The author's world view and mine are pretty different so her example sentences are always changed, but at this point, we're pretty committed to the program. this is year 4 for one of mine and I think my kids can spell pretty well and KNOW why things are spelled the way they are. It is a hard program to get started. The learning curve is pretty steep, but now that I have it, we just open and go. It's working for us. ~christine in al

Declensions are just groups that nouns are sorted into. Declining a noun is the act of listing that noun into cases, according to how the noun will be used in sentences (is the noun the subject? object of preposition? direct object? etc.). The cases are called: nominative, genitive, dative, accusative, and ablative. If you can conquer those two ideas and memorize the names of the five cases in order, you will have done a great thing and will be ready to move on. It took me awhile to understand what a declension *was,* nevermind how to start using the various cases! WOW, thanks. ~Christine in al

:iagree: with Aubrey. no guilt, peace and healing and joy to you. Christine in al

doing too many smart things in too many smart ways. ;) hmschooling, thanks. you help me breathe, I will try to balance and look for bones in some stories for outlining, and conversation and comprehension in others. honestly, seeing two distinctly different approaches to the same curriculum is exptremely helpful. ~c.

abbeyej abbeyej, I liked hmschooling's answer better, it was easier to implement. ;) Thanks for your reply, especially the detail of how to get her to condense. Why are we doing this part? ARe we moving toward an outline... sort of taking a complete body, and learning to pare way extras until the boes are left , so they can later build a body starting with the bones? ( sorry for this rather gruesome metaphor) I think THIS may be why I bought the main WWE book, I'll chekc there as well as look for wisdom from y'all , which is so helpful. ~c.

homeschooling... "whereas olders, with practice in narration, will slowly start to get more concise and tell the important parts" my ds in WWE3, learned pretty quickly to give short, monotone, easily remembered sentences, ( nothing like he writes himself in his stories) because he knew he'd be asked to remember them for dictation the following lesson. There is not an adjective or adverb in sight when he narrates, he distills the story to one easily-dictated sentence. Thanks, for you reply I'll just let her run with her retellings, and maybe move her toward at least thinking about the most important thing. Thanks for the encouragement. I'll chill. ~christine in al

So, hse is in WWE 2, she's supposed to be summarizing.. instead she'll just re-tell the whole thing back to me. We work on her making it short, but I wanted to check in that I really WAS going for making it short. Do I want her to choose the important bits? in other words edit her narration? What to do? thanks. ~Christine

It was a language none of us spoke, and I think it was the technical difficulties as much as anything. I DO NOT LIKE learning computer stuff. RS just didn't do it for us. at all. ~c.

We have only been using MCT for 6 weeks, We are even still using FLL (3) and Island together. ( this is not as seamless a pairing as WWE and MCT, some of the labels used in FLL and MCT are slightly different and I'm not educated enough ( YET) to really know my grammar. But I'm finding benefits in both. We've not used IEW, and my kids , just write stuff for fun. Have you looked at Brave Writer? I am also loving Teaching the Classics ( not secular, but not bad) for me I'm looking at more literature study at this age ( 7 and 9). so they can experience and understand good literature when they encounter it. I'm assuming that quality in.... will eventually equal quality out. ( hope so) good luck. ~c in al

ds listened to the SOTW Middle ages cds so much ( 3 years worth) he felt like he knew it all. He had certainly , " heard it all before." :001_smile: So when dd 2nd grade was ready to move to SOTW MA, I added HO MA for ds 4th grade. ( can you say WAAAY behind on history) He is really loving it. He tells his dad about writing summaries. and is enjoying going more in depth with specific topics. He is grooving on doing 6th grade work. He's able to do it fine, I just figured that it was about 6th grade because of the 4 year cycle we are SUPPOSED to be on. I am liking the transition to more self-directed study. note on religiosity for any program. I am often AMAZED at what is offensive to one person and not to another. so, good luck with that. It seems to be as personal as perfume. ~christine in al

You may like " Children the Challenge" I haven't looked at it in years, but I really really like it. It's my " go to " book if I'm stuck on behavior. It's all about Logical and Natural consequences. come to think of it, We do have something going on, I need to dig it back out myself. ~christine

I might do Song School Latin ( don't need the teacher's manual, ) as early as K. or first grade, then just keep the cd around for singing in the car and get started on a MFL so their accent is good. Those language-learning centers in the brain are still open and all that. OR, I might just do what Laura suggests and go with a MFL , then add Latin later, but,, nawh, I have a word-loving young'un and we both grove on the root thing, Any hooo. take a look at SSL, We are weaving in SSL and Minimus ( do need teacher's manual. IMHO the added value far outweighs the added expense) Have fun. ~c.

I know what you mean about too Early means a life of explaining that he really DID do it. I've seen a whole lot of Daddies racing their pine wood derby cars. Dh is an Eagle and he didn't finish his until he SQUEAKED under the wire just barely by 18. ( His brother got his at 16, I thought THAT was early). We do want this to be ds's goal to get Eagle, It will be his business if he wants to do it. I just didn't want to get him all fired up for Scouting and working toward Eagle and then say... " oh, by the way, you can go off to school now and abandon this half-finished Eagle Scout thing you've been working on. (He doens't even know we are thinking about the boarding school, I just want to have him qualified to be accepted in case he wants to go.) Thanks again fo rall your input. ~c.

He MAY, MAY go to a Math and Sciecne bording school. ( he's in 4th, they dont' take them until 10th, We're still working on multiplication and basic division, so he's not a genius, I'm just trying to get my ducks in a row. ) To now he CAN do both is good. thanks.

It looks like your teeth have all fallen out. good luck with the banquet. :-) ~Christine in al

How early can a kid attain Eagle? This is so funny, 'cause we aren't even IN Scouting right now ( crummy cub experience, so we are waiting until Boy Scouts) What age do kids usually start Boy Scouts ? How long does Eagle take if you hussle? Thanks ~Christine

I see Basic College Math for sale on Ebay, I am NOT gifted in Math, so I need a program that has solutions. Does Lial BCM? ~Christine in AL

I"m still looking for options for pre algebra. ~c in al

Consider talking with db, to keep down triangulation in the family. mom playing sibs against each other. you know your situation, but if it makes sense, talk directly to db, about how it just doesn't work for her to come . As for mom. You don't even have to answer the email. You have already answered the question. Email her seperately about something pleasant, but just refuse to talk about that issue anymore. Find a mantra that works for you and just repeat it again and again and again every time she haranges you. " Mom, This just won't work for us" " Thank you for the invitation, but no" " She can not go" good luck, this is a clear boundary issue. SHE's the one violating the boundaries. The bad news is, you will get to set this boundary again, the good news is , the better you do this time, the easier ( for you both) next time. Until you have lovingly taught her to not invade your life in hurtful ways. ~Christine

Funds to a reputable organization will help many children eat and be clothed and have shelter. For adoptions to be safe, there needs to be a great deal of infrastucture. Records, and files and paper trails. and oversight and transparency. Officials can be corrupt, but if there aren't even any officials to watch out for evil, then the lure of money to the deperately poor, or the greedy, is just too strong and it's a huge risk that the children who really NEED the help don't get it, while some people are victimized. meanwhile. those poor children could be helped with donations to Medicins Sans Frontiers, and other organizations who might already be on the ground and set up to save lives. From a strickly logical perspecitive. the money that an international adoption costs can feed and clothe and house several children. It's not the same thing, but if you are feeling moved to help, that's a way to , right now. If you are inspired to adopt internationally, that's wonderful. good luck. There are children in countries who need homes right now, who's paper work is all clear. Check out International Assistance and Adoption Program, for special needs kids from China. Just take a look, maybe your child is actually ,,,, there. Dick and Cheryl Graham are truly good people and you can trust them. Blessings, Chrsitine in al

Alabama is testing crazy and those poor sods in school are constently having tests. I read that there is a switch to a uniform test. I see that the NAEP is out there and I'm wondering if anyone has access to it. I found sample questions on the website, but I'd like to have my ds take the test. ~c in al

We might outsource science. Once I find my tutor, What rigorous curriculum can I hand her . Any curricula come to mind? ~Christine in al

Egyptian records, etc. ~c in al

Hi, I'm about to order the Who in the world combo pack and wondered if anyone had a discount code they would share? Thanks. Christine in al

Why? WE ( as in me) haven't done it, but ds has.. and I too wonder. Why? As we continue even in FLL 3, I don't see him USE the memorized list. I trust Jessie Wise and SWB completely on most things, but I'm thinking I'll not ask the memorization list of my second child. We too will work on recognition in context. So says the woman who just learned from this board, that a preposition isn't a preposition without an object , about which to be a proposition. ~christine in al