Happy birthday to Emily! I can't the time has passed so quickly. I hope Emily knows that an entire community anticipated and celebrated her arrival, and she'll always be special to us :). Thanks, Patty, for pointing me to this thread. I love this place and all the memories and friends I've made here!

Susan, I hope that seeing so many supporting you, and seeing all of us old timers who heard about this and came back for a moment to support you, makes it crystal clear to you what a special, beautiful thing you created when you created these boards and your resources. To this day, I talk fondly of the diverse, interesting, smart women I've met because of you, and how rich and interesting my home school journey was as a result. I met you personally the summer before my daughter began "Kindergarten", and have depended on your advice and all my "imaginary" friends from the WTM boards throughout the entire process, and I always tell everyone who will listen how very fortunate I feel to have been given the opportunity to experience the unique path you blazed. I'm better because it, and I know others are, too. Thank you for all you have done, for most of it blessed me in some way at some time and continues to do so. It would be hard to overstate how loved and appreciated you are and what a difference you have made. Praying for this to end quickly and favorably, my dear friend.

HI SUSAN!!! So nice to come here and see you and everyone else! (P.S. I am secretly planning a trip to the B&B as a graduation present to myself. :))

I had nothing to pull down, but wanted to report in anyway and say hi to all! For anyone who remembers me, my daughter graduated and is now at college, I am working full time and have returned to school to finish up my accounting degree. I'm really sorry and extremely disappointed you're going through this, Susan. Wish I could do something more to help you. Warmest regards, everyone! Robin in Tx Long time BooKer

I have a rising 11th/12th grader and want to switch to this program from R&S. What do you recommend? I don't understand the difference between the graded levels and the complete course. I am also afraid to forge ahead without at least an answer key.

Thank you for the book recommendation.. it is on it's way!! :) Robin

Hi Lisa, we did end up getting the Oxford. Success!! My hope is that we'll have a good enough time to want to continue beyond these initial few readings. Thank you... yes, our year is off to a decent start. Only two more years left. Amazing how time flies. I don't know if I'm happy or sad :/ Take care, Robin

Thanks everyone! I purchased the Oxford books for Hamlet and McBeth and so far so good.... dd loves them... she's taking her time to slowly read and take it all in. I knew I could count on you guys! (am searching for the Folger's series, too). Thanks again, and Hi everybody! Robin

This is a required research project for the one day a week classical program my daughter attends. It has to be a probing question, accompanied by a hypothesis, supportive of 40 hours of research, with a conclusion as to whether or not thehypothesis was proven correct by the research. The teachers apparently like it a lot when you come to a different conclusion after conducting your research. We haven't come up with anything that is particularly interesting. Any ideas, oh hive mind? Robin

Anybody want to take a shot at explaining that to me in layman's terms? I grasp it, but not well enough to explain it. Which is the same as not understanding it very well. Thanks, Robin

If not, how do you tackle unfamiliar words? Thanks for any input, Robin

Hey MFS, My daughter is in a one day a week classical ed program that next year will be studying Shakespeare. When I saw the reading schedule, I immediately thought about you and your son with fond memories of your reports on his passions. I remember your stories about living in the city, and then the move to the country. What was your tag line? Something about a little prairie at the edge of the woods? I don't know if this is correct or not, but I also seem to remember that your son was involved in swimming... either swim team or life guard? Whta I remember most was how much you love your children, how proud and supportive of them you are, and what upstanding character you nourished in them. Anyhow, I haven't been on the boards in several years, and have lost touch with all but a few of the treasured virtual friends I've met here. I had the pleasure of visiting with SWB today and she told me about your son. I was devastated to hear the news. She said you were back on the boards so I came online to find you and let you know what a wrenching kick in the gut it was to hear about your loss and how very, very sorry I am. Love and peace to you, MFS. May his memory be eternal. Robin

Hey everybody!! My dd has an opportunity to take Chemistry in the fall but she will have completed only Alg I (Chalkdust, with high scores). According to Apologia website, that is all the prerequisite necessary but I've had several friends advise me to postpone chemistry until she is in Alg II (she'll be in geometry next year). Also, would it be okay to go straight into Chalkdust Alg II and do geometry another time (if the Alg II really is needed for the chemistry)? My chalkdust DVDs have both the Alg I and the Alg II lectures so we could easily do that with just a purchase of the textbooks. What sayeth the hive? And how is everyone? I smiled when I logged in and saw all the familiar faces(names). :D

Do they need to be walked! Hilarious!!! And so true... Thanks for the giggle! :D

I've heard that's the case but didn't want to assume anything. If you have to know the equivalent of the content you fine in two years of high school study in French or Spanish, can you take two semesters in college and get the same content? And what are your favorite courses that give two full high school years in either French or Spanish? Thanks!!! Robin

