Because of these two things that stood out to me, (and because I can really relate) I recommend you listen to this first before you do any more researching - it might help you think more clearly about your choices out there: http://peacehillpress.com/audiobooks-lectures/science-in-the-classical-curriculum-mp3-download/

For what you described, I would go with First Form-Fourth Form Latin (is FFL this?) from Memoria Press. From what I understand, these "Forms" courses are based on Henle's First Year Latin (a high school course), or at least a part of it; but they are geared for kids younger than high school. They spread out that Henle book over a few years. And since you say your daughter is not strong in grammar, I wouldn't pay a bit of attention to the fact that the MP site says First Form is for "grade 5" (it actually says 5+). I haven't actually seen these courses myself, but I read a lot about them when they were first coming out, because my kids did the PL-LC2 routine and then went into the Henle book in middle school. I think MP makes excellent products, so I would guess that the "forms" couses have great grammar explanations (which would probably help your daughter in her English grammar) and lots of vocab and grammar forms practice. I am also wondering if for some reason and 8th grader can skip First Form and move into Second Form? Perhaps someone else knows the answer. Anyway, if you want her to go the grammar/translation route to Latin, and because of what you described, I would look into these "forms" courses. hth

Both of my kids used/use R&S English. Ds completed Levels 3-10, and dd is going into Level 8 (in Grade 8). They both had FLL 1 and 2 for background, so they were able to start R&S 3 in Grade 3 (this was before FLL had levels 3 and 4) with no problem. I think that if your oldest has some sort of grammar background, starting at Level 5 shouldn't be a problem. If the explanations are complicated for her, you could always refer back to the similar lesson in Level 4 for a simpler explanation. The way I see R&S is that Levels 3-5 are a group, with Level 5 reinforcing what was learned in Levels 3 and 4 (while continuing to introduce new concepts). Then Level 6 kicks it up a notch as far as explaining concepts and introducing more complex concepts. And my mind groups Level 6-8 together, too, with the same reasoning as what Level 5 does. Then 9 and 10 are mostly intensive grammar review, with a couple of new grammar concepts introduced. (and lots of writing lessons, but we don't use R&S writing lessons - we just use the grammar lessons) I personally wouldn't stretch Level 5 over two years unless you have a specific reason for doing so. I would rather have my kids get as much of their grammar training done as possible by high school (and in Grade 9 my son did Levels 9 and 10 in one year because half of each book is writing lessons which we skipped) so they can concentrate more on writing and applying their grammar knowledge to that. But, a specific reason for stretching Level 5 might be that the child has never had grammar training before, or has many other things on her academic plate, or has some family circumstance going on that might dictate a slower-moving school year. Going on to Level 6 - very valuable and very NOT redundant. :D There's a whole new level of grammar learning contained within Levels 6-8! I can't tell you how much I have appreciated the grammar training of R&S. It has made me pay so much more attention to how people communicate both in speaking and in writing - NOT for the sake of being critical of bad grammar, but for the sake of trying to figure out what people are trying to say (or hide, in some cases, lol). It has also forced me to be more accurate in my own communications - grammar is invaluable for this. And it has had the same effect on my kids. Weak points/tweaking - well, as you go up through the levels, the exercises contain more and more opportunities for the publishers to express worldviews and use them as teaching for their students (it's aimed at Mennonite schools). Sometimes the proselytizing drove us crazy, but I would just remind my kids to focus on the grammar being taught. :D Tweaking - we did not do the writing lessons. The thing we did do differently is that I had my kids do most of the lessons orally with me. I started this off because my older child had a hard time writing out exercises, so I just let him sit there and tell me the answers. I could see no reason to have to write those answers down on paper - to me the point was to learn grammar, not to practice handwriting. He got handwriting practice elsewhere, and he applied his grammar knowledge every day in his composition lessons. I did the same with dd, although this past year she has taken to getting up early and whipping through her grammar exercises and writing them on paper, just so she doesn't have to sit on the couch longer in the morning with me. :D Which is fine. :D Let's see, what else....I always do the oral review questions that are in the teacher book before we go through a lesson. Then I have my student read the lesson (and I review it myself). Then I compare the "class practice" section with the "written exercises" section, and figure out which parts I want the child to go through. If a section of class practice is repeated in written exercises (most of the time it is), I have the student do the section in written exercises instead of the class practice one because there are usually more exercises in the written exercises section. That way, the student is getting plenty of practice in the concepts, but it isn't overkill. And we do the review sections (if it's reviewing grammar - we skip review that reviews writing lessons). So, I sit on the couch and go through this process. If the child is cooperating (which is another whole ball of wax), the lesson might take anywhere from 10-25 minutes. Which, for my kids, was worth me doing because it would get done faster than if they had to go off and write it all down themselves and then I had to correct it all. I like the one-on-one tutoring aspect. Also, I didn't bother with tests or the extra worksheets. The exercises I described were more than enough grammar practice. And the chapter review lessons served as "tests" for me to see how well they were doing. And yes we did those orally, too. hth

