That's really encouraging, thanks! I know you probably didn't mean it for me - but thanks anyway!! I'm having to stick to the basics atm for various reasons, but I have been a bit concerned that my dds won't be able to catch up. No longer :001_smile:

Just wondering how many out there agree with Steiner/Montessori's ideas about education for Kindergarten through 1st or 2nd grade (or further?) I don't mean the origin of their ideas, but what they are in practice.

As far as I know, Apologia General Sc. is exactly that - a general introduction to Science; a platform from which you then take the high school courses. The elementary Botany book is very interesting - my kids love reading it; we think it's written in an engaging style :001_smile: I think if I was you, I'd get the General Science book and see how my dc got on with it. If you're intending to use the Apologia courses, it's not wasted, and you can always get the Botany book afterwards (or others as appropriate) if your dc struggles with the General Science book. JMO.

- like Finland. According to an article I read recently, there is no pressure for Finnish children to begin to learn to read until they enter school at 7yrs old; they leave for work or university 10yrs later. My personal experience is that children learn to read when they are ready. Dd10 was reading well by the time she was 7; dd9 by 8yrs old. Ds5 is not really interested in letters, never mind reading for himself. He does however love to be read to, and I'm happy to do this for a while yet. We can do a lot of things without him writing.

We haven't done this yet.. but.. from my memory of revising French and German at high school, I would put a single tense conjugation of one verb on one card, so that the conjugation for that tense is complete in the student's mind. For example: 1st card - etre, present tense je suis tu es il/elle est nous sommes vous etes ils/elles sont 2nd card - etre, future tense je serai tu seras il/elle sera nous serons vous serez ils/elles seront 3rd card - etre, imperfect etc. etc. HTH

In my own search for a Latin curriculum, I phoned Cambridge to ask them about their course. They don't emphasize Grammar in their course, from what the gentleman was saying to me; it sounds like what SWB would call "whole to parts" instruction - the student gets the idea of the Grammar from learning sentences and phrases. I'm assuming you mean the main website for Cambridge Latin curriculum? I'm pretty sure that the reason why you're not finding a DVD for sale in the US is because you wouldn't be able to play DVDs that are produced here - we're a different DVD region to you. This website http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/help/customer/display.html?nodeId=502554 shows how the DVD regions are divided, worldwide. HTH. Hedgehog

I'm so sorry, I can understand you both being really upset. :grouphug: What a weird way of going on! Telling you how well he'd done, and then cutting him!

Just wanting some perspective here. My Mum (not HS supportive) were having, shall we say, a heated discussion today. She is bilingual English/French, fluent in German, Spanish and Russian, and knows some Latin, Hebrew and NT Greek, and she maintains that it is impossible to learn languages through books, online courses, DVDs and CDs. I said that hundreds, if not thousands of HSed kids learn not just languages but many subjects from books etc., without "professional" teaching, and go on to do very well at university. What do you think? Is language learning unique in some way, such that a student can only become fluent when taught one-to-one by a professional teacher in the flesh? Or am I right when I say that a person can be fluent in any language, skilled in any subject - enough to take said subject at university - by learning from books etc.?

Well done - what an achievement! :thumbup1:

Oh my. What a situation. Praying for y'all here. :grouphug:

:grouphug: sounds like a really tricky situation for you, particularly since you don't have contact with your niece. I do pray that everything is ok in the end.

Aren't kids the cutest. Make sure you write that down somewhere so you can find it when they're older for another little laugh. :lol:

OCD and cyclic burnout. I see a fantastic naturopath, who works with Jan de Vries; he's helped me enormously, not just with those things but a bunch of other stuff as well.

:iagree: with the other posts! Just adding my support! Thinking back to when ds was a baby... things were pretty difficult for our family - relationship problems, post-natal depression. Dds were 6y and 4y and there was no "schoolwork" going on in our house. But they played, sang, were creative and busy in and out of the house, bringing me bunches of wildflowers and dead bugs by turns. I have to admit, that my dds are a little behind in their Language Arts, but that is much more because I chose to "unschool" when dd10 was about 7 years old, so we missed a couple years there. But I'm not going to cry over split milk. We have a few years to go yet to make up for it!

We find this too. The Rod and Staff books are Christian and contain a lot of Scripture references so I'm not sure if you would want that. But it's certainly a very thorough and sound course and has plenty of explanations. Diagramming is taught from Grade 3. Off the top of my head I don't recall it being an expensive course to buy either. For each grade you can get a teacher's book (with all the answers :001_smile: ) and a student book, both non-consumable, and a booklet of tests with perforated pages.

:iagree: unless, like Shannon's daughter, you have a gifted, imaginative story writer on your hands who won't stop writing. Then I agree with what she does, just correcting the spelling on assigned schoolwork.

Well me too then... :D I am rubbish at Math, but we seem to manage ok! Oh and did I mention I don't know ANY English Grammar or Latin; I'm just learning along with the kids...!

If she's already [nearly] fluent, I would think that non-fiction/fiction books in French would be the best idea. Otherwise, how about finding out what kind of textbooks are used on university courses?

Yes, you are. :001_smile:

:smilielol5: Many a truth in a joke. We find it's definitely harder to appreciate/enjoy the taste of good food if we've had too much bad quality food (fast/fried/sugary).

:lol: That's me, too. :D Not the bit I deleted.. I might make variations of menu, but it means everyone has it. So if it doesn't work for everyone, it doesn't work.

I'd suggest The Idiot by Dostoyevsky. It's a fascinating study of human personality and the reaction of society to epilepsy. As I understand it Dostoyevsky himself was an epileptic so it's a very "real" book.

Well my dh could tell you some tales about what he sees and hears on his way in and out of work. Some people behave like animals. We have a massive problem with littering, vandalism and anti-social behavior around here and it doesn't seem to be getting any better. It's the littering that gets me the most. Garbage that's dropped just a few yards from a bin, and endless cigarette ends and discarded gum. And dog poop. :ack2: :cursing: We have a dog, but I've never left her doings anywhere; I always have at least 2 poop bags in my pocket every time I take her out. It's really not difficult to do that!

:iagree: My dh is just beginning to do this, sometimes. It makes a huge difference to me. The change has come about because we've been through some really difficult times and we've talked a lot about our relationship.

:grouphug: Hope your day gets better. Technology is such a wonderful thing, until it goes wrong.