I believe there are other online Latin translation websites as well. One way to check their accuracy is to do a reverse translation, i.e., English to Latin, and then Latin to English, and check the accuracy. My thought is that these can be only marginally helpful. I've used them, but primarily only for one word and not for a phrase. There are just too many nuances and subtleties in Latin case usage and verb usage, particularly with the many different uses of the ablative and dative cases, for example, or the varieties of subjunctive verbs.

I agree, Ester Maria. I thought seriously about having a "life skills course" for our homeschool coop, but I don't think anyone would have counted it for h.s. credit. Yes, there are many, many things kids need to learn in life--cooking, cleaning, First Aid, CPR, study skills, etc.--but these are not credit-worthy, IMO. I can't think of a high school which would allow those as transfer credits, for example. I doubt if colleges would accept this, either. Now, I would think certain extended homeschooling projects could be counted towards other courses which one might find in a high school, such as an extensive father/son carpentry project could count towards industrial arts. But--that's a different subject, and a different question. Obviously we don't homeschool anymore, but I personally would not consider putting that on a transcript.

I'm not a doctor, but I would recommend going ahead and making an appointment with your internist or general practitioner for a checkup. It could be allergies; I know that before I started seeing an allergist I would have a couple months a year where I just felt terrible--no energy, runny nose, frequent headaches, etc. At any rate, I don't think it hurts to have yourself checked out. Share your concerns with your doctor. I hope you get to feeling better soon!

I had the exact same experience--more than once. I spent quite a bit of time working with my girls on reading (this was before we started homeschooling them) and during parent-teacher conferences I was definitely "put in my place" that I really wasn't qualified to instruct them. I tried to be patient and have an attitude of acceptance of the teacher's expertise and exercise humility, but when I mentioned different books which I had read on education or on topics like reading, I was contradicted by one teacher who encouraged me, in so many words, not to be a "helicopter parent." I was going on the mistaken presumption that all teachers wanted parents to be involved in their children's education. This was a mistaken presumption. Some teachers are great and welcome parental involvement---but certainly not all of them. Some teachers view this as treading on their territory.

John Toland's biography of Hitler might be a good place to start, simply entitled Adolf Hitler. Because there is so much information on this topic, and because his treatment of the Jews was so multi-faceted, I would recommend having her read this first and then narrowing her topic. It's possible to do a broad overview, but I think a narrower focus would be easier to handle.

Our family just watched the movie Temple Grandin, starring Claire Danes. For those of you who do not know the story, it is about Dr. Temple Grandin, a professor at Colorado State University, who is also autistic. She also lectures on autism. It was excellent--one of the best movies I've seen in a long, long time! If you are a parent--watch this movie. You will not be disappointed, I believe. Here is Temple Grandin's website. If you check the links on the lower left-hand side of her webpage, you will see her speaking schedule. I think Claire Danes should be nominated for an Academy Award for her portrayal of Dr. Grandin.

I've been wondering the same thing, Bev, about the voting issue. If the laws vary from state to state and perhaps even city to city, I really need to research this soon. Thanks for the reminder!

Ditto to many of these thoughts. Henle was designed for high school; Wheelock's for college. Wheelock's covers far more grammar, however, than Henle, but it would not be my first recommendation for most high school kids. For the most part, I like Wheelock's--lived it, breathed it, but I think Henle is honestly more do-able for most high school kids and for their parents. There was another conversation I was engaged in (somewhere else) in which we were discussing First Form v. Henle. The conclusion seemed to be that First Form was a simplified version of Henle, so of the two, I would go with Henle.

I like the Norton Anthologies and enjoy reading the notes. For Shakespeare, though, if it's not too expensive, I would invest in the Oxford School Shakespeare for the plays you want to study. Those are truly my favorite editions of Shakespeare, well-edited and annotated.

Dale Grote's book, A Comprehensive Guide to Wheelock's Latin is the book which I would recommend that you use, in conjunction with a slow and thorough review of Wheelock's. Grote does an excellent job of rephrasing the more difficult concepts in Wheelock's. I generally would read the chapter first in Wheelock's, review the vocabulary and paradigms, and then read Grote's chapter. Often I would re-read the chapter in Wheelock's again. I think if you use this resource, in addition to the one Jane recommended (which I also own and have used), you will be able to better cement the concepts in your memory.

Yes, I guess that's a statement of the obvious, and is true for any subject, but I think my former point is also an important consideration: one's homeschooling schedule for high school and accounting for multiple children. :) I found homeschooling for high school much more time-consuming than the early years, and I went through Wheelock's after our kids were enrolled in private school. Your advice is also very worthwhile, and I agree that someone could start with the fast track and, if that's just too much, switch to the study group following the slower track. I'm just offering my .02 worth, based upon my own experience.