The site we went to today let kids turn off cell phones and put them under their desks. I was surprised about this, after being paranoid from reading the College Board website! Maybe because the room wasn't jam-packed, they could keep a better eye on the students?

After my son took the physics SAT subject test this morning, he asked me if I was planning for him to take the math SAT subject tests. I said no because of the math section to the regular SAT (which he will take). But in thinking about it now, I wonder what the difference is. Can anyone tell me? He loves math, but I didn't want to inflict more testing on him if it wasn't necessary (and for us, I think the physics, chemistry, and biology subject tests are necessary, plus the regular SAT).

My daughter just finished the Rod and Staff math course - we've used R&S all along, and it has been a good experience. She finished Level 8, and then there is nothing else. I plan for her to go through the 60s-era Dolciani high school math books. I thought I'd start her on Algebra I for this coming year. But she had a look through it the other day and says she doesn't feel ready for it yet. Math is not her favourite subject - she's a humanities and arts girl. :) But I still want her to do at least the first three Dolciani books. And doing R&S has been good for her, as all the practice has helped her become more comfortable with arithmetic over the years. So I'm just wondering if there might be a "bridge" book I could use with her before she starts algebra. Maybe something that reviews arithmetic and everything you need for a foundation for algebra? It's not that I think R&S has not prepared her for algebra - I believe it has, and has done so very well. It's just that she is intimidated right now by the thought of "high school math" and so I think looking through the book freaked her out a bit. She's also 13 and resistant and determined to show me that math and science are just not her forte (she jokingly claims she is bad at them, but she is not), and I am just as determined that she is going to have at least basic math and science courses in high school and that I am going to lead her through them at her pace. :D Or maybe I could see if she'd want to start off the algebra book slowly? I could break it into two years of study instead of one...has anyone ever done this? Advice?

I posted a couple of months ago about a chance for ds to apply for a province-wide math camp for Grades 10 and 11 students. Twenty students were to be chosen from all the nominations. Ds received notice this week that he is on the waitlist for the camp!! I e-mailed one of the organizers just to ask how many kids were on the waitlist, and she volunteered the information that ds is first on the waitlist! So if one of the twenty chosen can't go after all, he will get to go (and it's free plus free room and board!!!!). :D She also said that even if he doesn't get in this year, to encourage him to apply again next year. Proud Mom moment here. :D

