Thank you everyone. I'm going to check out these brands and order some soon.

If you use stevia, do you prefer the powder or the liquid? Do you recommend a particular brand?

Thanks for the feedback. It is good to know that it is accessible for middle aged kids and maybe I could even pull in my youngers.

Doing some more research on this, and saw the PAC has a 1 year world history program and a 1 year cultural geography program that I have decided to add to the list of things to consider. Does anyone have any experience with either of these programs or with PAC in general?

Has anyone used this for their middle school aged kids? I'm looking for 2 years of history for ds to do in 7th and 8th to set him up for a strong start to high school. I came across Streams and thought it could be a good way to do an overview of all of history before hs, since we are still unsure of what hs holds for him. Does anyone have any feedback they can give me on this program? Also, looking through old threads had me a little confused on what the books actually contain and the support material available for each book. Do they have review questions in both volumes of the text? Are tests available for both volumes? Does it make a difference which version we use? If you don't recommend Streams, do you have another suggestion for a 2 year sequence of history we could do that would give us an overview of world and American? BJU has a 7th grade world history program and an 8th grade American program that I'm also considering, but their world program doesn't include ancients. Thanks!

Yep, he's missing bits of everything. I do go over the sentece with him each day after he has done it. The big picture, every day, is perfect for me and makes so much sense to me, but I'm just not seeing it with ds. Also, thanks for the comment about not doing the analysis from the top down. I never thougth that ds may be doing it that way, because I don't do it that way. I agree with you that it is more intuitive to figure out their purpose first. However, I just asked my ds if he does it top down, and he says he does. Maybe if I work with him on flowing through the sentence in a different way it will make more sense to him.

Thanks, I'll look into this. He is using Saxon math right now, and that spiral review seems to work well for him. Can you tell me a little more about how you use it? I've seen some people mention only using it every other year, or spreading one year out over two. Do you do it every day and how long does a lesson take? Thanks!

Thanks for your thoughts. All of my kids are studying Mandarin with a tutor right now, and really aren't getting any grammar instruction through that. Can you tell me a little more how you integrated the grammar instruction into the writing curriculum? To me, the ultimate goal of grammar instruction is to write well. However, grammar was always a weakness of mine, so I'm having a really hard time knowing if ds is doing well meeting that ultimate goal. As I mentioned, he reads a lot, and naturally speaks with good grammar. It also seems that he does a pretty good job in his writing of not making any obvious mistakes (although punctuation could use some work). However, when I look at his direct grammar work (MCT sentences), it is obvious he isn't remembering the parts of speech, parts of sentence, and phrases. But maybe that doesn't matter???? If his writing sounds okay, is that enough? I know writing isn't his thing, so how do I know when he has had enough grammar instruction and mastered it well enough? Thanks!

Thanks! AG is probably my top contender right now, so it is good to here is working for you. Are you using the program over 3 years, or using one of the condensed schedules? About how long does it take to do a daily lesson during the season and also one of the review lessons?

I love the MCT grammar books. DS has done Island, Town, and Voyage levels of the grammar, but it just doesn't seem to be sticking. I'll admit, I think I've held on so long because the program is perfect for *me*, and it fits some ideal I've created in my mind, but I don't know if it's working for him. We read through the new book at the beginning of each year, and then throughout the year he analyzes a daily (or close to daily) sentence from the practice books. I love this set-up...... a little up front teaching and then quick, daily reninforcement to practice and keep the knowledge fresh. I'm not willing to spend 30+ minutes a day on explicit grammar work, so this format works very well for us. I also love the way that every level of the sentece is analyzed in tandem with the other parts. Seeing the relationship between parts of speech, parts of sentence, phrases, and clauses makes so much sense to *me*. The problem is, he does not do well with his analysis of the daily sentences. He is a prolific reader, and has a pretty innate sense of correct spoken grammar and does well with grammar/punctuation in dictation. But when it comes to explicitly understanding why a sentence is structured a certain way or why to punctuate a certain way, he falls short. So, does anyone have a suggestion of what we should try next or a way to tweak MCT to make it work better? For the total of his language arts program we have been using WWS2, Use it Don't Lose It Daily Language Practice wkb (to help with some of those odds and ends like word useage that MCT doesn't cover), Megawords, Red Hot Root Words, and MCT. If there is a grammar program that you can suggest that could also eliminate one or more of the other parts of the LA line up we have right now, I'd be thrilled to streamline things. He will be starting 7th grade this fall, and I'd really like to finish up with grammar before high school.

We used it, but I did give my son a little more time to complete it. We don't have access to a library, so the research was a little tougher to get done and took longer than if we'd been able to check out a stack of books from the library. He also spent a little extra time on the writing portion. Writing is not his strength, so I pretty much let him take as long as he needed as long as he was working diligently, for a specified amount of time each day, and making progress. ETA: My son started WWS1 in 5th grade, but finished it at the beginning of his 6th grade year.

Do you have a link for any info on the new Apologia programs? I looked on their webiste and CBD and couldn't find anything. Thanks!

