I think I will end up trying a combination of the IEW ancient history writing and some of Write From History, along with my own way of teaching writing. That should keep 'em busy.

It's always helpful to see what others are doing--helps me to sort out my own thoughts.

That sounds similar to what I've done in the past with my older boys. I do even have the Young People's set, but never really made use of it. I'm amazed, though, at the number of books your child read/ used--how on earth was there time for all of those?! Great list, though. BTW,when you listed Book of the Centuries, were you specifically thinking of the BoC pages offered by Tanglewood online , or was that just your name for your own compilation? When I last taught Ancients in a coop class (for approx gr 6-8), we used those and they worked out very well, simple as they were, as I would give the same sorts of instructions you posted. This is a keeper. Thanks again!

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Thanks, Michelle. I don't think that's it (praise God) as his phlegm is thin and clear, and as I mentioned does not seem to be lung-related. Does your husband know of any disorders that affect the cilia besides infections? My son does use a nasal irrigation machine (you know, sending pulses of saltwater through the nostrils/ sinuses) that's advertised as being very helpful re cilia because of the rhythmic pulsing.) However, he gets only minor relief from it.

No, he hasn't been tested for that, but no one has thought that might be an issue. No lung-related breathing issues. Thanks, though.

May I ask what the raw honey does?

No... Just the typical ear infections as a baby; nothing else along those lines. Thanks for asking though.

It doesn't seem to be a lung-related problem; whenever they check his lungs, they are always clear. No wheezing or anything.... Could that still be an issue anyhow?

No--what is a pulmunologist? He has been to allergists, immunologists, ENTs, naturopaths, all with no results. It's not clear if his symptoms are due to one issue or two different ones--there's the nasal drip/ phlegm/ congestion, and then there's possibly some sort of food intolerance,as the phlegm increases when he eats--again, that's not clear yet.

My 16 yr old son has been suffering from chronic congestion, post-nasal drip, and throat phlegm for over two years now. He has been to doctors and naturopaths and had every test under the sun--allergies, blood tests, acid reflux monitors, etc--with negative results. He has tried numerous medications, including steroidal nasal sprays. The doctors cannot find any cause behind his symptoms, which makes me wonder if it could be considered vasomotor rhinitis. Every day, he spends hours just getting himself barely functional--hacking up phlegm in the shower, using a nasal irrigation machine, gargling, cleaning his tongue, using a humidifier at night, etc. This is a boy who used to be very physically active and socially outgoing; now he has to plan everything around his need to hack up phlegm continually. He is worn out physically and emotionally from this, to the point where he is saying he does not want to live like this anymore. Is there anyone who has had any experience with this sort of health problem, and if so, any ideas re what to do to handle it? Are there any medications which can control these symptoms? Why can't we find a dr who will prescribe something for symptomatic relief that actually works? I don't know where to turn anymore, but I can't believe that there is no adequate treatment of this. If anyone has any suggestions, please, please share them. TIA.

Thanks.... I'm wondering if it is very heavy on formal proofs, for eg, if it requires a graphing calculator or Geometer's Sketchpad, how many chapters it has, and if it just seems more on the demanding side than not :)

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...re the "unclassical boys" (or, in my case, "boybarians.") I also read to my children from birth, and *did* read aloud to them numerous classics--and still they are far from being the voracious readers I always hear about in hs'ing circles. My own academic background is in literature, so I have often wondered if they were switched at birth (all except son #4, who was born at home--my Last Great Hope.) However, I don't consider Dr. Seuss or Thomas the Tank Engine (original versions) "twaddle" at all--especially Seuss, whom I consider the great "poet manqué" of the 20th C :) Despite my sons' lack of interest in "good lit", however, they can all read well, write well, express themselves well, and mock their mother well re her enjoyment of such things as literary analysis and sentence diagramming. To my shock, son #1, who attended a private school for gr 12, actually loved his English class (well, not the Shakepseare, portion sadly) and pulled off a 90%. I can't help but think that *something*of what I read to them (and made them read) over the years finally sank in. So fear not--you have received plenty of good advice here. I'm not sure if someone else has already suggested this (haven't read all the posts), but have you tried the Little House series? Even though the main characters are girls, my sons all loved these as read-alouds, and the language is simple yet far from twaddly. Ditto re the Chronicles of Narnia--beautifully written, yet very accessible. Perhaps you are trying to read to them books which are still somewhat beyond their level, so a simpler start might help. Your sons are so young--you have years ahead to indoctrinate--er, I mean, gently guide them into a love of literature :)

Yes--I guess I did not look closely enough to get a clear sense of how long it would take to cover the lessons.

