I feel your pain!! I have an 8th, 9th, and 11th grader this year and I have felt behind all year and I just keep chanting in my mind, 9 weeks left, you can do it!!! Spanish and Composition are outsourced and instead of lightning the load, I think it has increased the load. Definitely going to come up with a different plan next year!! Yvonne in NE

If the teacher has written their own tests, then they will be part of the DVD/Online pkg. In the past the DVD's came with a set of Mom's notes, now I believe that the notes/tests are on a CD and you have to print them out. If the teacher has not written their own tests, then the tests that are part of the standard curriculum are listed as part of the DVD/Online pkg. For example, the Geometry course has tests that were written by the instructor so the tests come on a CD with the rest of the DVD's, or the tests are taken online if the online option is being used. The Geography course just uses the tests that are part of the curriculum, so if you look at the list of items for the Geography course it will list the test item number for that course as part of the pkg. At least this has been our experience:) Yvonne in NE

I am using it with my 9th grade ds. We will cover 1/2 the book this year (Literature I) and the 2nd half next year (Literature 2). I am using it with the correspondoing 5 LightUnits that go with the book, although you would not need to. The first unit covers short stories and the second unit covers poetry. There are three other units that are part of Literature 2 -- Biography, Reflections, and Allegory. I like the fact that the questions are more than just comprehension type questions, but really require him to think about what he has read. There are literary technique sections and writing for skill sections. It has been a good fit for my ds. I have broken it up with book studies. This year he has read Great Expectations, Frankenstein, and The Hound of Baskervilles. He has two more Lightunits to work through and probably 2 more book studies as well before the end of the school year. Yvonne in NE

Chris: My dd is using Lial's PreCalculus (Lials PreCalculus w/ Limits; A Circle Approach) as well and anytime she has been stuck she has found the Thinkwell videos very helpful. She has stated more than once that if there was a textbook that went with the Thinkwell videos she would prefer it because he makes everything so clear in the videos. She is currently working through the chapter on matrices. Yvonne in NE

Yes, the BJLink classes are the same thing as Homesat. The science/math classes are recordings that were done with a live distance class, therefore the teacher is interacting with kids at distance locations. I know that as new editions of the books come out there will eventually be new courses available without the 'live' interaction and more like the courses for 7th and 8th grade. Couple of reasons that I haven't used the high school DVD's (other than Biology) -- either there is a newer edition of the textbook and I would prefer to use it, or I (or my kids) don't care for the teaching style. For example this year we are using Physical Science and Physics. Both of those courses have newer textbooks, but the DVD courses are with an older edition. Also, I think because we were introduced to BJU Science through the 7th and 8th grade courses taught by Mrs. Vick my expectations were set high. If you haven't already, you can always check out the sample video for each course on the BJU website. Yvonne in NE

A couple of years ago I had two doing BJU Life Science with Mrs. Vick, who is an excellent teacher, and one doing BJU Biology with the DVD's. Textbook wise the Biology book just goes into much more depth than the Life Science textbook does. On the other hand, while I know that there are people that like the BJU Biology teacher we didn't care for her. It was probably a combination of the way the high school math/science courses were recorded (BJLink) and the teacher. I won't use it again. I might use the textbook, but I won't use the DVD's. I'm actually my options, as my next two will be taking Biology in the fall. This year I've used BJU Physical Science with two of them and BJU Physics with the oldest. I've learned a lot of science this year, but I don't want to work that hard next year!!! Yvonne in NE

Depends -- During harvest when he was needed out in the field he was at his work by 6am and usually done early afternoon, if he and my dh are planning on going hunting he is done in time to go hunting, however if there is no motivation to get done early it is more like 5 or 6 (if I'm lucky) ;) Yvonne in NE

Until my kids started attending a Spanish class at our homeschool coop, everything we tried at home just familiarized them with the language, but they didn't 'learn' the language. However, even in the classroom environment (with a former college professor w/ a master's in Spanish) while they are at least learning the language, I wouldn't classify them as bilingual! I don't think that will come unless they are forced through necessity to immerse themselves in the language. I have two in Spanish I and one in Spanish III and while they are all earning an A, it isn't without a lot of hard work and time. Yvonne

If you are using the above mentioned syllabus found at the the IEW Yahoo group it is a 1 credit course. She has added to WttW. Yvonne in NE

