I agree with others. There is a lot going on when a child writes. During a spelling lesson, they are only focused on spelling. When they are writing an original piece they are holding ideas in their mind, working on putting those ideas into complete thoughts, transferring to paper, etc. I would encourage their writing and not grade the pieces they do voluntarily. What you can do, to help put your mind at ease, is pick a couple words they spell incorrectly and add them to their spelling lesson. Chances are, they'll spell them correctly in isolation. We had this exact same worry a few years back and a wise board member here gave me the advice I just passed along. ?

I didn't know about this. Thanks for sharing! ?

I loved the Chalkdust samples, but it's out of our budget. We ended up trying TT for oldest and it works very well for her. Middle kiddo has used both TT and BJU (text, not dvd) and wants to go back to TT. They both like the explanations and that there is a walk through for every single problem. I know it's not a favorite here, but that's my 2 cents. ? We don't like Khan. I find it confusing to use, honestly, and they didn't like the videos at all.

Do you have a program you could recommend for Spanish 1?

Oldest is in grade 9 and dyslexic. I'm very hesitant to study a 2nd language as it was so hard for her to learn the first one! I know it's possibly unfounded, but I'm just worried that throwing another language in to the mix is going to derail her progress. We have dabbled with some sign language, but she has no one to converse with and her interest level hasn't been high. Does anyone else skip a 2nd language? Am I ruining her for life? Am I nuts? lol

Not a workbook, but we combine with Spelling City. The AAS lists are all in there from other users, so we just import them and the kids play the games. It's really helped my oldest especially. She needs to see things many, many times.

Sending you a pm. ?

My kids tended to think of B & M as "real school" too when they were little. I don't know if I'd worry about strictly correcting what is an age thing. As tough as it sometimes was when people were rude, we wanted our kids to be proud and confident about homeschooling. We let them answer, when appropriate, and even when I was annoyed by rude comments, I did my best to respond honestly and openly. After the interaction we'd discuss any rude comments and how we might respond in the future. Now the kids (and I) let things roll off of our backs. They are quick to reply and correct people when they make wrong assumptions. They love homeschooling and now answer confidently. Yes, sometimes it's just exhausting, and maybe tempting to avoid the topic, but the more times you answer directly and confidently in front of your child, the more she will learn to do the same. I do feel like saying she's in a "new private school" makes it seem like homeschooling is something she should hide. I'd reconsider this, honestly. My first post was more of a "yep, I feel you" but I wanted to reply again and just let you know that it did improve and I think that owning our homeschool journey is what made all the difference. As I mentioned, entering highschool has loosened the lips of naysayers in our life, but...my daughter is also very quick to speak up and say she does NOT want to go to a b & m school and that she's doing much better at home. Nothing quiets the wagging tongues quicker than the happy child. ?

The computer sometimes offers helps that aren't helpful once the child works on paper - for long division, the cursor automatically moves to the correct position needed to input answers. It's easy for a child to *think* they've mastered it, but not really understand why they are moving to a certain position. Not the best example, as it's for younger grades, but it's the one that sticks in my head. I have also heard of kids being able to guess what the answers are. We prefer the book option, but that's just us. ?

We haven't used 3.0, but after talking to TT about it, we decided to stick with the 2.0. There is no difference in actual content. My issue was that there are weaknesses with the computer/online aspect (my opinion)- the kids can guess and "game" the system, if you will. I prefer to have the kids work from the textbook and we have always done all tests on paper to ensure that topics were truly mastered. I don't like that there isn't an option to print lessons/tests with 3.0. TT did seem more than willing to work with a family regarding the one-year time frame and I don't see it being an issue to get an extension if needed...but being able to use the 2.0 for multiple children makes it the better deal for me, so that was also taken in to account. So that's my 2 cents. LOL ?

