I love the old classics for Mom & Daughter movie night with my 17 year old! We watched "Gone With the Wind" this weekend! We've also enjoyed "To Kill a Mockingbird", "Steel Magnolias", and "Casablanca". She was rolling on the floor watching "Monty Python and the Holy Grail", but that's not exactly a "chick flick"! :D

I have a Matthew (and a Jonathan). We lean toward traditional names (as we have a very unusual last name). If our youngest daughter had been a boy, she would've been a Benjamin. :)

I understand completely, Chris!!!! And my daughter is not a good test taker -- she'll be the first one to admit that! But she has a 3.0 gpa at the community college with 12 credits under her belt at 17, so that's none too shabby!! Her 1st choice college said that they'd look at her cc transcript over her SAT scores, so she's still going to apply this fall and see if she can get in.

My oldest did well on the writing section (530) but so-so on the verbal section (470) and poorly on the math section (440). She's using Barron's SAT book and reviewing her TT math books. To help with her verbal score, she's using Jensen's Vocabulary (she found that her biggest problem on the verbal section was that she didn't understand what some of the words meant, nor did she remember enough of her Latin to remember the roots and their meanings -- Jensen's Vocabulary covers all of that) It's divided into 3 sections (2 of Latin and 1 of Greek). There are 18 lessons in each section, with 4 pages for each section. She's doing 2 pages per day of that and hopes to finish the book by the time she takes her SAT again on November 1st. And...btw...my daughter did worse on the ACT than she did on the SAT, for what that's worth! Her combined SAT score was a 1440. She scored a 14 on the ACT!! And she said it was much harder. (Even with a 910 on the first two sections of the SAT, she should've scored around a 19 or 20 on the ACT, so a 14 was a lot worse than we were anticipating!!)

TT for the upper grades works differently. The student can either watch the lesson on the CD or read the lesson in the text (which is what my son chose to do last year). Then there are practice problems. I have him try to work them on paper, then watch the practice problems on the CD to see if he did them correctly. Then he works the lesson problems on paper in a notebook. (So there isn't any way to put the answers on the computer for TT Prealgebra - or any of the upper level courses. Think of it as using a regular textbook, if that makes sense). Then he only uses the CDs if he's missed a problem and he doesn't know where he went wrong. Then he puts the corresponding CD into the computer and watches as it's solved for him. Hope this helps!

My boys love their Wii! Their favorite games are Lego Star Wars the Complete Saga, Mario Kart, and Super Smash Brothers Brawl.

Me!! My upcoming 9th grader has special needs (high functioning autism). He's always homeschooled...and is looking forward to being a 'high school student'. :)

My youngest also loves colorful workbooks for math! We're using Abeka Math and she's very happy with it. I have the workbook, the teacher's edition, and the tests & drills workbook. The lesson plans are more geared toward a classroom setting and, while they give some good ideas for teaching concepts, you can pretty much figure it out on your own.

Hi Chris! No, she's at Germanna in Fredericksburg She's using Barron's for her SAT review, in addition to the math study. She bombed the placement test! She needed a 45 to get into either Math for Liberal Arts or Precalculus and she scored a 23. So her best bet is to re-take her SAT's and try to get a 500 on the math portion (she scored a 440 when she took the SAT in March), because if she can get a 500 or better, she can skip the math placement test at the cc (should she not get into a 4 year college when she applies this fall/winter) The English placement test was a breeze for my daughter. She scored a 98, if I remember correctly.

My oldest is working through all of her previous math books as we speak because she plans on re-taking her SATs in November and, hopefully, either getting into college or at least scoring well enough to skip the math placement test at the community college. (She's currently reviewing her Algebra I text). She'll then use Teaching Textbooks PreCalculus from November through the rest of the school year. She's also using Fraser's The Story of Britain for British History, Apologia Marine Biology for Science, The Learnables Fourth Year Spanish, and Visual Manna's Master Drawing for Art. (Those are her classes at home, which she studies 3 days a week, roughly). At the community college, she'll be taking British Literature I and Psychology during the fall semester, and British Literature II and Principles of Public Speaking in the spring semester.

I choose the grade level first (I didn't discover Natural Speller until my 14 year old was in the 5th grade and he was a terrible speller, so we started with Grade 2 and he did one spelling list each day - Monday through Thursday - with a quiz on Friday for any words he missed on the other four days. We were able to move quickly because the words were fairly easy for him) So he worked through Grades 2 and 3 in 5th grade, Grades 4 and 5 in 6th grade, and Grades 6 and 7 in 7th grade. This year, he's working through the last set, Grade 8, in 9th grade. For my second son, who's working at his grade level, he has a new spelling list on Mondays and Wednesdays, with Tuesdays and Thursdays being review. He usually doesn't need a quiz on Fridays, but it's open as an option if he continues to miss any words from Monday / Tuesday or Wednesday / Thursday. I aim to work through his grade level lists by the end of the school year.

