Sounds like they might not have a firm grasp of phonics. 13-year-olds may be embarrassed to admit this. I would devise a challenging word list of unfamiliar words and sit with each one as they read the words to you. Listen to the sounds they make, do they match up with the letters. Are they guessing? Are they skipping over parts of the word? Are they mixing up the order of the sounds? If so, rewind! If not, keep looking for the answer. Find a phonics program that doesn't look "babyish" and drill. I think Spell to Write and Read sells its phonogram cards separately. They are quite plain and won't seem babyish. Once they become familiar with the phonograms have them underline all the phonograms in their spelling words. Keep reading aloud to them, but have them read aloud to you (then they can make the "funny voices"). When they get stuck, have them use their knowledge of phonograms to sound out the words. Give them free reading that is below their level to work on speed, but keep the read alouds above or at their level. Hope this helps. As Nan in Mass says in her brilliant recent threads, you cannot go on without a firm grasp of the fundamental skills.

Try baby food (the meats, of course).

The MCT poetry program stands alone. It is not at all workbook-y. Music of the Hemispheres, level 1, covers the hard and soft sounds, rhyme (end rhyme, internal rhyme, eye-rhyme, rhyme scheme) onomatopoeia, alliteration, meter (stress, foot, iamb, trochee, anapest, dactyl, iambic pentameter), stanza (quatrain, ballad, English sonnet), similes, metaphors and personificationwith illustrative examples from famous poets. We haven't used his other books A World of Poetry or Building Poems yet. They review the above material in more depth and add more content. I have not seen the other program you mentioned, so I cannot compare the two.

We're really happy with Caesar's English and English from the Roots Up (you really only need the flash cards). We have close to 100% retention. We were using Wordly Wise, and while it was good to see all the definitions for a word, the lists seemed too long and random to me. The words in Caesar's English are based on frequency in classic literature. Also, my son breezed through the activities in Wordly Wise but retention over time was low. The built in cumulative review in Caesar's English and the natural review of using flash cards in English from the Roots Up has worked to cement the words. There is some overlap between Caesar's English roots words and English from the Roots Up, but it hasn't bothered us. Otherwise, we have vocabulary lists for science and discuss unfamiliar words in literature and history.

Kerry, I'm also loving the Magical Three Game. I just don't know what to tape it to...yet. Maybe I'll just write it on the backs of their hands... That's it! I'll write "Complete Sentences" on the back of each of their left hands and "Magical Three" on the right! LOL

Thank you Kerry, I am taping the label "Read Aloud" on the poetry book.

Dear Nan, I'm another one for whom this post has brought much needed clarity. One of the reasons we brought my son home from private school was because his handwriting, writing and spelling skills were YEARS behind his knowledge and reasoning ability. I too often have dropped the "skill drill" because frankly, sometimes it seems like torture. Then I pick it up again. Then drop it. After reading all your detailed posts, I spent some hours last evening figuring out how to fit most of the skills work (copywork, dictation, written narration, oral narration, outlining, memory work, etc.) into the content on a regular basis. Luckily he is not one who would find blending skills and content a negative thing. Because you were so generous to share your thoughtful insights and reflections on the classical education process, I now have a basketful of content books labeled as to what skill area they are best for (as in I taped a label with "copywork" or "outline" or "oral narration" etc. onto each book that lent itself to that skill.) This way I WILL NOT FORGET to include the skill work when using the content. Here is what my basket looks like now: Human Odyssey for outlining and Socratic discussion The Darwinian Tourist for copywork The Indian Tribes of North America perfect for dictation Kingfisher for the timeline and memory work The History of US for oral narration The Battles of the Medieval World for written narration Earth:The World Explained for written narration. Prentice Hall Science for end of chapter questions and experiments. Canterbury Tales for copywork or dictation, Socratic discussion, and literary analysis. Art History: for picture study/memory work in line with what we are learning in history. World Geography: for written narration and memory work Wonders of the Solar System DVDs: for oral narration Grammar, paragraph and essay writing, and spelling are helped by copywork and dictation but still require outside curricula. But grammar and spelling have significant amounts of memory work.

My children beg to hear the SOTW CDs! A series of American History disks, Living Adventures from American History is available from www.eyeintheear.com

This is a weighty tome and may be more than you are looking for, but you should be able to get it from your library or inter-library loan and it can answer all your questions. The introductory chapters should be enough to get an idea of the history and systemics of classification. It is written to a general audience. The Variety of Life: A Survey and Celebration of All the Creatures That Have Ever Lived by Colin Tudge I don't know if you can get this one from the library system or not. It is a college textbook that only covers invertebrates, but the introductory chapters clearly explain the classification system used by the authors (there is more than one classification system--just so you are prepared--older one based on body plan but still useful, newer one based on DNA, more accurate but still incomplete). Animals Without Backbones by Ralph Buchsbaum, Mildred Buchsbaum, John Pearse and Vicki Pearse Any good high school bio text should have at least a chapter on classification.

