Thank you all for all of the great input!! You gave some ideas that I hadn't thought of but I will certainly consider now! We do own Kingfisher. I do like the look of Sonlight but just can't justify putting out that kind of money for one of their core programs. I have been considering Beautiful Feet. We already have several of the books they use. You've all been most helpful!

How does Sonlight work if you just want to do history with none of your other subjects attached? It doesn't even look like I could buy the instructor's guide for only history.:confused: Any input on that?

Isn't SOTW written for a younger age group?:confused: Do you just read it by itself or does it branch off into other books? Truthquest is one that I'm trying to get a feel for. I don't need Bible or science. I've already got those covered.:)

Hi All~ I'm still fairly new to posting here and post mostly over on the high school board but I need some history help.:D I have a daughter beginning 7th grade (she's 12). She's pretty vocal about not liking history.:glare: Up to this point, we've done some shorter history units on Egypt, the Middle Ages and the Ren. and Reformation. We've also covered some history using FIAR in the younger grades. We've also covered quite a bit of geography. I'm struggling knowing what to do for her for jr. high. She hates history but she is a voracious reader and a fairly good writer. I've been researching history programs until I'm blue in the face and can't even come close to deciding what might be best for her. I don't have a ton of money left in my budget. I don't mind some prep work but I also have a high schooler and a toddler so I can't do a ton.:lol: So, throw me some suggestions if you please!:D Thanks a bunch!

I didn't have time to sign on yesterday to thank you all for the input. Sorry it took me a while to offer my thanks!:) I'm still a little confused.:lol: In the chalkdust program, Alg 2 and Trig are two different courses with seperate books and dvds. But, the Alg 2 book is 10 (or 11 can't remember off the top of my head) chapters long and the Trig book is 6 (or 7) chapters long. It seems like completing both would be more than a one year course but less than a two year course. Would it be weird to list Alg 2 as its own course and give it a full credit and to list Trig on the same year and assign it a half credit? I hate to think of only giving him one credit for sooooo much work but I don't want it to looks suspect either. I'd also just like to take a moment to thank all of you for all of your help on this board in general! I have learned so much and have gained a lot of confidence for the high school years from reading!! Your time and energy are so appreciated!

Hi All~ I'm looking for advice on how to list this year's math on our transcript and how many credits to assign. We're starting 10th grade. My son is doing Algebra 2 over the summer. (He started in mid spring when he was finished with geometry and will finish it about mid way through our first quarter of the coming school year.) He will go on to Trig. and should be able to finish that by the end of the school year. We are using Chalkdust. Would you list these as two seperate courses on the transcript and, thus, give one full credit for each? Or, would you combine them as Alg. 2/Trig and only assign one credit total? TIA for any help on this.:)

I don't know how anyone else on this board feels about this program ;), but I've been using Applications of Grammar by Christian Liberty Press. I've been very happy with them! The 10th grade book contains three units where writing is the focus: a reasearch paper, an expository essay and an article of opinion. The rest of the units are grammar units and I think they have given my high schooler a great grasp of grammar. He'll be in 10th grade this year but we are on the 11th grade book. These books are very inexpensive but, IMO, thorough. You can see a sample here. HTH,

Alternatively ;), they could do the same route I described above but, instead of taking I-15 and going through Vegas and doing Zion and Bryce first, they could catch I-40 (so, 395 to 58 to I-15 to I-40) just north of Barstow and head into Arizona. You take 64 from just east of Williams to get up to the Grand Canyon. Then, they could take 89 north into Utah and either go up to Bryce Canyon first and then backtrack down to go to Zion or go to Zion first and exit back out the east side (which they will have entered this way) and head up to Bryce. ETA: after re-reading your first post, this may be the way to go. Then, the Grand Canyon is seen and the Utah parks are still there if they have the stamina. Honestly, though, after just having been to Zion and Bryce (we were in the Grand Canyon a year and a half ago), I would actually recommend those parks over the Grand Canyon. There seem to be so many more short hikes (actually just walks in many cases) to take in Zion and Bryce than in at the Grand Canyon. I felt like I experienced so much of the beauty as opposed to just staring down from the rim.:lol: :001_smile:

