Thanks so much for the input! I think we will go with World History..I noticed on the website some recommendations for alternate lit. choices. We also are doing a seperate composition program, so I may tweak the writing assignments as well. Thanks again! Jill

I am very interested in this program but have concerns about the reading level of the literature. I want to use something that will enable her to become more independent..has anyone found the lit. selections to be too heavy? Do some use this over a two year period? Would the American History be a better choice? Are there any other programs out there that might be a better fit? As I mentioned she is young...just turned 14 and in my opinion is still very much in the logic stage. Thanks! Jill

I just started this program this week with dd7. I think what they are expecting is that, without showing his narration to him, you read it back and have him write it by dictation. We just did the first dictation work today...Day 3 for us...it was NOT good. The book says to read it to her 2 times, and she should be able write it. My daughter could not retain it long enough to do this, nor could she spell most of the words in the sentence! I really feel she is ready for Level 2 in her narration and copywork skills, but this dictation exercise is definitely beyond her. The Day 4 exercise, as I understand it, says to read the selection, ask the questions, have the student summarize while you write it down, and then he writes a sentence or two of his own narration as dictated by you. We'll see how this goes for us tomorrow...maybe writing in her "own" language will be easier than writing, "Do not let flattery throw you off your guard against your enemy!" I may just substitute dictation exercises using SWO or Phonics Pathways...at least for the time being. I really can't afford to buy Workbook 1 at this point. Oh well....I'm sure this didn't help much, but just know that you are not alone. Good luck! Jill

My son is left handed but plays guitar right handed. I took an old toy guitar and restrung it lefty for him to try and he couldn't handle it. I have several friends who are lefty that play right handed guitars. I would definitely take him to a shop where he can try them out. We bought our first one through Musician's Friend. Unfortunately all guitars are not created equal even as far as playability, and a "hard to play" guitar can really discourage a young player. Then, I'd buy a chord finder book and just have him learn D, G, and A to start with. My kids have had no lessons, but both play well....my daughter (13) can actually play during praise at church. The very best way, we have found, to learn to play guitar is by following along with someone who knows how to play. Sorry if I have babbled on and I hope this helps. Jill

What I see happening in her reading is that she seems to just look at the first couple of letters and make an assumption of what the word is. I say "assumption" rather than "guess" because much of the time she is right...once she has seen a word a few times she seems to recognize it by sight. The problem is that as the material gets more advanced she is not able to really look at the individual phonetic "pieces" that make up the word. For instance, if I showed her the phonogram card with the "eigh" she could not tell me what it says, however, she can read words like; eight,weigh, or sleigh with no problem as long as they are in context. As far as ETC, she gets it well enough to do the workbook pages, but then forgets it fairly quickly.(I'm planning on ordering the 4 1/2 and 5 1/2 workbooks before moving any further ahead.) She seems to do very well when she reviews things consistently. ETC doesn't do that...it just keeps moving on. This is why FLL is such a good fit. I don't know if this makes it any more clear..or just adds more confusion.:) Jill

I can't decide between these two. Maybe some of you can help me choose. My dd 7 learned to read last year using 100 Easy Lessons. She is very visual, so this method worked very well for her. What I am seeing now is too much reliance on "sight" reading and not much understanding of the phonics. I have always used WRR approach with my other children and was dissappointed in their spelling abilities, so I am doing SWO with this child which is going well. She also does Explode the Code (Book 6 now) and FLL, which she loves. I want short and sweet phonics instruction that I can pick up and go with. My main goal here is to increase understanding of multi-letter phonograms and rules which will increase reading fluency now and strengthen spelling abilities later on. What are the subtle differences between these programs which will make one a better choice over the other? I really appreciate any advice. Thanks! Jill

The worksheets that we have done so far this year are almost identical to the written exercises in the book. They do diagramming on some....My daughter just does these written the rest of the lesson we do orally. My son does not have worksheets...I'm considering ordering them though...so I have him do one of the written exercises in his notebook. We have always used Abeka for grammar until switching this year. We have been in school for 13 days and I am amazed at how much progress I see!!! I love all the review they have you do. It may seem tedious at first, but it really makes a difference. When I ask my son to recite the linking verbs (every day) he says, "Oh! This is my favorite part!" I have NEVER heard him say any such thing before!! ( BTW when we started a few weeks ago, he really couldn't tell the difference between a verb and a noun.) Hope this helps. Jill

When my daughter first learned this in Abeka I told her it seemed silly so I brushed over it...somehow I took a closer look and realized it was worth a try. This was several years ago and I don't think she has ever handed in a math test since without casting out 9's on any computation problems because this way she can be sure that at least those problems are correct...increasing her chances of a higher test score. I'm now working with my son on this. He is resistent, but he also hates loosing points on tests because of one digit off in an answer. He takes his first test tomorrow, and I bet he will find a few errors when I make him cast out nines before passing it in. It sure beats the other methods of checking....and once you get the hang of it it is MUCH faster! Hope this helps. Jill

I used the Abka Basic Mathematics last year for my daughter. It does do extensive work with percents...it does pre-algebra, well enough that my daughter went right into Algebra 1 this year...it does a great deal of work with negative numbers and absolute values(including pretty complex problems requiring the order of operations)...it even goes into trigonometry. I feel that it was VERY thorough. I feel confident that my daughter really knows math after using it. Hope this helps. Jill

I used The Learnables when my older two were in 1st and 3rd. My dd enjoyed it more than my son, but they both seemed to retain it fairly well. Jill

A second vote for Lightning Literature. My daughter is doing LL7 this summer and just this morning she told her brother, (who was complaining about having to do summerwork) "Actually I'm kind of enjoying this." That says a great deal because this child is not a real bookworm! Jill

How is he?? Please update us. Jill

I'll be following this thread as well. I have already purchased Lightning Lit. and am now considering going back to TOG too!! I've also bought CW as well....yikes!! This may be too much! Jill

I'm another fan of Seterra....actually I've become addicted to it!! For the first time in my life I know where all the countries of the world are...at least all that are listed on Seterra. My kids are starting to get into it, too. We're having a ball with this. I've offered my children $10.00 for anyone who can score over a 90% on all the countries of the world. I've actually scored 100% myself. :001_smile: Jill

My ds12 is doing Easy Grammar Plus this year. I chose it because she has always been naturally good at grammar and has tested fairly high in this area. I wanted to lighten her load a bit so that she could devote more time to her math...(not her strong area.) She has been able to do a page a day, spending easily less than 10 minutes to complete it. I have found that it is fairly comprehensive, although it lacks review in some skills. I have also realized that if I do a quick "lesson" before each page it helps her to retain the information better. If you are not interested in diagramming and want to get it done daily this should work great for you. Because I find diagramming helpful for ME, I am switching to Rod and Staff next year. We'll see how this goes.:)