see post below

Yes, I think so. WWS is designed to be done after WWE4. If your child is ready for the narration exercises at the beginning of WWS, I'd skip WWE4. You may still want to do dictation to address punctuation, spelling, grammar. It also depends on which level of HO. HO Ancients level2 has less writing than HO early modern level 2 I believe. My 5th grader did the WWS beta test and it was difficult to continue w/ WWE4 while doing it. We did the dictations on WWS days that didn't have much writing.

And then to ask about HS'd kids....how do you fit it all in if you're doing Biology, Chemistry, and Physics every year?

HOw old are your kids? Do you have somewhere you can send the kids? I'm sending mine to their grandparents for a week so I can have uninterrupted time. I just can't get much done if they are in the house...too many interruptions. Can you trade time with another HSer? You take her kids for 2hrs and then she take yours? Can you hire a teen to watch the kids for a couple of hours? Maybe split it w/ another HS friend?

I noticed that as well. I thought the sale was for $30 this weekend w/ a level of MCT curriculum but perhaps the sale is for $30 and thereafter, $30 w/ a package of MCT materials?

WWS does cover 2 level outlines but not until nearer the end. It also covers literary essays and research reports w/ documentation. I don't believe that info was in the samples but we saw the near finished product at RFWP Valley Forge Conference. Narrow Gate Academy - I've been curious as to how WWS aligns w/ CW so thank you for your summary.

Yes there is. The poster posted a link to her blog. The thread is in the Logic Forum. She also posted how she modified assignments to fit the HS setting. Try a search there and if you don't find it, start a thread there. I wish I could remember her username but I can't.

Congrats Amy!!!! It's a great feeling isn't it?

My question was less about HS'd kids and more about PS'd kids. Do kids in CHina, Japan, and UK get more science studying the branches concurrently than US kids do studying one science each year? Here's the schedule for the Chinese kids in 2MM. I don't know how wide-spread this is or if this schedule is representative or not. 9th grade: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Computers, Chinese, History, Geography, English, Social Studies, Phys Ed. 10th grade: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Computers, Chinese, History, Geography, English, Social Studies, Art & Music, Phys. Ed. 11th grade: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Computers, Chinese, History, Geography, English, Social Studies, Art & Music, Phys. Ed. 12th grade: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Computers, Chinese, History, Geography, English, Social Studies, Art & Music, Phys. Ed. The Indian education system, as presented in 2MM, has several tracks. The following schedule is for the highest track which is High Proficient science track. 9th grade: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Computers, World History, Geography, English, Civics, Hindi 10th grade: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Biology, Computers, World History, Geograph,y English, Civics, Hindi 11th grade: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Computers, English, Environmental Education 12th grade: Math, Chemistry, Physics, Computers, English, Environmental Education

On the 2 Million Minute DVDs, they have pdfs of the schedules in China, Japan and the US. Later today, I'll type up the schedules for the Chinese and Japanese students. They had 3 sciences concurrently. My question is: if you do science this way (concurrently) do you end up doing more, less, or the same by doing it the US method? Do you end w/ more cementing of the concepts by doing it concurrently? I've read that doing it concurrently leads to more integration of the sciences...not seeing each of them as discrete subjects.

I had tons of knee issues in my 30s. A trainer recommended squats and leg extensions. Fixed my knee issue. Those exercises strengthen the muscles which support the knee and keep it in alignment. I would find a trainer that specializes in knee issues. Have him/her design a program for you and try it w/ the trainer for a few months. Then you can look at programs like P90X and see what needs to be modified. I always have huge knee issues but I've done two rounds of P90X doubles and now in week 4 of Insanity w/out issues. For Insanity, I am taking a joint supplement b/c of the all the jumping and I found that all my aches are gone.

Jeri - congrats on finishing P90 and starting P90X!!!! I did two rounds of P90X w/ the 2nd round being P90X doubles. I loved it! You mentioned blood pressure in a later post. I watch my blood pressure and resting heart rate often as hypertension runs in my family. When I started P90X, my resting heart rate (RHR) was in the 70s (average/good) and my blood pressure was about 120/70 (good). After 1 round of P90x my RHR was in the upper 60s. After 2 rounds of P90X my RHR was in the low 60s. After 4 weeks of Insanity, my RHR is now in the LOW 50s! My blood pressure is 110/62. Those are results I can live with. :lol: You'll be ready for Insanity after P90X!!! PlyoX will get you ready! Insanity is like PlyoX everyday but less intense on the thighs but more intense on the heart and lungs.

Check out this book by Laurel Dodge (Kalmia). http://rfwp.com/series103.htm#949 You can view sample pages.

Yes, I went and looked at the homeschool package for Voyage and it only has the teacher books. It's level 4 where if you look at the homeschool package, both teacher and student books are listed.

