Well, we are using some high school art electives from Oak Meadow and absolutely LOVE them! They also have extensive samples online---very impressive at every level. I know you are looking for comments on "core" curriculum, but hope this helps a little. :tongue_smilie:

I guess we are the odd ones---we really LIKED Powerglide elementary Spanish! My kids and I actually learned a lot and really enjoyed the program that year----they were in 3rd and 5th. :001_smile:You could start with Powerglide Latin (which we also have) and go through it pretty quickly---and then start on Prima Latina, which you will learn more from.

Yes, we use the LivenLearn Press product---but unfortunately, it has not been the magic bullet I thought it would be for ds to retain more from Apologia! :glare: At least the colorful graphics add more visual to the Apologia program---but ds can NOT stand all the cutting and pasting, so maybe his dislike for this process is hindering his rentention? For my kids, Apologia is SOO much black and white verbosity on so many pages---that nothing seems to help with renention short of quitting the program and switching to Abeka ;)

Exactly though! All that "stuff" IS part of history---so how do you avoid it teaching history? Obviously, TOG or like someone else said Trisms that is not presently a worldview that offends you guys, but allows you to teach and broach these subjects that simply ARE part of history and teach your view and side of it to your kids. We are CAtholics, but use pretty much ALL Protestant materials---which of course only presents the Protestant take on history---but it allows for GREAT discussions on what really is the truth and "our" version of history. I understand your dh's emotional reaction because I used to get SO hot under the collar with some history books. BUT---I realized it allowed for "me" to insert and explain things to my kids, especially teaching them how textbooks write their own version of history without actually teaching the "truth". Plus I really didn't want our kids to have a lopsided view of history by avoiding the Protestant view.

Yep---I was going to say the same thing. If you are looking for that "one' program that works best----it would be the program that works best for your child! The best thing about homeschooling is that "one size does NOT fit all" and we get to look for the programs that work best for our particular kids!

Well---using SL for history most definitely makes us different than a regular school! AND we do school 5 days a week. AND we don't miss school for sports. Do we use tests, workbooks and some textbooks---absolutely!! Do I feel like we are just doing "school at home" some days---yep! But at the high school level I also feel it is important to master some of these skills they will need in college----reading a text, taking notes, writing essays etc. Then again---the kids are up at 7 am and done by 1-2 pm and spend the rest of the day pursuing their interests! Definitely NOT like any school I ever went to :D

:iagree: Don't beat yourself up as a failure because the Almighty Test Scores were low!!! Please! I have done it before, so I know not only how badly it hurts, but also had damaging it is to your self esteem. I also dealt with illness last year---months of it. Using curriculum that requires you to "teach" when dealing with illness is a recipe for the teaching not getting done----and the kids not learning what they "should". I have lots of teaching intensive curriculum---but I am definitely changing that starting next year. Not only so my kids can begin learning more independently, but because LIFE happens in the midst of schooling. :glare: And public school---is most definitely NOT an option for us. Seriously---ACE is a great for covering ALL the basics every day, even for LD kids. Then you can add in what you want to, like reading great lit, etc, but the basics will get covered every day.

Oooh---I'll play too now that I know I am not alone! :tongue_smilie: Abeka LA 7th AND 9th: It looked so good but just could NOT bring myself to use it. Abeka spelling 6th: Sold the first go round, changed my mind, bought it AGAIN and still did nOT use it! Latin for Children A: 2 sets of everything! TOO much work each day and can't STAND the DVD. Apologia Biology: Got to Module 4 and HAD to drop it. I KNEW we would hate it---and yet I still bought it swayed by the sales pitches!!! :glare: Memoria Press First Start French: Calvert French 1a is a WAY better fit. Will try this again next year. IEW Ancient writing Jensens Format Writing Mystery of History I and II: Still may use it, but not as a spine. Computer Science Pure and Simple---Books 1 AND 2 AND the cd!!! I can't believe there are any good reviews for this----my kids hate it with a passion. TT Algebra 1: Yuck. ACE Spanish with all VHS: Yuck. RS Chinese: Version2 and now totally outdated........:glare: Artistic Pursuits: The second go round---sold the first books, changed my mind, bought it again.........and still it sits........ Progeny Press guides: Well, I have about close to 10! I bought them at the site with the "Buy so many ,get 1 free" deal. WHY? I don't like the guides!!! I know there is more, but it is downstairs and I am upstairs ;) I have gotten better about trying 'everything' over the years---so this is actually now a very short list!

The college my dd is looking at in Montana also REQUIRES homeschool students to take the GED. I guess employers would have a hard time looking down their noses at the GED with a college degree following it..............:glare: I guess if any tech schools, employers etc. were ONLY going to look at "GED" in front of them instead of the person and the whole picture---I wouldn't want my children applying there anyways.:rant:

Well, I am pretty sure that is why RS supplies us with that for homeschool version. So, as long as my kids complete ALL of the schedule--I don't see why it would not be a full credit. In fact, some umbrella schools consider a year of RS as 2 credits!

How is Rosetta Stone Spanish I, using all the worksheets and tests not considered "real" Spanish I?? I have heard this before and I don't buy it. Is the goal of taking Spanish in high school to learn to speak or not---then how does picking apart all those verb tenses help with that? I took French from 4th grade all the way through college----and STILL cannot speak fluently because the focus was on workbooks and verbs! :glare: So---my kids are using Rosetta Stone with all the worksheets and tests---and each year I will list it as Spanish I, Spanish II etc! I have a feeling the "not real Spanish I" police will not be investigating----and hopefully my kids will be actually "speaking' and understanding Spanish :D

:iagree: This type of upheaval is proven to be VERY emotionally traumatic---as you can attest Nicole. Stability should be priority #1. What stress for you as her sister!