I am using BJU Physical Science with my ds (9th) and dd (8th) and they haven't had any trouble with the math. He is taking Geometry this year and she is taking Algebra I. If anything the math in the BJU Physical Science text has reinforced what she is doing in Algebra. I did go with the newest edition of the text (4th) and I have them do the additional practice problems that are available for some of the chapters. The nice thing about the newer editons of the BJU texts is the CD that comes with the teacher's edition. There are solutions, not just answers to the practice problems, as well as chapter tests, chapter summaries, chapter glossaries, etc. I also ordered the Lab DVD. They watch the LAB on the DVD and then do it themselves. I have tried to use Apologia texts in the past and they are not a fit for us. Yvonne in NE

Depends on the child. My oldest dd is using TOG and loves it. My ds did not like TOG and asked for a textbook, so I have switched him to Notgrass. Will see how it goes. Yvonne in NE

I'm making this one -- http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2008/10/creamy-herbed-potatoes/ I do a variation of this all the time. I just use the food processor to slice the potatos thin and they get done. Yvonne in NE

My dd once told me that one of the things that she likes about homeschooling is that if a curriculum isn't working -- we can change to something else. Don't feel bad about switching -- enjoy the freedom you have to do so!! We went through 3 Physics courses at the beginning of the year before we finally settled on one!! Yvonne in NE (who is really enjoying Christmas Break from school!!)

I will tell him that:001_smile: He actually has three courses this semester with borderline A's -- 92.5, 92.8, and 92.5. Yvonne in NE

Thanks for all the responses!!

An 'A' around here is 93-100. If the grade is 92.7 do you round up? My dh says no -- that is what kept him off the honor roll. What is your opinion? Yvonne in NE

They will come. My dds came in the mail today. Yvonne

OK, hoping you ladies can answer this for me. My dd received her PSAT scores today and while she did well, it will not be high enough for National Merit, but probably high enough for commended based on last year's scores. At this point is there any reason she needs to take the SAT, if all the colleges she is interested in will accept the ACT? Can we just focus on the ACT at this point or do I need to have her take both at least once? (She is taking the ACT tomorrow.) Thanks for any input. Yvonne (wishing she had a guidance counselor!!)

Just a few minutes ago, I found it at this website http://www.socialstudies.com/ . I don't know anything about the website, hopefully it will come in a timely manner. Y

Has anyone been successful in getting the answer key to this book? I've tried contacting Norton, but haven't had any success. Thanks. Yvonne in NE

My dd, who is a junior, is planning on getting a degree in history with a museum studies track and then she wants to get a masters in library science. (At least that is the current plan!)

You will need to check with the college he is interested in attending. Some colleges will accept 2 years at the high school level, while others want a proficiency test taken as well. This just doesn't apply to homeschool students, but all students. I know my nephew took 2 years of Spanish at a public high school and was still required to pass the proficiency exam -- he didn't so he is taking Spanish again as a freshman. The Univ of NE will accept some programs that homeschool students use for the two years of a foreign language (although I think they also require a proficiency exam), but they will not accept Rosetta Stone. You really need to know what the university/college will accept. Yvonne in NE

Thanks, Jan. We will plan to finish the book. She is using A Graphical Approach to Precalculus with Limits, 4th edition. I tentatively planned out the remainder of the year and if we stay on track she will only have to add 2-4 weeks to the end of the school year. That is doable. Yvonne in NE

My dd is using Lial's PreCalculus this year and while it is going well, it is also going slow. I'm wondering if the book needs to be completed or if there are a couple of chapters we can skip. Any thoughts? Thanks. Yvonne in NE

My 9th grade ds started TOG this year as well, but with Year 3. After looking over the rhetoric lit, I knew that if I had him do the rhetoric level it would kill his love of lit/reading. I have scaled it back and am doing a mixture of D/R selections and using a mixture of resources (Progeny Press, Glencoe, Prestwick, or TOG). Over the course of the year he will read between 6-8 books that we will study together. I am not planning on having him read the Poetics selections. He uses the high school lit book from CLE that gives him the 'literature vocabulary'. I used CLE literature last year with him and was amazed at how well he did and all that he learned. On the other hand the D level is not nearly enough for my 8th grade dd and I'm having to add to it. I started using TOG last year with my oldest and while it has been a positive experience with her and we have both learned a lot with TOG Lit, I would describe it as "Literature on Steroids!" It would not have been a positive experience with my son. You need to make the curriculum work for you, not you work for the curriculum :) Yvonne