I see that a lot of moms are doing Latin and Greek together with their children. Is that common? Is there an advantage to doing both, at the same time -vs- just starting with Latin only? Is it more difficult to learn both?

How stressful and frustrating! My prayers are with them.

She was unable to pass the fifth grade placement test - so she is pretty far behind.

Thanks ladies. We plan to remediate and use a fourth grade level of whatever math we do choose. She loves the look of TT, but I have every intention of buying USED so that we aren't out much if we need to switch... again. Ah well. I suppose I might wait another week or so to choose since you have all managed to give me more choices! Lol.

For those with experience using Teaching Textbooks, are they a good choice for a severe dyslexic? We were recently informed that Autumn's auditory processing ability is several years below where it should be for her age, and that her dyslexia is actually a product of that (instead of vice versa). Her reading is coming along beautifully since being pulled from traditional school, but her math is... quite horrible. We are currently using Saxon and it has become a battle of wills that generally ends in tears (on both ends). Love the look of TT (and so does my daughter); but will it WORK? *ps, we are remediating this year in math. She is technically entering fifth grade, but we are knocking back a grade in math*

Thanks :o) I belong to Cathswap (a Catholic curriculum swap group on Yahoo), but not all of my materials are Catholic. I also belong to another curriculum site on Yahoo Groups - but it doesn't seem to be very active at all. I'll try the site you listed. Thanks again!

Do you know of any good curriculum swap sites? I have a ton of items to sell and would like to buy several other items; but I haven't the free time available to make 50 posts on here to gain the ability to sell my books. Lol! I haven't been able to find a very active curriculum swap site.

Which program did you use for Latin? How did you like it? Pros and cons?

bump I'm also interested in your reviews on this text, if you have used the physics level one.

Does the author present a young earth or old earth view? I can't find the answer to that question anywhere it seems. I did read reviews that she (the author) does not necessarily agree with evolution - but I also read that the curriculum is secular. We are flirting with the idea of ordering her Physics program; but our decision is largely dependent on the questions "young earth" or "old earth".

I'm tossing between LL and Latin Alive. We want a program that will teach how to read, write, and speak Latin (conversational); along with teaching grammar, vocab etc. Not sure which to go with... any helpers? Lol.

Thanks Mama :o) Autumn is 10 and dyslexic so we are trying to gently help her enjoy literature. I had heard that MOH is a stand alone so I am eager to try it... of course, assuming I can find out from others if it is an okay fit for a Catholic family. I would prefer a secular text, to be honest, but HO is very Lit heavy.

A couple of questions for those who use Mystery of History. Is it a stand alone text, or is it heavily dependent on living books/outside literature sources? Would you consider it an engaging curriculum for a reluctant history student (she hates history, I love history, and i would love to change her mind about it!)? How heavily protestant is the program? We are Roman Catholic. I have heard of Catholics using the program and wonder if it is easily adaptable?

I wanted to try RSO but they do not have physics so it's a no-go for us.

Her toddler brother has high medical needs (a lung disorder) and this sometimes dictates that she cannot have playdates, friends over etc. School was (at it's best, in a private school setting) at least someplace she could have a normal childhood. We want her to have the option, especially since this was the private school we had every intention of sending her to once she hit sixth grade, before we decided to home school. I was home schooling (initially) out of necessity because of Autumn's learning differences and the bullying she endured in her partial year of public school last year; but now I have come to love it and all of the chaos that comes with it. Lol. However, I do not feel it would be fair to Autumn to yank away a dream she had been told she could do in previous years (attend the middle/high prep school with her friends from church and the private school she attended in previous years), simply because *I* love home schooling. This school has a wonderful reputation and there is no real reason why she shouldn't go - if that is, indeed, what she wants to do. If it were the choice between our crappy local public schools and home schooling, it would be a no-brainer and she would have no say; but this isn't that type of situation. She will receive a wonderful education regardless of her decision... and, I will admit, we are fans of taking our children's opinions and desires into consideration if they are well reasoned and rational (not saying you do not do the same, just explaining our family dynamics).

OhElizabeth, We have an appointment on Thursday at a Learning RX to have her go through a complete "cognitive learning differences test" to determine her strengths and weaknesses. I think that it will be CRUCIAL for us in deciding what areas to push in, what areas to go gently in and where we may need help. The center also provides "tutoring" in helping children overcome certain problems (short term/long term memory issues that often attach to a dyslexic child, critical thinking etc revolving around what the tests determine your child's strengths and weaknesses to be. Not exactly "tutoring" in that they will teach me how to use her strengths to get past her weaknesses. It's something we will consider after we see the test results. I had heard of AG. Does it require the child to read at an advanced level? She can grasp anything provided she doesn't have to READ it herself or it doesn't mark dependent on spelling. At the moment we are hoping to use Vocabulary From Classical Roots for spelling and vocabulary... but I'm finding that I will need to be flexible in our curriculum choices; even if that means deviating from the classical model that we so badly want for her.

