We have used both. I have used the following BJUP courses: Life Science(7th), Earth Science (8th), Biology, and Physical Science. The first 3 were used with the DVDs and I can't speak highly enough about Mrs. Vick who teaches Life Science and Earth Science. We weren't as impressed with the Biology teacher, but the text was good. This year I'm using Physical Science (9th) with my 8th and 9th grader and am doing it myself. Learning experience for all of us, but so far going well, but it does take a far amount of prep work on my part. Apologia courses: General Science -- we tried to use this a few years back, but were bored to tears and switched to something else. Chemistry -- my oldest used this last year with the DIVE CD's and wishes we would have picked the BJUP textbook. There were too many times when what was being discussed on the DIVE CD was not in the textbook and she would have to search for answers. This year we are trying Physics -- started out with Kinetics, but at least for us there wasn't enough explanation, so are going to try the Apologia book. Yvonne in NE

Try this link -- http://www.pearsonschool.com/index.cfm?locator=PSZu6e&PMDBSUBCATEGORYID=24789&PMDBSITEID=2781&PMDBSUBSOLUTIONID=&PMDBSOLUTIONID=6724&PMDBSUBJECTAREAID=&PMDBCATEGORYID=806&PMDbProgramID=21022 Or you can search for the ISBN online and find used copies 0201861003 Yvonne in NE

No ideas -- just sympathize with you. Experiencing the same thing here, only with Physics and Precalculus. I'm not sure which one of us is going to crack first! Yvonne in NE

Joan: Have you tried to download the videos lately? I tried, based on the instructions in the old thread, without any success. Yvonne in NE

When we were doing chemistry last year, I found these links that helped us figure out signigicant digits. They might be of some help. http://www.usca.edu/chemistry/genchem/sigfig2.htm http://www.usca.edu/chemistry/genchem/sigfig.htm http://www.fordhamprep.org/gcurran/sho/sho/lessons/lesson23.htm http://www.chem.sc.edu/faculty/morgan/resources/sigfigs/sigfigs3.html Yvonne in NE

In college I had a business statistics course that I was allowed to use the book for, but only because I was a business major. If you were a math major taking the same class (but called a math statistics course) from the same professor you were not allowed to use the book. We always figured he thought business majors were not as smart as math majors -- but we weren't going to disagree with him. Of course this was the same professor that handed out graded tests in order of grades. You knew you were toast if your paper was returned last -- especially as he made comments as he returned them!! Yvonne in NE

Never mind -- we just didn't look hard enough -- found the answer. Interactive Problem 1.22 -- Dock the Shuttle We must be doing something wrong because we can't get the correct answer. Can someone who has done this before let me know what the correct answer should be? We have the solutions manual; unfortunately interactive problems are not in it :confused: Thanks. Yvonne in NE

I used SOS High School Health this past year, or at least my dd did. It got the job done, which is about all I can say for any of the health curriculums we have used. I agree with Susan in Arkansas that it is one of those ridiculous classes and a waste of time. But it is a requirement in NE so I look for something that will fulfill the requirement, but not take a lot of time. Yvonne in NE

I'm not afraid of confrontation, but again that wasn't my purpose in posting, but I will list a few things that I personally didn't feel were very 'balanced'. Rhode Island -- founded by religious dissenters with extreme views, not a big thing, but if you are going to use words such as extreme elaborate Castro -- If the US had been more understanding Cuba might be a democratic country today Reagan -- widen the gap between rich and poor George W. Bush -- implied that the only reason he won the election from Gore was because his father had appointed two of the people on the Supreme Court Republicans -- don't care about clean water or clean air, but do want to keep pornography down Slavery is a respect of life issue, but abortion is just an unwanted pregnancy Bill Clinton -- everything he did was good except for some problems in his personal life These are just a few of the things I picked up in reading through the books this afternoon. Most of these I pulled from "The Middle Road: American Politics", but also the one about the Cold War, Slavery and the Civil War, French and Indian War, etc. I don't find this balanced, you may. Yvonne in NE

My whole point in posting in the first place was to say, "Before you go rushing out to find all these books take a look at them and see if they are a fit." My purpose isn't to list the things that I take issue with, but just a caution that I don't feel that they are as balanced as they have been portrayed. You might feel that they are, but you need to decide that for yourself. My kids are older and they can recognize some of the bias that I felt was in the books I read this afternoon, but I would not be comfortable giving them to a younger child that cannot recognize the bias. But what seems like bias to me may be perfectly OK to you -- but that is why you need to read the books for yourself -- don't just take someone else's opinion. Yvonne in NE

No, I really don't want to elaborate because I really, really, really don't want to start a debate. I have spent the afternoon reading through a number of these books and I just felt that someone needed to say, "Hey wait just a minute before jumping on the bandwagon, check these out for yourself and see if they will work for your family." Everyone's situation and views are different and what works for one family isn't necessarily going to work for another family. Yvonne in NE

I hesitate to even post this and it is not my intention to start a debate. However, if you tend to be conservative, you probably aren't going to care for this series especially with the volumes that deal with more recent history. So before you jump on the bandwagon, check some out from your library and see if they are a fit for you. Yvonne in NE

You can buy the study guides from Glencoe http://www.glencoe.com/catalog/index.php/program?c=1668&s=21807&p=3826&t=3 if you set up an account with them. The study guide you purchase from them will have the answers. Yvonne in NE

