* Though I have reviewed many, many, many foreign language programs (I am a linguist and my specialty is foreign language acquisition), I've somehow never gotten my hands on Switched-On-Schoolhouse foreign language. Has anyone written a (preferably detailed) review of it? If you've used it, what are your thoughts? How religious is it (and how easy do you think it would be to secularize it)? Any info would be great. Thanks!

:iagree: ETA: Sorry, my original response was poorly worded. What I mean was, WWE does have that copywork/dictation focus, so if you already have copywork and dictation covered, you'll need to consider what WWE will add.

I vote for Nook Color. I have owned an original Nook, the NC, and a Kindle, and the NC sounds just like what you're looking for... apps/game and Web browsing, but still offering a strong reading experience.

:iagree: Overall, I would recommend MM, but both have a place... it just depends on your priorities and goals.

:iagree: Honestly, I don't think either order is superior to the other. My personal preference is to do Algebra 2 and Geometry at the same time. But I don't for a second believe that that's going to be the best sequence for every family. Do what works for you. It really won't matter very much in the end. FWIW, I didn't vote. I know you just want us to pick one or the other, but it really might be helpful to add an extra option or two (such as "Geometry and Algebra 2 at the same time", or "Other").

I only read the first couple of pages of this thread so if this thread has taken a completely off-topic turn, I apologize in advance. I am not sticking up for that child's actions, but believe it pertinent to mention that I was a horrible, terrible, awful child, pretty much just like the one you described. To some extent, I must have realized that my actions were inappropriate, based on peer feedback and my report card comments and such. But I can tell you that for the most part I honestly did not believe I was doing anything wrong. It wasn't that I chose to be a horrid person. I thought that everyone ELSE was doing it wrong! It wasn't until around age 13 that I developed enough awareness of myself to realize that I was a rather mean person. And it took me even longer to figure out HOW to not be a mean person (I knew I wasn't nice, but couldn't figure out how to be nice). To this day, I'm pretty socially awkward, and I constantly have to monitor my own behavior to make sure I'm being nice and civil. This may sound rather silly, but I just wanted to point out to you all that this child may not realize how awful her behavior is. Even if you tell her, "you are being mean," she might have to realize it for herself (as I had to).

:lol::lol::lol: Thank you. Yes, I meant on these boards.

nt

:iagree:

:iagree: The only thing that I might possibly be concerned about is years in a sequence. For example, the public schools around here do a two-year American history sequence in 6th & 7th grade. So if you had homeschooled a child through 6th grade, then placed her back into public school in 7th grade, she might struggle in history class if she didn't have the American History Part 1 knowledge. Make sense? Of course, she just might just as easily have no trouble at all and earn straight A's in her history class. So I'm no help at all. :001_smile:

It all looks great to me. This is me speaking as a homeschooler who falls in the "better late than early" camp (well, for most things, anyway). If it works for you, great. You picked some awesome curricula. I agree with the earlier poster that planning for accelerated children can be very difficult.

I agree that many health practices can and should be learned in real life, and that the entire subject of health encompasses far too much content to squeeze into one semester. However, I think that it is important for my kids to understand to basics of A&P, medicine/pharmacology, mental health and sleep, and human biology. Those are topics that don't always get directly addressed in real life. Similarly, personal finance and home ec *should* be covered through parenting, but I have six kids and no way to guarantee that one or more of them have slipped through the cracks. That's why I require a formal study of the basics (obviously they can just breeze on through what they already know).

:bigear: No BTDT, unfortunately. All of my dc are adopted, but were adopted when they were fairly young (dd14 and dd13 came to us when they were 5 and not-quite-4; the twins came to us newborn, and dd5 and dd3 came to us at 30 months and approx. 8 months). We are hoping to adopt an older teen at some point.

Was about to suggest those as well. Why 38 weeks? My first thought is that a lot of co-ops only meet for anywhere from 28-36 weeks... but 38 is a lot. Especially for homeschoolers who may want wiggle room in case they fall behind/want to go on a field trip/get overloaded and decide to drop science for the week/etc.

I think I am more of a "combiner" than a "git r done"-er. For example, if dd takes Computer Programming, then I won't make her take a logic course. Make sense? And I am probably the only person on this board who *insists* on a serious 1/2 credit for "Health". I think the way Health is usually taught is a joke. I don't think Health itself is a joke.

We LOVE it. I'm serious... LOVE. I think we have maybe four or five decks of SET cards hiding around the house. I try to informally incorporate critical thinking activities throughout the day, and SET is one of those activities... fun and educational!

Signed up for Computer Science 101 (is anyone else taking this?)! My oldest two dc are hungrily eyeing some of the fall classes...

Mmmm.... twice-baked potatoes and peanut butter fudge for dessert. :drool5:

I like these ideas. CM-inspired techniques (think narration, dictation, copywork, and above all, LOTS of quality reading, including read-alouds and poetry) may be very helpful for you. Narration, dictation, and read-alouds (plus spelling, if you'll be doing that) take just minutes a day. Copywork and reading can be done independently (as well as grammar, if you want to do that), and you can work on poetry and writing (as well as going over her independent work) in your twice-weekly 30 minute blocks.

The Core Knowledge series can help guide you for the elementary grades. Here is the World Book Typical Course of Study.

Yikes! Hopefully Mr. Krampf will chime in on this thread.

Yes, this is us. We take breaks when we want/need to. However, we "do school" every single day of the year except for holidays (like Shabbat... which basically means that we do school six days per week). So, we still do schoolwork during breaks- it's just not as structured. Clear as mud? I don't try to line up programs. We move on when we are ready. If I tried to line everything up and keep everyone on a tight schedule with all breaks planned out ahead of time, I would go nuts. I have six very unpredictable kids! So, though I am at heart a Type A personality, I try to R-E-L-A-X.

I agree a lot with Ruth in NZ's suggestions, especially for literature/reading. Don't forget read-alouds! Spelling- just keep doing what you're doing. Grammar - KISS or Grammarland (as suggested earlier). Writing - this is the one language arts area, IMHO, where you do want to take the time to really work with her. I agree with Ruth in NZ that you can work with her a couple of times a week and have her work independently the other days. On the days you do work with her, do dictation and writing instruction/editing. For actual writing instruction, you could use either a program like IEW, or sort of design your own writing instruction (this isn't as hard as it sounds!) with books like this one and this one and this one . HTH!!! I have edited my original post.

IEW is Institute for Excellence in Writing. IEW offers a variety of writing and literature programs, with the end goal being that the student applies their writing skills to compositions across the curriculum. The core or "backbone" of the IEW program is Teaching Writing: Structure and Style, a ten-hour seminar designed to teach you how the use the program. KISS Grammar is a free online grammar curriculum. It is still in development but much is available. IMO, the website is horrible and a nightmare to navigate, but the program is very strong and perfect for advanced learners. MCT or MCTLA stands for Michael Clay Thompson Language Arts. This is a complete language arts curriculum (grammar, vocabulary, poetry, literature, and writing) for grades 3-8. You can buy the components individually (ex. buy the writing and literature books only for your given level) or as a complete package. The reason I would recommend starting it in second grade at the earliest is because of the mental and physical maturity required to complete the program as written. All of my kids are advanced in language arts (ex. Twin A reads at a post-college level) and even with them I would hold off on MCT until second grade.

I see where you're coming from and what you're trying to get across. But the way you phrased your post implied that it was your way or the highway. There are many paths which we can take to reach the same end point. Your path is not necessarily superior to someone else's path. This thread is for discussing, not bashing.