Exactly what this person said is what it's all about. Both of my DS's understood the concepts very well. BUT, they need to be trained to not make silly errors and mistakes! Those simple math errors (even though they know those concepts) are what cause issues later on. Saxon has a very good reason for being repetitive, and I PROMISE YOU, your children will be very challenged when they reach Algebra 1, but especially Alegbra 2.

I will complete WWE with my 5th grade son in a couple of weeks. I used WWS with my older ds and had planned to use it again, but I'd love to get some other suggestions that my better suit us right now. My son will start a public charter school next year for 6th grade. He has had a great deal of experience writing narrations for history, and like I mentioned, has worked his way through WWE. He does some writing for English, but not enough IMO. He really needs practice writing short essays, he needs practice writing good paragraphs, and *I* need something that is effective but gentle for me! I have a one year old and a busy school schedule for my older ds15, and I honestly do not have tons of quality time to dedicate for school. I need something that can hold my hand in teaching, but that my son can do somewhat independently. All suggestions are welcome!

I need an open and go Spanish curriculum that doesn't break the bank, but easy for my son to use independently. He needs to complete Spanish 1 and 2 by September of next year, so preferably something he can move through fairly quickly. Also, is there much difference with a high school Spanish curriculum vs. one I'd use in middle school? My younger son in 5th grade is going to switch from Latin to Spanish, so it would be great to have a curriculum I could use with him as well. Thanks!

I need recommendations for a Spanish curriculum for high school level. I do not want anything online - just a standard text that focuses on grammar, etc. I'd prefer something rather inexpensive and one that can be done independently. Thanks!

I almost bought the Harcourt: American Government and noticed these texts are for 4-8th grade. Just FYI for anyone else - those suggestions are not high school texts.

I'm on the tail end of my homeschooling journey and he has a few classes he must have completed prior to admission to a specific school. I know that studying economics will be something he actually enjoys, and because he will be doing this course independently, I'd like to ensure that he covers it thoroughly. I was just looking for input regarding using the Sowell book, and possibly supplementing with something else to fill any holes. My son is a textbook-lover, so the more worksheets and tests, etc. - the better. **I much prefer secular curriculum**

Would reading this book and using the questions on his website be enough to count for a half credit of economics?

I am attempting to put together a semester course for my ds15 who needs to have economics completed by next year. Basic Economics by Thomas Sowell has received some great reviews, but does anyone know if there is anything that accompanies that (tests, quizzes, etc.). I would like for him to read this book, but I don't mind supplementing with something else. He will be doing this independently and I'd like to gauge what/how much he is learning. Thanks!

Thank you all for the suggestions!

I need suggestions for solid government and economics curriculum. My ds is starting a school next year that requires him to have those two courses completed by grade 11. I'd like a textbook/workbook/test type of curriculum for both so that we can show the completed work if necessary. Thank you!

This is great - thank you. DS's outside school offers literature courses, and I can clearly see that taking a class would serve him well. In the meantime, your information and resources are very helpful.

What does a good literature course look like in high school? My ds15 is attending a school for a few of his classes, but literature is not one of them. We have done Lightning Literature, but I'd like to find something else. Any suggestions?

Thank you all for the suggestions - I appreciate it!

no one??? bump

I need suggestions for a high school level French curriculum for my son. He's in 10th grade with no prior experience with French, but did take Latin for several years. Bon Voyage was recommended to me and a few others I am unfamiliar with. I'd prefer a standard textbook/workbook/quizzes/test type of curriculum as ds will be doing his French study independently. We will not conversing with tutors or studying French abroad. We just need to check this off the list for his high school requirements! Thanks!

Ok, thanks for the input. I figured that was fairly normal for that many math problems. We've used Saxon since K and because of the pace, it was never really challenging for him until he started Algebra (which I was told this was the case by a Saxon rep. years ago). DS is a third of the way though the book and said he'll continue doing a lesson a day - even if it takes 2 hours so.... I guess I'll just step aside and let him do his thing (I'd personally go stir crazy!). Thanks~

On average, about how long does it take your student to complete a lesson in Saxon Algebra 2? My ds15 works on it completely independently (self-taught), but most lessons take him on average of 1 1/2 to 2+ hours. He has the teaching CD for any problems that he has trouble with, but he rarely even needs to use it. I grade his homework and he typically misses about 1 to 4 problems. Tests he typically misses no more than 2 - so he does understand the material. ** I do make him do all the lesson problems ** Thanks!

My 9th grade ds is using the Joy Hakim series - A History of US - for his American history credit requirement for high school. For the past four volumes, he has been reading and writing narrations. He actually enjoys these history books, and I do feel that he's learning, but I'd like to be able to change it up a bit in the way we are doing history. What I really want are chapter questions and tests, but at the high school level. I recently had a baby and I am also homeschooling my other ds10. My ds14 is very independent in the schoolwork that he does at home (he does writing and science at a school), but I feel SO disconnected from his schooling right now. I would love to dive in and approach history TWTM way, but I honestly just need him to cover the material, take tests, and check it off our list. Does anyone know if Joy Hakim has chapters questions and tests for her series - but again, at a high school level? Additionally, is her series considered to be too juvenille for a high school age student? My ds actually likes the idea of a textbook - so I'm open to other suggestions as well. Thank you! **Editing to add that I see there are Teaching Guides available for this series. I also see that there is an Assessment Guide which includes tests. Does anyone know the difference between the two? I am not able to locate samples for some reason.