And I thought I was the only one who read coffee-table books. We love continuing the mix of visual with advanced content. The Elements was a fantastic read-aloud, even my 5 year old begged me to read it though I have no idea how much she understood. Of course you could keep going with DK forever, but here are some possibilities with meaty text : The Smaller Majority by Piotr Naskrecki Frogs: A Chorus of Colors by John L. Behler Fossils: The Key to the Past by Richard Fortey Insects in Flight by John Brackenbury A Dazzle of Dragonflies by Forrest L. Mitchell An Inordinate Fondness for Beetles by Arthur V. Evans

Can anyone give me a general sense of the grade level of each book and what each one covers?

Plants and Their Children is the most fantastic botany book for children to read-to-self or as a family read aloud. It is 100 years old and written directly to the child. It is available in its entirety on Google books (where the author's maiden name Frances Theodora Parsons is used) and is available as a used book from Amazon (where the author's married name Mrs. William Starr Dana is listed). The used books are very delicate (as they are 100 years old). It is also available as a reprint (use Plants and their Children and Frances Theodora Parsons on Amazon) for around $19.

Crash Course in Storytelling by Haven and Ducey Storyteller, Storyteacher: Discovering the Power of Storytelling for Teaching and Living by Marni Gillard The Storytelling Classroom: Applications Across the Curriculum by Norfolk, Stenson, Williams

www.dickblick.com, the art supply store, has three wood architecture kits. Expensive but beautiful and complete. Two-story townhouse, Hip Roof House Structure Kits, and Truss Roof House Structure Kits

The Civil War for Kids by Janis Herbert

The American Story by Jennifer Armstrong

The books aren't all that long. For example, Sentence Composing for Elementary School has about 66 lessons. They don't take very long, maybe 15 minutes. We frequently double up on them. DS likes them enough to do them every day. I expect to complete that book in about two months. Then I'll do Grammar for Elementary in two months and we'll be back on track for the middle school books in 6th grade.

Cave Paintings to Picasso by Henry Sayre

If you want to see what nature study looks like check out the link to my Nature Strollers blog below. Though that blog has ended, it contains the history of our nature study group. I recommend starting way back in the archives to see how the group and the nature study practice developed over time. My new blog, Nature Study for the Whole Family, also below, is just a few entries long. It is directed at the parent and includes things to look for. All of the entries are appropriate for winter/early spring. Begin by making visits to your park routine, the rest will follow with the seasons. Have fun!

Start with Sentence Composing for Elementary, then Story Grammar/Elementary. Despite the word "grammar" in the title, Story Grammar does not explain grammatical terms instead they call all the prepositional phrases, appositives, participles etc. "tools." In the middle school versions, I think this is reversed with the Grammar for Middle School containing the grammar and the Sentence Composing containing the "tools" of writing. Confusing for the teacher, but not so much for the student.

My son has written "I will flush the toilet" three hundred times over the past two months. He still loves learning, and he still doesn't flush the toilet. :lol:

And I was afraid to post because last time my son's sentences seemed so bloody compared to the rest of the posters' :D. Here's a toned-down one. He's now into writing "opposites" to the model: Model: The rain made her think of summer, of flowers in her backyard garden, and of the chirp of nesting birds voices, singing their lovely songs of the season. DS's: The air made him think of fall, of mushrooms in his front yard garden, and of the screech of flying roach voices, screaming their odious shrieks of winter.

My first year homeschooling two! Not as easy to juggle as I thought. The Blue Fairy Book The Green Fairy Book The Red Fairy Book Chapter Books: Animal Ark, Rainbow Fairies, Magic Puppy How to Spell Growing with Grammar Story of the World Ancients Writing with Ease 1 Singapore Math 1A-1B Misc. Science Rand McNally Beginning Geography Nature Study The Art Book for Children Julie Andrews Book of Poetry

I'd like to transition to a year-round schedule as well. The benefits you mention seem worth the effort: no review in the fall, balancing a summer that might be filled with screen-time, continually moving forward in the curriculum without a big 3 month gap. Our challenge would be working around our travel schedule, but for the weeks we are here I'd like to do a half-day's work, five-days a week through the summer and spend the rest of the time outdoors. Now that we've hit middle school there is so much to cover, I don't think it can be done in the confines of the typical school calendar. I'd really like to up the science and add Latin and year-round schooling would really help. My son is like yours, remembering weekends and summer vacations from his time in ps and jealously guarding his free time. It won't be an easy transition. However, some of the many reasons we home school include accelerating his learning and going in-depth into science and history. To accomplish this we just need more time and since I can't make our days any longer... This summer we'll be right there with you... on the couch continuing our studies. When the temps are in the 90s, this shouldn't be too hard. The only drawback I can think of is having to spend even more money on books and curricula as we cover more material!!

From what I've read and heard some of the most beautiful sentences can be found in The Wind in the Willows, so make sure you include it in your list of classic literature. Perhaps with the best sentences as copywork or dictation...