OP, I totally get it! I always cringed, because it usually wasn't just "idle chat" once I'd said the word 'homeschool'. Sometimes I'd get a smile and told how wonderful that was, but usually I'd get a comment that was rude - whether it was intended that way or not. I've been told stories about "weird homeschoolers" and told I wasn't being fair to my kids. Or they'd get a sympathy look and asked if they had friends. I've had comments about how I'd need to put them in school one day because I wanted them to go to college, right? The truth is, I know it comes simply because most people do not really understand homeschooling, but..the truth also is, I don't want to explain it to everyone I meet. I just don't. It did get easier as the kids got older, but we're back in to another phase now that our oldest is entering grade 9. People thought we'd "come to our senses" and now feel the need to offer unsolicited advice and comments, because they feel like we've clearly made the wrong choice. Yeah, it gets tiring.

We just bought this and I am in the middle of lesson planning, so take this for what it's worth... ? Under Mental Health there is a section on stress and another on depression. There is a section on who to look to for help if you need it as well as a warning signs of "suicide." I wouldn't consider the Mental Health to be complete, as it only covers those 2 sub-topics. I would have liked to see something on what to do if you know someone who is struggling, as well as at least a little explanation of other mental illnesses, but it is a good jumping off point and would be an easy topic to supplement. There is what appears to be a well-done section on STD's and another on drugs. My first impression is that it is a very well-written book. It's not the "fluff" found in most health programs. Hope this is somewhat helpful. ?

Yes, *I* feel like it's an important part of the program. It's where all the "fixes" come together. ?

I never loved the grammar sections either and we supplement them. Last year middle DD did the grammar alongside Fix It!. This year she is using the gr.7 level and it's my understanding that there is no grammar for Gr. 7+, so we are using Easy Grammar Plus.

I have several pdf's to print and bind and I am putting it off. I would like to try to do one double sided and I am not really excited about what I am sure is going to be a learning curve. lol

I had to place three separate book orders this year and by some weird postal service miracle, they all arrived today. Yay! Kids have already been flipping through everything. ❤️ new books! ? Anyone else waiting on books to arrive?

That would be awesome! Thank you!

Before I reinvent the wheel, just wondering if anyone has created a daily reading checklist for the Gr. 9 Abeka World Geography text?

We did land animals with a 7th, 5th and 2nd grader with the journals. It went really well. We didn't add in anything for the 7th grader, but science has never been a huge interest of hers. The following year we used a school text and she loved that and has asked to continue. She's an odd duck. HAHA So...I guess it really depends on your child. My oldest is a huge animal lover, so the Apologia text was right up her ally.

Following along in this thread. I'm really pleased to see the recommendations for Lightning Lit. I just heard of it about a month ago and decided to give Levels 7 & 8 a go. The company was extremely helpful in placing my oldest. I also ordered Essentials in Lit gr. 9 because I couldn't seem to commit entirely. Two things I am not excited over (with EiL) is the multiple choice format and the fact that all the reading selections other than the novel need to be hunted down. For the price I paid, I feel like they could have provided a student text with the reading selections. Anyways...just me rambling through my thoughts. I am looking forward to having a good look through both programs... Would also love to hear why people have chosen LL levels 7 & 8, but not continued on with the upper levels?

Typically we did 1 lesson per day. We also made sure to test out of any chapters the child knew well - there is a lot of review at the beginning of the books. In previous levels we did 2 lessons per day, but Pre-Alg lessons took DD longer.

I second Essentials in Writing. The DVD teaches the lessons so you don't have to and the work load is very manageable and would be very easy to break into several days if needed. As mentioned, it's clear, concise and gets the job done.

We got one through Amazon for about $25. It didn't help the child we bought it for - she used to stand and rock the chair, rather than sit in it. We passed it on to a friend, and it didn't work for her kiddo and she passed it on to another family. I'm not sure if it ever found a permanent home...lol I think the bouncy ball chair would have worked better here...but it was a phase that kiddo grew out of, so we never did try it.

Curious if you ended up using LL 8 for your 9th grader? Would love to hear how the year went. I wasn't taken with the multiple choice questions in EiL, but liked the variety of reading. Oh...decisions...

I'm looking for something to help my natural writer build her skills. We used a workbook from The Good & The Beautiful last year and that went well, but she doesn't want to repeat the same workbook next year. I'd like something that helps her build plot, theme, character, etc. Bonus points for something that challenges her to attempt some different genres. Edited to add - this is for my 12 year old.