((VH)) I am so sorry for the loss of your dear friend. There has been so much shocking news recently about women dying suddenly at this age. It just blows my mind. A good friend of mine's sister of the exact age was murdered last Friday... gunned down in the parking lot of her office by a patient's husband who apparently had been stalking her!! Young, beautiful women who have so much to live for and so many depending on them! It just tears my heart apart for everyone effected. With all the mess you've been dealing with lately, I truly ache for you right now. Hugs to you and prayers said for your friend's family. Roboin

Thanks, everyone! I'm off to look at each of these!

Unfortunately, the book was visually overwhelming/confusing to her. (It's funny that she thought so, because I thought the same thing, but I didn't say anything because I wanted her genuine reaction. She must be more like me than I knew.) Since the pages are split vertically and are two toned, with print in both columns, and more than one color font, she had trouble focusing on the text. Her exact words were, "I don't like the way this looks. I'm having trouble reading it." The explanations are good, but she said she'd much rather stay in Saxon 8/7. Then she said she wished there was a math program that was interesting somehow and kept her attention... maybe one that had cartoons. So, now I'm thinking we need to go with either Jacobs or Bob Jones (BJU has funny illustrations, and we've used it successfully in a previous grade - went back to Saxon when I felt she wasn't getting enough drill to memorize her facts). I like the page layout on the sample pages of BJU I've seen. I can't find Jacobs to preview. So, can anyone compare Jacobs to BJU Algebra? You have all helped me so much and I thank you again. I'm sorry we're being such a difficult case. Robin

I think that nmoira is probably right. The dynamics of one-on-one changes everything. That's why I would place only so much credit with the actual program, and assign some to the mom who is making sure the learning is happening (even if the kid is public schooled - those parents in Singapore hold their kids to a very high standard, from what I have read and heard). That's kind of my point... a caring parent, good work habits, etc., are just as much a part of the mix as the curriculum used. There are plenty of homeschool kids who have done equally well with other programs. Even Saxon!! It is noteworthy, however, that SM made such a difference with that one class in that particular school. Kudos to that teacher!! Robin

I thought it was right on. I started to buy the 7th grade book last year because my dd is one year older than most 6th graders, and she was starting 7th grade level work in many of her subjects, but the 7th grade book looked challenging for her, and there was a LOT of info in the 6th grade book that she had not been exposed to. It's been a good fit for us. Just the right amount of challenge, and looking back, I can see measurable growth. HTH, Robin

Here's an interesting quote from that article: "First-grade teacher Arpie Liparian stands in front of her class with a stopwatch. The only sound is of pencils scratching paper as the students race through the daily "sprint," a 60-second drill that is a key part of the Singapore system. The problems at this age are simple: 2+3, 3+4, 8+2. The idea, once commonplace in math classrooms, is to practice them until they become second nature... Critics call this "drill and kill," but Ramona's math coach, Robin Ramos, calls it "drill and thrill." That's interesting. I didn't know Singapore users did timed drills at the beginning of each lesson. Or that it was a kay part of the program. Maybe drill and kill has some value after all :). Also, did you catch this: "A study found that success in Montgomery County, Md., schools using the Singapore books was directly related to teacher training. At schools where teachers weren't trained as well, student achievement declined. Achievement declined. Wow. You know, this supports what I've suspected and voiced for a long time... curriculum alone doesn't insure success. It's how you use it and teach it that matters. Singapore might be one of the better tools out there, but you still have to use it the right way (and that may very well include daily drill work). I'm not so sure that other US published curricula can't yield the same results when in the hands of a good teacher who is teaching the material correctly. Very, very interesting! Thanks for the link!

We did the 7th grade course this year. Most of the 3 draft papers are about 3 pages long max, double spaced. The workload is not heavy at all. I did not find the instruction to be very thorough as far as how to organize and develop a paper. I was hoping for something a little more systematic. The teacher responses were primarily about style. As far as how to organize the paper, unify paragraphs, etc., there was no instruction and therefore I had to work quite a bit with dd on her assignments. In the end, I felt that the teacher had guided us on how to improve elements of creative writing, but dd didn't walk away with any improvement in general composition skills. I do accept the argument, though, that writing is something that you have to practice, and the more you practice it and improve each assignment as you go, you will improve your skills. But what write@home did not do is take over the process of teaching how to write with a fundamental, step by step, incremental development of skills approach. I still had to do that on my own. Not everyone believes in approaching writing instruction this way... it is the approach I prefer so perhaps that's why write@home didn't jazz me... I found it to be too heavily focused on creative writing - dd spent most of her mental effort on dreaming up a story. We moved about six weeks ago, and I was without internet for a couple of weeks. I wrote the instructor and told her we were going to miss the next couple of assignments as a result, but that I intended to come back and get caught up. However, we've just decided to let the rest of the semester go. Dd didn't feel she was learning much, and I was wanting to spend more time on organization and outlining as a prewriting activity and wanting to place more emphasis on the structure of her papers. The few papers that dd did complete with the program are good papers and I'm glad to have them - dd is very proud of them. I will admit, though, that often I had to step in and just tell her specifically what she needed to do where and when, and her final papers, though vastly improved, reflected more what *I* did to the papers, not what she had learned from the course. If you're into creative writing as a path towards developing writing skills, and if you aren't concerned about your student being taught formal stuff like pre-writing organization skills, paragraph unity, transition sentences, etc., then you would likely enjoy the class very much. Our teacher was very kind and encouraging. HTH Robin ETA: I just realized I didn't answer your question! My dd spent about 15 minutes a day max on the assignments, on average. But usually it was more like 30 minutes or so three or four days a week. I'm sorry I got so long winded with answers to questions you didn't even ask! LOL

