Here is a link from the Virginia Military Institute that looks promising; it gives you the option of hearing several different readers. This webpage also has quite a bit of information on The Canterbury Tales, and I think it promised some audio, but I had a difficult time getting it to work. Nevertheless, it's a beautiful website. Good luck with these!

I will pray for your son; I'm so sorry to hear that he's come down with this flu virus. :(

I only read a little bit myself. Yes, we tried to teach to mastery as much as possible, but I also graded their papers, assignments, and tests as if I was a teacher at a typical good public or private school. I graded things like I remember being graded myself. When my oldest was doing Algebra II in 9th grade and wasn't really ready for the material (she got straight "A's" in the class two years later when we enrolled her in the private school) I had to give her a failing grade for the second semester. The school counselor suggested that I show this as a "W" for "Withdrew" on my transcript, which I did. I don't feel like the oldest two did their best job in Latin, so I gave them a B-minus on their transcript. I reviewed material as often as I had to, when necessary, but I also tried to grade and write up their transcripts as realistically as possible. To me, that is how the real world functions; you don't always get a second chance to do it over. When I was in college, I was dropped an entire letter grade on an otherwise good term paper on the Middle Ages simply because I consistently substituted the word "calvary" for "cavalry" throughout the paper. I also clearly remember a French test on which I received a "C" (I had been getting straight "A's" in the class) because I hadn't seen one side of one page of the test. Oddly, the teacher had printed the test on just one side of each page but on just one page the test had been printed on both sides. Another student and I had both missed this entirely; when we asked the teacher, she just said, "Too bad." So, I think that's the real world we need to prepare our kids for, and it's part of the growing-up process. I don't think kids need to be doormats with their teachers or their education, and there have been times I've encouraged my girls to speak up to the teachers on a particular issues, but as often as not I find myself siding with their teachers.

Our school doesn't do AP, but they do offer a fair amount of dual-enrollment courses, which are accredited through St. Louis University. The quality of the courses depends upon the teachers and the curriculum which is used. For example, my oldest is taking a human anatomy & physiology course which is considered accelerated and is therefore weighted, but it is not dual-enrollment or accredited through SLU. It should be, though, because the teacher's expectations are extremely high, and my dd has more homework in that class alone (typically an average of 2-3 hours per night, just in that class) than she has in any other class. She's also taking a dual-enrollment ACC Psychology course, which is not terribly difficult, but not altogether easy. The other dual-enrollment course she's taking is called ACC English, which is the typical course that college-bound high school seniors take. It is taught by the principal. There really is not that much reading in the course, and the readings that are done are all compiled in this book called "Introduction to Literature" or "Studies in Literature"---something like that. The teacher/principal doesn't like the book or the translations of some of the key works. The class has read Beowulf, but the translation wasn't Seamus Heaney. They're now reading The Canterbury Tales, and again, the translation is not good, according to the teacher. My oldest, who is rather nit-picky about literature since she has self-educated herself quite a bit on the subject, finds herself frequently disagreeing with the teacher. She believes that the teacher's information is "inaccurate". For instance, during the unit on Beowulf, the teacher kept saying that the Anglo-Saxons were Viking tribes which invaded England. I've had to do some teacher observations over the past two weeks for my education course, and I visited dd's advanced English classroom. The teacher is very interesting and engaging, but was sometimes "inaccurate", as dd described. She was introducing The Canterbury Tales, and kept saying that they were written in Old English. I found myself quietly whispering, "Middle English, Middle English"; I don't know if she heard me, but she did correct herself and state that they had been written in Middle English. Last year both of my girls had the same English teacher. Although I think the teacher was very good, there was really very little reading that they were able to get accomplished. Apparently the teacher had discovered that if he assigned reading outside the class, no one did the reading, so all of the books were read in class. Honestly, we were able to get many more books read when we did our Great Books reading at home. So, not all dual-enrollment courses are cut out of the same cloth, so to speak, probably much like the situation which you've found with AP courses.

Don't be scared. I'm still quite a notice, but one good thing about the noun declensions is that you will begin to recognize patterns. For instance, most of the accusative cases end in -m. The nominative and accusative forms of all neuter nouns are always identical. I think also that the dative and ablative plural forms of all nouns are identical. I think recognizing these patterns is helpful.

I can understand your frustration; I wish I could offer you more help with information on other programs that would be more incremental in nature. I've only used Matin Latin and Latina Christiana at the elementary level, and Henle and Wheelock's at the high school/college level. Hopefully someone will chime in with information on a Latin program that will be similar to Elementary Greek.

