Thanks for this post! I was doing a forum search on "Latin" for the same reason! My ds-8 is halfway through Prima Latina but he is grumbling and finding it boring (I kind of agree with him-the DVD is helpful but strictly a "talking head" lecture format). I'm looking for an alternative for next year as well as something I may be able to include my dd in. I am glad to see some options listed here!

The workbook that teaches the script is totally secular, however, the next book (Copybook Cursive) is subtitled "Hymns and Prayers" and uses common Latin phrases as well as Latin hymns and prayers for cursive copywork. This book however is not essential to the program and is more applicable if you are also working on Latin (it would be a waste of money if you aren't doing any Latin). If you wanted additional practice, you could get the startwrite CD developed for New American Cursive and create your own practice copywork. I really like how the kids' handwriting is looking. DS already has better cursive writing than his dad!

my dd just finished the New American Cursive book from memoriapress and really enjoyed it. Each lesson ends with a page to do a free drawing using the letter you just learned.

Hi! I'm new to the boards here but I thought I would chime in as this is very applicable to us. I work part-time, one day/week up until a few months ago. For the better part of our hs'ing, dh has had his one day per week. On that day he did RAs or a field trip and Karate class. I have just upped my hours to 2 days/week and we are finding that the kids need more on my days. I did a schedule of work that dh (ideally) completes with the kids over the course of his two days, sort of a substitute teacher idea. I use a donnayoung.org form and give them assignments for Math, LA, reading, spelling and readalouds. I still do most of the history and science. This seems to be working well so far and I can see an improvement in the kid's attitudes because there is more stability and continuity to our week.

Thank you all so much for your well thought out and insightful answers. You have each given me something to think about. I will definitely have to check into our states requirements in terms of involvement if we go ahead with testing. I will also look more closely into the vision therapy website. I greatly appreciate all your comments!

Hi. I'm new here and have been homeschooling for a couple of years. I have a question about the importance of testing for a suspected learning disability. I suspect my dd (6-1/2) has some kind of processing disorder. She struggles with words when reading and numbers. She reads words backwards regularly and, when she was first learning to read she would have to painstakingly sound out a word even if she had just read the exact word on the same page 10 seconds earlier. All this to say that she is actually reading well, we have worked at capitalizing on her strengths and giving her tools when she gets "stuck" on a word. My dh has LD and also taught high school for several years in an urban school. Most of his students had either diagnosed or undiagnosed LD. He seems to feel that, as long as she is progressing and we are providing her with multiple ways to learn things and not pushing her too hard, then we should just leave it alone. This is a new realm for me. Does a diagnosis for a LD (probably more of a mild one) make any difference in the long run?

Hi-just wanted to add that a lot also depends on both your comfort level with teaching math and your child's math abilities. My oldest ds is flying through the SM2 and we barely touch the textbook or HIG. But I minored in math in college and he has a very analytical mind/"math-ish" mind. My dd, on the other hand, is not so "math-ish" and has some processing problems. We used the textbook, HIG, workbook and anything else I could get my hands on. We ended up finally switching to RS and she is starting to make some great progress.