My son is taking precalc through them right now. He says it is exactly what you're looking for, assuming the humanities classes are structured similarly. You watch 8-10 short pre-recorded videos a week. The videos are whiteboard lectures, and he feels the teaching is good quality. There are two practice assignments every week and only one that is turned in. There is also a weekly devotional assigned to read and respond to. He says he spends 4-5 hours per week on this class. It is a one-semester class which he likes. There is a separate live teacher who answers questions and grades tests. He has always responded within a day. Tests are every 3-4 weeks. They use the Canvas web portal. From a parent's perspective, we had a TERRIBLE time getting information from them beforehand when we were trying to get signed up and prepared for the class. Many emails went unanswered, and the few responses we did get often did not give the answer to the questions we were asking. I don't know if they were getting their system figured out or what. Hope that is better now. Overall, I think LETU DE online classes are an excellent value. There were half the price of a regular online high school class through Wilson Hill, which we considered. Plus they are DE and you get that tuition discount if you end up attending there.

Not fiction, but my teen loved The Yanks are Coming by Albert Marrin.

I've thought a lot about this thread/this concept over the last couple years because we try to be a Schole school. We are currently in year three of high school with our first high-schooler and it's been a lot of learning on the job. Let's see if I can put thoughts into words . . . I think the biggest barrier to schole for me has been being intimidated by college entrance and its expenses. We had to have all these credits and we had to have these high scores. AP and dual-credit. Attention-getting extra-curriculars. PSAT and SAT and ACT; make sure you prepare! Oh, and there's tons of scholarships out there, if you just do the research to find them, and then write the necessary essays or whatever. High school can QUICKLY become a form of "teaching to the test" rather than teaching for life, and that just grates on my schole sensibilities. Not to mention I have younger students to whom I need to devote most of my teaching/parenting time. I just do not have the time to co-learn with my high-schooler. (Though I hope to when the youngers get to this age.) Sometimes, when I would get overwhelmed, I liked to dream about how high school could be with college completely out of the picture. Deep down I wondered if that was the way it really should be. But I was too afraid of messing things up. This was my firstborn, and a college degree was a must to be hire-able in his field of interest. But I feel like I'm far enough in that I'm able to look back and assess a bit. Successes: Outsourcing a bit, but not too much Scheduling in down time, but not too much :D Making DS use a student planner Requiring time/exercise outdoors on a daily basis Requiring a commonplace book Taking the PSAT for practice-- and no prep pressure Making sufficient sleep a priority Requiring that DS read to his siblings on a daily basis Getting DS involved in CAP, ballroom dancing Allowing DS to select a few courses (this is where I long to do way more) Making DS re-take algebra 2 Regrets: Two years of foreign language - yes, I know this is "required" at many schools but I still feel it was a lot of wasted time, money, and energy that could have been used better elsewhere A classical rhetoric course. I should have kept it simple and kept to a writing/lit combo. Not reading aloud to my high-schooler. I bought some Father Brown to do together, and it's still largely unread. :( Not watching some Great Courses together. We are doing one this year. Not outsourcing geometry. The proofs still need to be graded. :leaving: Worrying too much about "what everyone else is doing." I'm on the fence about enrolling DS in a college DE class. It felt like we were doing way less than a lot of people with only one class in 11th grade but whew! It's tough for him. I'm hoping he'll pass but he's certainly not getting straight A's. I'm wondering if I should have him take pre-calc again (not for college credit, just for skill level) since he'll be done by Christmas. (Any opinions on this?) I'm beginning to feel like one key for high school schole is that we should go for a slow burn. Part of this has been my own experience with my smart, but not gifted, high-schooler, and what has worked educationally. Right now I just think it's better to teach him right where he's at, and work hard, and get good grades, than to put him into DE and AP where true learning suffers and stress rises. The other part has been from dipping my toe into the college world (college visits and the DE class). I've always been a bit perplexed when I hear homeschoolers talk about how bad the public school system is, and then out of the other side of their mouth they are wringing their hands about the competition of college admissions and scholarships. Well, which is it? We've also been to a few college visits now, some "top-tier" schools for my DS's field of interest. I was talking to an admissions officer at Embry-Riddle, worrying about what courses DS should take and what the grades should look like, and she just smiled a little and said, "You'll have no problem getting in." What? Then why am I beating myself up about this? :laugh: I do NOT want to make it sound like I think high school should be easy and relaxing. I think young adults (boys? :lol: ) should be working hard. The question is on what. Math should be one, but I will probably plan on fewer credits with my next high schooler. I know the question of scholarships remains. But a lot of academic performance depends on motivation. And I don't know about you guys, but my high-school male is just not overflowing with motivation, despite the occasional "your-grades-will save-you-money" lecture. I know that some of parenting is providing external motivation when our kids don't have it, but at some point you have to let them start taking ownership, or relationships will suffer. It's his life, his education, his tuition bills. You can't have schole when you are a slave driver standing over them! Maybe with my next student I will be braver, and we will just do math and write, and read and follow interests. Not sure how that would look on a transcript, but I'd have a lot more time to work on it!

