We are using both this year with ds. The Core 5 books are great---but I really don't like the EHE and I really don't care for the way SL deals with geography (not enough direction or hand-holding for me!) A few of the CAW books are pretty deep and disturbing, but all in all we like WP better because I find the notebooking and geography to be much more educational than the new EHE. The EHE has NO specified readings in order to fill in the sheets, no suggested or included atlas for map work and therefore turned out to be a hunt-and-peck, treasure hunt exercise----not the way I want my son to "learn" about other cultures. The readers and read-alouds for Core 5 are OUTSTANDING---but if you combine WP and SL you would have to re-arrange the reading schedule from SL to correspond with WP countries studied.

I guess the WTM lists kind of made me cringe. I understand the reasoning behind them, and the ideals are lofty, but in reality I know my kids would probably hate reading and learning if we did strictly classical---especially at a younger age. Besides---the SL reading lists are simply wonderful and amazing and my kids have loved it all so far--6 SL cores! For the last few years of high school I am going to stick closer to pure classical though----if my kids don't revolt :tongue_smilie:

I don't have an answer for Abeka Biology specifically, but my dd used the Abeka Physical Science last year without the DVD, but we did have the lab DVD. She did a few of the more doable-at-home labs, and the rest she watched and filled out the lab forms. The Abeka was very interesting and very understandable without a full DVD class. Great class. I decided on ABeka over BJU Phy Sci after a ordered full sets of both curriculums---frankly, the BJU labs were absolutely, mind-bogglingly difficult and involved :confused: I made a mistake thinking Apologia Bio would be better for Bio---uugh! I wish I had just stuck with the Abeka. Even though the lab DVDs are expensive, they are well worth it because the lab demonstrations were clear, the lab manual was clear and it is possible to just watch and then fill out and compute a lb report for some labs, and then it is even possible to do some labs hands on.

The Sonlight Core 100 is WONDERFUL!!!!:D

We are using Notgrass also, but not finding the author's beliefs a problem. They are obvious, but not obnoxious and not "twisted", as in unacceptable or off par with what we believe. It is a very honest look at American History. Like the pp said, if you are using it for all 3 credits----it is certainly an immense amount of reading and work! But then again---for such "heavy" reading as Uncle Tom's Cabin or even Davy Crockett----the number of pages to be read per day given their reading schedule is TOO much as far as I am concerned. We are used to Sonlight's reading schedules that give time to not only read, but digest, especially more challenging books. I started out having dd read the selections from Notgrass not included in our SL books according to the Notgrass schedule, but I am having to alter that because the number of pages per day of VERY dry material is awful. :glare:

Oh thank you so much! And will keep an eye out for Saxon burn out :glare: What you suggest is what I was thinking might work---taking 2 days to do the problems if it gets harder. I would rather do that than have him spin his wheels another year before tackling algebra.

So if my son is finishing up TT Pre-Alg in 7th and beginning TT Alg 1 and finishes about half the book by 8th----will he be ready for Saxon Alg 1 in 8th---or should we use Alg 1/2 or 8/7 to really solidify him for Saxon? I keep hearing how tough Saxon Alg 1 gets and it is making me nervous :tongue_smilie:

Hmmm...VERY interesting! So---I have a question then. I know Saxon is not the most popular program, but it is what I am going to use with my son, and I was hoping on getting him to Calc in 12th. So, would it be better to use Alg 1/2 for 8th instead of pushing on to Alg 1?? The reason I ask is that he is just now finishing up TT Pre-Alg, and I was going to have him do about half of his sisters TT Alg for hte rest of 7th grade, and then have him go on to Saxon Alg 1 for 8th? Or, would it be better if I had him do Saxon Alg 1 over a year and a half---like do evens one day and odds the next?? The only problem I see with this plan (according to my own research on Saxon) is that Adv. Math is supposed to be used over a year and a half, and then Calc 1 1/2 years---which if he did ALL of Saxon Alg 1 in 8th he would finish them both completely by 12th.........sigh:tongue_smilie:

LOL!! :glare: Is this a boy thing----or has my son been doing science at your house?:tongue_smilie:

This is why my son does not flip out at using Artistic Pursuits. We just read the lesson, and HE gets to decided what to draw. I just hand him the supplies. Scripted art lessons always felt like "fake" art to me anyways :001_smile:

I have both LLATL American Lit and LL American Lit (both programs). By FAR---LLATL is a more comprehensive and enjoyable program for all the reasons Katia listed. If you look at Cathy Duffy's site, her reviews state that she thinks LL is a "lighter" version of LLATL because they really are similar programs. We have used pretty much all the levels of LLATL over the years and next year ds will use LL7 for a change. Just by looking over the LL7, I would say there is more reading in LL, it is a much less structured program and has no actual writing instruction like LLATL includes.

Well, to be fair there ARE people who used the program all the way through and trusted it----only to find out their kids were NOT prepared properly for college math. FWIW---we ARE using TT. It works wonderfully for my dd. BUT---that said, it definitely doesn't cover ALL the topics normally covered per grade level program. The pre-alg definitely does not cover ALL topics that I have seen covered in other Pre-Alg books. I have NO idea if this is good or bad----but I assume the writers of the program would never be so cold as to create a program that would disenfranchise untold numbers of homeschool kids mathematically :001_huh: I have come to find out that phrases like "Created JUST for homeschoolers from the ground up" does NOT mean that ALL homeschoolers need the program!!! This is a sales pitch. TT fills a niche----but not for everyone. But---it is a wonderful, God-send of a program for those of us who have children who need a program like this. And yes---it irritates me when people who have never used the program bash it. My kids LOVE it...........but I still have reservations. After we test in the spring, I will make my final decision for ds. DD is definitely using it still!

That's good to know! :001_smile:

I am still considering using some MODG syllabi next year for history, but as a new Catholic, I still can't get over the almost complete lack of ANY Catholic programs/schools that appeal or even look semi-interesting! Seton English actually doesn't sound too bad, but the history---puleez! We use the Religion, but quite honestly, I don't agree at ALL with the whole "attending at ANY other church is a sin because you are condoning non-Cath worship". Ew. Kolbe looks pretty good----but I really don't care for public school textbooks and being "forced" to pay for enrollment to get an answer key. In fact, Kolbe reminds me of the private "Catholic" grade school we went too----ALL secular, public schools books, some good lit, but for all intents and purposes you would NEVER know you were going any sort of religiously affiliated school unless of course you were Catholic, and you had to take Cath Religion classes---but faith and God were NEVER mentioned in any other class. Angelicum is a disaster----and SO disorganized! OLVS---dry anyone? Catholic Heritage Curricula---sounded so sweet and academic---but it was WAY too light and the 7th and 8th history too vague to work for us. At least MODG is not afraid to use REAL books along with those dry, boring CAth history texts, add in crafty arts and music and use Apologia! My Catholic friends are so envious of the joy we have using Sonlight along with Catholic supplements.........but that old "Catholic guilt" makes them slog through horridly dry and boring materials that are all Catholic. I am hoping that the MODG Medeival syllabus has the lit analysis that I am looking for and is not too terribly dry, because otherwise all of my kids curriculum is going to be totally Christian and non-Catholic with "religion" thrown in because I can't destroy their love of learning with boring curriculum..:tongue_smilie:

Thanks Sandy! Have you ever taken a look at Saxon Calc? My ds is LOVING TT also---but of course I worry because I guess I am so easily swayed :glare: So if ds finished through the TT Pre-calc----would he be able to seamlessly enter into Saxon Calc or something like Thinkwell?? I can't afford Chalkdust and we have no CC anywhere remotely close...............

