I just found a sample week schedule from Mrs. Inspektor's class. I will let dd to take a look and decide between the two teachers. They both sound like great teachers! Thank you so much for your help.

Thanks for the link. Did you kids find the daily assignment inconvenient? My dd is in speech and debate, and I doubt she has time for any assignment on tournament days. Does the student have the flexibility to work ahead?

I am looking for recommendations for AP English Language teachers with PA Homeschoolers for dd next year. She has been taking English classes from TPS and is now in Adv. Composition. TPS also offers AP English Language but it's twice a week, and we don't think she needs that much class time. I'd love to hear about your experiences with the AP English classes and teacher recommendation is appreciated. Thanks! Shirley

Dd had Mrs. Cooper, but she is no longer teaching. English 1 covers grammar and literature on top of writing. I'd say not as much writing as WW. Dd also did a poet power point presentation in 2nd semester.

We've had Mrs. Smith for both kids. She is cheerful, encouraging, and has a great sense of humor - that really helped my reluctant writer. She lays out claer expectations so it's easy to follow. She answers emails quickly and is very helpful. We highly recommend her.

We've only had Mrs. Smith for both kids. Dd liked her so much she insisted ds should take her class as well. We really like her. She gives clear expectations, is encouraging yet at the same time stretches the students to do more. We appreciate her sense of humor that makes writing fun. She is also very good at communicating with parents. We don't have any experience with the other teachers you mentioned, but I am sure they are all good. We like all the teachers we've had at TPS so far. They may have different teachers for WW for next year though. It seems to change a little every year.

Yes, the class is "live" with the teacher presenting and students type in the chat box. But students need a microphone to present their writings in class. Mrs. Smith is very good at keeping all students engaged and she makes sure the chatting is related to class activity. Process essay is about 5 paragraphs. Compare and Contrast requires 6 paragraphs. Like others have mentioned, English 1 has grammar, writing, and literature. Dd also did a power point presentation on a poet. The teachers in TPS are very helpful and they return emails quickly, usually within a day. They probably will have an open house before registration so you can get more information. Take a look at the placement tests on their website. They may recommend a different class if they feel it fits the student better.

I hesitate to be the first to answer your question, but I know you are probably anxious to get some response. : ) We really like Writer's Workshop (WW) here. My dd took it as a 6th grader. Being a good writer, it was not difficult for her. Yet the class challenged her to write in different genres and helped her to become a stronger writer. It laid a good foundation for English 1 and 2. On the other hand, ds is taking WW now as a 7th grader. Not being a natural writer, it was a struggle at first, but I am seeing big improvement in his writing and confidence. I am glad I waited one more year for him to take this class. It would have been too much for him as a 6th grader. The way it works is like this: student writes draft 1, teacher conference it, then they work on draft 2 (in the beginning parents will be the partner, they later get a classmate), then they work on it more, turn it in for teacher to conference it one more time (TC) before they can publish it in the forum. What we like about WW: variety of assignments outside accountability - having deadlines help us to be diligent teacher and classmate feedback (they start having partners to conference each other's paper) class interaction - my kids really enjoy having classmates from all over the country and they get to read their classmates' finished work. they work on different pieces at the same time (maybe a draft 1 with a TC) learning how to conference other's work one parent will need to sit in class for the 1st semester. sometimes it can be confusing about the technical side of class (how to upload work, using the correct file name and stuff like that.) But overall we really like WW and would highly recommend it. Both kids have Mrs. Smith for WW and she is the best! She is very encouraging and at the same time she challenges her students. I hope this helps you make the decision. Shirley

Kendall, I am taking the same approach to use both Foerster and NEM 1 for 2 years (7th and 8th) and haven't figured out the logistics. What does that look like on a weekly basis? Do you do both everyday? Or do you rotate between the two? Do you skip the geometry section in NEM? Any help is greatly appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks, Beth!

