Thanks!

Trisms does this, but it's for highschool. Using the Teacher's Guide to teach from might be an option for elementary.

I think we'll do that next year. Great idea! My kids would like that too.

What are the opinions on Texas Tech ISD Chemistry? Has anyone taken it or another TTISD course? Thanks, Ann

One thing occurred to me about A Beka K-8 Science - they cover Human Anatomy in Health instead of science. I believe the science covers 24 weeks and Health is the other 12 weeks. When adding up the books for those two courses together it makes the BJU price seem more attractive. :) We are loving A Beka 9 Physical Creation and it covers an intro to Chemistry which I believe Apologia Physical Science is missing. It's a full 36 week course. As for A Beka Biology, I would need to find someone to teach it. We may go with BJU because the DVD instruction looks excellent.

I have a read a few times people commenting that A Beka science isn't that rigorous and I always wonder if they have actually used it and if they mean elementary or middle/high school? I've haven't used A Beka science for elementary, but I feel strongly the upper levels are not light, especially when adding the lab manuals. The dissection labs for A Beka Biology versus Apologia says it all for me. Plus I just like the look & feel of the books better. Oh well, even the "best" curriculum doesn't work for every family. It's wonderful we have so many choices to fit our children's learning styles and needs.

I like to go to http://www.hometrainingtools.com to check out what the labs will be for the science class. I always wonder why Apologia seems so light in the labs compared to BJU and A Beka? http://www.hometrainingtools.com/catalog/cat_science-kits-for-curriculum.html We've used A Beka Science 7 & 9 and Rainbow Science. Rainbow is excellent for a hands-on, Kinesthetic learner. The labs are A+++ and worth every penny. My visual spatial learner likes A Beka (and she would probably be fine with BJU too but it is pricey). She is very picky about her textbook laying flat - which A Beka does - and she needs a lot of pictures and diagrams - which A Beka has. The vocabulary in A Beka will prepare her very well for high school science and IMO the material and topics are rigorous. My sister is a retired periodontist and her husband is a radiologist. They also use A Beka science for homeschooling and think that it is thorough, even without the labs. My 2 cents,

As Cathy Duffy would say, my older daughter is a "Perfect Paula" and the classical approach suits her perfectly. She thrives on the rigorous coursework and rises to every challenge. In addition to the items in my signature, we're also doing Art, Sonlight Alt 7 reading list, A Beka Science 9 and Vet Science through Tx A&M AgriLife so we have very little free time during the school day which suits her fine. She was bored at private school and is excited to be working ahead. My younger DD is the opposite. She does not like reading (yet), she has no joy for school and all she wants to do is play with friends. I keep reminding myself the Greeks did not begin school until age 7 and some "experts" don't believe in formal education until age 10. I won't attempt a full WTM approach with her when I start homeschooling her in the fall. I'll be following a Charlotte Mason approach which will suit her kinesthetic learning style and I hope will inspire a love of learning. If your child is thriving with a Classical approach, IMO it's good to stick with what feels right to you. And for words of encouragement, I attended a Classical Private school from 8-12th grade. It can't even compare to the public school I attended previously. Like my younger daughter, I was more interested in socializing - but the coursework was so rigorous and rich that even as a B student I was receiving an incredible education. When I went to college, Composition & Rhetoric was a required class for Freshman and was taught by a grad student. Needless to say I aced the class and the teacher & I were both a little embarrassed that I was probably more comfortable with the material than he was. My classical education made me extremely well prepared for college. How's that for a glowing endorsement that the Classical method really works - even for a non-academic student like I was? :) On the other hand, if you desire time for creative writing & nature walks, put it on the schedule (this coming from a person who has to schedule time to be spontaneous).

will be released next, and then WWII. I believe Industrial Revolution through Depression will be out within a year.

I just received the Tests I PURCHASED last week. :( I wish they had told me they were going to be posted online and I could have waited. Oh well,

Very eye opening. It clearly covers all of the events which lead up to WWI and sets up the events for WWII. Of course the author has a very specific Worldview and this would make for an excellent class discussion.

http://www.bfbooks.com/s.nl/it.A/id.477/.f?sc=2&category=2 Beautiful Feet is not secular, but the lessons would be fairly easy to modify. When the Study Guide suggests looking up a pertinent Bible verse you would skip that. Here's the sample page on their website: http://www.bfbooks.com/s.nl/it.I/id.25/.f In Lesson 6, you read a book about helping others and then discuss ways your child might help others and why that's good. You have control over what and how you discuss the topic, it's just nice to have guide to get started and so you don't have to create your own study from scratch. One advantage to this Study Guide is you can do it twice - first with the Primary books and repeat with the upper elementary books when your child is ready.

