I'm leaning more and more towards BJU Life Science (DVD) for my 7th grade DD next year. I really like the idea of handing the teaching of science over to someone besides me. :) Some questions I have: 1. I will also have two 4th graders. Has anyone included youngers with a junior high kiddo? And, if so, how did that look? I think they would enjoy watching the DVDs as well, and I was thinking of just having them do some notebooking pages to go with it, plus reading other books. 2. How much time per day does this course take? 3. How much of the entire course did your child do? Can you skip certain things or not? 4. Did you purchase a lab kit of some kind? From BJU? I'm seeing a dissection kit on the BJU website, but I'm not sure if it "goes" with the Life Science DVDs. 5. What did you and your child(ren) think of the course?

Yes, I think she recommended Abeka in the first edition(s) of TWTM.

DD placed into Level 600 for CLE. I'm so torn. My other two have done well with CLE LA. I'm tempted to have my older DD just start in CLE 600 now and see what we can get through during the summer, so she'd be partly through it. Sooo, anyone out there who can compare Abeka with CLE (at the middle school level)? Or another similar program? Anyone at all? :)

Thanks for this idea! I didn't realize BJU had a decent writing program, so off to check that out. :) We have done a bit of IEW and will probably do some more over the summer, but it's not necessarily my first or only choice.

Thanks, Deena! Yeah, I looked at the Table of Contents, and I think she could jump in very easily.

Mostly, I'd love to hear from others who have used Abeka for Language for Grades 4 and up. I used it our first year of homeschooling for 3rd grade, along with FLL. That went well. Currently using CLE for my 3rd graders and have mostly used something else for my 6th grader this year. I'm considering Abeka for 7th, or possibly CLE. But I think I would have to start in the 600s with CLE for my DD. For her sake (having younger siblings), I would prefer something on "grade level." Workbooks for language work pretty well for us, I don't mind Christian content, and plan to supplement for composition. I know Abeka doesn't get a lot of mention here, but I know some have used it for grammar, so I'd love to hear your thoughts!

I posted a different thread, hoping to hear how others have done interest led science. So far only one reply. Maybe because I typed WAY too much - ha ha! So here are some simpler questions: 1. What should 7th grade science look like? 2. What have you done for 7th grade science? 3. If you have youngers, did you include them in this science? Only parts of it? Something completely different? Background: I've had some chronic health issues and need something easy to implement, but thorough enough for what a 7th grader should be learning, and something fun!! :)

Thanks for sharing what you've done, Saddlemomma! :)

Even though they would have already had an art class, what about a craft to go along with the picture book? You can find lots of ideas on Pinterest to go with certain picture books. Of course, only having 30 minutes might not give enough time... Another idea might be songs that are somehow related to the books? Or memorize a poem together?

Okay, so I'll just say it like it is - we don't like science curriculum, at least none that we've tried up until now. The farther along we get in this homeschooling adventure, the more I'm drawn to unschooling / interest led when it comes to science. Okay, and for history somewhat, too. :) But back to science - my oldest will be in 7th grade next year, so I'm just wondering what is enough but thorough at that point? Others who are drawn to interest led for science - what have you done at this point (middle school)? If you have kids separated by 3 grade levels, do you still try to combine them? I think part of the issue, too, is that I've had some chronic health issues. I need something that doesn't take a lot of prep. work on my part. I also don't do well if I have to "do" everything with all three of them. I've gotten bored/tired out myself when science means sitting there reading something to them, setting up an experiment and doing it, and then having them do a narration or something like that. Even If I'm very upbeat and excited about it. I guess it's kind of boring, too, when that's the same kind of thing we do for history (substituting coloring pages and map stuff for the experiments). But, really, it's more than that. It just seems like there's more retention if my kids learn about and pursue stuff they're truly interested in. I've considered BJU DVD science for my 7th grader next year, but it's a bit pricey for us. I guess I like the idea of someone else teaching it. :) But then it really wouldn't go with my idea of more interest led, if that's still "ok" at the 7th grade level. I'm afraid, with interest led, that I'll have to be constantly figuring out the "next step" as everything won't be laid out. So, basically, what "should" science look like at this point? I've wondered about possibly having the girls read some kind of science textbook (but it has to be interesting and with lots of pictures) that covers a lot of areas of science. Maybe it could have some questions they could answer (doubling as reading comprehension). But then, from that, we could see what interests them the most and get library books covering those topics. Should my 7th grader be writing papers? She's more math/sciency/hands on than language oriented. I just feel like we've kind of just been winging it, so what suggestions might any of you have, pretty please? :) So far we've focused on earth/astronomy (but probably more earth), a bit of anatomy, chemistry, and physics. Even though we get library books about animals, etc., I'm thinking it would make sense to focus on life science next year. What we've done this year (3rd and 6th): - A tiny bit of Apologia Chemistry/Physics (not much at all really) - A few weeks of chemistry experiments (with a kit) - Robotics at our co-op (for about 11 weeks each semester - 50 min./once per week) - Some documentaries (they are watching one about dolphins right now as I'm typing this) - Some Bill Nye - An electronics exper. kit - Library books - Some Evan Moor science workbook (not all of it) - Playing outside/nature walks - A chosen topic that they focused on for a couple of weeks - oldest did some microscope study, including the history of the microscope, one younger studied crystals/rocks, the other studied birds - then they each gave a little oral report for the rest of us - my third graders also got a "toy" microscope that they've had fun with from time to time (it actually works pretty well - they were looking at boogers and stuff - ha ha!) Sorry so long!

