I don't have any experience with it, but we are going to use Writing Strands. After glancing through the books, I only saw one mention of church and it was just a passing reference- so I would say definitely secular. That said, the actual course itself seems like it will be very good in terms of getting the child to develop fully as a writer. I'll be starting my sons with levels 3 and possibly 5 or 6. HTH

You're welcome. I find this group to be very helpful with all sorts of homeschool info

Wow- I feel your pain, sounds like what I am going through with my son- age 11 soon to be 12. I had no problem with him reading whatever I handed to him untill this past year. Then all of a sudden it seemed that every book took forever, especially if he had to read from the Usborne Encyclopedia of World Histroy. According to him, " I can't keep my place, there's too much info on the page". Then he would complain and worry about whether he should read each caption at the top of the page. After wanting to jump out a window & hearing " I'm not good at reading" a million times, I finally told him to stop saying that because it only reinforces that idea in his mind. I also told him that next year was going to be a lot of reading and writing and that he had the summer to get in shape. That said, I counted the number of books he had read this year for literature and the amount was 16- not too bad for a nonbook lover. My new tack for this upcoming school year is to make a list of books and give him a timeline for when I expect a certain number of them to be completed. I figure if he is responsible for managing his schedule, maybe he'll step up to the plate and read more quickly. I'm hoping this works...:001_huh:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SonlightSecular/?yguid=190380356

What I do for my kids, is have them work the 1st page which usually presents all new material. The 2nd page is where I cross out problems. For example, instead of 3 long division problems, they'll only have to do one. My theory is that if you know how to do a problem, you don't need to do 10 of the same problem on the same day. So my my philosophy is to introduce a new principle and then work on some old ones. Of course, the great thing about homeschooling is that you know which area your kids need extra work in and what they don't.

I'm curious to know people's experience w/ using Abeka all the way through as well. My 11yr old son has just finished w/ Abeka 7 and my 8 yr old w/ Abeka 4 and I still haven't ordered September books yet. I'm kind of tired of going through their math books first ,and crossing out so many problems because the lessons are just overkill. Honestly, I wonder if there is any child who would sit and do all the problems they give in 1 lesson w/o running sceaming from the room. :tongue_smilie:

1st three letters are my initials, last 3 are the abbreviation for Bermuda which is where I'm from originally.

Thanks - I just ordered mine- my kids can't wait!!! Crystal

I'll be 44 in December- where did the time go!!!

I've used hotwire for airline tickets, hotels, and car rentals too many times to count. I have never had a problem ever. I especially love car rentals because they always seem to have really good deals. Even when a car is advertised as compact class, we've had plenty of room ( 2adults, 2kids). The only thing I would say, is that sometimes it seems that you can only sign up 1 person as the primary driver and then you have to pay extra in person for the other adult to drive. Other that this, I highly recommend Hotwire for car rentals.

My son used Glencoe Language Arts Grammar workbook. IMO it covers a lot of topics pretty well. Here is the link to check it out. I'm not sure if there is an answer book so that is the only problem. However if you know grammar well, or can stay on top of the lessons, you should be able to figure the answers out. HTH http://www.amazon.com/Glencoe-Language-Grammar-Workbook-Grade/dp/0078205409/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1243632412&sr=8-1

My kids used level D and G this year and seemed to like it. I also like the fact that SWO also includes proofreading, dictionary skills, etc. We also do some of the writing assignments. One, my son did and was very proud of, was writing up his own restaurant menu- he loved doing that. I'm pretty sure we will continue to use it for next year.

I have this book also, and am going to use it with my 4th grader (8) this Sept. Since there are so many experiments, I think that you'll be able to pick the harder ones to do with a 12 yr old and also he will be able to explore more the reasons why the experiment turned out the way it did. I'd also be interested in hearing from people who have used this book to make sure the experiments turn out the way they're supposed to. Crystal