that are part of the series. Fizz, Bubble, Flash and the Periodic Table of Elements (done as a read aloud) were fun for us. 5. The labs are really enjoyable. We really like the atoms experiment book. It has real experiments that don't take a ton of planning or materials, but are clear and fun. What we don't like: 1. That we are almost done! 2. I wish there was a little more direction in the older level for the notebooking that taught them how to take notes...maybe I should send them my outlines LOL! Hope this helps! Jen

My daughters are 11 and 9 1/2. My younger is dyslexic, and they both have ADD. They love history. We are looking for something that allows us to go at our own pace. I got frustrated with Sonlight, because if we got behind on our reading books, it messed up language arts, and made it difficult to go on. I'm hoping that TOG gives me enough info so that I don't have to go through every resource to pull together my plans. Do you think this will work for us? Thanks!

We really had wonderful success with Zaner Bloser. It was interesting and colorful, but not distracting. Both of my children learned well at their own pace with this program.

I like having things laid out, but I was frustrated that all of the guides to the sonlight books focused mainly on comprehension. Not a lot of critical thinking. I also don't like that if you get behind in history, or want to do the readers in a different order, it messes up the language arts. I like to have things laid out for me, but be able to make choices as to when I would like to do something (not a strict order). Many of the books in Core 3 were good, but some were just plain BORING. I now use their list and pick good books from them, but don't bother with their whole curriculum.

Having done both, I definately prefer SOTW.

I agree with the above poster, Jim Weiss is absolutely enchanting for all ages.

Homeschool in the Woods has some really neat american history lapbooks on CD. Also, they have a neat lapbook unit on artists.

sotw for that age

We like Artistic Pursuits...I just get them started, then their little creative brains go to work!

I think you can start with Alpha. It's very basic and clear. You can go at her pace, so if it's challenging, spend more time, if it's easy, spend less. Make the curriculum work for you, don't be tied to the schedule you think you ought to keep.