My oldest, currently in 6th grade, is working through CLE Math 6. Doing well with it, mostly independently. I was thinking she would switch to Saxon (that's our preference) after this year, but now I'm having 2nd thoughts. I think my biggest hesitation is that I know she wouldn't be crazy about having to re-write the problems. I read another thread on here where one person said it's maybe a good idea to start Saxon 8/7 before jumping into Algebra (in other words, don't jump into Saxon in your Algebra year). That way they're familiar with how Saxon works before getting into the harder stuff. On the other hand, if I keep her in workbook format, it looks like CLE does Pre-Algebra in two years? I really would hate to cram that all into one. I'm really even unsure about what progression math "should" take. What is the general progression of Saxon (in what grades) through high school? She gets math pretty easily so far. Anyway, I'd love to hear what others have done. :)

Wow! Thanks for all the shared routines! It's so helpful to know what "normal" is for others. :)

Thanks so much for all these replies! Yeah, I only have one who LOVES to read and probably doesn't really need assigned time. :) The other two really need to have a routine/schedule for reading.

I used R&S for 4th grade with my oldest. We liked it alright. It's probably a bit more writing than CLE, unless you do some of it orally. I have rising 3rd graders (turned 8 in May) who will be using CLE for Language this year. A few months ago I started them in book 204, and they worked through 207 over the summer. Prior to that, they had done FLL 2. At the 200 level, the books still refer to adjectives as "describing words" and possessive nouns as "ownership nouns," but you can replace the words if you want or just talk about what they 'really' are. I really like all the review that CLE incorporates - and it's more independent than R&S. But I have no idea what R&S is like at the 3rd grade level. The 200 level also focuses on phonics, which we didn't really need, so we skip some of that, along with the spelling and handwriting. We use other programs for those things, but I think CLE is still worth it for all the other stuff. :)

I haven't actually used it much yet, but I have the 3rd grade book. I have it from when we pulled our oldest out of PS in third, but we ended up going with different science at the time. I plan on having my 3rd graders use it for some of their assigned reading. It's not super meaty, but I like it - simple, nice pictures, easy to understand. If you have kiddos who love experiments, you'd probably want to add to it. We'll be doing other science as well with big sister.

I'm working on a basic routine/schedule, trying to fit in some things that we didn't do last year. I tried searching but didn't come up with much. I'm just curious how much time "school" takes daily for others? Especially if you don't school year round. We do some stuff in the summer, but it's a much different schedule (and less) than what we do during the main "school year." 3rd and 6th grade :)

I've searched but can't quite find the answers I'm looking for. Basically, just how much reading do you require of your kiddos? Last year my 5th grader did 1/2 an hour of assigned reading and an hour of free reading. My 2nd graders and I read together for about 30 minutes, taking turns. And then they read usually for about 45 minutes to an hour on their own. I think this is basically what WTM recommends, but I'm just wondering how others go about this? I know some have kids who are doing more independent reading for their history, science, etc. We will still mostly be doing those all together (I'll be reading), with added reading on their own, especially my oldest. Oh, I also did read-alouds and plan to continue that. We're planning to add some things to our day this year (piano, Spanish) and it just seems like the days might end up being too long. So....I'm especially curious about 3rd and 6th grade.

Okay, so it sounds like it can mostly be used independently and can be adapted as far as schedule, etc. :) Thanks, everyone!

Just curious how others use these workbooks? Do you use it for just a bit of daily work? Just once per week, doing the whole week's lesson at one time? Is it mostly independent or do you have to "teach" it?

Why not? Just curious as to the reasons. :)

Last year my 2nd graders (twins) and I had reading time together where they would basically take turns reading to me daily. Pretty normal for 2nd grade, I think. They are not struggling readers and enjoy reading. For my 5th grader last year, I had her read to me basically just every once in a while. Or I would let her have a turn reading SOTW to all of us. :) Just wondering how others go about having their kids read out loud? What is a typical "progression?" I'm trying to get our schedule for this next year somewhat laid out (at least what we will initially try). :)

Don't have input at this point - boy, that sounds rough, though. Just curious...has he always been homeschooled?

Thank you so much, KFamily! These are great lists! :)

We will be using (some of) SOTW 4 for history this year and was wondering if anyone has some good book suggestions for 3rd graders for the Modern History time period. The activity guide seems to have suggestions for slightly older kiddos. My girls read well, so I'm not so much looking for books on a 3rd grade reading level, but books with 3rd grade content. :) Any suggestions for any books in general for this time period would be great (even for the 6th grader)! :)

For a while there I was rather freaking out, thinking I needed to find a completely different history curriculum, but I think I'm settled on continuing to use SOTW 4 this year... but with some modifications/changes/substitutions for the youngers. :) Thanks for all the insight!