Writing Trails Write With the Best Maxwell's School Composition

. . . and totally enjoyed it. Would be great for ages 4-10 or anyone young at heart. The play is about an hour long. http://enchantmenttheatre.org/north-american-tours/my-fathers-dragon/

Most homeschoolers who like Waldorf use its methods and aren't doing true Waldorf education. As mentioned above, pure Waldorf is very specific about what to teach and when and how. It is one-size-fits-all. And since the lessons come from the teacher's head as opposed to a book, I think it sounds very exhausting for a homeschool mom to implement. We have used many Waldorf ideas for preK-2nd with great success. Nature table, festivals, cooking, time in nature, music, Waldorf-type crafts, etc. The book Heaven on Earth focuses more on the lifestyle part of Waldorf and could be added to any type of schooling. I also found the Christopherus kindergarten book helpful. Our all-time favorite grammar is the Waldorf-inspired Sentence Family.

We always found the skill subjects are better for short, daily lessons and the content subjects better for longer blocks.

I use just a little of Ray's Primary for 1st and 2nd and move on to another vintage math, Strayer-Upton. The main reason I like old math is that it is presented in a very logical, systematic fashion (as opposed to the newer spiral math which jumps around). They also use a lot of story problems and real-world math, such as money, interest, construction, etc. ETA: YES, they are very good with mental math skills.

How often do you have them? What time of day? What do you serve? What do you use for decor/special trimmings? Do you have a favorite pot/cups? How long are they? How do you incorporate poetry? Has anyone dropped them? Yes, I perused the website. Just wondering what has worked out in real life. Pictures are always fun.

I agree with the North Shore of Lake Superior. It is so fresh and wild and relaxing up there. And so many good restaurants. Hawaii Black Hills. Perfect for families. I love the SW when it's cold up here. Santa Fe, Arizona, So CA is nice too but so crowded.

I guess the problem with shopping across brands for me is that it multiplies the sense of confusion and overwhelm by like 500. :) And experimenting in high end brands gets expensive real fast. I've already been burned by Tarte (clumpy mascara), Pixi (dreadful colors), BareMinerals (dry looking and doesn't last), and now Butter (clumpy mascara again). Maybe people don't mind clumpy mascara? Am I being too picky? Anyway, that's why I liked the idea of Birchbox. Thanks for all the recommendations. It gives a place to start.

Any experience with Lilah B makeup? I think I'm going to get the free samples.

Well I guess not too many people stick to one brand! I like the Birchbox subscription idea and signed up. Also bought some Black honey lipstick today and love it.

I'm a minimalist, but I like to use good quality. But because I don't use much makeup (and I'm not a shopper), I haven't experimented around. Looking at the options is overwhelming. I don't mind spending more if the quality is exceptional, but not if it's just marginally better. I went on a rare trip to Ulta the other week and splurged on a couple Butter London products. They are . . . okay. I will use them up because of the price but I don't know if I would repurchase. I like to be able to trust a brand. What are your favorites?

My DS will be doing it this year, but we don't have any reports yet!

My 5th-grader is using Exploration Education this year. With my firstborn, we did various things for middle school science, but had the best success with McHenry's programs. I plan to use her again for those grades, along with lots of interest-led learning with living (trade) books. For the first two years of high school, we did ACE science with the DVDs. I wanted to focus most of our time and money on English and Math (outsourced) those years, and I needed a complete, get 'er done curriculum for science. ACE's DVDs were perfect for this, and they were not as expensive as an online program. Ninth was biology, tenth was an intro to physics and chem. For the last two years of high school, we are putting a greater focus on science, particularly as it applies to career goals. My DS is going into aviation, so 11th grade will be earth, meteorology, and space science, (earth/met - Novare at home with a Great Course and a few other books, and space - through Excelsior online). 12th will be physics, either online or at the community college. One of the more helpful bits of advice I've gotten for planning high school is to have nothing set in stone. It has been necessary for us to reevaluate every year. And right now there is an explosion of online classes; I'm sure there will be many more by the time you are at this stage.

Do any of you have personal audio devices (MP3 players) for your children that you really like? Something not too expensive, used for audio books, music, etc?

We do this too!

A one-day retreat is being planned by a friend of mine for west-central Wisconsin, focusing on Charlotte-Mason-inspired education. It is within driving distance of the Twin Cities. Cindy will be the guest speaker, along with Melissa who blogs at Reflections from Drywood Creek, and another CM veteran. Details and registration found at: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/journey-an-education-for-life-tickets-35804524296

Real Learning by Elizabeth Foss For the Children's Sake by Macaulay Mere Motherhood by Cindy Rollins

I just didn't need it then. I was looking for future reference. ;) I may try it next year (2018/2019) for my up-and-coming 6th-grader.

I don't think there is anything for 7th/8th. I would just use the freshman level. I ordered a copy from Amazon and then returned it after reviewing it.

I think so. But I don't think it's possible to have the kids around all the time and not have them consume your life. :lol: I have a lot more time on my hands after I simplified the curriculum, and put more of the learning responsibility on the students' shoulders.

:lurk5: https://www.amazon.com/Professor-Klugimkopfs-Old-Fashioned-English-Grammar/dp/0942487109

Daily Grammar Practice