Hello! I hope you get some feedback on Winter Promise, etc. I am a very happy TOG Redesigned user, and I heartily recommend it. Year 1 integrates a Bible Survey into lit and history. If you want to eliminate a few lit selections to make it more manageable, you can eliminate some Egyptian and Sumerian poetry. The TOG Redesigned literature study is really outstanding - I can't imagine trying to recreate something like that myself. I think the redesigned is worth spending extra money on (over the classic version) because of the ease of use. Your student still has to be motivated to get it done, and he or she needs to be prepared to work hard, but TOG is worth working hard at. Hope this helps! Blessings, April

Hi Beth! I have never listened to a podcast (true confession!). Could you tell me how this works? Thanks mucho, April PS Are you using the bio lab guide from Castle Heights? If so, how do you like it? Are the labs easy to do for homeschoolers and do they integrate well with Exploring Life? Thanks again!

Hi Joan, My son did the two Apologia books in two years, but I know some have done them both in one year. It could be done, and it would be a good prep for the SAT II. Your son would also be prepared for the AP exam at that point, I believe. For either or both of those tests, I would plan to spend some time with prep books specifically for those exams in order to get used to the format and test taking strategy. Hope this helps, Blessings, April

My older son did Apologia Chemistry and Advanced Chemistry - he did very well with them. The labs are designed to be done at home, and the course does not presuppose that you know anything about chemistry, both of which I appreciated! After doing both courses, my son scored very well on the SAT Subject test. (he used a review book to prepare as well). Blessings, April

Hi Marsha, We use Tapestry of Grace - a four-year history rotation with literature, composition, church history, worldview, government, and art appreciation integrated into the study of history. Very thorough, even if you don't do all the elective parts. At the Rhetoric (high school) level, the literature study is really excellent. At the high school level, this program takes a pretty hefty amount of time to do well, and you as the parent need to be involved in discussing things with your child, but it is time well spent, in my opinion. Blessings, April

Hi Beth! You may have mentioned this in another post, but I don't remember, so I will ask again! Are you using the Test Bank software (with the huge price tag!!!) for tests for your son, or are you using the chapter assessments in the text? I just couldn't swing the test bank CD ($200 just for tests for one class seemed a bit extravagant, even though I would have loved to have it!) Also, how do you like the Castle Heights labs? We are using the Exploring Life labs - at least some of them. I like them, but some of the materials require lots of searching out. Something that is written to use with a small group (I do labs with 3 9th grade boys - and they are every bit as squirrelly as 8th graders!) might be better in some cases. Blessings, April

Hi Beth! have you looked at Introduction to Geometry from The art of Problem Solving? My older son used it last year in 10th grade - excellent text for a bright math student and very reasonably priced (less than $100 for the text and full solutions manual). You can find exerpts on their web site. How is biology going for you? Blessings, April

Hi! Yes, I have found having a digital scale to be a big help with chemistry and even biology. I bought a digital scale a couple of years ago from Home Science Tools for somewhere between $50 and $70 (estimate). We have been very pleased! It does everything we need in terms of precision (it can handle a sample of up to 1000 grams and measures to 0,01 grams), and it is a huge timesaver. Home Science Tools is a great company to buy from, as well - grat suxtomer service and fast shipping. Hope this helps! Blessings, April

Cynthia, if dark chocolate really is brain food, I should test better than Einstein! Thanks for the ammo for when my husband tells me to cut back on all those bags of Dove darks! Blessings, April - off to pick up ds from the PSAT right now!

Cynthia, My Chemistry 1B prof in college did the same thing - write with one hand and erase with the other - and he spoke with a heavy South Asian accent. Impossible to follow. Sadly, I was too intimidated and demoralized to go talk to him. I never took the final...I still wonder if it is still an incomplete on my transcript! I enjoyed my Calc proffessors, though. I eventually changed my major from Bio to Business/Finance. I finally feel that I am getting high school chem after sort of doing Apologia along with older ds. I'm glad you are getting to spend extra time with your calc-loving son! Blessings, April (off to do bio labs with younger ds and friends)

I'm just thinking out loud here - both are mammals, cow is just bigger, so I think it would work, unless there is a compelling reason to do a cow. Your older dd will probably need to do a more detailed disection than your younger children, which may be enough of a reason to do them separately. What do yo uthink? Blessings, April (in the throes of finding biology lab supplies as well!)

