I bought them, and I'll probably use them since I have them, but I'm not impressed. The description on the website makes them sound far more elaborate and in-depth than they are. They're just workbooks, there are no "lessons" -- and in many cases there's not even very much to do on the page. An example would be a page that says "Complete each sentence with am, is, or are," followed by 4 or 5 sentences like "The squirrel ______ eating." They basically aim to cover phonics, grammar, and writing, but you would need separate curricula in all three areas to cover the topics adequately, so this is just extra practice, and I think it's quite expensive for that. The workbooks are very colorful (meaning, totally colored with little to no white space) and are printed on heavy paper, but that's really the best I can say about them. IMHO, $30 for a workbook is too much, when I can get one like Spectrum or Harcourt/Flashkids for $7-10 that will do the exact same thing. Jackie

I second both Ellen McHenry and Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry. I think the RS4K bio and physics books are a bit weak, but the chemistry books are very good, IMHO (the author is a chemist). http://gravitaspublications.com/book-13/ I also love Ellen McHenry's stuff, and she has some great free downloadable science resources. http://www.ellenjmchenry.com/id25.html Jackie

The main difference between the California version of the Physical Science text (Focus on Physical Science) and the nonCalifornia version (the one on the website) is that the California version has three chapters on astronomy which are NOT included in the nonCalifornia version, and the nonCalifornia version includes three chapters on waves/sound/light/optics/etc. that are not in the California version. I actually prefer having the 3 chapters on astronomy, because they approach the topic in terms of physics & chemistry (nuclear fusion in the sun, chemical composition of stars, etc), which I think makes an important connection for kids: the laws of physics and chemistry are the same everywhere in the universe. The sound/waves/light/heat stuff I find very easy to supplement; we have several resources already and there are tons of books on those topics at the library. So, personally, I'd rather pay under $20 for the California version, complete with astronomy, and add a little extra reading for the other topics, than pay three times that for the nonCalifornia version and then find a middle-school-level supplement that covers astronomy from a physics/chemistry standpoint. But I can understand that other folks might prefer it the other way around. I just wanted to make the point that I wouldn't consider either of the versions "incomplete;" they just address different topics because of different state standards. Jackie

Math Mammoth has downloadable worktexts (combined text & workbook) focusing on just division. The Division 1 worktext is $3.50 and Division 2 (mostly long division) is $5; they're about 70-80 pages each. Math Mammoth uses Singapore-style teaching (including the little bar graphs), but she goes in smaller steps and provides extra practice, so it's great for kids using Singapore who need a bit of extra practice. http://www.mathmammoth.com/division_2.php Jackie

:iagree: CPO Science and K12 Human Odyssey are the only middle school texts I'm using. When I first started homeschooling, I bought a bunch of different middle school texts from the big publishers (PH, Glencoe, Holt, etc.) and was shocked at what a total mess they were. Besides the horrible design (which will induce ADD in anyone who doesn't already have it), it seems like PH/Holt/Glencoe/et al start with the standardized test and work backwards from there, so the textbook becomes nothing but test prep, filled with endless lists of "Key Concepts" and "Key Vocabulary" designed to make sure the student knows exactly which concepts will be on the test. Who cares if the kids actually understand the material??!! What I like about CPO is that the publisher is himself a physicist and he set out to create textbooks that give students a real understanding of scientific concepts, so the information is presented in a clear and understandable way instead of being buried under layers and layers of distracting, multicolored "learning aids." What a radical idea -- textbooks designed to teach middle schoolers science, instead of just test answers! Jackie

What age is your son? Jackie

:iagree: with everyone else -- if your son is getting his work done, and getting in plenty of active play, why would you want to limit his reading? I was one of those kids who always had a book in my hand; I think I would have been confused and upset if my parents told me I could only read 2 hours/day. That would have seemed like a terrible punishment to me, especially since my only "crime" was loving to read! Jackie

IMHO the RS4K Chemistry 1 & 2 are quite good, but the Biology & Physics Level 1 are way too basic for a 6th grader (I'm using Bio 1 with a 7 year old). And unfortunately the Chem 2 volume does not include any labs -- the student is expected to design their own. I love the books that Noeo recommends, but I don't like (and don't use) the teacher's guide. There is no content in the teacher's guide, just a schedule of which day to read which pages of which book, followed by suggestions to "write and sketch what you learned." There is nothing that ties the readings together or provides an overview. I just use a different text as a spine, with the books from Noeo as supplements, and correlate them myself. For my 6th grader, I'm using the CPO Life Science text as a spine with Noeo's Bio 2 books (and a few others) as supplements, and for my 2nd grader I'm using RS4K Bio 1 as a spine with the Noeo Bio 1 books. Jackie

Getty & Dubay Italic is very easy and all the capital letters look like the print versions. You can buy the workbooks (cursive starts in book D) or you can buy the font and make your own workbooks. Educational Fontware sells fonts for about 20 major handwriting systems (including D'Nealian, Abeka, BJU, Pentime, HWT, Z-B, etc.) You can view samples of all the different styles and see which one looks best to you: http://www.educationalfontware.com/ If you click on the name of the font, it shows you all the variations that come with it, including versions that print with rules and arrows, outline versions for the student to trace, etc. By printing out your spelling/vocabulary words and copywork in the fonts, you can incorporate handwriting into other subjects. Jackie