I'd do this.:) We've traveled down 395 from Tahoe which passes right by the eastern exit from Yosemite. The scenery down 395 is lovely with views of the Sierras. From the 395, they should be able to hit 58 which connects to I-15 right near Barstow. From there, I would go on I-15 through Vegas and on into Utah. Just north of St. George, UT, they can hope on UT-9 and go through Hurricaine into Zion. UT-9 goes all the way through Zion and hits 89 on the eastern side. They can take that north a bit and head up to Bryce. After visiting Bryce, they can head back down 89 and take it to 40 to hit the South Rim of the Grand Canyon. I haven't been to the North Rim so I'm not sure how to best get there. We have been to each of these parks. They are all so different and so awe-inspiring!! We were just in Zion and Bryce last month. I wouldn't skip Bryce Canyon. It's so close to Zion and it would be a shame to miss it if they have time. Watching the sunrise over Bryce Amphitheater is I site I will never forget! HTH,

Lori, I love your "3 r's"!!:iagree: I tried to give you a positive rep for this post but, apparently, I have to give it to others before I can give it to you again.;) Alice, I hear what you're saying. I really do. But, if I may offer...I am a mom of "older kids" and I am also the mom of a little one. I still say, routine, reading and relax.:lol: Really, truly, it goes by in the blink of an eye and there is so much time and opportunity later for all of the structured learning you can stomach. I am sitting here right now across from my 2 year old (he'll be 3 in Sept.). He's got on his adorable "Gone Hiking" shirt and is "reading" a book to himself. He looks so much like his older brother did at that age it's like dejavu. Only, this time, I am taking time to stop and smell the roses.:)That's not to say that we don't do anything structured with him. I do.but it's more structured play than anything. We moms of olders see so many moms of littles striving to cram an entire elementary education into kindergarten. We hear them ask for advice but, when we don't say what they want to hear, they dismiss us.:confused: With experience comes wisdom and part of maturing is learning to listen to the wisdom of others.;) Anyway, it sounds like you are providing your kids with a very learning rich environment. If a mom of littles like you were asking for my advice, I would say, "Don't change a thing! You're doing great! Add in the academics later when you have to.":) To answer the OP's question, I try to tell them to relax but my experience is that moms of pre-schoolers or K-3ers (speaking very generally) really don't want to hear my actual advice.;)

We had the same issue. My son has a Nov. 7th birthday and started K (in private school) when he was 4. We started homeschooling him in 2nd grade. We just faced this a few months ago. We all realized (him included) that it would be better for him to graduate at 18 instead of 17 due to maturity. So, we ended up counting this year as 9th grade instead of 10th which is the way we started the year. We feel such a sense of relief making this decision and do plan on him doing some dual enrollment classes in 11th and 12th grade.:) I really think it depends on the kid. In our case, our son would not be mature enough to go to college at 17 almost 18.

Looks similar to us (my ds is intending on being a biology major): Systematic Theology Chalkdust Algebra 2 and Trig (He's working on Alg. 2 this summer and will finish in Sept and move on to Trig.) Chemisty (The Potter's School) Latin 2 (The Potter's School) US History (The Potter's School) Advanced Composition (The Potter's School) Applications of Grammar-Book 5 Several Progeny Press Guides (The grammar, comp, and PP guides make up his English 10 class.) Formal Logic Book 2 Lots of fun work coming up!:)

We did it as it was written-every day for 4 days. It worked well for us since it only took him about a half hour a day and it was one of his favorite subjects to study. We're going on to book 2 this year and will do it the same way.

The guides are broken up into sections containing a certain number of chapters. There is a vocabulary section, a section of questions, a section of "digging deeper" questions, etc. We do one section over the course of a week so it takes however many weeks as there are sections in the guide. We've just started Farenheit 451 and that guide has 6 sections. HTH,

I used it with my oldest student for 6th and 7th. He went on to Apologia physical science in 8th and biology in 9th. He is very science minded and, in fact, is planning on majoring in biology in college. He really enjoyed it. I would echo the things the other posters said about it. We liked the short lessons and writing style. We didn't have to do any extra explanations of concepts but that may be because my son already had a great grasp of so many of the concepts. We are going to be using it again beginning in the fall for my 7th grader. She is not science minded and I think the purpose will be different for her. It will act more as a "bridge" as Chris said. I think it will give her a nice background before she takes a couple of Apologia courses in high school.

