Does anyone know if Rosetta Stone's Greek is Koine or modern? How different are they? My ds loves Duolingo, but there is no Koine Greek and he wants to learn it. Any suggestions of similar programs, if not RS? thank you

thank you!

I'm having a discussion with my brother who thinks computer programming should be part of a 9th grade curriculum, and he was surprised when I said it was not a 'academic subject'. I have hitherto viewed the computer as a distraction (especially for a teen who already loves his laptop too much), and nothing to do with Goodness, Truth and Beauty! :toetap05: Would you consider programming as a necessary part of a Classical Ed curriculum? My thinking is that CE in high school is all about thinking skills, acquiring a body of knowledge of the best that has ever been thought and said, and being guided towards wisdom and virtue. BUT, it is the 21st century and perhaps I'm way too conservative. We will have trouble fitting it into our curriculum as it's already chockablock. Would love to hear your thoughts. Essential .... a hobby ..... something you do after highschool ... or other option? :001_smile:

Can you please send links to them here?

Thanks for checking back. I got a headache from looking at so much stuff, but ended up buying Alice in Quantum Land. I haven't used it yet, so can't comment on it. Do you have the link to the Crash Course for Quantum Physics?

We break it into one hour to start the day with, then .... well it should be one hour to end the day, but ds14 tends towards only doing one extra page of MUS as "homework'' so anything from 15-30 mins. So approx 1.5 hours per day, though I would rather 2 hours per day.

Formal essays should not contain you or I. One is a subtle replacement in this case for 'you'. I would write: "In cases like this, it is always necessary to remember to ... "

He loves the coursera class .... or Athena Academy physics?

We tried Elementary Physics before Apologia PS and my ds (then 13) had too many meltdowns over it. He loved PS, except for the workbook. I think LoF EP was a little too abstract at that point. So we're about to re-attempt LoF EP .... with trepidation! :laugh:

We are about to start Life of Fred Elementary Physics, after having done Apologia Physical Science. I've had this Coursera course https://www.coursera.org/course/howthingswork1 How Things Work saved and am wondering if it would be a waste of time for an average 9th grade student: I mean more like entertainment than real learning? I would like to hear from those whose children have done the course. Thank you :thumbup:

Thank you! That looks good: I will start with that for now.

Thanks Cosmos: I was kind of looking for something like a really colourful and fun textbook, like Apologia, but is there any way of knowing when the Great Courses have these really 'great' sales? I've heard they discount everything hugely, but is there a way to get notification without being bombarded with their newsletters?

My own science background is limited, but we have just finished Apologia's Physical Science and wondered if anyone knew of a good Quantum or Particle Physics course as colourful and "non dry" as Apologia's courses? My ds is 14 and an average scholar. Thank you

It doesn't have to be secular: we are Christians, but my son has asked for something that doesn't keep going on about the earth being 6000 yrs old. Old Earth or theistic evolutionist is fine ... it's the YEC that puts my ds off.

Can anyone tell me if there is a Chemistry course for highschool that is like Apologia, but not Apologia? By that I mean with all the colourful pics, the logic questions, the experiments, and the "non-dry" approach .... but without the young earth parts? I love Apologia but my son is asking for an alternative without YEC. So I'm looking for the course that is MOST LIKE Apologia ... if that's possible. Thanks

Just signed up to do the first few lessons with my ds: thank you.

That sounds interesting. Any more information on these 'elegant thought experiments'?

Thanks again, but just to throw the spanner in the works, I've been talking to the tutor this morning and she is raving about MUS. She thinks it's an excellent program and very thorough. She sees my son's abilities in some areas, especially with fractions, as being even better than the 11th grade students because of MUS, and recommends it to them. She doesn't think we should change programs but instead move more quickly through PreAlgebra.

Thanks Derek. I hope this is my final question: He is 2/3 the way through MUS prealgebra and he is hardly doing any work at all, using delay tactics etc. Should we swap programs now to TC Prealgebra, but get behind, or go straight to TC Algebra?

A question about Tablet Class. Ds has a tutor who comes in 5 days per week to do MUS with him for one hour a day. They watch the short video together and she helps ds work through the problems. She's an excellent tutor with tons of patience and she's taken ds from Alpha to where he is now over the past 4 years. My question is: can a tutor still work in with Tablet Class? How long are the video lessons? Are the lessons online or on paper? What concrete differences are there with MUS and TC? thank you

Thank you so much Derek: I really appreciate all those links and advice. I will go through them with my son. Also thanks to everyone else's wonderful help and suggestions.

Derek, since he is grade 9 this coming year and hopefully going to highschool in 10th grade, if I kept him at PreAlgebra level for another 6 months or a year, then he would get behind. I mean, that's if he were to do TC PreAlgebra after MUS PreAlgebra. When he reached 10th grade he would just be starting on Algebra and the kids at school would be about 1 year ahead. What would you do with that situation? He is 2/3 finished MUS PreAlg but going veeerrrry slowly because of lots of avoidance issues.

Thank you so much for explaining this: it really helps! If "tedium" is the problem with my son, then where could we go for a "fresh start"? Or should we persist with MUS? I'm still not sure just what the problem IS with my ds: I'm still in the troubleshooting stage, and I don't want to switch programs unless I'm certain as it could put him off even more, let alone waste our money. All I can say is that: he finds maths painful and tedious, but he has no trouble understanding maths concepts. Perhaps he just needs the right type of input to spark his interest.

We still have some maths woes. Ds has no trouble understanding maths concepts, I think he's just bored from the repetition. We've had lots of problems with him crying over it and doing his best to avoid it. I realise that repetition is very necessary, but I'm wondering if he needs a change in program. The APoS videos I saw briefly look a little more engaging than MUS. He has done MUS since Alpha level. According to the SAT he did last year, he is just above the average line, so let's say he is working at his grade level, which will soon be grade 9. I've also heard that AoPS Algebra is actually easier than AoPs pre-Algebra. What exactly is the difference between MUS and AoPS? Is it the teaching method? Can you go from MUS pA to AoPS Algebra without having to do extra?

I promised to return and give a review as a non-YEC on Apologia General Science and Physical Science after we had finished both of these textbooks. I don't want this to be a debate between YEC and OEC/TE, but we are Christians who see no conflict with evolution and/or OEC (and we make up 75% of Christians, according to NLCS in Oz). So, I was very reluctant to use Apologia science for that reason. But I just couldn't find a science text that was as engaging as Apologia: everything else was so dry, so we decided to take the plunge! My opinion? I think Christians who are not YECs can definitely use these texts. I read the text aloud to my ds, so I pre-read the day before and was prepared for any 'surprises'. Dr Wile is not just a YEC, but also a climate skeptic, which is divided into Ozone layer and Global warming. He actually has some very interesting opinions on things and, while we didn't always agree with him (especially a 6K old earth), these opinion 'rants' got us looking up more stuff on the internet and on youtube. With his YEC views he also left a lot open and expressed his uncertainty on certain issues. Dr Wile will mention YEC only about once per module, nearly always as the Argument from Complexity at the end of the module. None of his YEC arguments skewed any of the science we learnt about. But they 'were' at times circular and actually funny to read (ie that the ocean is so salty proves that the earth is 6K old because it must have been created that way, not formed from millions of years of run-off). So, it was a lesson on logical fallacies at the same time. I have never liked science until I started reading the Apologia books in our homeschool. It has given me a new sense of awe about our world and a wish to know more. It in no way convinced me of a YEC view: if anything it has made me appreciate even more how incredibly and mind-bogglingly old our universe is! Takeaway point: If you are not a YEC you can use these Apologia science books (though I can't speak for Biology as we didn't do that). Read ahead before presenting the material to your child. Have discussions about YEC, OEC and TE: I think it is vital Christian education for children to know about the different views on creation. :thumbup: