I enjoy your son's writing style! For your comments, I agree that the asyndeton is engaging; I do wonder why he is dropping the anaphora of "some" in exchange for "others." The last sentence of his introduction would be more powerful if made exactly parallel; right now he is really close with two transitive verbs, but the prep phrase vs adjectives outbalance the weight of the direct objects. I am enjoying his wonderful participial phrases. I would encourage him to play with moving them around a bit. Right now they often sit at the end of clauses. What about using them as introductory or interjectory phrases? (Of course, he has to be wary of a dangling participle both ways.) I think your comments in the Mitchell paragraph rightly point out some clarity issues. What about his transitions among his paragraphs? I found myself enjoying the tidbits of information but uncertain how they fit together as a whole. It seems like you are instructing him in rhetoric and grammar; I would encourage him to use transitional strategies such as metabasis or hypophora to help bring cohesion between one paragraph and the next. How is he choosing the order of his body paragraphs? Perhaps I'm just really ignorant about planes (very possible!), but I could not find a logical relationship in the progression. It would be helpful for him to make that progression a little clearer in either his transitions or somewhere in his introduction. I do like his engaging opening paragraph; he could always have a second that is more expository so that he doesn't have to taint his lead. (If he is attached to it, and if that doesn't break the form of explanation by definition.) I hope that is somewhat helpful. I love that he can write about a topic he is clearly passionate about. :)

She chose an interesting topic! Some spoke already to the slightly confusing nature of the organization between subpoints in the paper as well as a vague communication of topic. You specifically asked for style pointers, for feedback on her writing. In her syntax, she often reverts to simple sentences, mostly of S-LV structure; you can tackle this two ways. Does she know her grammar well? If so, have her take a body paragraph, have her parse every sentence, determining her particular repetitions, and then have her rewrite the paragraph to vary her syntax. If she does not have that sort of mastery on grammar, you can bring her attention to her verb choices, particularly the overuse of "are." Ask her to rewrite her sentences to reduce the number of these verbs (linking verbs). To do this well, she will have to vary not only her verb choices but also her sentence structure. For a workbook/handbook on improving style, she could use Robert Harris's Writing with Clarity and Style. It will introduce her to some rhetorical strategies that will improve her writing overall.

There is this product I just read about in a blog, Spielbagen Educational Toys, that is an entirely play-based curriculum of manipulatives. Unfortunately, it is pretty expensive, but it looks amazing!

I used and enjoyed ABCJLM for my daughter when she was two. It has structure, I think, although I'm not sure if it is as structured as you'd like. It gives you week plans, if I remember, and you figure out where to put them. Or, you do them as time/opportunity allows. I haven't used the other, so I can't speak to it. I did find, though, that at 3, ABCJLM wasn't as engaging for my DD. We moved over to Letter of the Week activities from Confessions of a Homeschooler, and that worked better for her at that age. (Even though ABCJLM has differing curriculum for each age.)

For my four year-old, I have the below for as we can get to it Phonics Pathways for reading, along with Bob books Explode the Code, tracing/letter forming activities (many from Letter of the Week curriculums, or from games we own), sandpaper letters, and a salt tray Saxon Math K Letter of the Week curriculum to pull bits and pieces from We have a variety of building toys, beading toys, connecting/linking toys for those fine motor skills, too, as well as sensory bins/play dough for building hand and wrist strength. I'm looking for an introduction to nature study guide. We have a little nature area in the house to display found objects along with a pill bug colony...just trying to be conscientious about how to keep a purposeful focus on nature, too. For exposure to literature, I try to throw in at least one poem, one Bible story, and one fairytale alongside bedtime readings, too. That's what we have going. I look forward to gleaning more ideas from others on here!

We own Saxon Math K, and the manipulatives box that goes with it, and it starts very slowly! I was looking into it for DD to use when she was 5 (She is currently 4.), but all the reviewers on Amazon suggested starting it at 4 because it was that slow going and gentle. We have used it for about a half dozen lessons, and I can vouch for the ease of entry! The lessons are comprised of calendar time (which you can do in the notebook they have, but I do with my own calendar that I made) and then play with manipulatives. For example, many of the first few lessons have just been to play with the counter bears or the pattern blocks. They haven't even brought out the patterns themselves yet. Counting is specifically reinforced through the calendar time, as I can tell so far. I'm sure there are many others with more experience who will be able to offer more insight.