One more question... what would you consider absolute prerequsite reading for Beowulf? Also, searching the boards I also came across the suggestions of Captain Blood and Quo Vadis. Should those be on the list as well? Thanks so much, guys. I knew I could count on you! I love my WTM boardies :) Robin

Thanks for any suggestions! Robin

I have a catholic friend who has taken her son out of school during this, his 9th grade year, to school at home. I offered to ask for resource recommendations here on the boards. I've already mentioned to her Kolbe Academy and Mother of Divine Grace. What others? Of those who offer online classes, are there any that you would NOT recommend for catholics? Any that you highly recommend? She does want him to focus on his strengths which are literature and wiriting. Thanks so much, everyone! I'll link her to this thread so she can read the answers herself. I sure miss everyone here... been very busy with the theatre group! Have a great day!! Robin

First, I will say that I don't know of a single person involved in the tea parties who is pro Obama. I think they are very anti-current administration, and don't pretend to be otherwise... all the tea party organizers where I live were the first to believe and spread the "Obama snubbed by Russian delegates" internet hoax (for example). Which they are free to do, of course... I'm just commenting on your suggestion that the tea party is possibly bi partisan because I don't think it is. I haven't participated in them or supported them because of the tea party reference. It makes me very uncomfortable because I feel the Boston Tea Party was actually wrong. I would never support the destruction of someone else's property and I don't hold those men up as heros (actually they seemed cowardly, disguising themselves the way they did). That's honestly the big deal with me - the reference is offensive to me.

No, that's the long o sound, not a special vowel sound. Ow creates a special vowel sound just like ou does in the word pout. Again, it is a valid phonics system, traditional and formal, and I think it's illogical to argue with it just because one has never heard of it before. It is a successful method for teaching the spelling of certain vowel sounds, nothing more and nothing less. It works. Different methods work. They are both valid. The bottom line to the op is that the method that CLE uses is fine and teaches solid reading and spelling based on a valid, well researched phonogram system/method. From what I understand, PHP's own phonics program is based on the same method and teaches the same thing...

No. When r effects a vowel sound, the r still makes its consonant sound. It has an effect on the vowel in front of it, but the r still makes its regular sound. Bob Jones calls it the "bossy r" because it bosses around the vowel in front of it :). But it still behaves as an "r" after the vowel sound. When w pairs with a vowel for a special vowel sound, it is the combination of the vowel and the w that actually MAKES the vowel sound and the w sound is absent. That's the difference. Others in this thread are commenting on words such as wonder, etc.,.... but these are are not situations where w is behaving like a vowel. It's only in words where it comes after other vowels and teams with those vowels to make special vowel sounds. Ow as in cow and town; Aw as in claw and awful; Ew as in few and pew. Notice how these are at the end of a word (or syllable), and that in the middle of a word or syllable the exact same sound is usually spelled with a u instead of a w. Ow becomes ou in about. Aw becomes au in audit. In the middle of a word or syllable, the "ew" sound is usually spelled with just "u". The point is - English words do not end with a u, therefore the w stands in for the u to make those sounds, doing the job that the u wound have done. This is no different that the y standing in for the i at the end of words for the oi/oy, ai/ay, ei/ey sounds because english words don't end with the letter i, either. Boy versus joint. Lay versus jail. Reign versus they. Formal, traditional phonetic programs (particularly those based on the Orton Gillingham method which was developed almost 100 years ago) treat the ow sound in cow as being formed by the letters ow. It is not a sound of o that has been influenced by the w. It is a sound all its own and ow is the correct spelling when at the end of a word (usually) and spelled ou in the middle of a word (usually - one exception being when followed by an l or n: prowl, town). Hardly any public schools use this method because a switch was made when phonics was all but abandoned for whole language. That is why many people have never heard of it before! But anyone who uses programs from very traditional publishers such as Amish/Anabaptist groups like Rod and Staff and CLE can rest assured that this is a *VALID* approach to phonics and spelling. No one has to teach it this way to teach reading successfully, but if you are using a program that does use this method then don't worry... you can't go wrong with a traditional phonics program!

The website doesn't say it's the teacher's text. There is no website for the teacher's text because it is not supposed to be resold (says right on the cover!). I don't know anything about the combined text... I purchased Elementary only.

Be careful when ordering the separate texts for Alg I because there is a plethora of Teacher Editions out there which were issued for preview only, and many sellers are selling these teacher editions as the student book. I used ISBN numbers from a thread here at this website and still ended up with one of those instructor's guide which has the answer to every single exercise given in red print. Had to track down and reorder another book. Communicate with your seller and confirm up front that you are receiving the student book, not the instructor's guide. Good luck! Robin

I believe it clarifies, instead of confuses. As a matter of fact, when we learned this some eight to ten years ago, I clearly remember a light bulb going off (a eureka moment!). All made much more sense to both me and my dd. But, like I said, this is a much more formal approach to phonics which doesn't appeal to everyone. Robin