My son took his first ever standardized test today, and it was the SAT physics subject test. He thinks he did fairly well. He's been combing through his Barron's guide for a month and taking practice tests. For me, this was a total experiment, because we've never done this before. I will be happy just to have outside validation of his physics course for high school; he is hoping for a high score. He put so much pressure on himself the past few weeks that he is feeling sick today even though it's over now. I told him that he has now had his first experience, and the next time should be easier in many ways. I wasn't quite sure what to do when we got to the testing site. But when I saw other parents standing in line with their students, I did, too. After he checked in, they had him stay near the registration table, and I was left to wonder why, lol! I sat down on a chair in the hallway (where I'd told him I'd be after he was done). A little while later, he appeared in a smaller group of students being led by a proctor to another area of the building. I guess the big room was for the regular SAT test-takers. Anyway, once everyone was registered, all the other parents disappeared, lol! It was just the security guard and I sitting in the hallway. I had brought a crochet project, so I got most of a hat made while waiting. Oh, and if you remember my desperate post from a few weeks ago asking about ID outside the United States, we did finally got get a provincially-issued photo ID and hoped for the best (I could NOT get a straight answer from the College Board, and I e-mailed them four times, going back and forth - it was VERY frustrating). This is what ds used this morning, with no problem. phew!! I saw in another thread that people were talking about whether or not students were allowed to bring meds in with them. Ds usually carries a small bag with his meds, but I had him take out his Epi-Pen and puffer and put those in his pockets while I held his bag during testing. Sheesh, reading the College Board site really made me paranoid about the whole registration procedure! But while we were in line, I saw many students with huge backpacks they were taking in!!! Later I could hear the proctor doing announcements and form-filling-out instructions, and all she said was that they had to put their bags under their desks and only have their admission tickets on the desk (and calculators during the math portion), so I figured ds was getting the same instructions in the room where he was. Anyway, it all took far longer than I thought. When ds came out, he said the whole instruction thing took 50 minutes, so they didn't even start the exam til 8:50 a.m.. And he said that while he felt relaxed about it all (I guess once this morning arrived, he just got on with it), he noticed that other students looked really stressed. So I'm glad he wasn't around other kids recently who were planning to take the tests, or it would have been worse for him. :D The whole SAT gig is SO different from when I took it 28 years ago!! :D And I really am not a fan of this whole hoop-jumping thing, but we're going to do what I feel we have to do. :D I can't believe after all these years that I am here on the high school board posting about uni-prep testing - I think ds was in Grade 2 or 3 when I started reading and posting on the WTM forums. I have learned SO much from these boards over the years - I wouldn't have been able to get this far without the WTM book and this wonderful internet resource!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Breaking news - he has been caught: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/justin-bourque-moncton-shooting-suspect-in-police-custody-1.2666921

bump

I'm seeing tweets just now saying he may have been caught??

Here's the latest from the CBC: http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/new-brunswick/moncton-shooting-manhunt-enters-2nd-tense-night-1.2665707 I am glad your mother has somewhere to go.

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Yes, I am following. Thoughts and prayers for those of you with family there or who are there.

Is he taking the regular SAT? Or one of the subject tests? Let me know how it goes for him! It's hard to find other Canadian homeschool families who've gone this route, so I have no one with whom to compare notes. I'm also curious as to why you are having him take it, as it's not as usual in Canada as in the States yet. I'm planning for my son to take the regular SAT next spring, so I will buy a prep book for him to go through in the coming year. Just for the test-taking aspects, not the knowledge aspects. And yes, when I was in high school in the mid-80s, the whole point of the SAT was to test what you knew and knew how to do. We didn't go through test prepping. My son was saying this morning he doesn't want to do the SAT because it's so stupid to have to do so, blah blah blah. And I told him that it's just a hoop you have to jump through on a road you want to travel on. As for this physics subject test on Saturday, I've been telling him that I am not hoping he will get perfect or super-high scores - I only want to have an outside marking for his transcript, and this is what our family can afford to do to get that. But he is putting pressure on himself, sigh.