Memoria Press has a complete list of Henle vocabulary at this link. If you go to this page on their website you can join the Henle Latin Yahoo groups for study purposes. I agree that going back and forth between the Grammar book and Henle I can be a problem. Wheelock's (and I'm sure many other programs) is all included in one volume; however, I still found myself going back and forth in the text. It became my next best friend! Wheelock's does have a comprehensive vocabulary list, but it only contained the vocabulary introduced at the beginning of each chapter, and usually not the vocabulary introduced in the readings. I started making up my own computer file, which helped with those extra vocabulary words. However, Wheelock's has many more vocabulary words than Henle, so Henle might give you the same grammar benefit without as many vocabulary words. My only suggestion would be to keep practicing the 3rd declension over and over again; if you practice it a number of times aloud daily (say, perhaps 10 times aloud every day) and then keep working on the exercises through Henle, eventually it will sink in. Good luck! (Or, bonam fortunam!)

That would be so devastating! I cannot imagine your loss, but rest assured that I will be praying for you, and for her husband and children. Many, many :grouphug:

I know; I didn't even notice that the book was abridged when we bought it! I remember listening to some Veritas Press Teacher Training recordings on my MP3 player, and Ty Fischer was saying that a student asked him for a book recommendation while he and his family went on vacation for a week. Mr. Fischer recommended The Count of Monte Cristo and the student came back after his vacation and said, "That book was 1200 pages long!" Apparently Mr. Fischer had the abridged version as well. :)

If I won the lottery, I would start a classical Christian school. Yes, I am interested in education in general, especially classical education in all its forms. It's a topic that I read about quite a bit.

Maybe a dumb question, but is it worth getting the unabridged version? We have an abridged version which is 600+ pages (one of the Barnes & Noble classics series). I have not read the book, but saw the film adaptation with Jim Caviezel. Yes, there are so many wonderful themes, as you've mentioned, of revenge, mercy, redemption, etc., that I've always wanted to read this book. Also, any recommendations for a particular edition? Is it fine to start with the abridged version?

The other disgusting thing about this situation is that it reminds me that if I ever drop anything into the sink of a public restroom, it's going to have to be thoroughly washed and sanitized before I use it again! Ack!!

Yes; I believe that her son is majoring in science, and I think that's one of the reasons for this thread. Her son is going to MIT, and this is his report about what worked for high school. This is her original post, in which he got accepted into MIT. For a variety of reasons, not everyone wants to use Apologia, nor does it work for every child. But yes, there are some who have used Apologia who are actually majoring in science. We used it because it was very user-friendly; the explanations were very understandable for my girls. My oldest is most likely not going to major in any science-related field; however, last year, her first year at a private Catholic high school, she did Advanced Biology with the Campbell's text (for some reason I can never remember what the exact name of the text is, but it's the more difficult one frequently recommended for AP Bio., not the easier one) with the rest of her class. She was at the top of her class all year and received an award for that at the end of the school year. I think it helped that she had done both Biology and Chemistry at home, and we did use Apologia. I think it would have been more difficult if she had done only Biology before Advanced Biology, because there was a fair amount of chemistry which was expected to be understood in the Campbell's text. But, Apologia is not for everyone. You have to find a text which best suits your child and your worldview.

I don't think there's any trend; I hated Saxon, and so did my kids, but they worked well with Apologia.

Our local paper reported yesterday that if someone tests positive for Influenza A, then it's assumed that they are positive for H1N1. I'm not sure that I understand this reasoning, though. Our family doctor told us that if any of us gets the flu, he starts treatment for the flu immediately without waiting for test results, because you need to start treatment within 48 hours, and test results don't usually come back for 6 days or so.

It's great to hear a good report about this, Lynne! I know there are many programs out there, but we did use Apologia through Chemistry, and my oldest had no problem transitioning into the Campbell's text, which is considered to be pretty advanced. I'm also glad your son is doing well at MIT and enjoying it! Congratulations to both of you!

Since my girls have been in a private school both last year and this year, I've found that there is a plethora of testing. I did test them at home (grammar, vocabulary, math, Omnibus, science), but it does seem like there's overkill at the school they're going to. My oldest has an anatomy and physiology class that has quizzes every other day! There is a lot to remember with A&P, and the teacher may be trying to break up the information into pieces that are easier to remember, but the constant quizzes and tests and assignments drive my oldest batty sometimes. Her homework load is overwhelming sometimes, and I'm not sure that that translates into more learning. I think teachers and moms need some evidence of testing and assignments to show for the record, but in my heart of hearts---I agree with you completely! I think that I would rather have read a book all the way, had a chance to absorb it, and skip all the assignments---and I think I would learn just as much. I honestly think your kids will be perfectly fine having the time to just do the reading in their books until they are well again. Once they're well, you can give them assignments, tests, etc. again.