Thanks again! I'll have him view the online samples, and see what he thinks.

CourtneyBrooke~ Thanks for the reply. Everything I have ever heard/read about BJU life science has been good. It seems like this is a top notch program. Sweet Home Alabama~ Thank you so much for this thorough reply. I'm not quite sure where my ds falls as far as auditory versus visual learner, but I'm thinking he leans towards auditory. He is turned off by anything that can be considered childish (he forgets that he is a child himself :tongue_smilie: ), so that would be a mark against BJU for us. He has been using Derek Owens Physical Science this year, and it has been a great fit for him. He likes the straight-forward approach, and the independence of the program. It has also given him a good opportunity to take guided notes from lectures. However, I think his ability to take notes and pick out the main idea from a text is an important skill he is weak in. So I'm glad to hear that both BJU and SS could be a good avenue for him to learn this skill.

I'm considering Science Shepherd Life Science and BJU Life science (dvd or textbook) for my ds this fall, and was wondering if anyone can compare or comment on them? How much time do they take your student to complete? Do they both cover an adequate scope of topics in sufficient depth? Did you find one easier to use than the other? Did your student enjoy one more than the other? I realize Science Shepherd doesn't have a lab kit or book specifically designed for it, but I will likely use the Logos Science Kit with either program, so that isn't as much of an issue. Thanks!

BJU is definitely at the top of my list. I know it is a solid program and will serve him well. However, I'm still holding out hope I can find something I like better ;) .

Just bumping and hoping for suggestions.

Really, we like just about everything about it. The format of listening to the lecture and filling out the guided notes has been great for ds. He also really enjoys the style of the lectures. He likes things to be pretty straight forward, without all the cute-sy frills, and these seem to fit the bill. I love that the program comes complete with tests, answers, etc. to make my job easier. DS completes this program almost completely independently. If he has trouble understanding a concept, he'll ask, but otherwise I just check his work and discuss any thing he gets wrong. The only thing that is really missing is a strong lab component, but we have remedied that by adding the Logos Science lab kit. This really has been the best year we've ever had for science, and I'd love to keep it going.

Ds 11 is using Derek Owen's Physical Science course this year, and we have been very happy with it. Next year I am planning on having him take Life Science, and would love to find something similar to DO, but for life science. Any suggestions?

Thank you everyone for the ideas. He already spends quite a bit of time each day reading independently by his own choice, and it is usually my default suggestion to him when he is looking for something to do, so I think we do have that covered pretty well. Unfortunately, being in China limits some of our resources to a few of the things mentioned, but you all still gave me lots of ideas to explore. I'm going to sit down with him and go over some of the ideas to try to gauge his interest and see if we can find something that sparks some excitement in him. Thanks!

I'm not a fan of busy work for the sake of busy work but...... my 9yo needs more to do during the school day. He is finishing his work very quickly and ends up being a disruption to the other kids. Part of it may be the level of work that he is doing, but part of it is just that he is a diligent worker and grasps the concepts easily. I don't want to punish him for getting his work done in a timely manner by just piling on more busy work, but I'd like to find a project or another subject that would interest him that he could start to work on. I'd like to find something that has some educational value, but that is also something that he enjoys doing and doesn't see as me giving him more school just for the sake of calling it school. For instance, his brother and sister both play instruments and his older brother has starting working through a mechanical drafting program. These are things that they enjoy doing and don't really look at as "school". We've tried the instrument route with this ds, but he didn't get too excited about playing the guitar or violin, and with our geographical limitations, we are hard pressed to find a teacher for any of the instruments he has expressed an insterest in (drums or trumpet). He showed some interest in drawing and so I bought him a bunch of drawing supplies and even offere to buy him some books or programs to help him with his technique, but that interest seems to have fizzled. Here is a list of what he is currently doing for school: BJU Math 5 WWE 3 30 minutes of extra writing NOEO Biology 2 MCT Practice Island Notgrass America the Beautiful Logic wkbks Megawords 1 Mandarin lessons 4xs week Kung Fu lessons 1x week Any ideas of things we are missing from his school day that we should add, or inspiration for some extra acitivites would be awesome. Thanks!

My kids are asking for their own email accounts, and I think it would be a good idea so they aren't always into my account. However, I don't think I want them to have a general yahoo, hotmail, etc. account. I'd like to find an email provider that provides a safer environment for them and I was wondering if anyone has any recommendations? Thanks!

Thanks for all of the suggestions. The "Shopping with a Purpose" blog posts are especially great. If anyone else has ideas, please post them:D! Thanks!

I have several gifts I need to purchase in the upcoming months in addition to the approaching holiday season, and would like to purchase gifts that also help support charity work. I am aware of a few places that sell items to support orphan care or as a means for woman in impoverished places to support themselves. I would like to find similar organizations whose primary goal is to sell items to raise funds for charity. If you have organizations like this that you support by buying gifts from them, please post their website. I am interested in all sorts of gift items....... jewelry, toys, food items, home decor, etc. Thanks!

:scared: I hope it doesn't turn into a 6year, 3 surgery ordeal either!