I'm glad to hear this. My daughter has never really completed a writing program before, so I was looking for something that would teach her the basics and give her confidence. I know she *can* write, but she has never really gone through a program that teaches the different types of writing and how to edit and polish her writing. It may be surprising that I have never had her take a traditional writing course, but I felt like years of public school writing instruction quashed much of my creativity. I have always wanted my girls to read really well-written books and have a solid understanding of grammar. I just didn't want to teach them strict forms of writing for fear that it would teach them that their writing had to conform to a preformed skeleton. Now that my eldest has read so many good books and has a strong foundation in grammar, I want to give her the tools to write confidently in a college setting.

My daughter really enjoyed this book. She would tell people all the time that she loved her science book because it was like the author was actually talking to her. So, maybe she likes the "chatty tone"? Since it is a "General Science" book, maybe you could consider if your daughter has already covered many of the topics in the past and is ready to move on to Physical Science. We have all of the Apologia books up through Chemistry and have enjoyed them.

Ooo! I found someone who has examples of worksheets she has created for use with The ABC's and All Their Tricks! http://homepage.mac.com/rivendellpress/FileSharing44.html You could create your own, if you feel so inspired, but you could do it much simpler, too. Here is a post from Lori D. that explains how she used the book for her spelling program. Depending on how bright your child is you might not need to do all of this, but I thought you might like to read her ideas: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showpost.php?p=245739&postcount=5 Hope this helps you out! God bless!

It's true that Math-U-See concentrates on one area of math each year, but there is constant review of what has been covered in past levels. I didn't see it as being very different from other math programs as far as what material is covered each year because of the constant review. If you look at any math program it is going to systematically cover one area of math at a time. I think that the idea of MUS not covering a range of topics each year is a common misconception, though.

The biggest problem that I have run into with showing my children their test scores is that my oldest is exceptionally bright and has consistently scored at the 99th percentile every year from first grade through tenth grade. I naturally didn't feel the need to hide her scores from her because she always wondered if she was as smart as her public-schooled peers. It was hard for her to see how her education compared to her friends'. So, I never thought twice about showing her scores. The problem we ran into is that her sister, who is three years younger, scores closer to the 75th percentile. Even though that is above average, it looks bad when compared to our oldest's test scores. So, we discreetly decided to avoid showing test scores anymore. We always reassure our oldest (in private, of course) that she has scored the same as each and every year she has taken the test. But, when we are talking together about test scores, we usually try to bring to light areas we think each girl should work on in the future. Not the actual scores themselves. Even if your children score mere percentile points apart, it might get to be competitive. I don't take too much stock in test scores, though. I just think that, if you have to test, it is best to talk to each child individually no matter whether you choose to show them their scores or not. It should be a private thing.

I have found that the best resource for spelling is not a program, per se, but a book that gives you all the spelling and phonics rules with lists of words demonstrating each rule. It's called The ABC's and All Their Tricks: The Complete Reference Book of Phonics and Spelling by Margaret M. Bishop. With this book you can tailor your spelling program to your child's needs. When you correct your child's writing and find spelling errors, you can look to this book to explain the rules and find words that follow the same rules. This way you aren't boring your child with weekly lists of words with rules that they already "get". Spelling Power is a good program that we have used, but I really like The ABC's and All Their Tricks best. It's cheaper, too. ;)

I was just wondering if anyone here has any experience with the WriteShop program. I have ordered it for my upcoming eleventh grader and think it looks like a good program for her to finish in one year (both books). However, I am also thinking of using it as a two year program for my upcoming eighth grader. Anyone have any suggestions, opinions, etc? :bigear:

With my oldest, we started out using Ray's Arithmetics and she was used to having a black and white, non-colorful math program. We did the exercises orally and occasionally used the white board. For manipulatives we used acorns. So, when we decided to go with Math-U-See, she really didn't have a problem with the simplicity of it or lack of color, etc. On the other hand, she was so used to doing mental math that she cared less for the manipulative-based lessons. She didn't use the manipulatives to work through her workbook. I think my youngest daughter had the same problem with Math-U-See as Tess' son, though. She did not do as well with Ray's Arithmetics, so I used Singapore Math with her during her first year. When I switched to Math-U-See, she did well with it, but complained that she liked Singapore better. We have used Math-U-See for several years now and think it is a great program, however, we switched over to Teaching Textbooks this past year and both girls LOVE it. I love it because it is self-correcting, self-grading and has taken some of the stress off of me as far as the high school level mathematics. I was an English major for a reason! :) To be honest, I think *most* of the popular math programs are probably good programs and it is best to pick one and stick with it. However, what's best for one child or family can vary widely. What level are you thinking of starting your daughter with? I might have my daughter's old workbook in that level that I could send you some scans of to look at, if you haven't seen the actual workbook. Alternatively, you could go to the Math-U-See web site and print out worksheets for that particular level. Hope this helps. God bless your efforts! :)