I loved the Scarpetta books, but it was probably more because of the Italian food references! I even bought the Patricia Cornwell's recipe book. However, I wouldn't recommend the books for teens. They were pretty gruesome!

Sorry, just saw this. I have a junior who used CLE from about 400 or 500 through 900. She just got her ACT results and had a perfect 36 in English. I call that success. Her sister is in 7th grade and in the 600 series right now. She's been a struggling student yet excels at grammar in spite of her learning difficulties. Needless to say, I ❤️ CLE.

I'd like to see more information on what you are calling "Fantasy Literature"!! That sounds amazing.

Is she doing the Advanced Mathematics over 2 years? That's what's recommended.

I just use a teacher's plan book. There's a place for the grades in the back (one book per year per kid), and then write the books used, course descriptions, etc., on the Notes pages. It's not fancy but it does the trick. I use it for lesson plans as well. https://smile.amazon.com/Period-Teacher-Lesson-Horizontally-W101/dp/B00PUSNY5A/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1501820009&sr=8-3&keywords=teacher+plan+book

Do you have more than one session per week?

Saxon Advanced Mathematics French 3 with private tutor American History and Government--Dave Raymond (Compass Classroom) and Crash Course Government American Literature--Lightning Literature and Composition, with some personal modifications American Christian Literature--Lightning Lit./ World Religions--still working on texts Health Drama/PE--local co-op Piano/Music Theory We're choosing to skip science this year and hoping we don't regret it later.

We like Art Reed also!

So how do you handle credit hours for this method of slowing down? It isn't just 1 credit for Adv Math, is it? (Looking ahead to next year!)

I think that might have been the video course that we found bumping up the speed a tad bit helped. It was just little slow paced. Otherwise, it was good.

We started Foersters Algebra 1 in the middle of 7th grade. We got about 1/2 to 2/3 through the book, was liking it, was doing well, but seemed to have trouble retaining the information. That had never been a problem before in math. Then, as we were picking it up again in the beginning of 8th grade this past fall, I had an Aha! moment. Foersters is mastery, and we had always done spiral before. I had completely forgotten to pay attention to that. So we promptly switched to Saxon algebra 1 and have sailed through it. Plus, I think the review has helped solidify the concepts. A year and a half of Algebra might seem like overkill, but we aren't in any hurry to start high school credits. 😉

I thought they looked so wonderful, but I now have several levels sitting on the shelf. Unused.

I'm OK with staying with Horizons. I had bought several other Pre-algebtpra texts. We tried AoPS, Jousting Armadillos, Lials, but by 2nd quarter, we were both relieved to get back to Horizons. I was thinking (too much) about changing for the next level of math, mainly because there doesn't seem to be much support here for Horizons. I like the look of Jacobs, but I wish it were easier to find. Concerning Jacobs, is there much difference in the editions?

My 7th grader is nearly finished with Pre-Algebra, and I think we should start Algebra 1 during the 2nd semester. There are so many choices! We keep coming back to Horizons, and she's using that for Pre-Alg. But I keep wondering if there's something we're missing. She's an excellent student and has done quite well with her math, but she's not a mathy math lover. It's just something she tolerates. :rolleyes: I'm totally open to suggestions. Checking previous threads only makes me want them all. I'm looking for something challenging but not overly difficult. Is there such a thing?

I'm seriously considering SSL, and I tend to want to get ALL the books, CDs, etc., with a new curriculum. However, the song sample makes me cringe! Can I get along without the songs? I guess I could make up my own tunes. Any thoughts?