I like the idea of doing AH over the summer. Thanks! We might have to give that a go! I'm not sure why I didn't think of it before. My only excuse is that my brain is fried trying to create a history program, research resources for our other subjects and just, in general, spreading myself far too thin over the summer trying to prepare for our first full year of home schooling. I'm kind of hoping that she will love it so much (we also joined a wonderful co-op in the area), she will decide to stick with HS instead of the other school.

I'm concerned because it appears that they do world history in sixth and some of seventh grade (looks like a general over-view, not as in depth as a classical curriculum provides) assuming (I think) that the child studied AH in fifth grade; then they rotate again into American History in the later MS grades. I am concerned that their AH program will be more advanced (kind of like doing Level One in an ancient history program in the lower grammar grades and then rotating back to it, more in depth, in the Logic grades). KWIM? Also, she will be required to take an entrance exam to gain admittance into the school. I have talked with the school briefly and asked them to send me a basic outline of their sixth grade curriculum, to help us through this next year. I will admit that I hesitate on it because, since it is not a classical school, we would have to deviate from our classical model to meet the standards of this PS. Perhaps I'm just worrying too much. I know that this school often takes home school children provided they do well on the entrance exam.

My daughter is entering fifth grade this fall. We are beginning Middle Ages/Renaissance in history this year. I am creating my own curriculum as we have been unhappy with the other options. With that said, we are giving her the option to (after this upcoming school year) enter a private Catholic prep school for sixth grade or to continue home schooling. I am somewhat concerned when looking at their curriculum. It appears they assume the child studied American History in fifth grade (as is standard locally in most public/private schools for fifth grade). My daughter only has a very general/basic (okay, "pithy") knowledge of American History as she was pulled out of brick and mortar in the middle of fourth grade (they were doing state history in fourth). Would it be too ambitious to try and do a month of our chronological studies and then, say, a week of American History? Or maybe do our chronological studies Monday-Thursday and then American History every Friday? Is it possible to do this without confusing her or overwhelming her?

I'm not sure. I was under the impression that (at least here) public school teachers had virtually no "say" in curriculum. The other touchy subject you may run into is that most decent history books cover religion on some level and I'm not sure where the public schools stand on that; even if it is just in a historical context. KWIM?

Elizabeth, I was not trying to infer that Autumn's learning difference makes her dumb. Not by any means. I only meant that it did surprise me to find how advanced she is in grammar, when all other LA concepts seem to cause her struggle and tears. Lol. She can diagram a sentence with no problems - but she cannot spell the word "diagram" to save her life, nor can she read many of the sentences without help. And no worries - your post was very coherent. Other than the fact that I'm new to The Hive and had to look up most of the abbreviations! Lol. One thing that was pointed out to me by her teacher when she left brick and mortar last year is that Autumn tends to grasp most concepts easily; it's the application that she struggles with.

They are on my Must Have list for our Middle Ages study this fall. I have heard wonderful things about them; but haven't used them personally. I did have a question to add to yours (if you don't mind). Does anyone know if the magazines are secular in content? Do they present a bias of any sort or only reference religion as it occurred in history?

Suzanne - this is also a concern for me. I have heard rumors of the author creating a WT3, but I do hesitate to start any program that we might love and then have to leave. Lol.

Thanks ladies. I should have mentioned in my OP that we are currently using a separate grammar program, but I hesitate to move forward any more in grammar (she is very advanced in grammar) until she is caught up in spelling, writing, reading. We are also using Intermediate Language Lessons but, to be honest, I'm not feeling the love there :( Our "plan" is to use Vocabulary From Classical Roots 4 or 5 and Writing Tales 2. From the sample pages viewed in WT2, there is nothing in the grammar that she isn't very, very comfortable with - I would be using it solely for composition as we are having very little luck with ILL.

Has anybody used this? From what I understand (per the website) it is an all encompassing composition and grammar program? My daughter is 10 and formally entering fifth grade. While she places at about 7th grade in grammar, her reading, spelling and composition skills are severely lacking (she is dyslexic). I know it is odd that her grammar is so much better; I have no real explanation for it. We pulled her out of school this past April, so this fall will be our first full year home schooling. I love the *look* of Writing Tales for gentle composition instruction, but I hesitate because I cannot really find reviews for the worktexts that aren't directly linked to the seller's site. So, if you have used this program, what are the cons and pros of it?