No experience with CC, as we live in the middle of nowhere in a town 25 years behind the times with no CC within 150 miles AND with very few homeschoolers, especially for high school. BUT----my thoughts are that even if a CC IS "college-lite", it would still far outrank ANY high school because of the avoidance of all that nasty, immature, damaging social garbage going on. What a great way to beef up those areas that you worry about for their future using a "real teacher and class" without having to deal with them getting wrapped up in the non-stop socializing and party scene. :tongue_smilie:SO wonderful that people have this option. :001_smile:

Well, I can't wait to hear the responses too! Just my own comparison of TT TOC to Ace School of Tomorrow Alg 1-----well, I would use TTalg1 as a pre-alg course just to be able to use Ace Alg 1 without problems.............:glare:

We are using BOTH Exploring America and SL 100 this year---but modified. DD is doing SL 100 completely, using the Hewitt tests---and reading the Exploring America and some of the lit. We started out trying to do it all---but it was just too much. Some of the writing assignments are good in Exploring America, so we just pick and choose. We don't use the tests----it was busy work and the questions were just not very deep. Same with the Lit questions. Simple recall and not what I was looking for as far as lit analysis. She is ONLY reading the Exploring America books that are not scheduled in SL 400---as she will use that in 12th. The Exploring America program requires a HUGE amount of reading-----they don't give very much time for each book and so it works out to too much reading and really, going through the books way too fast to digest anything. That said---they are compatible programs----but too much to do each 100%. ;)

What about Dive Into Science? It is a complete program, includes labs and he is offering lab kits too. You can use Bob Jones books, Abeka books or the internet for supplemental reading.

:iagree: My kids are oddballs too----school "5" days a week instead of the 4 the kids here have! They work until our schedule for the day is done----so that could be any time of day---including evenings :tongue_smilie:And they read---a LOT (we use Sonlight among lots of other things). But never will they be brainwashed with Zinn or any other class-war, white-male-European-descent bashing,liberally-biased, anti-necessary-military-action, anti-military, America=terrorist/oppressor etc. drivel that will make them any less proud to be Americans :001_smile: In fact, the extremely scary thing in my mind is that recently I had a public school teacher friend RECOMMEND Zinn's book---and then comment that they are using it in colleges all across the country!!! My poor dh's father is a Zinn groupie---and guess what? After reading this book----he thinks America is a terrible place! :001_huh:

Well--how about if you use TT ahead. And so if your child can finish up the TT Pre-Calc mid 11th and then start a Calc class---does it really matter?? Especially if they are doing well in Calc? I mean---isn't algebra....well, algebra?

Hmmmm---and then add this--- http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/content/our_fading_heritage_11-20-08.pdf So the kids are living in the lap of luxury, buying and driving those BMWs off the cliff every year---while NOT learning American History---and if they do, they learn the Howard Zinn "victimology" theory, learning to be ashamed to be American..........or some psycho goes on a shooting rampage. uurrgghh--I watch too much news! BUT---the ridiculously high cost of college is a real worry for this country. Add to that this outrageously extended period of "adolescence" today's kids are enjoying.............Man. My freshman dorm was 4 brick walls, a cheap iron bed, and linoleum flooring. WE had to take care of the decorations. The last time I visited my college---those old dorms had been razed for the new "luxury" dorms today's kids (and I guess parents) are demanding! :confused::confused:

:iagree:I have to agree with this! I went to an "elite, college prep" high school. And guess what. I practically failed out freshman year due to inability to manage my time. I am watching my 10th dd manage her own study time in order to do the things she wants to----ballet, guitar, hanging out with friends. I just schedule her work---she takes care of the time management. I am very impressed. No CC even remotely close here----so off to a 4 year school and on her own it is in 2 years. I personally would be very suspect of any school that stated in broad terms that homeschoolers failed out more than PS'ers. I would ask for a side by side comparison to "regular" school kids---and for numbers. I am VERY protective of homeschooling and how much better it is----if its not obvious already ;)

:confused::glare: What an annoying and clueless thing for a small college to say----homeschooled kids have MORE than proven not only are they able---but usually do better in college than PS counterparts! I consider statements like this to be a setback for the homeschool community----and certainly NO offense to you Pam :)

Hmm--your son sounds like mine! But it is my kids that call me the slavedriver/mean :lol: I would just tell my friends "Thank You" the next time they criticized my hard work :glare: I think your hard work is intimidating to them, and they feel the need to put you down for it to make themselves feel better.