When my dc were all elementary and younger we got together with a couple of families once a week for nature study, 4-H projects and field trips! It was great. BUT as children got older each families priorities changed and the group no longer met everyone's criteria. As my children have gotten older I feel like the time I have with them is so limited. So the one day a week that we might do a co-op we reserve to use as a family learning day. Everything we do on that day is together - free-writes, movies, art and music appreciation, poetry readings, nature study, field trips, community service. It is my gang's favorite day of the week and a memory they will never forget. I doubt a co-op could do that.

:iagree: Great thoughts, Julie. Thank you. This does look really good. Have you begun to use it? What are your thoughts so far?

Thank you for all these good thoughts.

Any suggestions?

That's very encouraging.

This is what we used for Freshman year. I thought it was quite rigorous and my son LOVED it! Earth Science, Holt McDougal 2010, ISBN-13: 978-0-55-400579-9 or ISBN-10: 0-55-400579-4

Candid, Yes, I agree with everything you've said! And I definitely want to head in the WTM direction. That's a skill we all need for life in our reading and listening and watching. I think, however, our family needs some sort of primer to help us get started with questions and examples. At a glance, it looks like Starting Points might offer that. Not sure, though. ;)

Thank you for those threads. Good reading. And I completely agree with the thread that speaks of the term "worldview." I'm intrigued by Starting Points, it sounds like it might be a good jumping off point for book list and possible discussion starters. I'll have to check it out. I had emailed Jeff Baldwin of Worldview a question or two and his very gracious and thoughtful response led me to believe that his books and study guides might not be the way to go. It would be icing on the cake if I could find a book or two with my own bias thrown in - seeing the world through a Wesleyan lens. :001_smile:

Laura, Thank you for taking the time to reply. Your comments are helpful. I'm leaning towards selecting some books by classic authors for him to read and for us to discuss around the dinner table. I think for me personally the hesitation about using packaged worldview materials is they are primarily published and made available by only one facet of the Christian community due to George Barna's initiatives in this area. OF course, I really respect Barna's work, but I'm hesitant to jump on what looks like a bandwagon, if what we're aiming for is "thinking independently." Just mulling this one over.... Thank you again.

Hello all, I'm interested in my Sophomore doing some study of Worldviews this fall. However, I'm completely overwhelmed by the materials available. My primary concern is I would like a course that expands his thinking and helps him discern viewpoints and and where they are coming from. I do not want to use materials that attempts to indoctrinate a certain viewpoint. We are Christian, but in our particular tradition the viewpoints on issues are wildly varied. Although we don't necessarily agree with all the viewpoints, I would like for him to have understanding on why people think as they do AND are Christian. I want to use material that fosters respect for viewpoints, while assisting him in articulating his own. Could anyone offer some suggestions on reading/materials that might be beneficial? Thank you.

My 13 yo son is making progress in his Math...at last. We are using Singapore and have finally made it to 4B. I think we'll be fine through 5B, but then what? I anticipate he'll finish up 5B this summer and I'm at a loss as to where to go from here. It just takes him a lot of time to understand concepts. And, yes, he is college bound.

I'll have to give all these a look. My main desire is finding a program that works for a highly visual 13 yo boy student - who gets overwhelmed easily.

Hello, My 13 yo has a great deal of interest in learning languages. He's dabbled a bit with several, but he's eager to go deep. What is a good choice for learning German?

Thank you. That is very helpful. Did you use the tests? How long does it take per day? How many days a week on average?

Hello - We are looking at doing our 2nd year of Latin using the Cambridge materials. We are currently in a tutorial. What would we need to do this on our own AND how easy or difficult is it to do on your own? We've finished book 1 and are part way through book 2.

I emailed Derek Owns and received this reply regarding my questions. It was quite helpful. "For Geometry, he should expect to spend about as much time as he would in traditional school. Roughly 50 minutes to an hour, 4 or 5 days a week. Since the online classes are very flexible, the actual time taken can vary a good bit from one student to another, but that should give you an idea. I provide a syllabus that tells the students what to do each week and what assignments are due each week. One lesson per day is not strictly required, but I encourage them to do some work each day rather than doing the entire week’s work all at once."

Just an update. Your thoughts prompted me to visit with my ds once again regarding the tutorial and the social aspect. I remembered that the reason we began the tutorial was he was clamoring for more social interaction feeling that things were a bit of a drag at home. So, I reminded him of that and he said he remembered that, as well, but that he's changed and is ready to get back to doing the bulk of his work at home. I believe him. He's a great student, very focused. So, we'll make that change. Thank you all for your insight. This has been very helpful in getting us to process the right questions.

I, too, think the advice to wait and see if good. Why? Because even if you came up with a Plan B and your child came home then chances are it would mean that they are in a differently place emotionally and perhaps, academically than when they went. Change happens so quickly in their minds and bodies so quickly at this stage. You just never know.... I have no doubt, if need be, you could pull together a plan easily at the last minute. The only think I might suggest is begin to set some money aside, so if you need to do a spontaneous purchase you'll have the funds ready. And, if you don't need it, then....

Brenda, DS and I discussed this very thing this weekend. He feels that between football, basketball, youth group, and conference youth events he has a good outlet socially. I even asked him if he wouldn't like to take a class and stay for an extra hour for lunch and study hall. He said, "no." We'll see.

Bumping for you.

Thank you for your thoughts. We've been grappling with this and I think your thoughts are solid. We're down to one course or no course. If I can find good support materials for the one course I think we'll do the whole load at home next year. I think this is exciting! I appreciate your affirmation.

I'm interested in Derek Owens, as well. How long would you say it takes to do one day on the syllabus? And have any of you simply purchased the workbook and videos and not the test grading?

I was just about to post this very question. We've finished Latin 1 and are ready to move on and I read somewhere that the FL requirement needed to be a spoken language. I guess we'll need to do a little more research with potential schools.

Thank you all. This has been very helpful for using MUS and supplementing.

Sue - what a great rhythm for the MUS! I think we'll do this, as well. How helpful this is! Did you ever NOT do all the MUS lessons? And did you do the honors pages?