I haven't used them yet, but what about Landry Academy? They don't use Apologia or BJU for science. They also have a large selection of English classes.

My DD took Saxon 1/2 with a paid class and was at the top of her class (mostly straight A's). During the summer I gave her an algebra readiness test and she retained nothing! Ugh! After that, this has been our math sequence and I've been happy with it so far: 6th: Saxon Algebra 1/2 7th: CLE 8, started TT Alg 1 8th: finished TT Alg 1 & Alg 2 (calling this Algebra 1) This year: TT Geometry (most on WTM seem to agree this is comparable to other standard Geometry texts and it's going well for DD) Next year: Foerster's Algebra (2) & Trig plus Math without Borders If she does well with TT, I'd continue with TT Alg 1 and then she'll have ahead start if you choose a different Algebra 1 next year. DD also loved CLE 8 if you want to continue with a strong pre-algebra foundation. CLE 8 includes consumer math, geometry and trigonometry which all provided such a solid base for high school. We were very happy with it.

Bleak House with Gillian Anderson. Even my 11 year old loves it! And the long version of Nicholas Nickleby with James D'Arcy.

Are you in Chapter 2? Skip it until the end of the year. I used Critical Thinking Book 1 with my older DD in 6th grade, but I'm holding off with my younger DD. I think it depends on the child....

:lurk5:

I can certainly understand where a boy would not enjoy the storyline of P&P. However, the benefit of reading Austen is her use and elevation of the English language. Can you choose a few scenes to read aloud together and talk about her prose? Or how about another Jane Austen book? "Emma" provides an excellent example of a model gentleman in Mr. Knightly which might be character building for your son. "Persuasion" includes ships, sea captains and trips to the beach - there's a bit more testosterone. "Northanger Abby" includes ghost stories and a mystery. I would assume the other point of reading Austen for TOG is to provide an opportunity to discuss the time period, classism, gender roles, etc... Is there another book or movie to provide this jumping off point for discussion? If you want to sneak in a female author, how about Silas Marner (1861) by George Eliot? If you skip P&P, how about watching "Bride and Prejudice"? It's an Indian remake of Pride and Prejudice and it's hilarious.

If you want to cover Ancients, I'd use Mystery of History as an inexpensive and painless supplement to Challenge A. We really enjoyed the integration of Biblical history with secular history. You can just read the chapters (about 1 page x 3 per week) and add worksheets or hands-on activities as time allows. If you want audio, Diana Waring's History CD's are excellent. Her enthusiasm is contagious. Do you have other children in CC Foundations? How about memorizing the timeline cards, reading the backs of a few each week and filling in with Kingfisher World History (you might even outline a la WTM).

My DD is using BJU French 1 with a class this year. It emphasizes conversation and isn't bad, but she's having trouble retaining the lessons. (And this child is flying through Henle Latin and acing every quiz, so it's not lack of ability with foreign language.) Several people on this board have recommended Breaking the Barrier for French and Spanish. I showed the sample chapter to DD and she was immediately impressed. Anyway, you might want to consider it. Or you can at least get an idea of what's covered in their first year book from the Table of Contents.

How old is she? Classical Academic Press has several logic books for middle school and up. They are formatted more like a typical workbook where a student can write in their answers independently.

Here's the website for DIVE: http://www.diveintomath.com/cgi-bin/commerce.cgi?display=home Click on "Syllabus Index" on the left side to see how DIVE coordinates with BJU. I bought my CD from Christianbook.com, but I think you can buy DIVE from all the typical homeschool providers.

Do you prefer a Biblical or secular text? Miller/Levine is secular. This is my 2nd year teaching labs based on Apologia Biology at a co-op and I don't care for the conversational style. The info is fine, but the style isn't a good fit for me (some of my students love it - so it just depends). My own DD will be taking Biology next year and we'll use a BJU text w/ DIVE. I have the DIVE CD and have skimmed through it and what I've seen is excellent. It looks like we can print out the DIVE "workbook" which will include all labs and review questions. Also included are lectures, Lab Demos, quizzes, tests and answer keys. So all I need is the text book (any edition) and the $50 DIVE CD and we're done (I already have lab equipment). No need to buy BJU teacher guides, tests or lab manual - DIVE provides their own.

I'm planning to use Foerster's Algebra II + Trig with Math Without Borders for next year with my older DD. Foerster Algebra II + Trig Text + Solutions $100.34 from Veritas Press Supplement with Math without Borders CD's $69 You might use this over two years and then you could think of it as splitting the cost between two years. My younger DD uses BJU Math and we love it (she dislikes spiral methods - she wants to focus on one topic at a time). The younger levels must be taught as there's not much instruction in the text, but the upper levels seem to have a lot of instruction/explanations. BJU Algebra 2: Solid math - clearly written. Supplement with Khan Academy. About $35 + shipping for used on Amazon. See samples here, click on "Look Inside This Book."

Notgrass doesn't have Brit Lit. Here are some more Brit Lit options to consider: British Literature Student Book By: James P. Stobaugh (you'll also need the Teacher Book) British Literature: Excellence in Literature--Reading and Writing Through the Classics

It would be a World Lit instead of Brit Lit credit, but that should be fine. And you'd be free to do Brit Lit next year.