Faithr is right; I would not recommend Bart Ehrman. I wouldn't be familiar with any of their other religion professors.

I would think a reading only option would be reasonable at this point in time. I'm assuming you mean reading all the books, not just the literature books. Is there some way you can move more slowly through MUS while still doing more of the math problems? I'm not familiar with the program, though, so I don't know how many problems are in a particular problem set, etc. You would want to make sure that your dc understand and retain the material before moving on, once they're well again. Do they have to finish the MUS books or units? Honestly, though, I think if I had kids that had mono, I would have to do the same thing (if we were still homeschooling). I would imagine that mine would have to stay home from school and I'd have to have them complete their assignments at home, as they were able. In situations like this, sometimes you can only do what you can do. It's important that your children get well again!

Oh my word. This is ridiculous. Was this the coordinator at the local high school? Oh---I would give up on them completely. This would infuriate me! Have you heard back from the College Board? I've thought about you all day. Just checking Valerie's advice---very, very good advice! My only addition would be: make sure your ds can take the test somewhere on Saturday before cancelling his score.

Yes, it's always been offered on both Wednesday and Saturday, depending upon the location. But, I would still call the College Board right away, Luann, to see if they'll allow your ds to take the test again at a different location. Good luck!

both with the school and with College Board. Can you call College Board again, give the name of the school, and give them all the specifics? I can't remember if you said that you could re-take the test, but if at all possible, I would see if the College Board would allow your ds to take the test at another school. Today is Thursday; you have only the rest of the day today (until the phone lines at the College Board close) and tomorrow. There may be nothing your local school can do right now, but perhaps College Board will allow your ds to take the test at another school. Best wishes and prayers for you! I hope this gets resolved in your favor.

Jean is right; move very quickly. Cynthia, normally speaking, kids can only take the PSAT once a year. However, I think it's worth a phone call to PSAT as soon as possible to see if it can be rescheduled for this Saturday. I would ask the people at PSAT if they can allow the child to re-take the test at another location this Saturday. The test is always offered during the middle of October, on the Wednesday and Saturday of that middle week. I know my previous post sounded someone peevish, but I would be very upset if this had happened to my oldest during her junior year. Luann, I would do what Jean suggests and move quickly. Call PSAT, tell them about your situation, and ask if your ds can possibly re-take the test. If so, get him registered immediately. Please keep us updated! I hope this works out for you and your ds!

Luann, we live in a small town, too, although we didn't run into the testing problems you did. Check with PSAT, but I'm almost certain that your kids can take the PSAT at another school. I remember asking someone from PSAT during a phone conversation about a minor discrepancy when my oldest took the PSAT at our local p.s., and I was told that she was allowed to take the PSAT at another school, if necessary. In our case, the minor discrepancy was this: the school's guidance counselor, who had not administered the PSAT to a homeschooler before, mistakenly told my dd to fill out "No, not a full-time high school student" on those four questions that appear on the right-hand side of the test form. Since this happened during her sophomore year, this mistake didn't count against her potential to qualify for the NMSQT in her junior year. PSAT gladly fixed the problem for me with her records, and I also called the high school guidance counselor to advise her of this fact in the future---i.e., yes, my daughter was a full-time high school student---just not at their school. Those four questions must be answered correctly in order for the student to qualify for the NMSQT. The counselor was apologetic and gracious. Back to your situation: I would definitely contact PSAT first and tell them about these testing problems; I would also ask if your ds could re-take the test somewhere else. Once you have that established, then contact the local school, and I would let them know in no uncertain terms (perhaps a letter would be better) that the very poor way they administered this test could have cost your ds a scholarship, as well as other students, and make sure that you've cc'd PSAT in on your correspondence. As far as future relations with the school, I do understand your concern. Despite that, I think the school did a real disservice to all these kids in the way that they administered the PSAT, and you may find a better approach with the school (i.e., more tactful) than I'm suggesting. However, I would definitely contact PSAT and request an additional testing date, as well as report the problem with the school, perhaps asking them for their advice on how to handle the matter. I would definitely seek out a different testing site for the next year (or, is this your ds's junior year?) and ask that school how they administer the test and what protocols they follow. My best wishes to you. I know this has to be frustrating! :)

I agree with Jean wholeheartedly. The school did all the kids a disservice by not following proper protocol for the PSAT. No part of exam should not be cut short because of a skit, or be interrupted by either announcements or food. I would definitely complain to the school and to PSAT; whether or not the school does anything is one matter, but I believe that PSAT will ensure that this never happens again. Personally, I would even ask the people at PSAT whether or not your child might have an opportunity to retake the exam somewhere else. It just boggles my mind that the school would think these practices were in any way acceptable. Call them, and call PSAT, as soon as possible.