I'm also very interested in this curriculum, the sample lessons are excellent. However, I'd prefer a secular curriculum, so I was wondering how much religious content there is? Thanks in advance, Jackie

I ordered it through Homeschool Buyers Coop (45% off) and we love it! I use it all the time especially for science, and we're just starting the Spanish program, which is worth half the price of the subscription by itself. I printed out the teachers manual and the student worksheets and put them in binders, and the kids love it (as opposed to Auralog, which they hated!). Jackie

That's a very useful comparison of LOTS of Latin curricula, thanks for posting it! Jackie

Wow, thank you! I just got Intro & Intermediate Logic and Matin Latin 1 & 2. For a curriculum junkie, that was a cheap fix :) Jackie

Well I'd also be interested in hearing a comparison of Chalkdust and Thinkwell :tongue_smilie: I've read such great reviews of Chalkdust, not so much about Thinkwell. Has anyone seen/used both Thinkwell and Chalkdust and can compare them? Dana Mosely vs Edward Burger head to head? :lurk5: Jackie

I would love to hear more feedback on this, because I would like to try using Lial's text with Chalkdust DVDs as well :bigear: Jackie

Whoa, there are about 50 books I want to download from there! :w00t: 4 down, 46 more to go...... Thanks a MILLION for this link!!!! Jackie

I'm planning almost the EXACT same sequence for DS11. I absolutely love the Hoagland book, and I have the Digital Frog and Cell Matrix software. I was planning to use a slightly different chem text (Chemistry: Matter & Its Changes), which is the one recommended in the Teaching Company course. I will look into the text you mentioned, though, as DS is definitely a visual learner and if it also correlates with the TC course that would be perfect. And I've been planning on Kinetic Books physics as well. I think it's really interesting that 2 people would choose almost the exact same set of slightly unusual and unrelated texts! Our math/science pairs will probably be: Alg II & Biology Geometry & Chemistry PreCalc & Physics Calculus & Geology/Paleontology (I might reverse those 2 and do Geo/Paleo with PreCalc and Physics with Calc) then CC courses in Calc, Physics, & Chem for 11th/12th grade Jackie (also a Hesse fan...)

When I google (or search amazon, ecampus etc) with the bolded ISBN, I always get a hardcover textbook, not the DVDs. The ISBN for the "New" DVDs works fine. Is there another ISBN for the "Traditional" Geometry DVDs? Thanks, Jackie

Can you link to the thread with your schedule? Because I'm still at the "this is the most overwhelming thing" stage, and I had pretty much abandoned the idea of using BFSU this year....:confused: Jackie

I would also love to know the answer to this! :bigear: Jackie

Yes please: a secular, fully integrated, *Classical* Language Arts program (i.e., deep, rigorous, and not workbooky). And I'd like the vocabulary component to be based on Latin & Greek roots. AND I'd like it to be "open & go," not something where I have to read a long teacher's manual and watch 17 videos in order to implement it. :tongue_smilie: I hate having to either cobble together multiple (often overlapping) LA curricula or settle for a standard fill-in-the-blanks mixed-LA workbook like Spectrum/Flashkids/Critical Thinking Co. Sigh. Jackie

The Fractal Foundation website has all kinds of cool stuff, including a free download of the Xaos fractal-generating software: http://fractalfoundation.org/ Jackie

It's a complete program, but some people feel there aren't enough practice problems in the books themselves, so the author (Stanley Schmidt) added "Fred's Home Companion" books for Alg I, Alg II, and Trig. The Companion books provide a study schedule and lots of extra problems for each chapter. The Geometry and Calculus books are pretty big on their own, so there aren't "Companions" for those; LoF Calculus is actually on the College Board AP approved list. There is also a Statistics book. I think for a mathy kid who gets concepts quickly and doesn't need a lot of repetition they are great as is, but for a kid who struggles with math (like mine) I like the idea of using TT as a gradual introduction to the concepts, with LoF serving as a fun way to solidify and stretch his skills. Jackie

My son had the same problem, and when I had him tested I was told that his grasp of math concepts was fine but he had "processing speed issues" which made recall of facts very slow. The tester specifically said NOT to hold him back, that memorizing facts and understanding concepts happen in different parts of the brain and the best way for him to reinforce math facts was to use them in context. We let him use a multiplication chart (he filled in the blanks himself) to do his math worksheets and it helped a lot. We also played fun games like Mythmatical Battles (a card game with mythological characters who are assigned points like 3x7), Timez Attack, etc. and he has gradually gotten better at the facts. They're still not as fast as most kids his age, and probably never will be. (DH can do advanced calculus in his sleep but he is also still quite slow with math facts.) BTW, Benoit Mandebrot, who is considered the "father of fractal geometry" says he never did learn his multiplication tables above 5! Jackie

Yes, I started with Getty-Dubay Italic, but recently switched to Barchowsky. Jackie