Trying to decide if I want to buy one or make my own. What does the hive think? Roboin

We were talking about resources for studying literature, and TWEM, and Mrs. Mungo suggested we have a book dicussion board. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?p=149179#poststop I would love to see this. I think it's a fabulous idea! Please consider! Robin

This is a fantastic suggestion! I think we should do it! Besides, they could set it up as a tie-in to TWEM. Each book would have its own thread, with readers adding to the thread over time, explaining how they studied/read the book, what discussion questions they thought were most profitable... and people like me could ask specific questions. I think this is an excellent idea! I'm going to post this to admin on the how-to board. Thanks for your help. Robin

Yes! Thank you, Eliana! In honor of your wonderful post, I vote we embroider a board euphemism across the fronts of our black jumpers. How about "Got Bookshelves?"

If I read that article right, he was about 34 when he filmed The Ten Commandments. That's almost ten years YOUNGER than what Brad Pitt is today. Do you think a Brad Pitt could pull off a role like that today, much less ten years ago? Are there ANY great actors like Charlton Heston anymore, who can take on strong, powerful roles like that and be believable? He was a great man. God bless his soul. Robin

I just *KNEW* someone was going to come up with something like this! I was betting on linksalot to be the first to the draw, though! Congratulations, Crissy - HILARIOUS! If I showed up in that, though, the only film you'd get for youtube would be of the convention hall clearing out. Quickly. Robin

Now I am laughing out loud!! Black leather jumpers! And don't forget the homeschooling shoes. Do they come in black leather, too? Goodness, I can hardly breathe!! What is the 400th anniversary thing? What did I miss? You can pm me if you'd prefer.

Don't forget the beehive hairdos - My gray hair would look FAB in one! And we can all wear buttons that say, "SWB Wanna BEE" Robin

Us too! Hamburger meat. Sometimes ground beef, but that is the formal name whereas hamburger meat is more everday, casual speak. Robin (native Houstonian)

If you decide to read Kite Runner, it can probably be done in just a few sittings. I think I read it over the course of two or three nights. Easy read, somewhat predictible (to the point of being "hokey" like a Hallmark movie)... in a way it "felt" like a Sidney Sheldon or Danielle Steele read. HTH, and that you get other opinions. Robin

Oh, that was so much fun when you did the roll call! I miss it! Good memories, for sure. Good to see you! Robin

Where does one go to get help with coming up with these sort of questions? I think this is a fabulous way to approach literature, but if I don't know how to come up with these sort of specific questions on my own, how can I give my dd this sort of education? I have TWEM, and it does help in general... but where can I get specific help with specific works? Sparknotes? It's why I'm tempted to just use a lit program... someone has laid it all out for me. I am afraid if I go it on my own, I will end up missing some of the more important themes/connections. Thanks for any advice! Robin

I think you can skip the book Kite Runner. It's just not in the same league as the others. More of a modern subject interest book than great literature. The movie will suffice, imo. I can't imagine foregoing reading To Kill a Mockingbird. And I don't think I'd skip Old Man and the Sea, either. It's really short and has a lot of great potential discussion starters there. It was my favorite book in high school, so I'm a little biased :). Full of moving symbolism (at least it was to me). HTH Roboin

Thanks. That's exactly why I'm looking at it. I think more will get done around here with a daily plan. I work best when given specific boundaries and am not given many choices. I am easily paralyzed by indecision. Robin

How do you use the teacher notes? Is it just background information for you, or do you read it out loud to your kids? Or do you feel you need to summarize it and make sure and teach it to your kids somehow? I saw some of the notes for Core 7 yesterday, and they read like a narrative of John's opinions - LOL. How helpful are these notes, and do they really make the IG worth the purchase? If you don't want to read about John's opinions so much, is the IG worth the $$ for other features? Thanks! Robin

Thanks for all your help, Jann. I appreciate the time you've taken. Robin

THanks, Nan and Karen, for the link! Robin

Yes, this sounds a lot like my dd. Sloppy handwriting. I thought girls were supposed to love to write and have pretty handwriting! Very natural musician with very good pitch. One of her violin master class teachers commented after she played a piece that she needed to tune her violin first next time. I was surprised, because her performance didn't sound out of tune to me, and he said it wasn't - that she was compensating for the out of tune string during her performance and you could only hear it on open strings... he said that there were some professionals who couldn't do that! LOL Yes. Very auditory. She remembers everything she hears. Okay, I'm convinced... we'll try Lial's. Thanks! Robin