I didn't even notice that! We visited Green Gables a few months ago.

Traditional Logic I put out by Memoria Press. It teaches you to construct syllogisms properly, rather than try to find dozens of fallacies. This is more efficient.

What is it you like about the idea of studying Latin? For me, I liked that my kids were getting a grounding in methodical study techniques, grammar that would help their English grammar, and grammar/vocabulary that would help any possible future study of language such as Spanish, French, Portuguese, etc. It definitely has come in handy for these things. My kids each started in Grade 3. I did try to add Spanish in for my son during middle years, but it was a flop - there just wasn't enough time. I let him drop Latin after he finished Second Year Latin by Henle in Grade 9. I figured that if he wanted to take up another language, he now had the skills to do so. He knows how to start studying a foreign language. Learn the characters, learn the sounds, learn vocabulary, learn grammar structures, listen, speak, etc. etc. I do think my son could have prepared for AP Latin at home. I let my daughter drop Latin after finishing Henle's First Year Latin last year. She REALLY wanted to take up French, so I let go of my ideal to get her through another Latin book. She is doing well with French study, so far. I don't really think there is a downside to studying Latin, esp. if you are an English speaker/writer/reader. But what I am seeing in your post is a strong desire to continue with Chinese, so that made me think of that question to ask you in the beginning of my post. Latin can be helpful if your kids are going to study languages such as the ones I listed above, or if they are doing to read original Latin western lit. works (my kids didn't get that far). I'm just thinking, though, that if your emphasis is going to be on the Chinese language, yours might possibly focus more on Chinese literature? Or lit. from other Asian cultures? esp. if it's part of your kids' heritage. You might end up focusing there, which is perfectly fine! Yes, even in "classical education." To me, classical education can also mean preparation to study cultures/history that are not part of western culture/history. It's about methodically studying whatever you are going to study. :D So anyway, I suggest you examine your reasons you might want to take up Latin, and weigh them with your other desires for your kids.

My son has LOVED using the 1960s Dolciani math books (thank you a zillion times, Jane in NC!). My daughter is loving using Whitmarsh French grammar/exercise books from the 1940s/1950s.

Dolciani's Algebra I Writing With Skill Level 3 Rod & Staff Grammar Levels 9 and 10 (she only does the grammar and proofreading lessons, not the writing lessons) Ancient history and literature, using WTM methods (read, write, discuss, write, draw maps, analyze primary sources, etc.) geology (1st sem.) and astronomy (2nd sem.), using WTM methods (read, write, discuss, write, demonstrate, observe, etc.) recordkeeping (Rod & Staff) French (using old Whitmarsh books and a study plan I mapped out) And she is involved in about a gazillion local activities that she can walk/bike to or hitch rides with friends. She also spends a lot of time doing creative writing and drawing. She's a pretty talented young artist!

Thanks, Faith! I notice you are putting scholarship info., too. Ds got a pretty big four-year scholarship for his first admission.

Hi Faith, I think you missed my post. :)

I haven't tracked this in the past couple of years, but before that, I found that the very best time of the whole year to buy was right after Christmas. Many of the science courses especially would be discounted up to 85-90%.

solid arithmetic and pre-algebra skills reading fluently and widely spelling well solid grammar knowledge able to put thoughts into words and words onto paper in grammatically- and mechanically-correct sentences able to summarize reading on paper able to dissect reading on paper (outline non-fiction passages of various types)

My ds has his second university acceptance!!! It's conditional upon the school receiving his SAT scores (frustrating glitch we are working through - LOVED talking with the College Board rep. - NOT), but it's for the BSc program in Mathematics!! I think we'll find out about scholarships after the SAT score thing is settled. This is so exciting to be seeing all this happen finally!