Thank you, Lisa and Jean for the input and food for thought!:)

Thank you for the replies thus far. I greatly appreciate your time and input!:)

Hi Everyone, I'm looking for some advice on what work to save for my highschooler and how to store it. In a binder, I currently have his course of study, attendance record and report card for 7th, 8th and 9th grades separated per grade. I also have his 9th grade course descriptions with his 9th grade records. I was planning on adding each following year in using the same pattern. I may decide to pull the jr. high records as we progress with high school and put those with his elementary records in a seperate binder. Any advice on that system? Next, what work do you keep and how do you decide? We just completed 9th grade and I have an accordian folder into which I was planning to put some work. I just don't know what to keep.:confused: I was considering keeping some of his lab reports for science (especially his frog dissection report), a writing sample, his math tests...:confused: I'm not really sure what's necessary or what's worthy of saving. What might I need to refer back to in the years to come? Will I need any of this for college purposes later? I'm typically one to pitch every piece of paper I can into the trash at the first opportunity.:lol: I'd love any advice!!:bigear: Thanks a bunch!

Are you referring to Memoria Press? If so, I do think you need the dvds. We completed the fist book this year and I don't think we could have easily done it without the dvds.

We've used CD pre-algebra, algebra 1, geometry and now we're using algebra 2.:) At this point, my son watches the video and goes through the explanation and examples in the chapter section. He's math inclined enough (and it seems your dd is, too) to know what he needs work on. So, I actually let him choose which problems he is going to do. He does at least a problem or two from each subset of problems in the section and then does extras from those concepts with which he thinks he needs more practice to master. He knows that he needs to put forth his best effort and that he needs to be honest with himself and do the problems that need to be done. If he doesn't, he won't do well on the quizzes or tests. This method has been working really well for us and lets us move through the chapters a bit quicker than if we did more problems. He's also scored in the mid 90's or above on each test. (He did just do poorly on a quiz but it was due to careless errors, not conceptual mistakes.) HTH,

Thank you all so much for the well thought out replies! They give me much to think about. Gwen, your top reason is one that I have considered and struggled with. Yes, I do want Bible study to be just a part of daily life. I don't give allowance for certain basic chores. Family members need to do them just because they live here. Every Christian needs to be studying the Bible every day just because they are a member of God's family. However, I also think of all of the folks I know who have gone to or are currently going to seminary. Their academic pursuits in studying the Scriptures are "credit worthy." These classes are seperate from the devotional reading and studying that they do. I also see your point about the secular colleges. My son is also looking at secular schools as a biology major. The thing is, if we're spending as much time as we are on the academic study of Scripture (detailed study of confessions, a systematic theology course, etc.) then those classes take just as much time, if not more, than any other course work that we do which eliminates time that could be spent on other courses. But, I don't want to miss out on the theological courses simply because we need to get credits for a more "legitimate" class. Anyway, just thinking through it aloud and appreciating all of the input here!:)

Thinking aloud here...;) On his transcript, would you list this as "Bible" or "Theology"? Seems like theology would be a valid discipline to list on a transcript; similar to philosopy. He really is doing systematic theology and spending a lot of time so I think he deserves the credit. I think I understand the arguments for and against. I'd also appreciate any further feedback.:)

Do you award any credit for "Bible" to your students? My plan was to award a half a credit a year for Bible especially since our study is academic vs. devotional for this subject. Thoughts? TIA,

For my now 10th grader: We did pre-alg in 7th Alg. 1 in 8th Geometry in 9th We're trying to complete Alg 2 and Trig for 10th (my ds is working on Alg 2 through the summer). Pre calc 11th Calculus 12th My dd (who will be in 7th this year) pre-alg in 8th Alg 1 in 9th Geometry in 10th Alg. 2 in 11th That will probably be it for her. She's just not math inclined like her brother.;) :)

No webcam. They do need a working microphone. In our experience, there has been very little technical difficulty. Everyone is patient when something technical pops up but it has been rare. There is a "chat box" on the side bar of the student's screen and they use that to communicate back and forth and ask questions of the teacher. The teacher determines when the student will speak out loud. During biology, I don't think the teacher ever had my student speak but, of course, he was talking aloud during every Latin class. The teacher has the ability to mute each student's mike. Essentially, the software allows the students to see the teacher's screen during the class. HTH,