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll look into Mrs.Runkle's class. Dd is taking English I at TPS this year. We are really happy about it. Beth, do you like your teacher for Eng 2? Shirley

thank you both for your advice! I won't attempt to do both then. big thanks from my kids! :) Shirley

I'd like to do a year of physical geography with my dd next year (8th and 7th grade) since we have always done cultural geography only. I am leaning towards Runkle's geography. They will also be doing BJU's earth science at co-op. Will that be redundant, or will they compliment each other? Thanks for your help! Shirley

This being our first year with Potter's School and dd's only class, we can't compare other teachers for this class, but we are extremely happy with Mrs. Loretta Smith. She is very encouraging to the students and offers timely and helpful comments. She communicates with parents and returns emails very quickly, usually within a day or two. She even helped dd with other writings that were not part of the course. She is funny yet firm in her requirement for the students. We are really happy with the class. Dd has learned a lot from Mrs. Smith. Dd will take 2 classes from TPS next year. Hope this helps. Shirley

Our library has Conversational Spanish and I will look into the other book you mentioned. She is coming to learn more English. It would be nice to learn some conversational Spanish from her, but our main responsibility is to help her learn English. Thanks all for your help. We are looking forward to this exciting experience. Shirley

Thank you! I am excited about this curriculum, and you just saved me a lot of money! :001_smile: Shirley

Thanks for the link! This looks great. I grew up in Taiwan so I can read and write fluently, although I am finding myself forgetting more and more Chinese characters. : ) I have one question: can I get by with just one set of curriculum for both kids? I don't think they sell the practice books separately. It gets a bit expensive to buy 2. Thanks for your help! Shirley

Do you have a link for Ma Liping's book? We speak Mandarin and English at home so my kids understand Mandarin. But reading and writing is a struggle. We are also doing Latin, and compared to Mandarin it is much easier for them. We are using Practical Chinese and it is ok. Retention is not great, so I am looking for something different. BTW, my kids are older, 10 and 12. Glad to know other Mandarin speaking families here! Shirley

Thanks, Ester Maria! It's a good idea to be a bit more structured. My kids are learning Mandarin already, my older is starting Latin in the fall, so I am not sure how we are going to fit Spanish into our schedule. We just happen to have this opportunity. To make it more complicated, this young lady is staying with us to learn English. : ) Do you have any suggestion about the curriculum? Shirley

We have the opportunity to host a young lady from Mexico for 3 months. We'd love to grab the opportunity to learn conversational Spanish. We only know numbers and very basic vocabularies. Do we need a curriculum? She is not a teacher by trade and I wonder if we should have some kind of materials. Or is it good enough to learn daily conversation naturally? Btw, my kids are 10 and 12. Thanks in advance for your help! Shirley

We are using Y4 this year and have not experienced any problem. Shirley

and we have been doing Y2 at half pace which is wonderful. It allows us to spend some time on US geography and go off the topics once a while. We also get some SL books as extra read aloud. What draws me to TOG is their teacher's notes. I feel I've learned so much myself! I also prefer the weekly schedule that gives me some flexibility, yet to have a sort of structure. My 10 yo can sometimes read a couple books from dialectic level, depending on the books. I personally feel the key to use TOG successfully at grammar stage is to "not do everything on the list"! Pick and choose what interests you and your kids, and have fun! Shirley

and we just started Unit 4. We really enjoyed the slower pace as it allows us to read more library books (especially in U3 Colonial America, there are so many good books!) and not feel stressed. I have 10 yo and 8 yo, BTW. Since we don't use WA yet (maybe we will start next year) it doesn't take us that much time to go through history, geography and literature. Maybe 1.5 - 2hrs the most. That does not count the time they read independently. I do a lot of read aloud, like church history, history books and maybe one of the literature book because we really enjoy it. I assign them a book or 2 for independent reading and we always check out lots of library books that they can choose from. We have been really relaxed about writing. Besides narration, they write their own stories about getting a pet, their dreams, weather and things like that. My 10yo is taking a writing class at co-op though. We read Apologia together. We are in Zoology I right now. I have tried the notebook but it became too time intensive so we mainly read together and discuss. And if there is anything in particular that really interests them, we do a few notebooking pages. We are very laid-back with TOG. I hope this helps you a bit. Shirley

So I will check it out and see if my kids like it or not first. If it's too boring I may take a look at La Clase Divertida. Thank you! Shirley

And I don't see how I can justify the cost if we only want Spanish at this time. Since I don't speak any Spanish, I was hoping the CDs will be doing the "teaching". Do you think the teacher needs to be somewhat proficient in Spanish in order to use the program? Do you have other recommendations? Thanks, Shirley