My daughter took College Composition & US History her first year at the cc (11th grade). This coming year (12th grade), she'll be taking British Literature, Psychology and Principles of Public Speaking (she can't wait for this last class, as she's shy by nature, and she's hoping it will help her by teaching her how to speak in front of a group!) As far as cutting down on the work from home, my daughter goes to the cc 2 days a week and homeschools 3 days a week, pretty much year round. She hasn't had a problem in keeping up with either the cc classes or at home.

Same here!! He does most of the work in the textbook orally, fills out the worksheet (if there is one) and he does all of the writing assignments on paper (if it's a writing assignment lesson)

I'll have a 1st grader this year -- and for the fourth time! With my first 1st grader, I used all Abeka (I was fairly new to homeschooling and didn't yet feel confident to try to mix and match curriculum). She had a very good year and learned a great deal, but by 3rd grade, she was burned out on workbooks! That was the same year that I read TWTM and felt confident to stretch my wings beyond one publisher! My second 1st grader has high functioning autism and that was quite a year because he struggled with learning how to read. I remember stumbling our way through numerous phonics programs before I tried a word ladder approach in 2nd grade that helped him tremendously (AlphaPhonics). We did discover Math-U-See in 1st grade and he loved it! For my third 1st grader, we used Sonlight for everything except math (we used BJU) and he had a terrific year! He loved to read, and was reading very well by the end of that school year -- but I wouldn't have chosen it if he hadn't because their phonics program is more of a 'natural approach' vs drill -- if that makes sense. (If you have a child who struggles and needs to move slowly, it wouldn't be my first choice). Now I'm up to my youngest -- and last 1st grader! She'll be using Sing, Spell Read and Write (she's also on the autism spectrum and I'm hoping the musical jingle approach to reading instruction will be a hit with her, but I'm not doing the writing portions of this program. We'll be using Handwriting Without Tears My Printing Book for that because she has some fine motor delays). We'll be using for Abeka for math (math is her best subject and she loves colorful workbooks!). I've also chosen Abeka for art because they're simple cut-and-paste activities and will help her with her fine motor skills. She'll also be listening to Sonlight Core 1, although I'm not sure how many of the readers she'll be able to do -- we'll have to see how that goes! I'm also using BJU for science, which has a very simple approach to science for young children.

I have a Jonathan and a Matthew -- just to toss two more Biblical names in your direction!! :D

I would go with SOTW 1 for all of your school age children. To make SOTW 1 "meatier" for your 12 year old, you could purchase the activity guide and choose some of the additional literature and historical fiction titles suggested in the activity guide as additional reading for your 12 year old *or* you could use the Sonlight Core 6 readers for him (you could use the list in the catalog as a guide and find the books at your local library).

Here are some ways that I've kept costs down. 1) Rod & Staff English - the hardback textbooks only need to be purchased once and then I just have to buy the workbook and test booklets for each child (they're around $2 each) 2) I use Natural Speller for spelling - one $25 book covers grades 2 through 8 for spelling 3) Handwriting Without Tears - around $5 for each book 4) I put together my own Sonlight cores. I've found just about every core curriculum guide for free at used curriculum sales and then find my own copies of the books required (this year, I put together Core 4 for around $100; next year, my son will be using Core 5, which I put together for $150). I can then pass them down to my youngest when she's ready 5) Apologia science - purchase the hardback books once and then I'm done, save for when I have to replace the experiment supplies 6) Just save as much curriculum as you can for each child down the line. I spend the most on my oldest, because I know I can then pass them down to her siblings

My rising 4th grader is using the Wordly Wise series (he completed Book C last year and will be starting Book 1 of the Wordly Wise 3000 series this coming year). He enjoys it a great deal and it has improved his vocabulary! My oldest worked through Jensen's Vocabulary last year (11th grade) to help her with her SATs and she liked this book as well (the book is divided into 3 sections; 2 of Latin and 1 of Greek). This would be an excellent option if you wanted to wait until the upper grades to begin a formal vocabulary program (I'll likely do this with my 2nd child and have him start Jensen's Vocabulary next year, after completing the Natural Speller program this coming year)

Thank you so much for considering this!!! I have two children on the autism spectrum - one who is 14 and one who is 6. I'd love for it to include alternative resources. For example, if your child has a disability which makes it hard for him to study Latin using "xyz" curriculum, perhaps "abc" would be a good alterative (i.e., instead of Latina Christiana, perhaps Vocabulary from Classical Roots would be appropriate). Another suggestion would be in the area of learning how to read. My oldest son could *not* tell the difference in the phonetic sounds, so he struggled through every phonics-based reading program I tried. We found success with AlphaPhonics, which uses a word-ladder approach for reading (ball, call, hall, tall, wall, etc) Handwriting Without Tears has been a wonderful resource for handwriting (and it was designed by an occupational therapist). Natural Speller has been terrific for spelling because it also uses a word-ladder approach for spelling vs pure phonetics. Math-U-See worked well for my son during his younger years, and he's doing beautifully in the upper grades with Teaching Textbooks. Rod & Staff has worked well for him for English, because there's so much review and the black and white pages aren't distracting for him. (A child who is distracted by color, and needs a lot of drill, might also consider Rod & Staff for math as well).