Hi! We haven't used this yet but plan to use CKE Earth & Space in a co-op next year. I think 30 lessons is perfect for a co-op and the book is inexpensive so everyone can buy it and do the reading at home. Then the class will discuss students' answers to the lesson questions and complete the lab together. I plan to buy all the lab materials at the beginning of each semester to have on hand and ready to go for before class. The lists for each book are on http://www.brightideaspress.com. Here's a link for the Chemistry list: http://www.brightideaspress.com/samples/CKEC_Materials_List.txt HTH,

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A friend of mine recommended this. I haven't used it yet, but it sounds thorough. “Would you like your children to be able to draw a map of the entire world, including latitude and longitude markings without copying or referring to another map? David Smith’s methods are designed to enable children to do just that. Besides properly locating and identifying places, children learn geographical knowledge that includes map reading skills, i.e. directions, symbols, topographical maps (great activities for learning how to make these!), the various types of map projections, the earth’s rotation/seasons, dimensions, and more. There are lots of extras included in the program that we can use or not as we please – games, activity ideas, mnemonics, addresses for resource, and instructions for putting on a ‘World’s Fair.’ http://www.tomsnyder.com/products/product.asp?SKU=MWHMWH

My visual learner loves A Beka Science books which she reads in addition to doing Rainbow. A Beka is very colorful with beautiful pictures, thorough text and tests to check for retention.

We're using LLATL Green and have enjoyed it all year long. It reviews diagramming sentences, covers literature analysis (Shakespeare Much Ado About Nothing was really fun), 6 weeks of poetry, several writing assignments, dictation and more. We have supplemented the spelling, but didn't need any additional grammar. It takes about 1.5 hours per week or 20-30 min per day depending on on how you split up the assignments. I also have LLATL Gray & Gold. We are going to skip the Gray next year and go straight to the Gold. I wasn't drawn to the lessons in the Gray book. I'm also planning to use LLATL Orange next year with my younger DD and I purchased an inexpensive grammar workbook to supplement because she needs the extra practice. HTH,

I bought the SWI & TWSS and I never used the TWSS. My dd responded so well to Andrew's teaching and it made a huge difference in her organization and structure. My 2 cents,

I haven't used the Ancient History so I'm very interested to see responses. However, the History of Science has been rigorous for Intermediate (4-8th) grades. The reading itself is a little easy, but the questions, writing and experiments are fabulous! I've added extra reading, but I like that the reading in the lessons is easy to get through as it makes it easy for me to estimate how long the lesson will take so I can schedule an appropriate amount of time. We'll be using more Beautiful Feet in the future.

A Beka's science, history & math is excellent for elementary.

And we added a friend to join us on science days and that has been fun too. The experiments are A+++. It's been easy to do with two kids together. One tip: I always tell people to be sure to use the quizzes which are posted on their website to ensure retention. There will be NO prep time on your part, it's open and go. Plus it covers chemistry for a full semester which I don't believe Apologia covers. My 2 cents,

Here's their webpage which explains how hearing the spelling of the word in addition to seeing it helps kids become better spellers. "Auditory input and then spelling the word out loud, letter by letter, ensures accurate storage of the correct sequence in the brain, which allows for correct retrieval and accurate spelling." http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/index.php?q=page/getting-started-excellence-spelling

My DH paints for a hobby so he teaches art and he likes Art Adventures at Home (level 3). It's open and go - 90% of the time there's no prep. The other 10% he might need to buy clay or something we don't have around the house. And the topics are exactly what I remember learning in High School art.

I know of a few secular families who use Rainbow Science with no problem. Angie W on the forum is secular, she uses their chemistry and highly recommends it. Rainbow Science points to a Creator maybe 4-5 times in the text. There is no mention of Christ or Christianity specifically. The labs make up the bulk of the work and if I remember correctly are totally secular. Beautiful Feet History of Science can also be easily adapted. It would be a matter of skipping the Bible verses which only occur in 6 of 67 lessons. For a completely secular history of science I highly recommend Great Scientists in Action. Add a book to read about each scientist and Voila! It wouldn't be as in depth as Beautiful Feet, but you'd have an easy to implement history of science course with experiments: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=104361&netp_id=372119&event=ESRCN&item_code=WW&view=covers

Sure, Here you go: http://www.beginningspublishing.com/