My DD is doing Beautiful Feet History of Science and loves it! It covers science from Archimedes to Einstein and many in between. There are 67 lessons and she will complete it in 18 weeks working concurrently with Rainbow Science. If your son completes 1 lesson per day he could do it over the summer and have a solid understanding of the hows and whys of science before starting Apologia Gen Sci next year. Also, it seems like most people I know do Apologia Gen Sci in 7th and Physical Sci in 8th, so you could have the luxury of 1 more year before starting Gen Sci. Pros about BF History of Science: DD loves the reading. There are a number of fun experiments. She is currently studying Pasteur and growing bacteria in Agar. She is learning a lot and covering material most science programs don't include about the history of how science developed. Rainbow Science is pricey, but it would be easy to complete both years in 1 year doing 2 lessons - 1 lab - 2 lessons - 1 lab. It would take about 4 days per week working 1 hour per day. He would have a good introduction to Physics, Chemistry, Biology and Applications (Earth/Space). The labs are outstanding (A+), though I wish the reading was meatier. If you use Rainbow be sure to use the quizzes available online to ensure retention. Or use Rainbow instead of Apologia and do it over 2 years as is intended. Hope this helps,

I hope she doesn't mind me quoting her.... here is the thread for the full scoop: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=35062&highlight=teaching

My DH paints as a hobby and he teaches our DD art. He loves the clear assignments in Art Adventures at Home. They require almost no prep time and 90% of the time we have the supplies around the house. It's not a DVD program, but it's also not very expensive. There are about 36 weekly lessons and the Jr High/Sr High book includes lessons for 3 years, so it's a great deal!

My DD just turned 12 and she did SWI B in the fall. SWI B teaches the same basics as level A, but the kids in the "class" will be your son's peers and Andrew's teaching style (ie: jokes) are geared towards middle schoolers. I don't believe your son will miss anything by starting with SWI B instead of A and he will probably get more out of it since the writing samples and material will be age appropriate and of more interest to him.

Algebra 2 review by Cathy Duffy: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/math/teaching-textbooks.htm "It gets into functions at the end of the book, but matrices and determinants aren’t covered. More advanced programs include all these topics. While Teaching Textbooks algebra courses are not as advanced as some, they do include practical applications in areas such as banking and physics that make them more practical than others. Word problems in all lessons also help students grasp how they might actually use algebra in real life. [Note that advanced topics such as matrices and determinants are covered in Teaching Textbook's Pre-calculus course...." Back to the original question...if a student uses TT from Algebra 1 to Pre-Calc they will eventually cover everything needed for at least Algebra 2.

That helps me a lot! I've been trying to wrap my mind around doing both TT & LOF so I'm happy to learn from your experience. Have a great weekend!

We haven't used LOF yet, but we will in the fall. I hear everybody rave about how fun and complete it is. The Fractions & Decimal books are supposed to be pre-algebra level and I believe each book is about 32 lessons. You could easily get through them both in a couple months and probably even start Beginning Algebra. My niece is a senior and has used A Beka DVDs (A Beka keeps the records) since 2nd grade. Her math is a disaster. A Beka for elementary was awesome for both of my girls! But when I looked at the upper level math books I found the story problems difficult to follow and didn't care for the general layout of the books. My niece has struggled all through A Beka's high school math but has done fine in her other subjects, so it may be the books and not your daughter. Hope this helps. Best Wishes. :)

I'm planning to do the same in the fall. Do you use TT & LOF concurrently or one after the other? If concurrently, do you try to match up the topics? Thanks!

I haven't used this, but I'm on the CLE YahooGroup and have read from other Mom's that their North American Social Studies (5th grade) covers both US and Canada extensively. CLE also carries some Canadian specific curriculum, including Social Studies: http://www.clp.org/store/by_grade/18

Hi Shalynn, I saw a recent thread which confirmed exactly what you're asking, but I can't find it now. But I did find these: Here is an extensive thread about TT: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=8913&highlight=Teaching+textbooks And another recent one comparing to LOF & Saxon: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=72633&highlight=Teaching+textbooks Here is a review of TT from a high school student: http://www.ourlosbanos.com/homeschool/reviewteachingtextbooks.html TT seems to be the most frequently (and positively) reviewed curriculum on Christianbook.com. Many families love it and use it successfully. I've been researching this extensively and though I haven't used TT yet, based on my research I'm planning to use it based on these assumptions: 1) TT is not that great to teach from. Mom's who like to teach math would prefer to use Jacobs or Foerster or other more rigorous high school math texts. 2) TT is about a year (or more) behind. I've tested my current 3rd grader and she will be using their Math 6 program for 4th grade. Some complaints I read on this forum seem to stem from incorrect placement (it moves too slowly, child is bored, etc...). If you read Cathy Duffy's review on her website, she doesn't come right out and say it, but she seems to be hinting students who do well in TT Math 7 or who are strong in Math might skip Pre-Algebra and go onto Algebra 1. http://cathyduffyreviews.com/math/teaching-textbooks.htm Placement should be made accordingly. I believe it is widely accepted that TT Algebra 2 is more like Algebra 1 1/2 and the rest of Algebra 2 is covered in TT Pre-Calc. So yes, my understanding is that if you use TT through Pre-Calc you will have covered everything at least through Algebra 2 and then some. I personally will be supplementing TT with Life of Fred to make sure everything gets covered as my non-mathy DD wants to go into Science. My 2 cents,

Life of Fred seems like it would be fun to use in a co-op. There are quite a few threads discussing LOF.

