I wish I could say that French is turning out any better here! We used Tell Me More this year and at first, it was great, but then we got past the introductory CD and the learning curve went over the moon. I am now considering doing TPS French 1. Maybe it's just my crummy foreign language teaching ability, no matter Latin or French. :001_smile: Good luck with your decision!

My ds took 3 years of Latin. Big Mistake alert! He is an English major and should have taken a modern language. I feel that those years were a waste, not only in time, but in retention. He does not use the language except in knowing how words are formed and having some fond memories of us struggling through those horrid Latin sentences. IF he had done Latin online with a strong Latin teacher, my sentiments may be different on this. Maybe he would be some amazing Latin scholar by now. But I'll never know that. All I know is that now many colleges want him to be proficient in a modern foreign language when applying for a master's degree program and he doesn't have it. :glare: All that said, I am doing French with my dd after she did only a year of Latin. That was enough to help her understand how language works a bit and to know that French is way easier! :) EDIT: At 11:00 every day, we would do Latin and the only way I could get through it was to "have my Latin tea." Voila, my screen name! :D

Funny, I was thinking about having my dd do this class too. :) Thanks for listing that book; I'm off to check and see if our library has it.

I thought I was listening to my dd for a minute there. :D She's my ST whiz around here. So I asked her for some advice for your new journey. Do with it what you will, but do remember the Prime Directive! Here you go.... "There's an old saying, Fortune favors the bold. Well, I guess we're about to find out." -- Sisko (Sacrifice of Angels) Or, in honor of one of my dd's favorite characters.... "The truth is usually just an excuse for a lack of imagination." -- Garak See around the universe! :toetap05:

I have those pages in our solution manual. I would call Rainbow; they're super good about helping out their customers. They'll just send you another one I would assume. No excuse now for your son! :D

I agree, Julie, when my ds read Brave New World, there was one page that I told him really wasn't necessary to understanding the book AT ALL. I placed removable stickies over the page and summarized what it involved for him (the theater scene with the chairs that helped the viewer experience the movie...) and he was okay with that. The OP was most likely talking about the way these versions explain Shakespeare's words breaking them down into exact s*xual terms. The underlying play on words is gone and it's right there in your face. For instance, No Fear Shakespeare R & J describes female body parts and not just a woman's lovely eyes! (as if we all need to hear that...kinda wrecks the whole mood :)). I think that's all she was talking about blacking out. There are plenty of ways the world titillates our teens, from the Internet to movies to books, so I don't think we can shelter them from it all. Not possible; not going to happen. ;)

Oo, la, la, we found the same kind of notes in No Fear Shakespeare Romeo and Juliet! Wow, very explicit. Shakespeare Made Easy, http://www.amazon.com/Romeo-Juliet-Shakespeare-Made-Easy/dp/0812035720/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1304826485&sr=1-1, I think, is much better. I have it on my shelf, but haven't used it yet. I did check a few of the verses in question when I bought the book and they were fine. I would love to know if anyone has used this book though. :)

Yes, this is true. I believe their kids went into Colorado's public high school system. I would have to go back and search my catalogs for the specifics. My ds used Sonlight for most of his homeschooling. He is a bright student, loves to read and write, but never was able to get through a complete core. I found the IG's too wordy for us. On another note, Core 400's bible, as far as I can tell by reviews on the forum, is not done by the majority of students. We only picked a few of Core 400's books, only really wanting to do the lit. My son did take many CLEPs afterwards and passed them all, BUT he had to study other sources too. He commented to me that there were gaps in his learning, especially for world history during the 1800s. I loved the books, especially in the earlier cores. I did not love the IG for high school. I felt that the student (and the teacher) should not have another 20 pages of information to read for one week's work. An IG should be a guide, not a whole other thing to have to read and digest. Why did we stick with SL? I was usually pulled into it by the catalogs and all the lovely books. We have fond memories of all those great reads. :)

Thank you! Yes, that helps. I looked at that page to find their course offerings, but didn't think to recheck it for the time zone. Duh. My dd wouldn't be too happy with me if I put her in a class that starts anywhere before 9 am our time. Come to think of it, the teacher wouldn't like it much either. ;)

I have just spent 30 minutes trying to find this out on their site (and I tried searching here too). Either I am not looking in the right place or else it's just not there. What time zone are they in? thanks!