BTDT twice. I find the ages of 13-16 very tough. I'm a "make them do it anyway" sort of homeschooler when it comes to basic academics (reading, writing, math, plus content stuff), but the pushback is difficult. I just quietly and steadily (and wearily) plod on while also providing freedom for whatever their definition of "fun" is for any given day. I hear you about unwittingly having made things "unfun," lol. I think it's just all part of the deal of teens starting to define themselves apart from us. Hang in there.

I don't understand how to update, but you can add my ds to the list (unnamed university, though)! Scholarships. Other applications pending

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!! Now I'm hyper again - I hardly ever get hyper these days! I'm so excited for you - I can totally relate to your last paragraph!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! You kept swimming and you made it to the other side!!

lol! It is pretty funny when I look back on it. I was trying to sound nonchalant when he said he was now interested and when he asked if we'd be interested in meeting with the other guy. He just did a total about-face! Another thing I forgot to mention was that when we went to the open house and ds gave them the application/supporting documents (most students at the open house received their decisions that day), the asst. registrar actually came out and told me he needed the SAT scores. I calmly told him that the College Board had already sent them. He insisted they had to be on some piece of paper that I must have, and I calmly insisted that they were not. That the CB had. sent. them. to. the. school. I said they must in in some computer somewhere in his office or on some piece of paper he would have received, and he kept resisting. Finally he just said he'd check around, blah blah blah. I guess he found them, lol!

I can't wait to hear more about this!!

Nan, I hear you! I finally understand now that (even though my kids are far better with the learning tools than I am, simply because I whiz through them and they marinate in them, lol) I *can* go on learning on my own for the rest of my life! But yes, there are certain things that I also see would require some type of post-secondary training (whether university or Canadian cc system), should I so choose. And I might choose. I'm just scared to believe I could actually do it!! Oh dear, I'm honoured to hear that I was a part of your learning process. I do remember the art and writing conversations we had. But I hope you know that you were a HUGE part of my learning process, too!! "nan's words of wisdom" live forever! And you cheered me on through some dark days a few years ago. xoxoxox

Yours is at McGill!! Congratulations!! And lucky you with low tuition. :D How is your oldest doing there? I'll pm you with SAT scores.

Everyone, thank you so much for your support and congratulations!! This has been just such a huge, huge week for us - a huge milestone in our homeschooling journey - our first major outside validation, I suppose. And just to be clear for lurkers, I don't think university is the be-all, end-all of homeschooling; like I said, our daughter will likely take another path which will be great for her. It just so happens that our son (and experimental oldest, lol) was always likely on the path to university, and voila, here it is! Our daughter may end up going to community college here, which is not the same as cc in the States. It's not quite a "cheaper path" to 3rd and 4th year university; it more consists of huge numbers of standalone technical and vocational programs that are tough to get into and tough to go through. So if she finds programs she loves and gets accepted and possibly gets scholarships, we will celebrate just as hard. :D (We attended an open house day at a couple of cc's here a few weeks ago - let's just say that I dragged her there - she just couldn't be bothered. But when she saw the "on air" television station on one campus, she freaked out! She spent the rest of the open house there while ds and I walked around looking at other displays and taking care of his application. I think she went around that studio talking to everyone she could and absorbing all the action going on. When I went back to find her, she dragged me in and showed me everything going on. She'd met an instructor who was quite taken by dd's passionate interest in everything, so the instructor gave us some hints on finding volunteer work in local stations. yippee!!!) I just want lurkers to know this - that my post is more about the "it works!"-ness of homeschooling and the works-ness of WTM style classical ed for our family. And I'm still super-hyper about this week's news for ds!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! hahahahahahaha Thanks, all, for listening to my hyperness. Thanks, Carol! It's so cool to hear from people I've met and learned with!! Thanks, Nan! Thanks for the vote of confidence. And I totally agree with the last part of your post - I think we will see that in dd's life. Reading this made tears prick MY eyes! Thank you! I hope so, too! I haven't been reading the boards every day like I used to, but I hope to catch a post of yours if/when it happens!! Thanks for identifying with my feelings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I just KNEW that people here would get it!!!! You made ME cry!!!!! Thank you! (I do have a dream or two for myself...will post here someday if/when I get the courage to make it reality) I know, it was so funny to BE on the phone with him that day! I felt like saying, "Well, why on earth did you tell me this couldn't happen??" Last night I wrote to him and to the Assoc. Dean of Science (the Dr. so-n-so) just to thank them for considering the application and for the scholarship. Well, within an hour or so, Dr. so-n-so e-mailed me back!! Just the fact that the two of them have been personal with us speaks volumes to me. A small school with people who care about students could be a good fit for ds. We'll see what the coming months bring! I know. Thank you for your investment in him - I'll never be able to thank you enough. I'll encourage him to e-mail you. BTW, dd is now going through Dolciani's Algebra I. The girl who didn't like math a few years ago (and claims to still not) is doing pretty well in it, simply because of how it's written. thankyouthankyouthankyou! Thank you! And, I remember your freakoutguy signature! (for some reason, when I previewed this post, it said I had to get rid of too many emoticons. So, I deleted them from the posts I quoted. Just so you all know, I wasn't trying to downplay your emoticons - I just had to so I could post this!)