Here are our hits/misses 10th Hits TOG Year 2 -- History/Lit/Gov (other than geography she did it all) - Big hit -- we both enjoyed it and will be using TOG Year 3 in the fall with all three of them. Lials for Algebra 2 -- We used Foersters for I, but didn't click for 2 -- Lials clicked Spanish II & Chemistry Lab -- local coop class OK (in other words -- got the job done) SOS High School Health -- boring, but easily fulfilled a state requirement Chemistry -- DIVE w/ Apologia (if did again would use a different text) 8th/7th Hits MOH Vol 2 (2nd half) and Volume 3 -- We especially liked Vol 3 Writing and Speech class at local coop -- both of them improved so much Literature -- CLE w/ LL -- I really liked the depth of info in the CLE workbooks. Foersters Algebra I BJU PreAlgebra OK SOS Spanish I BJU Earth & Space Science -- great course, but they just weren't interested in the subject matter ABEKA Health -- boring, but easily fulfilled a state requirement Spelling Power -- I don't think it makes any difference what I use, my 8th grader is never going to learn how to spell:tongue_smilie: I can't think of anything that really didn't work and we are finished until the fall:party: Yvonne in NE

My dd finished DIVE Chemistry last week. She used the Apologia text, but she said that if she had to do it again she would either use the BJU textbook or also include the Apologia Advanced Chemistry book as well. There were just too many times when the terms and/or info that he was covering on the DVD were not in the Apologia textbook. I can't help you with the labs because she did the labs at our local homeschool coop. Yvonne in NE

I've had two kids try and use MWBs this year and neither one of them cared for them. One for Algebra I and one for Algebra II. Neither one of them felt that he explained things well and they preferred just learning directly from the book. Yvonne in NE

We have done one book per year. There are 18 assignments per book. My dd has done one every 2 weeks. That doesn't mean it takes that much time -- only about 30 minutes. She is doing the Shakespeare's Plays book this year. There are three sections to each assignment: parse and diagram, grammar analysis, and an editing section (punctuation, capitalization, and usage). Click on this link to see samples of the High School book -- http://www.analyticalgrammar.com/media/upload/image/hsreinforcementmarktwain.pdf In addition to AG, my dd has done a vocabulary program I found at Laying the Foundation website -- it was recommended on the boards, but I don't think you can access it anymore and TOG Yr 2 for literature and writing. Yvonne in NE

My dd is planning on a history major and then going on and getting her masters in library science. She wants the library science degree and the librarians told her to study something that she is interested in for an undergradute degree -- that the 'what' of the undergraduate degree isn't as important as the fact that she has it. Yvonne in NE

Algebra 2. I don't remember it being a problem with 1 like it was with 2. Y

AG High School Books.... I have used these strictly for review in high school. My dd finished R&S 8 and moved into the AG HS books the following year. She is on the third book and will finish the series next year. The exercises don't take much time (she spreads one author over two weeks), but they review what she has learned in the past. Yvonne in NE

I have had two use Foersters for Algebra I and my oldest started out Algebra II with Foersters and we switched midyear to Lials. She and I were both struggling with Foersters and I made the decision to switch to Lials. I don't know if something just clicked or if Lials just fits her better, but it was the best curriculum decision I have made all year!! My ds (my dd did OK with it as well) has done OK with the Foersters book this year for Algebra I, but he does not like the Math W/O Borders CD's at all. In fact I don't know when the last time was that he actually watched one -- he said that they just confuse him. As a Mom, who has never liked math, I much prefer the solutions manual from Lials than Foersters. Nine times out of 10 the problem I would have a question on would not be worked out in the Foersters solution manual -- just an answer. I definitely haven't had that problem with Lials. Yvonne in NE

The discussion about foreign language requirements has me curious about requirements for college admissions for homeschooled students. At the University of Nebraska this is the course documentation (in addition to SAT or ACT (preferred) test scores) they require: The primary teacher/administrator of the home school must provide: * A copy of the letter from the Nebraska State Department of Education that confirms that you have filed with the Department of Education. * A typed transcript (semester format) of the courses the student completed in the home school environment. Grades or averages earned in each course must be included on the transcript. A curriculum synopsis of the courses which parallel the University of Nebraska–Lincoln's 16 core course requirement. The synopsis should include a brief description (paragraph) of each of these courses. * Textbook information listed by course (including titles and authors). Students who have taken courses in foreign language must include a description of how they learned the verbal component of the language (i.e. tutor, tapes). The home school administrator should also provide a detailed description of how the applicant fulfilled the natural science laboratory requirement. * Students who completed courses in a school other than their home-school (traditional high school and/or college) must also submit an official copy of their academic transcript from this school. I have friends who have told me that no other colleges their kids have applied to have required the amount of information that is required by UN. I'm just wondering if other public universities are requiring this same amount of documentation. I don't know personally of any homeschooled student that they have not accepted, but they have found students deficient (not because they didn't take the course in high school, but the University didn't like the course they took) and they either take those courses at the University or at a community college. The high school requirement will then be fulfilled. It may or may not apply towards your degree, that is dependent upon the degree you are going after. Usually a lab science and a foreign language class are the two courses that are the most in question. Yvonne in NE

This is true at the University of Nebraska. The admissions people are very picky about what is on a homeschool transcript, especially in the areas of foreign languages and science labs. It is on a case by case basis, but most foreign language programs that are done at home they will not accept. My kids are taking Spanish at a homeschool coop and that has been approved as acceptable by the admissions people, but things like Rosetta Stone and SOS would not be accepted. They have the same restrictions on science labs. This doesn't mean that they won't accept them, but they are considered deficient and have to take the courses at the University. Yvonne in NE

OK, I need some tips on cleaning my windows. I don't have troubles with streaking, but smudges are a different story. Ideas??? Yvonne in NE

I think it is just bizzare -- I get other stuff from the government so it isn't because they don't have my address!!! Yvonne