Thanks, Eliana! I really appreciate your detailed post. Like Beth, I am doing Exploring Life Bio and am doing a weekly lab session with my son and two of his friends (they are using Apologia). We tesed Antacids today, and we are in the midst of soil testing. Enzymes, here we come! Blessings, April

Kris - this is hysterically funny! Do you mind if I borrow your line for future use? Blessings, April

Hi Beth! Several years ago, when we began homeschooling, I bought a microscope from Sonlight. I love it! It has all the standard stuff, plus it came with a mechanical stage already attached (ery helpful for adjusting slides.) If it is in your budget, I would recommend getting it, especially if you have younger kids who would benefit from it. I also have a Brock Magiscope, which is a wonderful field microscope - it is virtually idestructible, and you can take it outdoors since it is not electric. I have not had great success with the brock at high magnifications, but at low magnifications it is outstanding - so if you have a but or a stone or something you wnat to get a closer look at, the Brock is great. Your younger children could enjoy it now as much as your older son. I think Jean in Wisconson said she wished that she had had a stereoscope for bio lab work; I would like to have one as well, but the combo of the Sonlight scope and the Brock is pretty impressive, in my opinion. HST has good scopes to - a much wider variety than Sonlight, in fact, but I don't know if any of theirs come with mechanical stages as standard equipment- the mech stage makes scanning so much easier that I would strongly recommend getting one if you can swing it! Happy hunting! Blessings, April

Hello Beth and anyone else doing EL labs! We did the pumpkin lab a couple of weeks ago - my son and two of his buddies are doing labs togather at our house. I thought it went well, and the guys had a good time and learned some things about precision and accuracy in measurements as well as how to estimate sample sizes and manipulate data. wow - that sounds like quite a bit to learn from pumkins, doesn't it? We used pie pumpkins - each just under a kilogram in mass. We also used Wee Little Pumpkins (official name - I kid you not!) which are a bit bigger than the squatty tiny decorative pumpkins - anywhre from 350 to 550 grams. I bought a large pumpkin just for fun, but we didn't analyze it because I didn't have a way to determine volume. To find the volume of the pie pumpkins, we used some very high-tech water displacement equipment - a gallon-sized tupperware pitcher and a graduated measuring bowl . Both of these wer set inside a lage rubbermaid tub on my kitchen counter to catch any splash-over. The guys thought that was pretty cool. We did find that we had to press down carefully with one finger to fully displace the water because the pumpkins were somewhat bouyant. I do have a snazzy digital scale from Home Science Tools that will weigh up to 1000 grams, so we used that to determine mass of the pumpkins and also of all the seeds from each pumpkin as well as the mass of 10 seeds. The guys thought it was pretty neat to use that info to estimate the number of seeds in the pumpkin. Informally, we discussed sources of error and other things we might be able to do with the data along with why we might care about finding out these things (besiides curiosity). On Friday, we will be doing the soil analysis lab and the antacid comparison lab. I ordered a couple of soil analysis kits from Home Sci Tools (there is a pattern here...) and I spent at least 15 minutes at Walmart today finding antacids with different active ingredients - I will be stocked if anyone has heartburn! Home Sci Tools is a great company to order from, and they have lots of things needed for the labs, but they don't have everything. I found pectinase at carolina Bio Supply for $22.00 for 100 ml - now I have to see if I can find it cheaper somewhre else! I hope you and your son enjoy the labs! Blessings, April

Hi Beth, I am in the process of planning labs for my son and a couple of friends who are using Apologia. We will definitely be doing discections in the spring! I have been pleased to find a number of materials needed for EL labs in the Home Science Tools catalog. Plus, they have excellent customer service and fast shipping (I live in CA and generally receive orders within 2 or 3 days.) I will be ordering soil testing kits tomorrow. Blessings, April

Hi Beth! When I did Apologia Bio with my older ds a few years ago, we generally did one or two labs per module (16 modules in the book). so we did somewhere between 20 and 24 labs over the course of the year (memory is vague at this point - we met every other week for a couple of hours). This year I am doing Bio Exploring Life with younger ds. Two of his buddies are using apologia, and I am running labs for all of them. We are planning on meeting every Friday from 9:30 to 11:30 at my house. We did microscopy last week and this week we will be doing a measurement lab - the pumpkin lab from the EL lab manual, if you have it. I am in the process of planning labs to coordinate with both texts and determining how to rearange chapters of each text to best mesh. All that to say, after all is said and done, allowing for scheduling conflicts with sports, etc, we will probably do 20 or so labs over the course of the year. I may have them do some additional lab work at home - ecology field work, etc. Have you started EL yet? I still need to order the teacher's edition of the lab manual, but I think I can figure things our until I get it. Probably more than you wanted to know, but there it is! Blessings, April