I think as you move through the Writing With Skill series, the teaching suggestions in TWTM book will become clearer.

Funny - I just replied to your other thread about the "differences" between summaries and narration! I totally hear you on being confused - I worked so hard on understanding the teaching details in TWTM because I love it, too! Have you ever listened to the writing and literature audios that SWB made? They helped me SO MUCH to understand what she was trying to communicate in the book. In the audios on literature, she insisted on one thing: "preserve the love of reading." So, the WTM instructions are suggestions on how to go about it, but you can tweak it around. If your student will absolutely hate a literature book if you make her read a daily portion and write a daily portion summary, then don't do it. Let her read the whole book and savor it first before you make her do any writing about it. Then have a discussion about the book using the questions in TWTM - the beginning questions are about the content of the book, and the later questions are about developing an opinion of the book. Your goal is to help her learn to analyze a story, and then develop an opinion (which will be simple at first and get more complex in high school) about it, and then write down the summary, analysis, and opinion. (Also, side note: Writing With Skill 1-3 will teach her how to do this, and teach much more than you see in TWTM logic stage section.) As to what exactly she meant by the different terms...I'm not positive. I think that possibly "report" meant a summary-plus-two-sentence-opinion paper. So maybe: narration = summary report = narration/summary plus two opinion sentences essay = a more nuanced opinion paper in high school, if I am recalling my audio notes correctly. I do remember her talking in the high school writing or literature audio about different types of essays that were not part of logic stage study. hth

We used the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia, but not as a standalone text. My kids would read a page spread (or several) to get overviews of the topics, but then they would get library books to do further reading about the topics of interest. I think that's part of the point of WTM style logic stage history study.

I used to get so confused about this, too. I'd comb through TWTM book and try and figure it all out. I finally concluded that narrations and summaries were essentially the same thing. However, what I think she is saying is that you do two different *activities* each week. "Student, it's time to practice your English skills. Come here now so we can do a narration practice." (in WWE, or on your own) "Student, it's time to do your science (or history, or literature) study. Read this passage about what the earth's crust is made of (or about Egyptian mummy rituals, or from Anne of Green Gables) and then write a short summary about it." Does that make sense? Having said that, some people combine the two activities for efficiency. If you know how to conduct a narration practice, you can practice it on the actual content-area studies your student is doing. This is what we did using the WWE Instructor manual that has instructions for all four levels in a thin hardcover book.

TWTM

I bought it. Then I discovered Traditional Logic put out by Memoria Press, authored by Martin Cothran. I figured out that Nance's logic books were more "mathy," and Cothran's books were more "wordy." I chose "wordy" because I wanted my kids to get skilled in applying logic to their thinking and writing.