1 Butter : 2 Cream Cheese Powdered sugar to taste (cups and cups) a tsp of vanilla extract optional (or other flavoring--I've also used pureed strawberries, etc. to give a particular flavor) Yummiest frosting ever. I hardly use anything else anymore, and in the last five years or so since I have gone to this, I have yet to taste anything better. It is difficult to pipe this frosting, but I'd rather it taste yummy and look a little homemade. :)

Another vote for Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis. While most Lewis nonfiction has influenced me, this particular fiction piece helped to define my view of man's nature as well as remind me of the inadequacy of my perception versus the fullness of God's. Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey helped me complete the process of understanding a thoroughly Christian worldview. I highly recommend it to anyone, but I especially encourage college students to read it. I wish so much that I had read it just post-high school. It's a wonderfully grounding book for adult life. In education, I guess I'd have to cite another Lewis book, The Abolition of Man, as transforming my view on education from an exercise in the acquisition of skills to the nurturing of a soul towards goodness, truth, and beauty. Second, The Well-Trained Mind has been incredibly influential in forming my understanding of the grammar stage, most particularly. I love many of the other authors mentioned, including Graham Greene, but these are the books that I can point to as having particularly clarified an area of thought for me. I'm sure there are others that will come to mind when I close this!

I can't speak of it from the middle or high school student perspective, but I have taken a summer intensive (Latin in a Week) from VP, and a colleague of mine teaches for VP. For the LiaW, I was impressed with the knowledge of the instructor and the interactive, synchronous learning capabilities of the online class. The experience was far superior to the asynchronous learning I experienced when completing online classes for my grad program. My colleague who teaches at VP is extremely dedicated and smart; when I hear her talking about her online classes, she is often talking about how she tries to pull the students into conversation with her over the mic, desiring that students take part in an authentic class discussion--something that I don't think many online schools do (Perhaps I am wrong?). If she is a good representation of the rest of their faculty, then I would not hesitate to send my own child through the program if I were looking for a supplement or an online program. Maybe that is helpful!

Yup. And The Lost Tools of Learning. Wondering what I should read next. Any recommendations?

Can someone clarify what OPGTTR is? I tried googling it, but I was unable to figure it out. :confused: Thank you!

For Macbeth, I happily use Arkangel. I can't really comment on how it compares to others as it is the only one I have used.

I have a two-year-old and am using these resources: ABC Jesus Loves Me Two-Year (but she has a three-year, and it is free; half is bible study, but if you aren't interested in that, the other half is a book/color/shape/letter/motor skills & manners focus--it would be easy to use what you want) How to Teach Your Child to Read in Ten Minutes a Day--we play the game, and I add new phonic sounds when I feel dd is getting bored. BFIaR--while I love this book, if your dd wants "school" activities, i think the ABCjLM will be a better resource as it has special worksheets to print and then bind into her own book.

Hello, I have been lurking periodically, learning lots of good stuff from this board. In fact, I just downloaded a ton of podcasts to use for our in-the-car curriculum, inspired by another thread. :001_smile: I guess I fit best under afterschooling since I am a full-time high school English instructor, beginning my 11th year in the classroom in two weeks; after I return from school each day, I will be schooling my own two-year-old using a mix of ABC Jesus Loves Me: Two-Year-Old Curriculum, How to Teach Your Child to Read in Ten Minutes a Day, and Before Five in a Row. When my daughter turned two this past May, we loosely began Teach Your Child and BFiaR. It's been a lot of fun! My daughter seems to really enjoy our learning together. I am new to classical education, and I am loving everything I am learning. Looking forward to learning more from this board! Thanks!

Hello! I'm new here, a momma with a two-year-old whom I'd like to start exposing to enjoyable, worthwhile, foundational learning experiences. I've been searching sites and Amazon lists, and I recognized the title SSGMR from my recent readings, but I have no first-hand information about it. I'd love to hear what you think about it when you get it. I also read some great reviews for Before Five in a Row. Unfortunately, the book is out of print and a little pricey on eBay. I'm trying to decide if I want to make the splurge. ETA My two close friends are doing Teach Your Child to Read in Ten Minutes a Day, and so far they've loved it. I hope some others have some good info. for us!