An update for those who responded to my original post: I went to the Midwest Homeschool Convention last week and ended up purchasing Julie Bogart's Writer's Jungle (Brave Writer). I also surprised myself and bought Michael Clay Thompson's language arts program. I was planning to buy his first poetry book, but after hearing him speak, I decided to go with the whole program. It's not what I had planned, but I am hopeful that it will bring some joy back into our homeschool (if there ever was any)!

Kathi, Have you thought about posting your question on the logic stage board? Maybe someone there would have some insight for you.

A bump and a question for you... :) I am researching Meaningful Comp and this is the second post I have read in which IEW users are looking for info about using MC. Since I am interested in both programs, can you tell me why you are not continuing with IEW? Has your dc moved past the instructional level of IEW? Thanks!

I don't mean to hijack the thread, but is there a reason you are not continuing with IEW? Has your ds gone as far as he can with the program? I'm asking because I'm looking at IEW and MC as options for my 11 yo dd for next year.

Prima Latina looks like it might be exactly what dd needs. I am going to the Midwest Homeschool Convention later this week, and I will be able to get a first-hand look at it there. I think Cheryl Lowe will be speaking there, as well, so I should probably rethink my schedule. Again! :tongue_smilie:

Thank you! I'm off to check out Prima Latina! :)

DH and I never intended to start the whole Santa, Easter Bunny, Tooth Fairy thing with our children, but we caved under pressure when our oldest dd was a toddler. We finally broke down and told them (actually, my husband told them while I was out shopping with a friend) when dd was almost 10 and ds was 7. I think dd (who has HFA) would have believed until she moved out of the house, then would have been so disapponted when Santa didn't come to her apartment (or wherever), LOL! What finally prompted us to come clean was that our ds (very logical child) has been asking some tough questions since he was about five years old. About Santa, the Tooth Fairy... and about God. We didn't want to perpetuate belief in fantasy characters and risk having our dc throw out God along with the fictional characters when he was old enough to figure out the truth. And that is what I told them when I talked to them about it. It has taken a little of the excitement out of Christmas Eve, but they really enjoyed shopping for stocking stuffers and helping fill stockings with me last year. We are not going to teach our youngest dd, almost 3, that Santa brings gifts or that the tooth fairy leaves the dollar.

Thanks for your response, Holly. I am trying to decide between MCT Caesar's English and English from the Roots Up IF I go with a word roots approach. Not sure which full latin program I will use if I decide to go that direction. I might just have to try one and see what works for my dd. I'm hoping a few other members might pipe in with their experience. :)

Thanks for your responses to my questions. I am going to the Midwest Homeschool Convention this week, and I will take a good look at IEW, along with the others on my list. I'm not familiar with Meaningful Composition, but I'll check it out online before I go. For those of you who recommend IEW, how are you using it? Student instructional DVDs? Just the teacher training, then use the techniques for writing in the other subject areas?

Hello from Franklin Co. (southeast)!

I am trying to decide whether to attempt a Latin program with my 11 yo dd (who has high functioning autism). My primary goal would be to give her tools for expanding her vocabulary, with an eye toward future college entrance exams. Have any of you had success using a full latin program with a special needs child? How about one of the root word programs, like Vocabulary from Classical Roots? I really appreciate any experiences you can share with me. Since I am very new to the classical education philosophy, I am floundering in trying to make decisions about latin, logic, and writing.

I'm new to the WTM boards, and new to the whole idea of classical education. I have an 11 yo dd with high functioning autism, and I am going crazy trying to figure out the best approach to teaching writing. She is a fairly fluent writer, and is able to write organized paragraphs, but needs to grow in the area of style. Her sentence structure lacks variety, and she is content with tired nouns and verbs. Right now, I am thinking I will go with Rod and Staff english and supplement with ideas from Brave Writer. I'm also considering using some Image Grammar techniques and Kilgallon Sentence Composing. Then, possibly Lost Tools of Writing when she is in 7th or 8th grade... Has anyone here tried an approach like this? Or would I be better off with IEW? Thanks for any insight you can give me.

:iagree: We had our daughter tested when she was 3 1/2, and the most important thing the label (autism) did for us was to put me into high gear, looking for some answers for her. In that sense, it was a valuable tool in getting her the intervention she needed. I knew she had issues, but the label served as a wake-up call for both me and my husband. My daughter is doing very well at age 11, and I believe early intervention (traditional therapies and biomedical) was the key to her progress. :grouphug:

Andrew, Thank you so much for your thoughtful response to the original post. Although I have been homeschooling for five years, I am new to the WTM boards, and to the whole idea of classical education. The philosophy resonates with me, and I believe it is the direction in which I need to move with my children. But the implementation of the philosophy (which has manifested as a frantic search for the perfect curriculum/program) is causing me a great deal of stress. Your post reminded me of why I chose to homeschool. It reminded me that education is so much more than filling my children's minds with knowledge, reading the right list of great books or learning to write a perfect essay. I already feel less burdened by all the content we need to cover, and less guilty about all we might have missed. I intend to print your post and hang it beside my computer where I can read it daily. I might even decide to frame it! :)

I will be very interested to see how your dd likes writing strands after working with it. I have been making myself crazy trying to choose a writing program for my dd (11). We are just beginning to transition to a more classical approach to schooling, and although she has done quite a bit of writing, it has been pretty unstructured. I am going to start with Rod and Staff English, but supplement the R&S with another writing program (when I figure out which one!). Please update this thread as you get further into your new curriculum.

I am interested! Thanks!

Hi again, I didn't really address your question, did I? Probably just gave you information you already have. :001_smile: I am planning to incorporate informal geography into our studies (SL style) for at least the elementary and middle school years. For high school, I may look at a formal geography program. But you could easily pull in enough geography to give a half year credit in geography. Have you seen "The Checklist" at oklahomahomeschool.com? It is like a huge scope and sequence for every subject. You could just check off concepts/topics as you study them (or use it to keep a rough record of time spent on geog, no matter which curriculum you choose). Then you have the checklist as a running record of what you have covered, making it easy to put together a detailed transcript later.

Hi Katie, Truthquest History combines U.S. and world history at the high school level. They schedule it over three years, but you could condense it into a two year study and your dd could earn credits in both U.S. and world history (lit, too, if you choose). I like this approach because it places U.S. history in context, and focuses on the "big picture." If you haven't already , I would recommend spending a little time on their website to get a handle on how they put this together. I haven't used it, but have decided to go with Truthquest after an agonizing search for a middle and high school history program that I could live with. We're getting ready to start with the elementary level Truthquest U.S. history for my 6th and 3rd graders, then move into a new cycle when dd is in 8th grade. By the time my two older dc get to the high school level U.S./world history, I will have a 4th grader who will use the TQ elem U.S. history alongside my older dc. The elementary level U.S. history is designed so that it can be used with the high school curriculum.

Anissa, Have you chosen a program for your secondary composition/lit instruction?

Do any of you use R&S English beyond level 8? Is R&S through level 8 "enough" grammar, mechanics and usage to prepare a child for college? I appreciate your thoughts on this. :)