We are outsourcing to WTMA for AP US history. They have a non-AP class as well. The text being used looks solid.

24 composite for my 8th grader here. She was pleased which was such a relief after the unrealistic expectations she had for the PSAT which resulted in tears. She has some major test anxiety. We were pleased with this score and know that she can improve it drastically with some more practice and education. She signed herself up for the test just to see how she would score. I am happier about her tackling an uncomfortable anxiety inducing experience on her own than I am about a decent score. I have been pushing her for years to face the things that seem scary head-on and do them over and over so they are less scary. Seems to be working for her.

Hindi for sure! If your child ever travels to India, it will be most beneficial!

I do not. We did 2 years of Visual Latin. Then we moved to Lukeion and within the first 2 weeks my daughter was actually learning stuff she never got in Visual Latin. I loved Duane he is funny and engaging but did not feel that the program offered the "meat" that is needed to actually learn Latin well. Plus I was very annoyed with all of the discrepancies between the worksheets and the answer keys. I spent too much time correcting answer keys, I have a really hard time paying for something that I have to edit.

Lukeion just announced the results during class. Gold medal for Latin 1 here! Yay!

My daughter took hers via Lukeion, when we will get the results. I am sure one of the Barrs have mentioned this to her but she has neglected to mention it to her mother.

I am one of those parents who had a kid that wanted to dance. Refused to accept anything else but dance. She started by memorizing choreography from a broadway video show that we had (it was advertised on Barney) at 3 or 4 years old. Dance was never ever on my radar and I even discouraged it because I thought that the local dance studio sexualized little kids with some of the "shuckin' and jivin'" that I would see at community performances. I enrolled her in gymnastics and she wanted to know where the music was and when they would dance. So I tried a homeschool theater class an hour away. Same deal, "when will we dance". Finally, at 7 I enrolled her in dance. There was no stopping her. 2 years later she was on the competitive dance team and I am shelling out what is almost an in state college tuition for this kid to dance. She is only happy when she is dancing. Some kids, you cannot stop. We have made HUGE sacrifices to afford this AND keep me at home with them. Sometimes when a kid has a passion, you cannot hold them back. They will find a way regardless of the situation.

We are currently using WTMA algebra 1 online. Last year we used TabletClass Algebra 1. WTMA far surpasses anything that we did with TC. The teacher support is great and it is nice when someone else can pinpoint exactly where my daughter needs to focus on skills.Having the same woman who reminds you to take out the trash also tell you to show your work more clearly is not as effective. :) I would say that the WTMA Saxon Algebra class is rigorous and very thorough. My daughter likes it and likes her instructor. We are very happy with the situation. The in-class participation with other students has been very valuable. I will not go back to a math that is not in a live online classroom.

My 11 year old is near the end of level 8 in the Barton tutoring program. For a few years we have allowed him to listen to books at bedtime via his Learning Ally app. This was great because he could listen to the books that all of the kids were raving about, Maze Runner, The Giver...etc...and then we would go see the movie if/ when it came out. It boosted his confidence to say with authority he had read Harry Potter. He has always loved encyclopedias and read those, you know the ones with lots of colorful photos and short captions and sidebars. But all of this was about the extent of his reading. Well now, he has discovered a deep love for actually reading books. He is tearing through the Warrior series. He listened to them years ago but insists he is getting so many more details by reading them. This is great except...I cannot get him to keep his light off and he is a bear in the morning to get out of bed. I think he has what I call a book hangover, you know where your eyes hurt, your head feels funny and you are exhausted from staying up all night reading. I am so overjoyed this is happening. For so many years I worried that he would not share the love of reading like the rest of our family.

There is a Holy week break and we did not do any work on New Year's Day. I am actually thinking that Steve Otto told me that the class times would be announced at the beginning of April. Not during pre-registration. My dd is signed up for Rhetoric 1, Bio with Lab, US History, and Geometry I signed my ds up for Pre-Algebra AOPS/Singapore and a remedial writing course.

Hmm I read it and don't remember icky scenes...but that was years ago. I may need to re-read it.

WTMA offers math classes using Saxon.

My daughter is 14 and technically in the 8th grade (late birthday) but is currently taking courses online with WTMA and Lukeion. This is our first year outsourcing to this extent. Her workload has been heavy when combined with an insane dance schedule that has her in the studio about 15 hours a week and she has her own small business. In the past, we have always done schoolwork through the summer because I LOVE my routine and it seems harder to get both kids back into the swing of things if we get out of routine in the summer. That said, I have promised her that this summer there would be no schoolwork. But...I think I am going to assign some reading. She is currently taking a Lit. class that leaves her no time for reading outside of her assignments. There are so many books I hope that she reads before she heads off into the world, so I was thinking of assigning a few books for her. But I do not want this to feel like schoolwork because I made that promise. Are you assigning reading this summer? Here is my tentative list: A People's History of the US by Zinn (she is taking US History next year) Stranger in a Strange Land by Heinlein How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Foster Wicked by Macguire (We are going to see the show in March and I wanted her to read this before we saw the show but she has had no time). Is this going to feel too much like schoolwork?