For Island, you only need the homeschool package w/ the teacher guide. For Practice Island you want a student book for each kid unless you plan to do all 100 sentences on a board or type them up or dictate them and a teacher guide. Darn, I can't recall now about Voyage. I seem to recall there is a book in Voyage level where you want both the student and teacher book. I hope someone chimes in on that b/c I need to order Voyage level this weekend. I seem to recall in the upper levels you need both or else you'd be typing in all the quizzes but I'd ask at the high school forum about level 4.

The homeschool package contains all 4 books - 1 each of Wind in the Willows, Alice in Wonderland, Peter Pan, and the parent/teacher manual. The parent/teacher manual covers all 3 books.

:iagree: I don't think I've ever found the perfect curriculum. I work w/ the strengths and shore up the weaknesses.

Nope, I'd continue w/ MM as you have planned. If he's crying and saying it's too easy, only then would I move ahead.

Here is what I sent my teacher friend... WHen is grammar taught in this area? I'm talking subject, predicate, indirect/direct objects, object of the preposition, action/linking/state of being verbs, subj-verb agreement, subject vs object pronouns, etc. And here is her response: I NEVER see grammar as you've listed being taught. Most of the time in 7th and 8th grade this is what I see..review of the parts of speech, subject, predicate and subject/verb agreement. Most of the teachers spend only 2-3 weeks on all this review and then move on...even if most of the class acts like they've never seen this stuff before! And they wonder why kids need remedial English when they hit college! My friend says that the teachers who grew up in Whole Language times were not taught spelling rules or grammar so they do not feel comfortable teaching it.

Darn it - I never had a chance to look at that level at the conference!

:blush: Sorry...... you all can go back to the regularly scheduled programming...... PS: I wonder if more schools are integrating grammar instruction rather than having a separate grammar time? Is that integration falling by the wayside? Or is it happening but folks are told "We don't teach grammar" but it really means "We don't teach separate, formal grammar but it's integrated into the curriculum?" Anyhow, my high school teacher friend did say at the high school level they don't teach grammar. Kids can't parse or diagram simple sentences. :lol:

If you use your own versions of the text, your student will be missing definitions along w/ roots, language notations (alliteration etc) and other annotations.

My aunt is in Texas. In my state, we do not take nationally normed tests - that's the work around. I'm not saying it is standard across the country - just anecdotal evidence. My friend was told in North Carolina that they don't teach grammar or spelling at any grade level. They briefly talked about action words, thing words, and descriptive words and that was up to 4th grade. So three different districts in three different states. My friend tells me in a neighboring district they teach very little grammar. She's a special ed teacher and has taught in nearly every school w/in our 4 districts. I just checked our 5th grade ELA. It is only passages to read and answer questions about point of the paragraph, word usage, defining words. There are two paragraphs to edit but it's mostly ending punctuation (missing periods, period instead of a question mark, spelling error). There is a comma missing in a series. Perhaps that is age appropriate for most kids? I know my boys (2nd and 5th grade) can discuss why the author chose to put a word as the object of the preposition vs an indirect object based on where the author wants to put the emphasis. And they enjoy those types of discussions and love finding it in books we are reading. The Hobbit has been rich for grammar discussions. I checked 8th grade ELA. It's all passages to read and answer questions about POV, reason for the passage, what happened first in a passage, word choice, word defining in context and essay questions to answer based on a story. There is no grammar formally tested. My friend said they also grade very easily on the written passages.

Exactly! That's the point of herd immunity. That's why having others who can vaccinate safely do so b/c it protects your child and all the others who can't be vaccinated.

:iagree::iagree: w/ the bold part. I didn't believe folks who say grammar isn't taught in schools anymore. I recently had a long conversation about grammar with a friend. He teaches high school language arts in the neighboring district. They do not teach grammar. He teaches juniors and seniors. They can't distinguish between an adjective and an adverb. Don't know the difference between subject and object pronouns. He teaches an elective class where he teaches grammar and diagramming as well as SAT prep. He said he always have students return from first year in college saying that his elective class on grammar is what helped them the most. His Principal has suggested they find a way to put grammar back in the regular curriculum so there is hope. I gave him Practice Town and showed him what my 2nd and 5th grader are doing and how they also diagram the sentences. He said only 2 of his students could do that this year and they both came out of private Catholic schools. The ones how know grammar always come out of the private Catholic school. My aunt was dismayed to find that her DD had no concept of subject-verb agreement. Granted, she's only in 6th grade (end of 6th grade) but has never had the parts of speech, subject, predicate, etc. And this is a solid middle to upper class district. She can write ok b/c she speaks proper English. I've been using dictation and discussion while reading literature to reinforce grammar concepts. I think that works well for my boys and for me.