How about using Notgrass World History for both English & History? You can buy Words Aptly Spoken British Lit from Classical Conversations for about $20 and it's an excellent guide for British Lit. The first half of the books are available free on Gutenburg. Another inexpensive British Lit is LLATL. It includes poetry and writing lessons. I like Words Aptly Spoken better, but both are good. I really like BJU for World History, but it's not cheap - the homeschool kit was $125. ETA: There's another active thread about how to do high school cheaply and someone posted this website: http://www.homeschoolcollegeusa.com/ Check out the Western Civ - there are videos, tests and reading schedule including links to all texts. You can't get any cheaper than free. :)

It sounds like you already have a plan, but I was going to add that you could use Beautiful Feet's History of Science and get both subjects covered in one. BF HOS is a literature approach to History & Science so you'll also get in a lot of reading and there is a little bit of writing. We loved it! I'm looking forward to doing it again with my younger DD.

My DD completed TT Alg 1 + 2 in 1 year (including a summer). She completed about 5-6 lessons per week (double math one day per week). 6 lessons x 52 weeks = 312. Since Alg 2 started with review of Alg 1, I assigned 2 lessons per day completing every other problem until her test scores dropped and then we slowed down again. Anther poster mentioned doing a summer class with Potter's School? You might check with the publlc school your DS will be attending. When my friend's DD transitioned from private school using Saxon to a public school, she enrolled in an intensive algebra prep summer class at her new school. ETA: I should mention, my DD completed Pre-Alg twice (Saxon Alg 1/2 and CLE 800) so she had a strong foundation going into Alg 1.

I agree with your review. The Nance book seems more clearly written. My older DD completed Intro and Int Logic last year. I think for younger DD we'll use "The Discovery of Deduction: An Introduction to Formal Logic" instead. We've been very happy with the books we get from Classical Academic Press. I like their formatting and layout in addition to their point of view and information.

We're using LabPaq and it's Algebra + Trig based - no calculus required. We're using PK-S. DH is teaching the labs and he's not a math person (he's mechanically adept and has a strong interest in electronics and technology). Khan Academy provides excellent videos for brushing up on Trig and other physics concepts which require a little math. DD14.5 is using Conceptual Physics, CP Problem Solving Exercises (to add more math), TTC Physics in Your Life, Khan Academy & LabPaq. Are you looking for labs to accompany Physical Science? I like the looks of this book: Practical Physics Labs: A Resource Manual by Peter Goodwin. How about using Janice VanCleave's "Chemistry for Every Kid" and "Physics for Every Kid"? If money's not an object, I love the Year 1 labs in Rainbow Science for Physics & Chemistry. The labs could easily be used alongside another text.

We used BJU World History last year and really enjoyed it. It includes some original source documents in the Activity Pages. For instance, there was an excerpt from Communist Manifesto which prompted a great discussion between me and DD. The Activity Pages also include map work, timelines and short answer (mini-essay) questions. The thought questions try to get the student to think about the material rather then to simply spoon feed facts.

DD14 and I are enjoying this right now through Librivox. The man reading Uncle Tom's Cabin sounds like a professional recording artist - it's really wonderful.

I'm using Saxon Teacher for myself (I'm working through Saxon Advanced Math) and it's VERY helpful. Sometimes it's not obvious from the Solution Manual why they took a certain step and the CD-Rom will explain it. The explanations are very brief, but I just use the pause button and repeat until I get it. Every single problem in the book is worked out, and there is a simple lecture at the beginning of each lesson. It's very easy to skip directly to the problem you want to watch. IMO - if you make her watch the explanation for every problem she misses you'll see two benefits: 1) she'll understand what she missed 2) she'll try harder not to miss problems in the future because she won't want to take the time to watch the explanation If she still has trouble with a concept after watching Saxon Teacher, you can follow up with Khan Academy (free) or another lecturer like Art Reed or DIVE which will go into more details to teach the lesson, but don't include solutions for every single problem. Saxon Teacher is $56 at CBD and Art Reed and DIVE are about $50, so even if you buy two of these you've only spent about $100 - much less than a tutor.

desideratum = something considered necessary or highly desirable The DVD is a series of discussions between Adler and Van Doren. They discuss how to read poetry, how to read literature, how to read for information, etc.... Adler comments that he might read through a "how-to" book in a couple hours (we've all done that) versus a "great book" which he would read slowly, linger over and annotate. I recommend the DVD, but not instead of the book. I think they are complementary and I hope to get through the book too. But being a highly auditory learner, the DVD helped me get to the meat of the material more quickly.

I've read the first couple chapters and then bought the DVDs. The DVDs are great and I had my DD watch several of the sections with me. Then we watched the movie Quiz Show. :) She was inspired and said that when she grows up she wants to have family discussions like the Van Doren family quoting famous literature around the dinner table.

My 14 yo is working through Henle I + II (she'll complete the whole First Year text this year) and she works about 45 min per day and that includes making flash cards and filling in the memory charts provided in the Mother of Devine Grace book. MODG says I can give her two credits for Latin 1 and Latin 2. HOWEVER, my 14 yo is unusually fast and diligent in comparison to her local peers so she may not be an accurate example. Henle itself is not hard (as you can see from the other poster, her 9 year old is using it). The amount of time you put in will depend on the syllabus you use and the number of assignments for each week. If you use MODG Latin I (instead of the I + II) then the workload might be 30 min per day. Another thought - you could buy the MODG I + II Guide and complete it over two years - that would make it even cheaper because you'd get two years worth of work out of the Henle I books and the MODG Guide. And everything I've read (ie: Cheryl Howe/MODG) indicates that Henle First Year can be completed over two years for 2 high school credits.