Yes, I believe Social Studies and Science are very important for the same reasons mentioned above by siloam. Science is especially helpful to have a foundation on which to build - just like Math. Kids knowledge and understanding grows a little each year and having a solid introduction means there isn't so much science information to cram in all at once in older grades. However (ducking for cover here).....I personally believe geography, American History (for U.S. children) and Bible History are more appropriate in early Elementary. I love reading SOTW myself, but my younger DD is not interested. However, she is interested in the recent election, why everyone has to pay taxes and other civics related topics because that's relevant to her world right now. I believe it was Ruth Beechick who said there's never been a History Protege (like in Math, Science, Music, etc...). So with this in mind, I will be holding off on formal history until middle school for my younger DD. We will be studying Geography extensively with a bit of American History (Native Americans, Explorers, State History, other unit studies).

Sorry, I misremembered the name of the extra workbook. It's Great Scientists in Action. Here's a link: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=104361 My DD has enjoyed everything about the Beautiful Feet guide, especially the experiments and the reading, but also the timeline pictures and keeping a notebook. Hope this helps. :)

Hi Ann, My DD started BF History of Science at 11.5 (she just turned 12) and it's her favorite "class" right now. She loves it! I like that it provides such a strong foundation for science in general and the books are geared for 9-12 years old. By doing it in 5th grade your DS will be that much better prepared for middle school science in 6th. As a side note, we are using a fun little workbook called Science in Action for some extra experiments for each scientist. My 2 cents,

We used the books alongside Landmark World History. I hesitate to recommend Landmark as I'm sure some will cringe at the workbook style, but my DD sure is retaining the lessons! http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?item_no=31804&event=1016LCA|1770019|1016 She is also thoroughly enjoying Beautiful Feet History of Science - it's her favorite right now. And Beautiful Feet has a Jr High US/World history set.

http://www.beginningspublishing.com/ I know a number of secular families who use Rainbow with no trouble. The experiments are outstanding! I like that the Colors will have an activity book for more practice. If you use Rainbow, make sure you use the quizzes for improved retention.

We're currently doing the Art History lap book from the same company and it's awesome! I concur with the previous post - print everything out at once and then it's all ready to go when you need it. Very fun and educational!

And I'm very excited for the "Industrial Revolution to Great Depression" activity set to come out sometime next year - it's hard to find all-in-one projects to do for that time period.

Here's a link with sample pages: Volume 1 http://www.brightideaspress.com/aah_info.htm Volume 2 http://www.brightideaspress.com/aah2.htm Here are more samples on ChristianBook.com http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntk=keywords&Ntt=all+American+History+Celeste+W.+Rakes&action=Search&N=0&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1&Go.x=14&Go.y=9&Go=Go Make sure you look at sample of the Teacher's Guide - that's where the projects and literature lists are printed.

Hi again Sue! We used Critical Thinking this year and it's excellent. I think Book 1 may cover some of the same things as Art of the Argument, but you'll be able to tell from the TOC. In terms of scandalous subjects, Critical Thinking only has one section requiring explanation which was on Name Calling. There were many derogatory and racist names which my DD has NEVER heard before and I hope she never hears again. Obviously the point of the lesson is that using these names is an ineffective method of winning an argument. I decided to "bite the bullet" and do Intro to Logic next year.

It's worth it! IEW Student Writing Intensive has 15 lessons which last about 30-45 minutes and your son will be outlining and organizing his writing by the end. You could do this in 2-3 painless weeks over the summer, or spread it out over a semester or year. In my opinion, if you get the SWI, you do not need the TWSS. I bought both and never used the TWSS. I sat with DD for about 1/2 to 3/4 of the lessons, 1) to show her how important it is to learn the lessons, 2) to learn the material myself and 3) to reinforce through discussion. It went great! SWI C goes through 8 units of IEW's 9 units. My 2 cents. :)

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:iagree: A Beka is a very strong Math program through elementary school. Both of my girls have done very well with it. And it has color and drawings which is good for my artsy, visual girls. I have also heard positive feedback on CLE Math and it is set up for independent learning. But I also hear it is about 1 year ahead. The CLE lightunits are only about $3, so you could buy one and try it.

We took a break from intensive grammar this year, doing LLATL Green and we LOVE it! I own several of the LLATL books and I wouldn't recommend all of them since they all cover different topics, but the Green edition has been especially fun. There is some sentence diagramming, just enough for review but then the next unit might be 6 weeks of Poetry or 3 weeks of Shakespeare or 3 weeks writing a Short Story. Your 6th & 7th grader should be able to do the lessons together. I would recommend continuing with your spelling program. We also used IEW SWI B, IEW Bible Based Lessons and IEW Elegant Essay, but my DD needed some serious organizational help with her writing. IEW did wonders for her in a very short time. So maybe try IEW or continue with Wordsmith. But I'd highly recommend LLATL, and then maybe pick up a more intensive grammar curriculum again next year. My 2 cents :)

Since you have at least 1 or 2 girls (according to your post), I wanted to recommend Royal Diaries books. My DD loves them! There are about 20 books from Cleopatra to Nzingha to Elizabeth I to Anastasia. How about Diana Waring's audio CD's for listening to history? Her enthusiasm is contagious. I'll start homeschooling my younger daughter in the fall and she has made it clear, under no uncertain terms, she does NOT want to study any history. She wants to study math, science and art, period! Bless her heart. Since my older dd will be doing American History, I'll have them work together on Time Traveler lap books from http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com and no textbook for my younger dd. We'll also be doing Geography through Beautiful Feet and then MFW ECC which includes art & science so I think she'll like it. I know it's not very WTM to "skip" history, but I'm hoping to speak to her heart by focussing on subjects she enjoys. Hope this helps a little. :)