Wow! I guess my first thought is---what a disaster for your sis! :glare: How detrimental is that to live with what sounds like a really unstable, and immature, father and gf. How is your poor sis doing through all this upheaval? Is there a possibility you can get custody of her to give her some stability for the rest of high school? Would she want that? Where is mom? I am sorry---but it just does not sound like your father is stable enough to be raising a child.............not being judgemental, but being sympathetic for a child tossed around by immature passions :glare:

:iagree:

Why don't you look at My Father's World high school programs. They sound like they would fit the bill for you---yet not be as hard-core as a traditional WTM program. MFW is Classical---but more relaxed than WTM. The high school programs are written TO the student to teach independence---and include teaching writing. You meet with the student on a weekly basis. :001_smile:

I agree! And wouldn't SWB not recommending IEW anymore be because she is putting out her own writing programs? :glare: IEW still seems to be pretty much #1 in popularity----and ease of use. IEW has been a Godsend to us too! It seems like now that format type writing has become so popular because it is easy to teach and really gets the kids writing---now all of a sudden it is not acceptable?? :001_huh:

It angered me reading your post too! How hurtful to be told exactly "why" the family can't have you again :glare: Personally, I would write a letter of "apology" to this family and mention that with "volunteering" ALL day and only having your 18yo to play parent---of course it was impossible for you to play your "usual" role of Supermom! "But thank you SO much for allowing us to share your personal home for that time and I am SO sorry that our family was so offensive". And then I would just let that helpful woman who called you know that if you will be continuing to play your all day volunteer role, you will be needing a hotel room to avoid any more psychological damage to your children due to unwarranted and nitpicky criticism! :001_huh: Snarky--I know---but your family and feelings count too! ;)

I chose "other"--even though I plan on using some Apologia, MAYBE one year of BJU and then others. Like a pp said, the major $$$ it takes to "rent" the one year of BJU DVDs is not reasonable for us. BJU is very complete and thorough---but too much as far as costs, topics and teacher intensiveness etc--for us. I don't really like Apologia---but for Bio and Marine Biology I just have not found anything else that is either not impossible to do at home or too much money for one subject. Even though we are Christians, I don't trust BJU to not throw some sort of heavy-handed comment into even science. Just reading the samples of BJU online, it sounds kind of pushy with the whole "Dominion Science" and then they kind of seem to get "doomsday" with the whole "We live in a fallen and broken world etc., etc" thing. I guess I should research exactly what "Dominion Science" is---I am just afraid it will be the typical BJU or Abeka anti-Catholic slur that goes the extra mile to push "their" agenda.

Funny that you post this---I have been feeling like this just from reading various posts right here on WTM!! :glare: Reading about 6th graders using Apologia Biology---that my 16yo dd dropped for now because it was too hard----or about families using college textbooks and all the great books and AP this and AP that...........it not only makes my head spin---it makes me feel like my efforts to use homeschool materials that are more on the 'fun' yet understandable side for certain subjects are going to disenfranchise my kids for college since it seems that everybody going to college these days has actually taken ALL their college classes by the end of high school! Well---not really. But you would think that is the goal of high school from reading many posts here at WTM :001_huh: And it sure makes me feel like a "loser" since my kids are not 2-3 grade levels ahead in all maths and sciences...:tongue_smilie: But then again when my brain starts thinking rationally---I realize that "I" went to a very rigorous, "elite" private College Prep high school---and I am certainly not the only one that burnt out by 1-2 years into college. I dropped out to pursue "life" after 2 years, and so did many others. And of course, we are the ones who don't show up at those reunions that we should feel welcome at---but we don't because the WHOLE push at that school was "Accomplish" and "Succeed"---and of course the only definition of accomplishment and success still is---LOTS of abbreviations after your name, followed by lots of $$$$ in your wallet and getting your permission to brag about it in the quarterly, usually nausesating Bragazine that we all get in the mail. Balance is the key. ;)

Well---if SK loves it---then I LOVE it!! He is one of my favorite writers--so talented. And I am pretty sure you're right that he has most definitely sold more books than Mr. Pullum :glare: That article really has to be a spoof though---it's so immature :D

I guess I would question the author blaming the American's students lack of understanding of grammar on The Elements of Style! How? I had never heard of the book until I homeschooled my kids---and I went to good private schools AND college :glare: It sounds like this professor has a personal hatred and vendetta against The Elements of Style and hence has co-authored his own grammar book. Perhaps he was force fed it or something. I find his article "50 years of Stupid Grammar advice" a silly title ironically published in the "Chronicle of Higher Education" :tongue_smilie:. I just don't see how using the book as a general guideline to writing could cause ALL of the extreme problems and harm he expounds on in this article. Just don't let this guy get ahold of any IEW products................:001_huh:

Well, switching from TT to a Mastery program has certainly helped my dd who was having the same issues of no retention. She is using Ace School of Tomorrow Algebra. But I also switched ds to MUS from TT because he does better with mastery too. He is quickly working through the Pre-Alg to start Algebra in the fall. The new editions of MUS not only have plenty of practice for each new concept, there is a LOT of review practice. The Honors pages are now included in the workbook.