My son has read them all and loves them! I think you need to read them in order... When my son returns later this evening, he will follow-up with details! I think he has read all of the Rick Riordan (Percy's author) books, but doesn't care for the Norse gods series as much. He has a new favorite author, Brandon Mull, who writes similar books. We will get back with you soon!

We use Second Form Latin with the DVDs. I think they are very helpful and enhance the written lesson material. The instructor does talk too fast for me, but not for my son. I'm the one clicking on the pause button so I can complete whatever oral recitation he has us doing. This year I added a self-paced video option from another provider (also using Second Form Latin). The instructor does speak more slowly, but he doesn't begin to provide the depth of information that the Second Form DVD instructor (Glenn?) provides. We are unable to take online classes because my son travels frequently for extracurricular activities. I would not be able to take an online class because I need more time and repetition for the material to sink in. We spend a lot of time reviewing flashcards - and I make up more of them (using the oral drills from the teacher manual) to add to the ever expanding collection. We love Latin, and definitely prefer to move at our slower pace with frequent review - but it is helping our retention so far...

I emailed Dr.D yesterday regarding the texts his classes use, the rigor, the number of videos, etc. He responded quickly: "Hi Georgia I have a demo to the course which is the best way to check it out. I taught from a Forrester text book back in the 90’s. It is awesome. I wrote the curriculum myself. I have been in education for 30 years. I ran a tutoring company while teaching in the public schools back in the early 90’s (teachers needing a 2nd income go figure) and learned from just about every textbook and student learning style you can imagine in those days. That experience turned out to be the best learning to be a teacher anyone could ever have. When I was writing all of the courses, I used these courses as a guide. Pearson Glencoe McGraw Hill And even a little Forester while courses are not quite as rigorous as the Forester text though. I do teach formal proofs in Geometry but I don’t make students memorize all the theorems. It tends to be something they memorize, forget and are happy to forget. Instead, students learn to create a proof, following the flow of a logical set of steps. Students have found this to be a very helpful way of learning. Each course has 12 chapters and 6-8 sections per chapter. There is a pre-recorded video for each section. Each section has approximately 20 practice problems with the step by step detailed solutions provided as you will see in the demo. There is a short 5 question online quiz in each section and 2 spiral review quizzes per chapter. The chapter tests and semester exams are online assessments as well. They are great for standardized test prep as students enter their upper level high school years. The notes students should be taking while watching the videos are built into the course work…you will see that in the demo. The videos stream online so students can watch, pause, rewind as needed while doing the course work section. It is very effective for students and creates self-directed learning skills. Here is how to demo a class www.mrdmath.com Click on “student login†Username: Demo Password: MrDMath Then click on the course you want to see on the left hand side of the screen. There are short videos that will show how to use the course once you are in a course area. Let me any questions you have along the way too!" Dr. D provides a variety of class options: Option 1: Online Curriculum + Online Class Sessions ($197 one-time fee plus $29 a month for 10 months) Option 2: Online Curriculum + In-Person Classes Option 3: Online Curriculum Only - self paced ($197 one-time fee) - but which also includes access to the Mr. D Math teaching staff Is there anyone who can give us the pros and cons of the Dr. D curricula compared to what other curricula they have used?

Count us in!

Dicentra, We would definitely be interested. My son needs asynchronous due to his heavy travel schedule with extracurricular activities. Derek Owens-type videos, and with fill-in notes like he offers, would be a winner for us! We look forward to hearing more! Thank you! :hurray:

My son and I are enjoying Memoria Press's Form Series. He started with Prima Latina in 5th grade; it was very easy, but he enjoyed it. We followed with First Form Latin, and we are now completing Second Form Latin. We don't think it is dull at all! (I have looked at Cambridge and other whole-to-parts books. I'm impressed that anyone could learn Latin that way!) There is something out there for everybody! If what you choose doesn't work, try another method! Good luck!

We plan to use Jurgensen, which has many highly rated reviews on this forum. Memoria Press had added it to its offerings. I bought it used online somewhere.

My DS12 was well prepared for Foerster's Algebra after Math Mammoth 7. (He also took DO's Pre-Algebra chapter tests to make sure everything was covered; it was.)

It is my understanding you have to find your own advisor, and it can't be a family member.

We are still deciding whether or not to attempt this. It sounds fantastic, but we have concerns about finding an advisor. My son won't be 13-1/2 until May, when he would be eligible to register. For Personal Development, the plan would be to continue with chess training and attending chess tournaments, with a goal of improving his chess rating. For Physical Fitness, his dad is researching something called Spartan, which is hiking or walking. Apparently there are meets throughout the country. You don't have to be fast, just finish! Still thinking about Volunteer and Exploration. I like your ideas for Exploration. I had hoped to use Civil Air Patrol for the volunteer work, but they don't have a cadet program in our area.

Foerster includes review - and we love this book!

