My girls are competitive swimmers and the older two are showing some promise/interest in swimming at the college level. They come by their athletic ability honestly: DH played Div 1 college soccer (on a 50% scholarship) and a couple of seasons for a (very, very poorly paying) 'professional' team after college. I, on the other hand, have two left feet, don't like to sweat, and consider walking the dog a workout! Many of the best swimmers on my girls' club team are recruited to swim in college. Each spring, one of the graduating senior's parents offer a 'how to' clinic about the college recruiting process. This year was the first time we attended and it was wonderful. They are a wealth of knowledge and they share their wisdom for free. They recommended a couple of books and the blanket advice to start early, keep great records, and treat it like a part-time job throughout the high school years. They said the marketing firms are not necessary and expensive; sounds like you're on the right track, Sue. Keep us informed of the milestones and progress. We'll all benefit from your leg work and will hopefully pass it on...

My 7th grader will be doing an online class that will cover grammar, writing, and a little literature (Potter's School English 1). I'll add Vocab. from Classical Roots level A and middle ages literature to compliment her history studies. She is a strong speller, so we don't do a separate spelling program. She'll also be doing Spencerian Penmanship just for fun, but I consider it more a handicraft/fine art than language arts at this age.

I bought MCT Lit (APM) to use with my 7 year old daughter this fall. I previewed it when I received it a couple months ago and thought it looked perfect, but I put it on the shelf and haven't looked at it since. I thought we'd do those three books over the course of the first few months of our school year (beginning in September) and then hopefully we'll be able to continue on reading other classic books in the same fashion. Or, truthfully, with a 7-turning-8 in October, I'd be perfectly happy to read just those three books slowly and deeply over the course of the school year. Sorry, no BTDT advice, but I'm essentially planning on doing the same thing you're thinking about. I may or may not have her do some of the suggested writing. She is a little young and I may lose her (or kill her enjoyment of the books) if I tie too much of it to formal writing.

My older two girls have done Saxon through Algebra 1 (DD 1) and 7/6 (DD 2). DD 2 will continue working through 8/7 even while taking pre-algebra via Live Online Math. I feel like she needs the consistent skills practice Saxon offers, in addition to the challenge of LOM. DD1 will go to public school for 9th grade and placed solidly into geometry after her experience with Saxon. My 7 year old has been well-served by Math Mammoth, but will likely switch to Saxon at the higher levels. Good luck!

One aspect of Montessori philosophy that resonates with me and that I have been able to translate into our home school is the 3-hour work period. We don't have all the beautiful materials in our home (oh how I wish...), but we do try to have a quiet, purposeful period between 9-12 noon daily. This is usually independent work time, but for the youngers I give brief one-on-one lessons (maybe 5-10 minutes of instruction for 30 minutes of work time). I schedule any outside activities, online classes, appointments, etc. outside of this work period. It has been a good way to ensure everyone gets plenty work done every day. I guess my advice would be to try to identify what elements of Montessori appeal to you and attempt to implement just one or two at a time.

I agree wholeheartedly with 3blessingmom. I have found MM very easy to use to remediate weak areas. It won't take long and will be time very, very well spent. Make very certain the kids know the placement tests are just diagnostic tools and nothing more. Try your best to remove all emotional 'baggage' from math, freeing them to enjoy the process. Using Rosie's videos should help lighten the mood: her perky kids make me smile every time we watch one, so much so that we rarely realize we're learning math! Even my older girls enjoy watching them; I've also noticed them playing school with our 3-year old and using the EXACT SAME wording that Rosie uses! What a great role model.

My 7 year old sounds similar to your daughter. We did half of WWE 1 (did every other week) and it was plenty practice to master the skills for that level. She easily transitioned into WWE 2 and is doing well through week 18, though she doesn't necessarily love it. :) We'll do all of this level before moving onto WWE 3.

XtraMath, Times Tales, Calculadder, Wrap-ups...wash, rinse, repeat. Took a long time, but eventually did the job for my older girls.

My daughter too JH French 1 this year with Madame S. She was a great teacher and, to the extent possible in an online format, my daughter learned a lot. She knows a good bit of vocabulary and grammar for this year. I am a believer that a student can never truly master a language this way (an immersive experience will be required at some point), but it is certainly MUCH better than we could have done on our own. My daughter will be going to PS next fall and will continue her study of French there. My younger daughter will begin taking Spanish via Potter's School this fall.