I would make your decision based upon your previous time commitments with homeschooling. If your schedule is fairly busy and you have multiple children, then the slower track would be better. Wheelock's is an excellent text, but it does get more difficult.

I know how you feel; I woke up feeling very confident this morning and ready for the day. Tonight I have been crying off and on. This is going to be a big adjustment for me as well. In addition to all that, everyone else (except for my dh) has started back at school this week. My middle daughter will graduate in 2012, and the youngest a few years after that. It's hard to imagine going through this two more times! Indeed--how much more can a mother take?

That's very clever, Cleo! Actually, I still think French spelling makes more sense. I've never done French dictation, although I remember our discussion about it a while back on the high school forum. I would imagine that the notetaker would have to pay very close attention to the le/la in order to catch the gender and associated word/spelling changes with words like la mere and le maire. Thanks for sharing this! I imagine that this would still be quite a challenge to properly write down this dictation. :)

:iagree: Oh yes--I completely understand! I grew up in the Twin Cities and had a few nightmares about getting lost on campus before I actually attended. It most likely would be a better place for graduate studies. Like I mentioned, I knew a couple of the professors (cross-disciplinary in both German and Scandinavian) and they were excellent. Within the department there's a smaller feel, but the campus itself is HUGE!

The University of Minnesota offers a Scandinavian Languages and Finnish B.A. and, according to their website, is "one of the few departments in the Unitied States to teach four modern Nordic languages from a beginning to an advanced level, as well as Old Icelandic language and medieval Icelandic literature, and a full range of Scandinavian literature and culture courses." I took courses myself from two of the professors in this department, and both were top-notch. The GSD (German, Scandinavian, and Dutch) Department also offers a 6-week course in Modern Icelandic, which would be a great course for any interested in graduate work. IIRC, Modern Icelandic is the closest living language we have which is comparable to Old Anglo-Saxon, and is pursued by those interested in subjects like historical linguistics. I haven't seen a college bulletin from the U of M in years, but when I was an undergraduate student there, they had more undergraduate and graduate-level languages offered than any website I've ever seen since: French, German, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Dutch, Scandinavian and Finnish, Arabic, Hebrew, Russian, Bengali, Hindi, Urdu, Sanskrit, Swahili, Cherokee, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, etc. etc. I don't know if they currently offer all of these languages, but this was typical of their offerings in the early 80s.

I'm a big proponent of learning Latin, and hope to someday have time once again to study more Latin myself, but I would first look at your goals. Since your primary goal is to teach Montesorri, and if you suspect that you may well encounter Spanish-speaking students, I would recommend that you study Spanish. Part of the dilemma is that the Spanish class does not sound optimum. If there are no other Spanish courses available to you at this time, I would try to make the best of the Spanish course and perhaps, later on, you might encounter a Spanish course which will give you more practice. Just my .02 worth. Good luck with your decision!

Very cute! For 5-1/2, she is indeed learning! :)

I'm not Reformed, yet we used both Omnibus I and II with no problems. I thought the discussion questions were excellent and provided good food for both thought and debate.

OK--gotcha! Yes, it is huge, and each year it gets bigger. I don't homeschool anymore, but I still receive the catalogue. It's a tremendous resource!

This is very good advice. I would also recommend researching the different martial arts studios in your area. My girls and I take lessons at a school which does mixed martial arts, beginning with tae kwon do/karate and then progressing on to judo and other types of martial arts.

Why, pray tell? Is there something bad about Rainbow Resource that we should know about? It's very popular with both secular and religious homeschoolers.

I'm sorry--I have not used this at the high school level, but am responding to give you what little information I can. I am reading this now, and I have really enjoyed the books. I'm almost finished with the first volume; there are two volumes, as you probably know. I bought it for the same reason which you are considering: to use it for an American history spine for my older two girls. Unfortunately, we stopped homeschooling one year short of using this book, so I can't give you any specific information on how to use it for a high school student. However, I will say that I exchanged several e-mails with a woman who was in charge of the project for turning it into a high-school level curriculum, and I was impressed with the fact that the book had been closely edited, peer-reviewed, and the extra materials were also undergoing a review process. Sorry to not be of more help! Hopefully my post will bump things up; perhaps someone else will see this and be able to give you more detailed information. :)

If I remember correctly, I think Beth in SW WA may have ordered this study guide. If she sees this thread, maybe she could give you more info. on it.

Praying here for healing, Molly. :grouphug: