Hi, My daughter is all about animals and wants to be a veternarian someday. She spends most of her time interacting and learning about animals. She volunteers at the pet store taking care of cats, has her own pet care blog, researches a ton about animals, creates recipes for animals, and has just started an animal care service available to our neighbors. I'm looking for some resources in the area of veterinary science/medicine that would be at her level. She's 9. She has asked me to look for materials that will help her learn more about the above. I have ordered some books for her, but not sure what else is out there. Please let me know if you have any suggestions. I'm open to anything. Thanks!

What is the difference between GC and GC Plus? Thanks.

Anyone use The Great Courses lectures either as an educational tool for their children or themselves? I'm interested in hearing reviews. Thanks!

Nature Anatomy: The Curious Parts and Pieces of the Natural World by Julia Rothman is another one we really like. There are others in the series as well-Food Anatomy and Farm Anatomy. I tried to link them, but for some reason I'm not able. We got ours from Amazon. Anyway, they are really well done.

Ellen McHenry has some good books. She has a neat website with videos, activities, links, etc. PS-my 9-year-old is using Ellen McHenry's The Elements and finds it engaging.

Hi, my daughter is working through Prentice Hall Pre-Algebra. I'd like to supplement with a pre-algebra workbook for review. I'm looking for suggestions for good workbooks. I've looked through quite a few on Amazon, but have quickly become overwhelmed with all that's available. I'd appreciate any suggestions. Thanks!

Just looking for reviews on PH Pre-Algebra. I'm planning to use it with my daughter and wonder how others have liked it. Any weaknesses? Any thoughts are appreciated : ) Thanks.

Thanks for the additional information! Yes, we have Prime...I'll check it out : )

I just looked through the samples with my daughter, and she thought it looked really good! We will be getting this. Thanks for sharing!

I read the first several pages....definitely a no-go for my gal ; )

Very helpful, thank you. I'm thinking I'll wait until she's a bit older as she's a young 12 yr. old. I'll go ahead and read it myself, though. Thanks!

We were gifted this book. Is this age appropriate content-wise for a young middle-schooler, I wonder? We're good with heavy/emotional topics, just nothing overtly sexual. I haven't read the book, so have no idea if there is anything like that.. Thanks for any help.

BJU Literature 7 Explorations in Literature 4th edition might fit your needs. It definitely covers literary terms, encourages critical/deep thinking, and includes a wide variety of genres. I'm pretty sure it covers poetry, short stories and plays. I know the lower levels include those. I think it does include writing, but you could omit that. Here's a description from the BJU website: Teach your child to analyze literature in light of God's Word, and give them an enjoyment of literature that they will take with them beyond the schoolroom. Explorations in Literature offers a diverse compilation of stories, poems, and essays from a variety of authors and genres grouped by theme to develop critical thinking skills. Following each literature piece, Thinking Zones teach literary terms and foster critical thinking through specific questions that require more than mere recall. Students must interpret, analyze, and evaluate what they have read.

Explorations in Literature does cover literary terms/analysis. If you look through the Contents sample pages it lists specifically right after each reading selection what is covered in that unit. BJU Reading/Literature is the only program I've found so far that covers literary terms so thoroughly and so early on.

Hi, bumping this and wondering if anyone can share about the newer, BJU 4th edition Literature book-Explorations in Literature? Wondering if the stories within are heavy and depressing as mentioned above. Maybe just a few of them are? Please share ANY thoughts about BJU EIL. Thanks!

I haven't used it yet, but do have it here. We'll start with it this fall with my 4th/7th grader. I totally think an eager 3rd grader could successfully use it. It is very engaging and speaks directly to the student presenting writing in a fun, interactive way. Also, if it seems to be a little too mature for your 3rd grader, you could use it over a year or two taking at your own speed.

Cathy Duffy has a review of WIR on her website. The review is excellent/informative and she also shares about the Christian content within WIR. Toward the bottom of the review there is information specifically addressing the Christian content.

Notgrass Company has both middle school and high school world history courses/textbooks . The books are divided into part 1/part 2 (semester 1/2), so should be easy to pick up in the time period you are wanting.

We're going to try Writer's in Residence as well. It kind of reminds me of a Brave Writer-ish program formatted into an ultra easy-to-use format. From the samples and reading comments from the author, Debra Bell, on the WIR FB page, I got the impression that she really values the student finding joy in writing. That was definitely a selling point for me.

Oak Meadow does have a sale going on right now. It is 15% off all Bookstore items and 5% off enrollment for new families. The sale is May 8th-May 30th. I own OM earth science 7 and think it looks good. My daughter has used some of it this year during 6th grade. I do think it offers a good starting point for concepts, and library use/internet research/dvds would add to it. I like the variety of assignments offered for each lesson as it appeals to different learning styles. I have not used OM's history/English 7, but would use both together if we do go that route. I have heard that their English is rather light, but that is simply what I have heard/read. Looking ahead, it does appear that their English/literature ramps up just fine as the years go up, so I imagine it all evens out in the end. I do think OM 7 can be used mostly independently by the student, though I would think some parent involvement would be needed especially as far as scheduling out the weeks/year.

Bump

All About Reading!

And I'll share that what I appreciate about OM is that the different subject areas are well-balanced, meaning that it isn't too history heavy, too English heavy, too science heavy, etc....it does a great job of balancing all subjects so the day is manageable and not too taxing for the child. If a certain subject area appeals to the child then you go deeper on your own. And because the subject areas are sort of short and sweet, there is plenty of time for the child to pursue interests outside of schoolwork. My older daughter, in particular, loves to draw and animate. My younger daughter loves to bake/cook, garden, and read about science topics. Having a doable school day allows them plenty of time for these interests. I also appreciate that creativity/individuality is the central focus of the curriculum, it respects the needs of the child and allows them to interact with the material in a way that suits them individually. They offer a variety of assignments...hands-on, written research, physical play/show, video presentation, drawing, oral recitation, and on and on. I love the flexibility that it offers. It is a good roadmap to keep me on track, but I don't feel completely tied to it.

We are still rolling along with OM, though we didn't fully complete OM 6 history/English this year since we enrolled in a charter school and I got all messed up with some of the charter's offerings and became focused a bit on testing since we're obligated there. Actually, it all worked out fine and we are still using some OM this year. I plan to move on to OM 7 next fall as well as OM 4. As far as OM math, it is about a year behind the typical math sequence as far as topics presented. It is also very basic in its explanation and presentation, which has been super for my not-so-mathy girl. Having the simplified instruction has helped her to understand the basic operations and has allowed her to sort of marinate in the basics. My daughter used OM math 6 and then onto Saxon Math 7/6 and she prefers the simplicity of OM math over Saxon. Saxon seems to throw a lot at her. We'll likely continue forward with a combo of OM and Saxon math. Anyway, as far as comparing to MM, I would say that MM offers much more mental math...though I have VERY limited experience with MM. I just remember MM being more like puzzle-math and OM much more traditional/simplified.

Homer Price