regentrude, I hadn't thought of it that way so that comment is very helpful. I've decided to go ahead and highlight the years of work on her book as a student-led project that she initiated and had the passion to follow through with. Thank you again for the guidance.

FloridaLisa....excellent suggestion! She does not actually need an English credit as she already has one, and I love the idea of showing it was self-directed and therefore an extracurricular. Thank you both...that helped a lot.

So you would not put it anywhere on the transcript? Seems like a lot of writing to not "count" per se. Thank you for your perspective! This is my first graduate so I'm fumbling a bit...

My daughter wrote, photographed and published a cookbook that now sells on Amazon. She worked probably 10 to 20 hours a week to accomplish this and I want to give her transcript credit, but I have no idea how. Can anyone help? I'm not sure if it falls under English, or creative writing, or composition, or something else entirely?? I feel like it stands on its own as a class but I need some suggestions. :crying:

Our fairly conservative family generally doesn't watch horror, supernatural stuff as we just don't feel comfortable with exposure to that kind of thing. However, my 12 year old daughter enjoys the books and we don't have a problem with them. She has an upcoming slumber party and wanted to watch one of the movies. I've done a bit of research but can't really find any good reviews of these movies. If you've seen them, are they really disturbing or just a bit scary? Is there gore? Do you feel comfortable with your children watching these? I realize each family is different, but would love a little perspective from those who have seen them.

Had to chime in because I am also reading this book out loud to my twin 10th graders as it is our first literature piece for TOG Year 3. We actually started it in the summer so we could enjoy it slowly. Our discussions have been just a hoot! We love the characters, and my son, who didn't think he'd enjoy such a "girly book" ;) is really getting into it. Both of my kids love Darcy and they laugh at his superiority complex. I'm fine with that...I think it means the character has become real to them and they enjoy how the story is developing. Great way to begin our year!

Another vote for the Key To series....written to the student, no frills or fluff but thorough and, according to my 11yo dd, fun to do! :D I let her pick several pages a day to do on her own, and she loves the independence. I love how much she's learning. :thumbup:

I'm teaching 10th graders and using TOG, and our days are lasting between 5 and 6 hours. Does that seem like too much? I'm not getting any complaints or anything, but it does seem like a long haul :tongue_smilie: Just wanted to compare....not that I should be comparing :D

Does anyone know of handicraft kits that are somewhat affordable and all-in-one? I'm struggling to meet this need in our curriculum, and it would be wonderful to find something all put together. I'm not really interested in lots of cutting/gluing/paper crafts....more handicraft, or real art for high school ages. Ideas? :bigear:

If you use TOG for a rhetoric student, would you mind sharing how you schedule your studies? I'm transitioning two 15-year olds from dialect, and I'm not sure how to effectively cover literature along with history. If you're so inclined, would you share your detailed plan on a week-to-week basis? :001_smile:

My soon-to-be ninth grade son is very interesting in architectural drafting, and I'd love to find a beginners course for him. Any suggestions? I'd like him to first learn the tools of drafting and actual drawing, and then possibly go on to a beginner's CAD course.

We're halfway through our first year with TOG. I have two 13yo and a 9 yo using Year 1. To say we are learning a lot is a major understatement! It is a brilliant study, and it truly inspires me to keep going. Definitely a keeper for next year--our first year of high school :eek:

I think I'm nauseated..... :ack2:

Thank you so much for replying! I did want to clarify what I'm after though--books that teach old earth creationism, from a Christian point of view. Anyone have some good resources?

My kids are 13 and 9--does anyone have any book recommendations for them to learn some nitty-gritty details about old earth evidence? Thanks so much!

"Stop snacking!!!" To my six-foot 13 year-old-boy who never (and I mean NEVER) stops eating!:001_huh:

do you school more lightly? How does this work for you. I hate taking three months off of *all* academics because kids tend to forget so much; but I also would like a break from school as we do it. Does anyone have a middle-of-the-road plan? Maybe a fun unit study? Just concentrating on books and field trips? Would love to hear how others use their summer!

Your responses and points of view have been incredibly helpful---insightful, meaningful and much for me to think on. Thank you! It is also comforting to see how different families apply the techniques to work for them individually. I see now how you can run with the philosophy, but apply it in a myriad of ways. I will take the suggestion to read the book in its entirety to glean the overall message, and how it can best serve our family. I agree I need to perhaps rethink education apart from how I acquired it--to "think outside the box." This has helped me tremendously.

Now don't get me wrong, I love the way the author writes; the goals are lofty, impressive, appealing, drool-worthy. But really and honestly, when I take a look at first, second and third grade, I have never heard of children that young doing work that advanced. I do understand that you can make the book work for you, tweak it (SWB does say so right in the book), but does anyone really do it this way and have their child's wonder and love of learning remain intact? In my research, I thought I'd fallen in love with a completely different mentality--think CMish (unless I've misunderstood her), delayed academics until the "right" time, demanding very little output from the child in regards to writing or grammar, learning through walks in nature, cooking with mom, reading lots of books (I know SWB agrees with this part), letting children be, well.....children. Perhaps the two don't exclude each other...I just recognize a very different approach to "formal" academics, kwim? This book has challenged my thoughts on education and I'm feeling a bit of whiplash. I haven't even gotten to the next few chapters of the book...I think I'm intrigued and afraid at the same time. It really is a fantastic book--but I'd love to hear from someone who has applied this method to your schooling. Do you find it fun, interesting, wonder-filled as well as rigorous and academic?

We're another family using Core 3+4 here--for my 12yo twins and we also use the language arts. I absolutely love it and will definitely use it again next year. I was a bit worried because of some reviews, but I have found it to be just the right amount of work for my kids. And I have found that Sonlight really guides me through the process so I can teach the kids. Just this morning I was flipping through the kids' composition notebook and it's filled with several essays, a much longer research paper, a compare/contrast essay, poems they wrote, book reviews, character analysis, etc. Good stuff! There's generally one or two writing projects a week. For example, maybe this week you'll work on a compare/contrast essay. The project is divided up into bite-sized pieces throughout the week. One day you'll do pre-write planning and organization, another day you'll write your essay, the next day you'll edit and do the final draft. I love the step-by-step approach. The research paper was a 4-week deal! I feel as if I have a lot of help throughout the program. There's not much grammar--almost none really. But that's not a problem for us because I use copywork, dictation and an occasional worksheet to fill in that gap. Anyway, it gets a big :thumbup: from us!