We love, love, love John Bovey from Live Online Math. He offers video classes, live classes, and live tutoring. His teaching skills are topped only by his effective use of technology - breaks the kids out into small groups for discussion, has them use all sorts of cool tools, etc. Of course, this is based on our experience in one of his classes, but he has also helped my daughter one-on-one and it has been very effective. Prior to going with him, we tried a sample session with Cybershala, but had great difficulty with the sound quality. It seemed to pulse in and out and made understanding the tutor especially difficult. I wanted it to work b/c they use Singapore as their primary curriculum, but the communication barrier was just too great for us. Hope that helps.

The amount of instruction in MM seems about right to me. My 7 y.o. dd barely tolerates me reading through the instruction with her and doesn't like to discuss it, but then she is rather mathy and has a very "cut-to-the-chase" perspective on this subject. I feel like the teaching notes are so succinct and spot-on that not much else is needed (although, as previous posters have mentioned, more is available via the videos, and additional resources are suggested at the beginning of each chapter). Obviously, every child is different, so some students may need/want more instruction before being turned loose with the concepts. FYI, we're currently using 3B.

Sounds like she might be a good candidate for Teaching Textbooks. Take her to the site and look at some sample lessons (even before having her start taking placement tests). I would take her back to a point at which she is comfortable and progress slowly, but steadily to build a solid foundation. Her confidence will eventually improve, with her improving skills. There is no quick answer to this problem. My 11 year old daughter hit a 'hiccough' in math last fall. She was frustrated that it was taking so long and she was making so many mistakes, and she picked up on my panic. We pulled out of that tailspin by jumping back to the beginning of the math level she was working in (she was nearly finished with Saxon 7/6, but had a significant break over the summer during which she apparently forgot everything she previously learned). By getting back to concepts she knew, we were able to dig out from under that math beast. She is now nearly finished with that level and has rock-solid skills and understanding. I would have switched her to TT, but I already had Saxon so I just made it work. The advantage of TT is that it takes you out of the question. There will be no more fighting over math! I guess the important thing is, though, to back way up to a point where it is easy and progress forward from there - no matter what curriculum you decide to use.

My daughter attended a brand new Montessori charter school that opened in our area two years ago (she was in 4th grade). I had such high hopes: it was a beautiful facility, there was a motivated staff, and it was equipped with fantastic, shiny new Montessori materials. Unfortunately, it was a disappointment all the way around. Most of the kids were new to the Montessori philosophy, so there was a very long learning curve. Until they could be trusted with all the freedom and responsibility of a M. classroom, it was pretty much public school-light. So many of the kids didn't have the self-discipline to manage the independence that there was a lot of disruptive behavior, which naturally drew the teacher's attention away from teaching and forced her to devote her energy to discipline. We stuck it out until spring break, but pulled her to homeschool at that point. If I had it to do over again, I'd never enroll during the initial year of a charter school; there were just too many kinks to work out and no chance to visit a functioning classroom to get a good feel for it before taking the plunge. That was our experience, but yours may be very different. Good luck with the decision.

Love, love, love your videos. Your videos are like Khan Academy for little ones.

I just enrolled my dd7 in World Geography on Wednesdays. I wish the BA class would work for us, but I'm driving a toddler to her Montessori at that time. Let us know what you think of it. If it is very good, maybe I'll arrange to put the tot on a city bus. Joking, of course.

My rising 7th grader will take Pre-Physics (fall semester 2012) and Pre-Chemistry (spring semester 2013) through Landry Academy. They are live, interactive, teacher-led courses, so they may not be what you're looking for. We pretty routinely out-source science, as that is the only way I can ensure it gets done in our house. My older daughter took the Pre-Physics course in the past and thoroughly enjoyed it and seems to have learned a ton. My rising 7th grader did life science in 6th, and she will do earth/space in 8th before entering public school in 9th. There, based on my older daughter's track, she'll likely take Advanced Earth & Space in 9th, AP Bio, in 10th, AP Chem in 11th, and honors level electives in 12th (one semester each of Genetics and Anatomy & Physiology). Of course, we all know what happens to the best laid plans...

I used to plan everything, but found it frustrating when things got off track. I need the entire book printed (I prefer the light blue, grade-level series). We begin at the beginning and work until she's had enough (took a while to recognize the signs). Typically, we do 5-15 minutes of facts drill (using various resources) and then another 45 minutes of MM. We pick up where we left off the next day. Over the last year, my 7.5 year old has done 1B, 2A, 2B, 3A, and has just begun 3B.

My daughter has had Mrs. Johnson this year for English 2. She adores her and has learned a ton. I recommend her without reservation. In fact, my daughter said I need to make sure her younger sisters (all 3 of them...) get to experience a class with Mrs. Johnson.

I have been reading these forums for YEARS, but have never said a word (very unlike me in real life, I can assure you). Anyway, here is my test message...

Completely secular