oooh - good thinking! Any suggestions as to a good version of the LOTR audio book? That'd be a great one! Linda.

Hi Drew - yep, they're aged 12, 14, 15 & 16 - my 16 year old has some learning problems, meaning a slower pace is just right for her. We'll try out the guides, and see how we go! Linda.

In three weeks, we are going to pack up the family and travel 2,600 kilometres (about 1600 miles) from Adelaide to Perth. We have eight children - fortunately, they travel well! :tongue_smilie: I'll be taking audio books, our portable tv / dvd player, and they have books to read, electronic hand-held games, etc. Any other ideas for keeping us all occupied on the long trip? We'll be travelling across the Nullarbor Plain - apparently, it's a long drive across there, with very little to see - you can't even see the ocean, and there are very few trees - and even less towns! Just the wide, open plains - exactly the way we like it! :) Any ideas, tips, or suggestions? Linda

Well, we're just about there! In about 2 weeks, we shall complete Latina Christiana 2, and begin Henle - yahoo! :hurray: So, a question for your folks who have already done this - do you use the Memoria Press guides - and if so, have you found they move at a good pace? Or, have you used anything else to supplement and expand the programme? I'd like to do more with Lingua Angelica - we have learned many of the hymns, but not much of the actual translations as such. Any hints, tips, or suggestions? Linda.

I believe there are at least two different publishers for lapbooks to go with the Apologia books - zoology, astronomy, etc. - has anyone used any of them? What did you think? Comments? Anyone know how the different ones compare? Thanks! Linda. PS - Knowledge Box Central and Live and Learn are the ones I know about - but if there are others, I'd love to hear about them, too!

HI - A couple of my older children are quite good at spelling - and I think the time has come for them to concentrate on other areas, and not make spelling a part of the lesson plans. Before we do that, however, I would like them to take a brief 'review' course, which covers the basic rules of spelling, etc. Can anyone recommend such a book? One that's not too heavy, doesn't take up much time, and yet, clearly and simply reviews the main spelling rules. Thankyou!

Mine is 'Pine Villa Homeschool'; the link is in my signature, below. Happy Blogging! :)

This is so sad - he was such a great actor. Dam, dam, dam! Here's another link, with some more info. http://au.news.yahoo.com/080122/2/15ltq.html

Little girls and one boy! Seven girls, One boy; aged 5 to 15 They're all 'school age' for the first time this year; so it's going to be a busy one. :)

Shonell's Essential Spelling List is excellent! Just 3- 5 words per day, organised into groups. We've found it works very well. I have them: 1. Copy out the words 2. Put them into alphabetical order 3. Divide the words into syllables, and 4. Put the words into sentences. Then Friday, it's a test on the week's words, and every four weeks or so there's a dictation passage to review the words. Takes about ten minutes per day - quick, simple and effective - just the way I like it!

I think it's around 37 degrees here: CELCIUS, that is! Pretty warm, anyway - the air conditioners are working well, though. Sun, sun and more sun - it IS lovely, however, SOME rain would also be good..........

Here's some of what we're using: English / Grammar: English for Australian Schools Writing: IEW (correlated with history) Latin: Finishing up Latina Christiana 2, then onto Henle Latin Maths: Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 Logic: Building Thinking Skills Lvl 3 / The Fallacy Detective Science: Apologia Physical Science History: The ABCs of Christian Culture Art: How Great Thou Art, books 1 & 2 Music: Piano, Guitar and Theory Lessons, plus 'Meet the Great Composers' Religion: Faith & Life 8 Plus, I issue a reading list for each term, and we use 'Teaching the Classics' to discuss some of the books they have read.

For grades K-3, we use primarily the 'Magic School Bus' videos. Then, we use a combination of God's Design Science and Great Science Adventures (Dinah Zike). For Grade 7-8 and up, it's Apologia.

Around the World in 180 Days from Apologia is another option. We've not used it ourselves as yet, but it looks good - as always, it depends on what approach you are looking to use.

We use IEW - mainly the TWISS seminar, but also have used SWI, Bible-Based Writing Lessons, and Medieval-Based Writing Lessons. This is our 12th year of homeschooling; we discovered IEW about 18 months ago, and have never looked back - one of those programs that suits us perfectly! :)

LOL! Very good point! I've really got to sign off..... it is very late! But, it's been fun playing with the new board. No doubt I'll be back tomorrow.

How sad, and what a great loss. I am really feeling for you.

Titanic, from the Vision Forum. It's a book that was originally published just a few months after the Titanic sank; full of eye-witness accounts, that type of thing. While some facts are the same, the attitudes are very different than what is portrayed in the block-buster Titanic movie! This year, I am also determined to read 'Lord of the Rings'.

Well, this is just MEAN! ;) I turned 40 last week! :( I think it may take me a little while to get used to the idea.......

The new forum is great! Very easy to use - thankyou, Susan.

We've used Prima Latina, Latina Christiana 1 & 2, and will be starting Henle soon. We've really loved LC; mind you, the children DO tend to acheive higher marks than me, but ah, well. :o It's quite interesting, actually; I'm just finishing up LC II with four of my children: ages 15, 14, 13 and 12; and usually, the 12 year old scores the highest in the tests. Goes to show it really is true that they soak up the information much better when they are younger.

Really teach them 'how' to write. Writing is so essential, but we kind-of skipped over a lot of it early on, trying to fit everything in. I'd reduce science, logic, etc. to some degree, and do more writing lessons; or at least incorporate more writing into those lessons. I'd also incorporate more research work; give them less, and let them find out for themselves more.

Oh, that's a classic! Gotta love those typos! :D

Ah, well; we're supposed to learn to think 'out of the box', right? Of course, the chocolate and brandy does help. We'll get there! :cool:

For elementary History, Story of the World is our all-time favourite! For Australian History, we use 'Australia the Wide Brown Land for Me!' (yeh, yeh so I"m biased -seeings how I wrote it) ;) For the upper levels, we're starting the 'ABCs of Christian Culture' this year; really looking forward to it, as it presents history from a Catholic perspective, and we can incorporate it with the TWISS / IEW writing lessons.