Thank you, one and all! These are great suggestions!!

What recommendations do you have for readers (1st grade level and 5th grade level) as well as read-alouds that we can enjoy together for Ancient Egypt, Sumeria, Assyria, India, China, Israel???

Thank you four for your good suggestions!! I will take a look at each one. Warmest blessings to you, kloumc

On behalf of a small group of high school home schooling students who will be doing a one-year Old Testament Survey beginning in September, I am looking for a good spine text for them. Any recommendations? They will meet weekly and then have four or five hours of homework per week in order to make it a full one-credit high school course. Thank you! Kloumc

I realized my directions to find this app may be a bit confusing. :confused1: Let me try again . . . from your I-Phone (or that of your high school student's) go to the App Store and type in "Testable." A light green icon with a white "T" in the center will be the one to choose. I hope this helps a bit more. It is absolutely free to download and use.

These forums have been such a help to me over many years of my homeschooling our three children. Many of you were such a help to me - thank you! I have a free resource that I wish was around when my kids were prepping for the SAT. It is an IOS app called "Testable" My daughter is majoring in Computer Science. For her senior project, she has been privileged to work with a start–up company seeking to give high school students some help preparing for the math portion of the new SAT. They have created an app called “Testable†which is a free download for IOS phones. It’s really quite fun to use - I’ve downloaded it to my phone. If you’re willing, please pass this link and description on to your high school student. ***Please be assured that my daughter is not making any money from any sign-ups! I am only wanting to offer a great resource! This would also make a great way for your high schooler to review his math through the summer months. Here is the “official†blurb: Our iOS game puts a fun and competitive notion into studying for any exam (right now it's for the SAT). As you play, we learn about your studying habits and your trouble areas. We tailor each game to your specific needs so that you feel you are always learning something new. Any student can take advantage of this as it will always be free and never have ads. You will be paired with other students studying for the SAT. Each game will have 5 multiple choice questions. https://testableapp.com/ https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/testable/id980802068?mt=8 It's only for iOS right now!

I was in your shoes this time last year and I cried too! It is such a bittersweet time coming to the end of this gigantic accomplishment. But I am here to tell you that there is life after homeschooling!!!

I am not sure how old your daughter is that you're asking for, but some of our favorites are: Dorling Kindersley (DK) Human Body books - there are several good ones to pick from: http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_c_0_13?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=dk+human+body&sprefix=DK+Human+body%2Caps%2C141 Usborne Internet-Linked Introduction to Genes and DNA http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_13?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=usborne+genes+and+dna&sprefix=Usborne+Genes%2Cstripbooks%2C142&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3Ausborne+genes+and+dna Exploring the History of Medicine, The Genesis of Germs, Body by Design and Building Blocks in Life Science. There is also a helpful-looking homeschooling guide called Advanced Pre-Med Studies. This looks like something your daughter would really enjoy! :hurray: http://www.amazon.com/Advanced-Pre-Med-Studies-Parent-Planner/dp/0890517444/ref=sr_1_8?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1441803064&sr=1-8&keywords=exploring+the+history+of+medicine+by+john+hudson+tiner

What worked really well with my kids is to study Latin early on and then add Spanish in high school. My kids found Spanish so easy after having such a good foundation in Latin. Our favorite beginning Latin program is The Great Latin Adventure by www.ClassicalLegacyPress.com. It is easy to use, engaging for the student, full of teacher helps, etc. I prefer this program over Latina Christiana, which jumps around in its concepts, and we found it confusing. The Great Latin Adventure introduces the First Conjugation and the First Declension early on and gives the student lots of translation practice with those paradigms before moving onto the other conjugations and declensions. This just makes sense!! Another good reason for choosing The Great Latin Adventure is the strong emphasis upon increasing one's English vocabulary by learning many words derived from Latin. I don't know of any other early Latin program that does this derivative work nearly so well, and those middle school years are prime time to be building their English vocabulary!

For what you are looking for, and seeing the age of your children, I would recommend The Great Latin Adventure by Katharine Birkett. Have you heard of this program? It has been out for several years now and I used it with great success as a beginning Latin program for my three. It contains all the elements you are looking for. It is also very God-honoring and family friendly just like CLE materials. Although the study of Latin has review built right into it, this program does have some review chapters as well. You will also appreciate the derivative worksheets for your children - I don't know of another Latin program that works on English derivatives as well as The Great Latin Adventure. You can find a fuller description of it on the website: www.classicallegacypress.com

A great Logic course that has been tried and proven among many classical homeschoolers and homeschooling co-ops is Logic I: Tools for Thinking by Norman Birkett. All of my kids took this course in 7th or 8th grade and loved it and we've also used it in our classical co-op for many years and are still using it. This material well-prepared my own kids for further Logic training. One of my daughters has gone on to study Computer Science at our state's institute of technology, and she said that her logic studies prior to college really helped to lay a foundation for some of what she is doing in programming. Interestingly enough, the author of Logic I: Tools for Thinking was also a programmer prior to writing this excellent textbook and teaching high school students at a classical school. He has since returned to programming. I say all of this because it demonstrates a very practical reason for studying logic, in that it teaches the student to reason and think correctly - tools so necessary for fields such as engineering and computer science. I see it as a bonus that Logic I: Tools for Thinking was written by a programmer who understands the required line of reasoning needed to be developed for these more technological fields of study into which so many of our kids are heading. For a far better description than I have given, please check out the comprehensive review, including sample lessons, on the website: www.classicallegacypress.com.

I am so thankful for your book, The Well-Trained Mind!!! The first edition was pivotal as we were really just getting going and it gave me the confidence and direction I needed to home educate my children classically. I've referred back to this manual many times and purchased the second edition when it came out. THANK YOU!!! To the topic at hand, I've always been surprised that you haven't recommended The Great Latin Adventure by Classical Legacy Press (www.classicallegacypress.com). In my opinion this is the BEST Latin primer available and it well prepared my students to move into either Wheelock's Latin or Latin Road (Barbara Beers) - I went different directions with each. Students may begin this two-year program as early as 3rd grade and they will meet with good success, or several have started this program in 5th or 6th grade and haven't found it juvenile at all. In The Great Latin Adventure, the grammar lessons are logically incremental, the explanations are thorough (even for moms who have never had Latin instruction), there is a great derivative worksheet for each lesson, and the price is great. The author has the student translating rich sentences early on from Latin to English and also English to Latin - a very helpful skill to make sure they understand the grammar concepts. This program was so successful for us and for many other families I know.

I have used Math-U-See for all of my kids through high school and found it to be very successful. Child #1 completed MUS's Pre-Calculus and scored 690 on the math portion of the SAT. She didn't have to take any math placement test for her university because of her SAT score. Child #2 completed MUS's Calculus course and slid right into Calculus I at her technology university and got an "A." She said MUS prepared her well for College level Calculus I. Child #2 also scored 690 on the Math portion of the SAT and didn't have to take the placement test. There is a lot to be said for not jumping around from program to program. That's where you'll find holes. :)

I'm surprised that I haven't seen The Great Latin Adventure recommended yet! This is such a terrific program to use for someone who has had no Latin experience. The instructions written to the parent teacher are so clear and helpful. The lessons can be used for younger children, say in 5th or 6th grade, but can also be gone through more quickly for your older child's Latin program. There is nothing juvenile or babyish about it. This is such a great primer program that really prepared my children well for taking on higher level Latin. You can find The Great Latin Adventure at www.classicallegacypress.com Hope this helps!

Jennifer, I like how you've been pondering the "big picture" of Latin instruction. This is a good summertime thing to do! I share your goals in teaching Latin with the addition of building their English vocabulary from Latin roots! For me the choice of Latin teaching materials has made all the difference in accomplishing those goals - and I've tried several! I presently teach 2nd year Latin in a homeschooling co-op and LOVE Latin Road to English Grammar II by Barbara Beers. I see that you still have several younger children (congrats on the birth of twins!) A primer program that is excellent and prepares the younger mind for meatier Latin programs and yet still accomplishes the goals you mentioned is The Great Latin Adventure (www.classicallegacypress.com). I started my own children in this as early as 2nd or 3rd grade after they became solid readers in English and had some basic grammar down. One aspect of this program that I liked better over other programs is that it had my students translating simple sentences early on and that was so important to my younger children. It gave them that sense of accomplishment and thrill of translation. It also has a lot of derivative work woven into the lessons which helps to build their English vocabulary.

For what you are looking for I would highly recommend The Great Latin Adventure by Katharine Birkett. www.classicallegacypress.com I think it has all that you are looking for: classical pronunciation, parts to whole, and LOTS of great translation from Latin to English AND English to Latin. I think it is so important to do the English to Latin to really ground the new concepts and solidify their skills. Another huge bonus to GLA is the derivative work found in the lessons. It is really quite spectacular how much effort the author put into coming up with rich and edifying sentences for which the students are to insert their new derivative words. This is a great vocabulary-building component. I used this for all three of my students for the grammar years and this prepared us well to go to a higher level of Latin material. The materials are written for the parent who has had no prior Latin experience and are very easy to follow.

I've always loved CalcuLadder for math speed drills, but they require printing the pages. . . What online speed drills have you used with your children that are easy to use and progresses the student through the computational levels as CalcuLadder does?

Thank you so much for your helpful response!

I am in need of an easy-to-use US history program for my high school student. Has anyone used Bob Jones for United States History at this level? If so, what is your opinion of this program? Do you and your student like the various worksheets activities that accompany the text? Is there good map work? Finally, is the accompanying BJUP DVD lessons helpful and worth the price?

Thank you, Lori D.!! Your explanations are always so thorough! THANK YOU for taking the time to write about this program. This has been VERY helpful!

Dear WTM friends, Can any of you give a review on the grammar program for high school students entitled Chortling Bard: Caught'ya Grammar? I'm looking for something for my upcoming 10th grade son who just doesn't seem to *thrive* on A Beka grammar as my daughters did. Are the directions easy to follow if I purchase this one book without having any previous experience with the other titles in this series which are for the earlier grades?

This really isn't an answer to your question, but I can highly recommend the Math-U-See Calculus course accompanied by the online course through Math-U-See. My daughter just completed this and it was done so well and such a help to me (who was getting beyond my comfort zone with Pre-Calculus):tongue_smilie:

I would highly recommend The Great Latin Adventure by Classical Legacy Press. The Great Latin Adventure was the perfect fit for my three kids prior to the junior high years. The explanations are thorough, the grammar lessons are logically incremental, the kids enjoyed the real translating of sentences, there is a great derivative worksheet for each lesson, and the price is great! Although I wouldn't classify GLA as "religious in nature," the overall content is God-honoring, family friendly, and supports biblical values. For example, on one of the derivative worksheets there are these two sentences: 1) At the demonstration of what the first telegraph could do, men gave glory to God for the wonderful discovery. ["demonstration" is a derivative of demonstro, demonstrare] 2) The goodness of man is mutable, but the goodness of God can never change. ["mutable" is a derivative of muto, mutare] I so appreciated how the author wove in a biblical worldview throughout the program which reinforced what we were teaching at home. You may read more about Great Latin Adventure and see some sample pages at the website: www.classicallegacypress.com. I cannot recommend this program highly enough!

I would highly recommend Norman Birkett's Logic I: Tools for Thinking text by Classical Legacy Press (www.classicallegacypress.com). We've used this in our weekly co-op for five years and it has worked very well. There is a must-have teacher's manual which would be recommended for every parent to own as she helps guide her student through this material at home. If interested, feel free to e-mail me privately and I'll send you a copy of the weekly lesson plans for how we pace through this material in a year. Look at the above website for a good description and other helpful information on this course.

One recommendation that I have used with benefit would be: http://www.german-latin-english.com/latinderivatives.htm You mentioned Great Latin Adventure. This program is great for providing wonderful English derivatives based on the Latin words studied with the English definition of the word. Fill-in-the-blank exercises are also provided for the student to practice using the new derivatives learned. I wish higher level Latin programs had such excellent built-in derivative help as Great Latin Adventure! The Vocabulary from Classical Roots series is also excellent, but it isn't associated with a particular Latin curriculum. I've used that for my junior high and high school students.