Hi, Lisa in the UP of MI, No, it doesn't include all of the courses, but still there are numerous courses from which to choose. I suggest visiting the greatcoursesplus.com website and seeing if what you are interested in is available. I agree with others regarding your learning style. Video lectures work great for me; on the other hand, I'm not sure my 13-year old son appreciates them like I do. Regarding one course that I found fascinating, my son recently told me the only thing he found interesting was what color combinations the lecturer was going to wear that day!

We bought greatcoursesplus.com streaming for one year at an annual price of $180.00. We love it. We are watching the U.S. History course now, as well as A New History of Life. I believe the newer courses incorporate more maps and photos. We've looked at individual lectures from other courses as well. In the past, I purchased used DVDs from Amazon and eBay vendors and the quality of the DVDs was excellent. However, there were some series that I would not have purchased had I experienced the lecturer, but some have been great! We like videos, and I can't see us sitting and listening to audio. We don't drive for more than 5 minutes anywhere, so listening while commuting is not an option. Please let me know if there are other courses you are interested in, and I'll give you my feedback.

Congratulations! What a great game!

I don't know anything about the text, but I found a solutions manual at Amazon. Used copies are available for about $2.00 plus $3.99 for shipping. According to the reviews, the solutions (not just answers) are shown for the odd numbered problems in the text. Product Details Paperback: 648 pages Publisher: Pearson; 6 edition (April 28, 2012) Language: English ISBN-10: 0321785320 ISBN-13: 978-0321785329 Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 1.3 x 10.7 inches I hope this helps! Best wishes!

Thank you very much!

If I were to start teaching my 7th grade son biology, chemistry, and physics concurrently, could somebody recommend appropriate texts for middle school? I've seen some of the UK texts where the subjects are taught at different times during the year, so I suppose I could take a lesson from each section of these texts and go forward. My concern is that the U.S. texts seem to be grade level based, with life science in 7th, integrated chemistry and physics in 8th, to be followed by biology, chemistry, then physics. So the available texts (chemistry, physics, for example) are geared for the more mature and advanced student if the normal U.S. curriculum levels are followed. It would be helpful to have all three sciences available at the age and learning level for 7th, then 8th, etc. I just returned from being evacuated for Hurricane Matthew. We are safe and the house is fine, but I'm tired and I don't think I'm expressing myself adequately or accurately. I hope this makes sense to someone who is in a position to offer advice about textbooks! I've gone to the links provided above, but I don't see texts... Your expertise is truly appreciated.

The Getty Dubay style would work best for my son. Even though we just received the BJU handwriting, I'm switching to Dubay Getty. Eliminating the loops and having a slant of only 5 degrees will work better with his grip. I'm looking forward to learning with him.

I'm interested in these copybooks! Do they provide the style of the cursive? I can't find the information online. Thank you.

I find it very sad. I always admired their humanitarian efforts and their desire to have children. I hope it is a wake-up call for Brad to get sober if it could help save the marriage and family.

I recommend Kolbe Academy. They are a Catholic provider, but offer secular materials for the classes you indicate. You would be able to download their syllabi. Nancy in their bookstore is very responsive and also could mail you the syllabi and books very quickly, or you could find the books online (Amazon, eBay, homeschool classifieds,...) for less. Algebra 2 options include Foerster (highly regarded on this website), as well as Saxon. I'm not familiar with their Chemistry text, but it is secular. I only see Spanish going to the Spanish 2 level, but they may have additional information not on the website. Here is a link to Kolbe: http://www.kolbe.org With Kolbe, your son would do his work independently and you would grade it. Or, you could see about enrolling in the online classes, where a teacher would grade his work, since it is not too late in the year. I hope this helps. Good luck!

I'm having the same issue with my almost 13-year old son. When he was in public school until 4th grade, he learned an improper handwriting grip that does not allow for much flexibility with penmanship. (I used to call it his Cro-Magnon man grip!) I was disgusted with myself that I didn't notice his grip issue earlier, and now he doesn't want to make an effort to change it. His printing is very neat, but not his penmanship. I've looked at a variety of cursive styles and have decided on BJU's approach. It is not flowery at all, very simplistic, but neat. I really like how they write the lower case b's. Here is a link to the BJU product page: https://www.bjupress.com/product/268581?samplePage. I'm not certain I like the upper case I's or J's, but overall this approach will improve his cursive. I sold him on the idea because I said the point of cursive is to write quickly, but neatly, which he will need to do in college. Without the loops and swirls, which are attractive when made by someone with the manual dexterity, this simpler form of cursive looks nice and gets the job done. I recently ordered the 4th grade BJU student text, but I plan to order the 3rd grade text. I know you stated you didn't want anything dumbed down, but we have to go back to the beginning to learn a new style. Hopefully with your son it is just a matter of practice. With my son's grip, he needs to learn a new method. And since 15-20 minutes a day doing this is easier than anything else at homeschool, he's happy to do it! I hope you find a choice that works well for you.

Hi, JadeOrchidSong, Please let us know what MP reports. We would like to pursue Latin to the AP level, so any information you obtain will be very helpful. Thank you

We've used and liked Caesar's English. We are also fans of First Form Latin.

Our thoughts and prayers are with you, your daughter, and family.