Lori, I looked at the CreativeLive site (whoops, typed CreativeLie first...don't need a class for THAT!) and am just trying to figure out how it works. Looks like there are many classes that range in cost, but some are free? Can you explain more of how it works? Maybe those costs are for the downloads you mentioned. Guess I should register to find out more. :001_smile:

Julie, I have French Grammar, The Easy Way, recently published by Barron's books. Not sure if there is another one called E-Z, but it's probably the same book. Did your dd go through the whole thing? And if so, how long did it take her? 2 or 3 years? Did she ever achieve proficiency in the language using this method? I am considering continuing Tell Me More and adding in this grammar book OR chuck it all and sign my dd up for French with TPS. But the cost of all that is staggering. FWIW, I do like how the Barron book is laid out. Nice graphics, answers in the back, and cheap! Here's a link to Google books. They have the book there for review. http://books.google.com/books?id=fhqZ5_w_quYC&pg=PR9&lpg=PR9&dq=alariviera+french+grammar&source=bl&ots=tTZR8Zy0mY&sig=1z96FJAPV-RGQRa2JHQeaE6rzxU&hl=en&ei=BGDFTcfYEsj00gHghdSvCA&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&sqi=2&ved=0CBgQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=alariviera%20french%20grammar&f=false

Thanks for all the input on this. 'Sounds' like it will work out just fine. It's hard to find a more recommended teacher and one with such a lovely voice! :)

Very cool video! My dd is slowly doing French 1 so we had no idea it didn't match either, but we definitely know all the Star Wars scenes! She pointed out the part when Darth Vadar throws that guy at the beginning into the wall. I guess it's a 'fail' because he puts out his hand to avoid being hurt by the wall. She's my Star Wars expert so I guess she's right! :toetap05: (that smiley is as close as I could come to a spacey thing...like my dd...and I mean that in a good way. ;)) Gotta love the comments too....:)

I am considering having my dd do French 1 at TPS. I listened to the samples and am wondering about how the students are able to hear the teacher. She seems very quiet in the sample. Also, some of the students have trouble with their mics. Is this usually only at the beginning of the class? Is there always dead space between the students speaking and the teacher? Mostly, I wanted to know how the sound comes through. Are the words easily recognizable and loud enough (or sometimes too loud)?

Would LL LOTR be more of a middle/lower high school type course? I'm asking specifically for my dd who will be in 10th grade next year, has watched the movie version over and over, but has never read the books. That was NOT my intention, but that's another post. Since The Hobbit is coming out in a year or so, I wanted her to at least read that one first. Maybe we could still get some mileage out of all of the 'books'? What do you think?

I've heard he's very good about replying to emails. I would just ask him your question. I'm sure he probably knows! ;)

I owned the earlier version of this book (didn't realize it has been updated). Would you still like me to go over what I thought of it? You can let me know by pm if you like.

Lady Gertrude Apollo-Pinehurst :)

Give him another year. My dd will be 19 when she graduates. I am so thankful to know that I have that extra year with her; for various reasons she needs more time to be ready for college. It is my belief, having had no experience with it other than inquiring at one college, that the SAT/ACT scores and your ability to pay the tuition are what is most important to admission, not a student's age. ;) But there may be others here with more input on this question. Things happen, you're not a bad mom, just one that seems to really care about her son. That will be what carries him through any disappointment in this. Just think what a lovely thing it will be for him to finish strong and not be rushed. :)

Thanks for all these wonderful ideas and sites! You guys are great. If anyone has anything to add, feel free to reply too. Does anyone know of anything else that can help with fear of testing or speed in taking tests. I can see that repetition might be the key for her. To get used to taking tests. My downfall as I don't stress test taking, but that might have to change around here. I know that the fear or speed issue might really mess up my dd's chances with taking this test. She can have the knowledge one minute and then forget everything she has learned in a time-pressure testing situation. :glare: Thanks again! :)

What is the best way to prepare for the ACT? My son took it a few years ago and did well (composite of 29) with only the Princeton Review book and I think some practice tests online. But I know my dd will need more help on this and want to give her the best guidance I can. She is going into 10th grade so I plan on her taking the practice one in the fall. Should she be doing something daily, other than her regular school work, to help her become more prepared? Just wondering....thanks!

I should have mentioned that many who do use Core 100 use those tests from Hewitt alongside the core so I know it's a good fit! :)

I've got a minute and thought I would send your post back to the top. :) Two things I wanted to mention. One, you've probably looked at Sonlight 100, but since you are using Hakim in 7th, why not use SL? The literature is perfect for that grade level. Anyway, and as far as Notgrass goes, you mentioned the literature supplement. I would say that the books are good in themselves, but there isn't any lit analysis, just a very few comprehension questions. There is a nice intro to the authors, and possibly some essay questions that I haven't seen yet. I know it's hard; I'm still trying to figure out my dd's next history course for 10th grade! Hang in there; hopefully you get some better replies than mine. :)

That supplement has most of the writing instruction and then there is literature analysis after that. This comprises comprehension questions, vocabulary, and essay assignments for the books studied. These are the Epic of Gilgamesh, the Bullfinch Greek and Roman Myth book, and The Odyssey. The Iliad is in the main guide itself. I'm doing this by memory, so I might have missed something, but that's pretty much what is in there. I believe the writing portion is worthy of adding to what you are already doing. (And you can always sell it later easily.) Much of it is grammar based writing instruction so it comes from a different angle. The lit analysis would also complement what you are doing with IEW, but it might be too much or it might be just right....depends on your students. ;)