Thank you again, Lori! Ironically I had just posted to see if you had any experience with Sharon Watson's Illuminating Literature! ha ha! I really like the look of this one--especially When Worlds Collide--and might be a nice intro into next year as well. Thanks for those thoughts of LL from LotR. Maybe I'll give it another go. ;)

Lori--Do you have any experience or opinion on her Illuminating Literature series? I'm looking at her writing now, but I had Illuminating Literature on my list to check out as well. i can't seem to find much about it.

EIL being Excellence in Literature in this case? They both have the same letters!

Lori--Thank you so much for your feedback. I agree with so much of what you said! I do NOT want to make every work a literary analysis! In high school, that killed any book that I might have enjoyed, and I don't want to do that to him! Since he reads a lot and enjoys reading for pleasure, I basically want a literature program that will get us talking about some parts of the book, early analysis, etc while bringing in aspects like poetry, short stories, plays that neither of us are going to pick up and read for fun! I'm not opposed to LL High School. I guess I just don't love that we'd be focusing on American literature or British literature only. That's going to come in another year or two, so I'd rather have a year where we can read different types of literature--one of the reasons I've enjoyed LL 7 & 8 because it mixes poems (which I would never introduce on my own), short stories and novels. I also agree about Night! I might have leaned more toward Essentials grade 9 than grade 8 simply because of that book. It's a great book but powerfully intense especially compared to what they chose for grade 7 and grade 9. Grade 9 has The Hobbit which we're reading now in LL 8! I did look at the Movies at Lit option the other day after I posted this, and I also discovered Windows to the World which does appeal to me. I did look at the option with the Jill Pike syllabus. Seems like a decent option. He's read To Kill a Mockingbird AND will read it again this spring with LL8, but that's not a dealbreaker for me if we could sub something else here. I considered the Literary Lessons from Lord of the Rings but it just seems so tiresome to spend an entire year on that. It doesn't help that I completely dislike the books. (I know. Gasp. Horror) Thank you for the writing suggestion and the poetry! I'll take a look at those as well. I don't want an online class yet...maybe in a few years! The biggest problem is that we are moving to a new state and leaving a co-op teacher who is essentially you--a wonderful teacher who intertwines poetry and short stories with great novels of varying lengths and difficulty, great discussions, writing, and an overall creative outlet! We were unable to take her class this year; if we were staying here, we would do that for sure, but instead, I'm trying to recreate her class, I think! Thank you again!

Thank you. I don't think ds is proficient at writing literary analysis, so maybe this isn't a good fit at all. I think he's started this but not delved into too deeply yet. Hmm... What is EE?

We are a reading family, too, and the amount of reading isn't an issue! Thanks for your thoughts.

I did look at Windows to the World yesterday, too. You used them both together?

We will be finishing up Lightning Literature 8th grade this year (technically 7th grade), and I'm not ready to move into Lightning Lit's high school courses yet and am looking for something different for next year. While I am certainly open to suggestions, I keep looking at Excellence in Literature and Essentials in Literature. Essentials feels light to me. Only one novel for the year? My son reads voraciously and sure, I could supplement, but why buy a literature package if you're going to supplement. Excellence has better literature, I think--certainly more novels--but I can't get a feel of the assignments. It looks like a couple of writing assignments and that's it. Can anyone compare these two or give me personal experiences? OR if you have another suggestion I'm overlooking, I'm all ears! Thanks!

We made the choice to go with The Potter's School over Landry, and after what happened, I was glad I did! I'm just curious if anyone feels comfortable enough to try Greg's courses again!

Thanks for the thoughts here. I think we're going to press forward with the traditional biology first more because that's what his current teacher is recommending for him next. DS is doing quite a few high school classes before high school AND we're a military family, so I think his transcript will just look wonky no matter what order in which we do science!

Has anyone taken or inquired about the new science courses Greg Landry is offering through his new website? https://www.collegeprepscience.com/

I know high schools traditionally do Biology and then chemistry, and The Potter's School still recommends that sequence, too. We've done science through TPS the last two years and will likely continue with them next year. I read that there's a "new" push to change the sequence to chemistry before biology. Can anyone speak about this? Pros or cons? Did I just make this up? DS is completing Algebra 2 this year, so his math is fine for either course. He will be an 8th grader next year but has already completed Earth Science and Honors Physical Science through Potter's School.

Thank you all so much! He loves literature and will read and discuss themes and plot. He even has discovered that he likes poetry, but he has no inclination to sit down and create a short story! I will do more focus on other types of writing because, as you all said, being able to express yourself well is important regardless of what type of writing you are doing.

I have a middle school kiddo with average writing/composition skills. I'm looking at Write at Home to focus on certain areas. He does not enjoy creative writing although he is happy to write a research or persuasive type paragraph. For a kid who is most likely heading into a STEM career, is creative writing really a skill I should focus on?

I looked at these earlier today. What level is your son doing?

I have a 7th grade boy who doesn't enjoy writing. His grammar is solid, but his sentence structures tend to be simplistic. He doesn't enjoy adding details or descriptive writing! We haven't even delved into research writing yet. We've tried a couple of writing programs including Write Shop but I don't feel like I can appropriately evaluate his writing and I don't think he responds well to my evaluations. He also doesn't enjoy writing a paragraph on something random and does much better with an assignment that goes with his literature or his history studies. I need an online class. I looked at Bravewriter. I think it's a good option. I don't really like the Writer's Jungle (I don't want to do the class!) but some of the others look good. Athena's Academy also has a new 8 week writing program that looks interesting. Ideally I'm looking for a shorter session--not a full semester class. Any thoughts on either of those classes or other suggestions?

It was not a good fit for my son. We switched to Jacobs for Algebra and Geometry and it was much better. Using Lials for Algebra 2

What a great idea! Thanks!

Thanks everyone. I don't really use the TM at all this year for First Form Latin. DS has done well with just the CDs and the student books. I use the Workbook/Test Answer Key but I really haven't used the TM much at all! I was trying to decide if I purchase the bundle or just pick out what I think we need. I guess buying the TM isn't that expensive! I don't think we need flashcards though--DS doesn't like them! I made him make flashcards for Latina Christiana but he never used them! Hmm... Looks like everyone has something different that works for them! I appreciate the feedback!

Just completed First Form Latin. I think for Second Form Latin, we're going to utilize the DVDs though. Do I need the CDs AND the DVDs? Is the teacher book really needed if I'm not "teaching" it? I'll get the answer key and quiz/test key!

Thank you! This is not something I had considered at all, but one or two of those books does sound familiar. I'll check them out--thanks for an out of the box thought!

So many great ideas! Thank you all! Can you tell me about Crash Courses? I got several different hits when I Googled it, and I'm not sure what I'm looking for! Thanks!

Thanks!

DS loves history and has participated (and won) National History Bee competitions and local academic bowl competitions. He just soaks it up! We've been using Notgrass for three years and have gone through world history, US history and going through their civics book now--all books designed for middle school. He COULD do something considerably harder without issue--he reads heavy history books for fun, so his reading and comprehension level is high. I just don't know where to go for next year! I'm concerned about pushing him through high school level history courses because I wasn't sure what we would do when he reached high school level--or do I just do that and worry about high school later? Should I consider something totally different? Economics or some other "social studies" that doesn't normally get covered? Look at doing an in-depth study of something in particular? (Semester on WWII, for example)? Any thoughts? Age wise, he'll be 7th grade next year but working well above grade level for all subjects except writing.

I love this actually! What I love is that you ARE learning it with her but not trying to solely teach her. This makes sense to me.