...is Snow Toward Evening: A Year in a River Valley. It includes a dozen poems, one for each month of the year, plus an extra one for New Year's, all short, classic poems by great poets (May's poem is the first verse of Daffodils by Wordsworth but the others are all complete poems). I have used this with all of my sons as an intro to poetry memorisation and poetic elements (just picking out things such as rhyme scheme, alliteration, similes and metaphors, imagery, personification, etc). Each poem is also accompanied by a full-page painting by Thomas Lockyer--beautiful.

I realise I've been posting rather repetitively lately about ancient history and writing, so I do thank those who have replied and all of you for your patience :) Despite being a "veteran," it's been a while since I've covered the world history cycle at the grade 5-8 level, and I'm not familiar with a number of recent additons to the hs'ing market re these subject areas/ age level. I'm hoping to run a co-op again next year focusing on ancient history, having done this a few years back, combined with classes on writing and literature/ historical fiction. IN the past, I've taught a number of writing classes using variations on IEW and some other material. It strikes me that I could kill two birds with one stone by using some sort of ancient history based writing plan alongside the actual history study; however, it needs to be something usable in a once-a-week co-op setting (assuming the children will work on assignments at home between weekly classes). So far, I've come across these: IEW Ancient History writing--follows IEW's 9-unit program, but I'm not quite sure how far to go/ how much to cover in one year, or which level to use--B? Imitation in Writing--focuses on story re-writing only? Write From History-- for gr 3-5; focuses on narration, copywork, and dictation, but not on actual writing/ re-writing? Writing Tales--not sure if this is history -focused Which do you all think would work best for students around ages 9-12 in a co-op group (and I'm not sure yet what their writing skills are)? I'm leaning towards IEW because I'm familiar with the basic program, but I'm wondering if it would be feasible to have my own son also work on Write From History . It would probably be too much to try to fit this in to a class or expect parents to do this at home--or do you think there are elements that could be incorporated in a weekly class? Any thoughts on what *you* would like if you were participating in such a co-op? (And re the history spine: I'm still debating whether to re-use The Pageant of World History--a textbook--or something more narrative, but I guess that's another issue!)

Thanks.... Is there enough material in the history-based lessons books for adequate practice of each unit?

So are the history-based writing lessons meant to replace the "regular" IEW writing lessons? That is, as you go through each unit, you substitute the history-based material for the source texts/ material in the regular IEW lessons?

Laurel, I am quite sure you are far from "slouchy"! Thanks for the reminder re repeating the units at higher levels of difficulty. I feel as though I have so lost touch with how to proceed because of the many years gap between my youngest son and the next three up (did you experience that too?) I began using IEW back when it first came out--yes, back in the time of *video cassettes*! {gasp!} I don't even have those anymore. Now I'm wondering if I ought to invest in the DVD set just to keep myself on track. I do feel as though I dropped the ball re essay writing with my oldest sons because at that stage I began jumping around to other programs, each time thinking that *that* one would covers the basics more succinctly/ effectively/ quickly. They all *can* write an essay (well, the gr 9 son still has more difficulty)...but I'd like the youngest to get over that hurdle in a more organized way, if possible, so returning more strictly to IEW may be the best idea for me. If you're not following IEW at home, what are you using instead? They now apparently have a progymnasmata program too--do you know if it's any good?

I've used and adapted IEW writing over the years with my older sons...but I don't recall IEW ever teaching "traditional" outlining a la WTM, as opposed to the IEW style of using 3-4 key words. Now I'm starting to focus on writing with my youngest son (9) and wondering: *is* there a place in the IEW sequence when traditional outlining is taught? Also, it's been so long since I've used the IEW sequence that I've quite forgotten how long it takes to get through the various units. From what I recall, I taught my older sons most of the key word outlining, dress-ups, and openers over the course of a couple of years, and they just took off after that without any further direct instruction. But is that how IEW is "supposed" to work? Get all the units done in a year or two? If so, what are you supposed to do re any writing instruction after that? I've really lost track of all this.... Thanks for any input!

:)

Still in search of geometry here... :) My older sons have used Lial's for Pre-Algebra, Intro. Algebra, and Intermediate Algebra, but never for Geometry,and I've been happy with those books.. Tried both ClassMate and MUS and both bombed (boys claimed inadequate instruction/ explanation). Somehow I had the impression that Lial's Geometry was exceedingly tough--am I wrong? Would it be a feasible choice for an artsy, non-math boy?

Yes, but we use that in high school :)