Hello Lynne, You have gotten some great advice! I would second the idea of looking for a correlation between what he eats (and when and how much) and sleepiness later. I used to have afternoon sleepiness after eating Cheetos at lunch - lunch seems to be the make or break meal for me in terms of afternoon functionality. No more cheetos, sadly... If he feels sleepy only after reading for a couple of hours, either a quick nap or exercise might work. My guys need to get up and move at regular intervals or they (esp the 14 yo) tend to get in a trance-like state. Also, think about having his eyes checked by a vision therapist. Even if his vision is perfect, if one eye is doing most of the work of reading, or if his eyes tend to jump from line to line, reading can take vast amounts of energy. A regular eye exam probably will not reveal this unless your doc is looking specifically for those issues. My husband gets very sleepy when he sits down to read at home, and I am convinced that he would benefit from vision therapy. Unfortunately, the closest place to get it is 50 miles away and our insurance won't cover it. However, vision therapy made a world of difference in my life as a child - two eye surgeries and vision therapy made my eyes work so much better. Just wanted to throw yet another suggestion at you! Blessings as you seek to help your son, April

Hello! take a look at The Art of Problem Solving materials - my older son did their intro to geometry last year and we really enjoyed the course - quite rigorous, yet doable for a self-directed student. The books are written to be self-instructional, and the solutions manuals are ourstanding. AoPS has a variety of books for bright math students, and thier prices are quite reasonable. Satisfied customer here! Blessings, April PS: They have samples on the website

thank you Jenna and momee! Momee, did you find that the SWI C was enough to give your students direction in the TOG assignments, including essays? I am trying to zero in on what we ould need to purchase, without over-purchasing (as I am prone to do!). Have you considered or used the High School Essay Intensive from IEW or any of their other high school products? Jenna, what have you decided to do for writing/English this year? Blessings, April PS Did either of you use the TWSS set in addition to SWI-C? Any thoughts? Thanks!

Hi Angela, I can feel your frustration, and I have a sincere question - do your students know how to study? By the time we are adults, we generally have forgotten the time when we didn't know how to pick out the main idea of a paragraph or chapter section, etc. Do they know how to take notes without rewriting the chapter (my guys struggle with this one!) Do your students know how to use the table of contents and index of a text or reference book? An open book test is overwhelming if you don't know how to find the info. I did not develop study skills until I was in college, and a junior at that! Can you sit with them and model, over and over if necessary, how to do what you are expecting them to do. Studying is a learned skill, and your kids can learn it! On to math - do you require your students to write out each step? If they struggle with getting problems wrong it may be because they are rushing through their thinking. Also, what are the consequences for getting less than 80% on a test? Can you tie it into an activity they really enjoy - lose computer priviliges or gain ice cream (for scoring well!) or what ever. Maybe try some vision casting - help them own why they should do their best and do well. Hope some of these ramblings help! Blessings, April

Hello Jenna, Did you and your students find that the SWI gave info that could be transferred to the TOG writing topics? Are you going to try to adapt the SICC writing to mesh with TOG? I love having writing tied to history and other subjects. The Write@home pay per paper option also sounds intriguing - I can hear the dollar signs clicking over... Looking forward to hearing from you and others soon, April

Hello again! My guys are using TOG yr 3 Redesigned at the R level this year, and I am wondering if IEW would be a good choice for teaching the structure and style of various compositions. If any of you have used TOG with IEW, did you use TWSS to give instructions for TOG writing assignments, or did you use SWI C and SICC-C and adapt them to TOG or just go with the IEW assignments? Can you tell that I am conflicted? I love the idea of using the TOG writing assignments with Writing Aids, but I also know myself and I know my younger son... With lots of commitment to submitting to my editing on his part, I think we could do it, but he might prefer a different teacher - even if it's just a guy on video. Thanks for any help you can offer! Blessings, April

Hello Mary, Can you tell me what the book is like? My 14 yo ds is a bird lover and I have been looking for an ornithology text for him. Is the book attractive with nice pictures or is it just text? What about reading level? My son is an excellent reader, esp. of material he is very interested in, but it helps if the writing style is engaging! If you wre interested in selling, how much would you ask? Do you need to purchase the text from Cornell in order to enroll in the course, or can the book be purchased independently? Would this be a year course for a high school student? Can you think of anything else I might need/want to know (ha!)? Thank you very much!! Blessings, April

I just checked out your writing samples - wonderful! I'm feeling inspired to order the book and ,gasp, use it! Blessings, April