My kids copied the problems from the actual book; we never wrote in the books. As for the drill sheets (or other worksheets) - we did write on those. I just stapled those to their lesson assignment and had them placed in a 3 ring binder. If you don't have access to a 3 ring binder, just get a box that will fit a stack of papers, and staple and stack the lessons there if you are wanting to save them. We also have always written directly on the test sheet, but I wish I would have had my kids copy them onto notebook paper just like they did for the lessons. If you plan to use the same book for multiple kids, I would have them copy the test problems onto notebook paper. The binding used for all the Saxon books has been excellent for us. I've never had an issue with them wearing down or coming apart.

Yes, definitely get The Well Trained Mind. It will help you to see the big picture, and give you some practical guidelines. For preschool age - I focus on getting them to recognize letters and numbers. The Leap Frog Letter Factory is an excellent DVD for this age. I also play tons of learning games - just fun ones and they don't have to take much time. Spend some time counting things and learning to recognize colors, etc. Mostly, just play time - 10 minutes here and there throughout the day. Kindergarten - my #1 focus was on reading (my goal was to have them reading well by 1st grade). I used The Ordinary Parents Guide For Teaching Reading (personally, I loved it and it was the ONLY book I needed to teach both my kids to read). I did not have a curriculum in K. We played TONS of games, we read books together - all different kinds - I just kept a fresh stack from the library on hand all the time. We worked on counting and learning to write numbers and letters. It was all very low-key, but we did a little bit of everything each day. I had several little K aged workbooks and I also printed random worksheets out from the computer. As for 4th grade, you really need to read The Grammar Stage section of TWTM. The book covers schooling all the way through high school, but I'd read preschool age through the Logic Stage (5-8th - you need to know where you're headed as well). Like the previous poster said, you'll get many opinions and suggestions, so start with reading TWTM. I felt much more at peace in beginning our homeschool journey. I certainly didn't have it all figured out, but it was a great starting point.

I vote for FLL1/WWE1. I used both (FLL1-4 and WWE 1-4, followed by WWS). I found them to be very gentle and thorough; grammar and writing were never subjects that my boys dreaded. All the lessons were short, but effective. Additionally, the more narration practice early on, the better. I also loved that most of the first two books are done orally. It seems to me that it's fairly wise to select a curriculum that builds on the previous level (just my opinion).

I loved the TOPGTTR. Do you do "Two Review, and One New" daily? I simply covered up the entire page except for the sentence that we were on, and we did not progress through the book until my ds's could recite the two previously learned sentences, and the new sentence. The purpose of the "two review" (lessons, I believe -it's been years since I've used the book), but it helps to build the child's confidence. It also helps you to know when you need to slow it down. TOPG is an excellent phonetic-based reading book. But you have to uncover the parts of the word(s) you want them to read as blends and digraphs, etc. We never used worksheets or anything supplemental, and by the time my kids had completed that book, they were reading very well. One thing that helped us is that we started the book around K. I only spent about 10 minutes per day early on. We did increase our reading time as they progressed through the book, but I made sure it was not viewed as drudgery, and that reading time was short and sweet. If they struggled, we worked through the short lesson and returned to the same one the next day. My 2 C's :)

This is true. SOTW has very young kids learning to narrate, and answering questions that pertain to the story - that definitely helps with retention.

Yes, it is completely normal. Both of my sons went through that (one still is, he's 9 also). I know that he knows how to do the math, but training them to not make silly errors and to pay close attention to detail is part of teaching. I go through the math lesson thoroughly, and when I correct his math paper I simply circle the problem(s) that he got wrong. I make him figure out why he missed the problems. He typically figures out why he missed the problem every single time, and I use that to serve as a reminder (99% of the time it's a silly/careless error). It is very helpful to take the time a couple of days per week to sit and watch your child actually DO part of his lessons. I noticed my younger ds9 doing all kinds of weird stuff (i.e. putting in the decimal point mid-way through a multiplication problem, etc.). I've also been training him to copy the problems down EXACTLY as they are written in the book, and then working the problem from there. It is a daily reminder for him because he always wants to do math in his head, or parts of problems in his head, and he makes errors more often when he does that. My older son is now 14 and rarely has an issue. He did grow out of it, but you do have to stay on top of it.

We use Story of the World, and my younger ds9 always does much better when he reads the story himself (I still make him read aloud and we are on the 4th book). I used SOTW with my older ds14 as well, and I really loved the story approach to history. We just discuss everything we're learning about. I ask tons of questions - (i.e. - Was this guy a good king or a bad king, and why, etc.) I just try and bring it down to the human level - something that he can relate to. If there is a war or battle, I always ask who was fighting, what started the fight, how did they fight, where, and what was the outcome..... We talk about the time period, and the geographical location. We locate the country on the map and globe, and I incorporate geography along with it. We also sometimes look up current photos of some of the areas, and I always have him show me where these places are in relation to where he is.