Thank you both for these replies. Each contains tidbits that are helpful to my thinking. I did end up buying the Barron's guide because of recommendations here, though I would have alternately/also bought the blue book. I couldn't get the blue book in time, though, as it has a four-week ship date on amazon.ca - that wasn't enough time for ds to start prepping without feeling stressed. His test-prep is going pretty well, I think. He picks up the Barron's guide often during the week, and he has been figuring out the "test-taking game" aspect of it all (as well as boning up on physics concepts/formulas he doesn't quite understand and figuring out where he went wrong in practice tests). He has been taking practice tests, and I have been perusing the boards here (as well as researching elsewhere online) for information about test scores, percentiles, reasons for taking this particular test, etc. I've found some very helpful information on these forums. I've hyperventilated as I've read about how it's a small group of students who take the subject tests, therefore making what I thought were good scores seem mediocre!! And then I've relaxed again as I've seen that others have their kids do these tests for the same reason I am - outside validation of high school science course evaluation/transcript grades. And I've gotten an idea of what scores approximately equal which goals for taking these tests. Also a friend of mine who is a physician and who said she took tons of standardized tests throughout her education (an experience I did not have - I only took the PSAT and SAT once each many moons ago) gave ds the lowdown one evening on how to prep and how to take the test. It was helpful advice (that we found reinforced in the Barron's guide). Today after taking another practice test he started freaking out about not getting 800. I had to talk him down from that by re-stating what my purpose is in having him take the test. *I* thought he did pretty well, and some online research confirmed that to him. (But yes, I understand that the actual test may be scored differently) For fun I even searched online for my high school graduating year and the scores/percentiles for that year, consulted my high school transcript, and discovered that I had actually scored higher on both the verbal and math sections than the average for my class! It made me feel good today. :D

I'm going to print off all the e-mails that went back and forth, and highlight the parts where I specified our situation and where the last one told me a "gov't. issued photo ID" is acceptable. I may also call the test centre (local uni) and ask if I can speak to whoever manages test days, just to confirm. I don't know how far I'll get, but I can try! :D A passport is currently out of our budget. The photo ID is only $17. Thanks for commiserating!!

I think the schools issue school IDs to students whom they know. They don't know us. And I don't think they would know what a homeschooler would need, because the school isn't terribly familiar with homeschooling.

Do a search for Jean in Wisc's posts on SOS for Spanish for high school. She put out a lot of good information on Spanish study with this. You could pm her, too. I saw that she posted recently, so she probably still checks in here periodically and would see a pm.

You have no idea how many times I have felt ridiculous posting "ignorant" questions here! :D But it's these kinds of questions that catch my eye because they help me learn, too. Thanks for being brave!

Well, the latest e-mail I received from the CB this morning suggests that a provincially-issued photo ID will be acceptable. But the responder still cut and pasted a ton of information I'd already received in the other e-mails, grrrrr!!! "ID documents must: • be issued by a governmental organization" "Examples of Acceptable ID • Government-issued... non-driver ID card" I'm just hoping they count non-U.S. governments in these blurbs. Even though I stated in my first e-mail that we are in Canada, the first responder told me we could use the student ID forms (which clearly state they can't be used outside the U.S.) - thus my apprehension about this whole correspondence. I just wish someone had simply said, "Yes, you can use Nova Scotia gov't-issued photo ID cards." How hard can that be - I even provided a link for them to look at. They wasted more time copying and pasting all that information so many times! And the last responder, in an effort to personalize the e-mail, changed "student" to "your son." lol Anyway, I'd still love to hear from anyone else who knows anything about this. Thanks! :D

PLEASE HELP!! If you are outside the United States (and particularly if you are in Canada), and your kids took the SAT subject tests or the SAT, what did you use for student ID if your kid didn't have a licence or passport? My son is taking the physics test soon. He does not have a driver's licence nor a passport. The College Board-provided student ID form that State-side homeschoolers can take to a local high school or to a notary public states that the form is not valid as ID outside the United States, so that option is out. The only option I can see is a "government-issued photo ID." I can get that from our province (Nova Scotia). I have e-mailed the College Board three times now explaining our situation, and each time I get a very FRUSTRATING response - basically a cut and paste of what I've already read on their website. They are not paying attention to my individual question of "does a provincial photo ID suffice?" The latest cut and paste e-mail stated "state-issued ID." That is different to me that "gov't-issued." No one so far will confirm to me that he can use a provincially-issued photo ID. This is the COLLEGE BOARD - do their employees not know how to read e-mails or what???? Does anyone here have personal experience or knowledge that will help me? Signed, Exasperated in NS

I'm so very sorry, Rosie. Hugs.

Definitely cross NH and VT to get to NY state. It's much prettier than going on the Mass Turnpike (I-90). If you like bargain shopping and discount surplus stores, you MUST check out Mardens: http://www.mardens.com/