I have a suggestion you might consider for the 'when do you correct their work' question....is your spouse / partner available in the evenings to help with this? Math and science are my husband's forte (English, history, and foreign languages are mine) so we sit down after dinner with our older two and go over any questions they might have and correct their work then. I often have time before dinner to do this, but it depends on how much time I've had to spend with my 6 year old...I know I have time after dinner, if I haven't been able to do it before then. With my oldest, she's given a week's worth of assignments at once, and she's to have everything completed by Sunday afternoon, so her work is often corrected / reviewed in one long session on Sunday evening.

I agree also!!! I'm homeschooling two children on the autism spectrum and I would love to see a chapter added to the next edition of TWTM on classically educating special needs children!

I would recommend Lial's Basic College Mathematics. You can find this used on Amazon.com for less than $20. It covers all areas of basic math, starting with place value and working up through an introduction to algebra, geometry, and statistics. There's plenty of instruction in the main text, so nothing else is needed. The answers to the odd numbered problems are in the back of the book, as well as the answers to all of the chapter reviews and test problems. I believe there are 10 chapters altogether.

(I may get ripped for this recommendation...but here goes!) Teaching Textbooks for math! I know it's not spoken of very highly by some on the high school board, but for my 9th grader, who has special needs, it's been *wonderful*!!! He has such confidence in math now -- and scored in the 99th percentile on his CAT test last month. And I just purchased the TT PreCalculus book for my oldest and it looks very meaty...so maybe that will help to ease some of the criticisms of the program in the future as more folks use it. That's been my "best find"...other than your SOTW books! Wow, have my boys loved that series!!!! History is one of their favorite subjects! :D Big thumbs up for Rod & Staff English also! That has been such a hidden gem! (My oldest used Abeka for years until your revised WTM book recommended R&S and she was sooo happy to switch! And, when she took College Composition at the community college in 11th grade, her professor was stunned when he discovered that she could diagram sentences!! He has a PhD in English from Duke and told her that he wished the public schools taught diagramming as it was becoming a "lost art") Thanks again for everything you've done!! (I read WTM in 1999 and it transformed our homeschool experience completely!!)

You're singing my tune!! :D Mine are 12th, 9th, 4th, and 1st! My oldest is completely independent. She takes classes at the community college 2 days a week and then homeschools with subjects at home 3 days a week. I give her a list of assignments at the beginning of the week and she's to have everything completed by the following Monday, including her community college homework. This works very well for us as she has truly learned to be independent in her studies. My 9th grader has high functioning autism so he needs more of my time than my 4th grader, who's a very motivated learner. I'm lucky that my 1st grader (who also has autism) likes to sleep late in the mornings! So she doesn't usually wake up until around 10:30 or 11:00. So my 9th grader is downstairs and at the school table by 8:00. I work through the subjects that he has the most trouble with (for him, it's language arts) while we're alone. So we'll work through spelling, grammar, and writing until 9:00, when my 4th grader "reports for school". Then we'll do history and science (I try to combine both boys' history and science studies. They love it and it saves me alot of time!) and we try to finish those by the time my youngest gets up. Then she has breakfast and I work with her one on one, while my 9th grader does his math and art -- two of his best subjects -- and my 4th grader does his seatwork. School is usually completed by lunch time, which is late at our house -- usually around 1-ish -- and then they're free to do what they like in the afternoons. So my advice is -- divide and conquer whenever possible! And try to have your older ones working as independently as possible as well. (They'll need that experience for college, should they decide to go that route)

My oldest used Abeka Phonics for 1st grade and learned to read very well with it. My second used AlphaPhonics, because he had trouble hearing the different phonetic sounds and needed a word ladder approach to learn how to read. My third taught himself to read when he was 3 and had cruised through Sing Spell Read and Write by the time he was 4. My fourth is also using SSRW, because she needs a slower approach .. but I've still held on to my Abeka and that will be what I'll use with her if SSRW doesn't do the trick this coming year. (She has autism and I never know what will "click" with her and what won't until I try it. I'm going to start with SSRW because I have extra workbooks from when my youngest son used it, and I think the musical jingles will be a big hit with her, as she loves music.)