I believe the suggestions need to be changed in the current paper. It is very tedious to continue to edit a paper over and over. It requires a tenacity and I believe that is important. Also, writing can be very subjective and sometimes an editing suggestion can be interpreted in ways that are different from the intention. The only way to fully understand the changes that need to be made is to do it and resubmit it. I have outsourced writing twice. Once with Bravewriter with a very reluctant writer. The teacher was encouraging and my daughter liked it but it never pushed her out of her comfort zone. Now we are using Intro to Rhetoric with WTMA. I love this format, mostly because the kids share their writing with the class and "workshop" their papers. So my kid can see lots of examples of writing by other people. This has been very helpful to her. It is also helpful that she helps critique others papers because she has began looking at her own papers with a more critical eye. For me, structure and rigor is important. Teacher feedback is also very necessary as is interaction with other students.

I just finished it. He was a bit verbose but it definitely made me pause and think about what it truly means to be well educated. It also solidified my position on my oldest taking Latin with Lukeion.

We also use learning ally with my Barton student. He listens to books that his older sibling is reading and can chime in when we discuss it. This has developed a strong love for some challenging books that would otherwise be off limits. For a kid who has struggled with reading written text to be able to add his buck o'five to a discussion about Lord of the Rings, it is very empowering. Definitely have him listen to the books. Also, I have found now that we are in level 8 of Barton, some of the language arts subjects that were lagging are actually improving with great speed. Do not despair, focus on Barton, listen to some great books and have faith that this will get him where he needs to be.

IT is only taught in the spring. So keep that in mind. It is a one semester course. A word roots course takes its place in the fall.

RootAnn, that is exactly where we were before we took this class. So many tears and we went through WWS1 and I also had a hard time teaching it to her. The class is fun and I think that motivates her. I also think her writing issues were a problem for HER that she wanted to solve. So the self motivation has helped her make progress.

RootAnn, she is meticulous so she may take more time than someone else might. The class basically goes through Writing With Skill 1, 2 and 3. SO you can get a sense of the assignments by looking at those books.

RootAnn, she says she spends about 1-2 hours per day.

My daughter is currently taking the Intro to Rhetoric with Kathleen Brian. When we began the year, she absolutely hated writing anything. I could barely get her to compose a grocery list for me despite having worked through several writing programs and an online Bravewriter class. Now, this is her favorite class. She adores her instructor and looks forward to the class because she is more confident as a writer and Ms. Brian makes the class fun. I often hear her giggling while class is in session. The course is challenging for my daughter and the feedback is very helpful. Money well spent!

I am considering having my 5th grader keep a reading journal, just a few lines about what is happening in each chapter. I have toyed with the idea of having him make mock facebook status updates from the main character in each chapter. Journals of thoughts about what you are reading are very helpful when you get into complex literature and I want to cultivate that habit now that he is fluently reading longer books.

My dd is enrolled at WTMA this year. Yes, it was pricey for us. I CAN teach many of the subjects and we have a great relationship but this has been a life saver for me. Her growth over the last semester has been monumental. There is something entirely different about being assigned work that you do not necessarily want to do by someone else, someone who is not your mother. I did tell her at the beginning that if her grades were not acceptable, meaning that if they were poor and she did little work, then she would pay me back for the class out of the money she is saving for a car. I refuse to pay big money for something to help my kids and have them disrespect the effort put into earning that money by not putting forth effort of their own. Anyway... The classes are great. The teachers are fun, my daughter has made friends in her WTMA classes because of the interaction between the students in and out of class. She occasionally meets with another girl online to study. As far as writing goes, seeing other students examples and the in class critiques have been worth every penny. Not to mention the teachers are nicer than I am about silly mistakes. I love the rigor and quality as well. I am pretty well versed in what the local schools, public and private, have to offer. My kid is reading so much more and writing so much more than she would at any local school. I would pay this again (and will for the next class). There is no way my homeschooling environment could ever offer the wealth that the WTMA environment does for my kid.

creekland, I am a BIG believer in the power of resilience to create success. I am always telling them that real learning happens in correcting mistakes. My younger one is dyslexic and his struggles have forged a pretty high tolerance for bouncing back from failure and figuring it out. He has a very different kind of success that sometimes I suspect will carry him far. In this way, his setbacks have been an asset.

My daughter wanted to take it because she just wanted to see where she would stand. She was curious as to how she would do in that environment and...her ps friends were taking it. She took algebra in the 7th grade and because we were not pleased with how well she learned the concepts, she is taking it again with a different program in the 8th grade. She will take it, the PSAT not algebra, again next year simply because I intend to use it has the standardized test required by the state. For the $20 the school charged for kids who are not juniors, it is a cheap way to get that requirement filled.