Norway is a tiny country with pretty much one race of people. Does not at all compare to the US and its size and diversity. Norway is the size of one of our states. So your comparison would be more akin to a "US state standard" rather than a national one. It's one thing to ask the states to increase their standards and give them ideas or a gentle push in the right direction, it's quite another to enforce mandates that are near impossible to free yourself from of they don't work. My point here was missed entirely. There is a huge difference between federal standards and federal control. NCLB paved the road to total control. CC may look different and may be harmless and actually quite good at first glance but its another step down that road. Ignoring the signs and comparing the US to places like Norway is ignoring historical precedent and frankly comparing apples to oranges.

I agree with this. At that age, memorization should be for things like math facts, grammar and spelling rules, etc. Keep content areas like science and history fun, exciting, more lighthearted. They will do much better later on in high school when memorization of the laws of physics or the exact dates of battles for example are expected. And they will not approach theses subjects with dread but excitement because they remember it in stories or fun science experiments, exploration and crafts etc.

Agreed. Agreed. Agreed. The major objection here is the centralized control of the education of our children. NCLB, RTTT, or CC...doesn't matter. This is not a partisan issue and its not really about increasing standards. The 10th Amendement is such an important and fundamental part of the constiution and is consistently and increasingly disregarded. It amazes me that this isn't sending up red falgs for more people. I see the states like labrooms...if something is tried in say CA and its a sucess, then great! ...lets petition our state to adopt something similar. If it fails, then thank goodness my state isn't tied to that bad decision. If things aren't very good where I live, I can move to another state where conditions are better. But if the whole country adopts an idea and it fails...everyone fails. Sometimes everyone wins, and that's great, but if NCLB is any kind of typical measuring stick for federal intervention in local education, I would say that the odds of failure are rather high. If things like education are completely handled on a local or state level, then at the very least I can get in my car, drive down the road or an hour to my state capital and make my voice heard. If i were to attempt the 16 + hour drive to DC and somehow make it past all of those lobbyists on K street...somehow I think I my list of concerns won't even get a passing glance. I am not anti-federal government...it certainly has its place. But there is a larger picture here. We are really talking individual rights and freedom vs centralized control. And when it comes to the education of my child, I would like them to respect my freedom and that of my neighbors and local school district.

I want to do something similar. Hope you get some replies.

I agree with this.

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I would have to agree with this assessment of public education and it's hidden intentions. Although I don't think teachers have any part in this or any say in any kind of reform for that matter. The education of children should be solely in the hands of parents and teachers, not some group of government officials and administrators. Either way, my child is one of those who has fallen way behind because he wouldn't fit into that box nicely. He is smart and gifted but he feels differently about himself thanks to so many years in ps. Hope I have time to change that.

I'm interested too since my ds (12) is the same way. We plan on doing lots of breaks because he can't sit still for very long. And lots of hands-on learning. That's all I've got at this point ;)

Okay, you have convinced me ;) ds will be taking the placement test soon so we can get started. And congrats to your kiddo btw! I bet he is so proud of himself.

I am always trying to find books like The Historian and The Thirteenth Tale. I second Wilkie Collins The Woman in White. Also anything by Kate Morton (The Forgotten Garden is fantastic) or Kate Mosse. KM has a trilogy (Labyrinth, Sepulcher, and Citadel) -which are excellent! I'm reading The Winter Ghosts by her as we speak ;) I have a good friend that really likes Tobsha Learner, which is supposed to be in the same vein. ETA...anything by Anne Rice. Vampires or witches, or even mummies....that woman is just amazing.

I know that home schoolers are protected in the state constitution. Not sure if a suspension would matter. I would contact the OK Homeschooling Legal Defense. http://www.hslda.org/laws/default.asp?State=OK They will tell you what state law is, how to go about it, help explore alternatives and withdrawal procedures, etc. They were very helpful to me years ago when I pulled dd out.

Oklahoma!! Homeschooling is a protected right in our state constitution...think it may be the only state. Tons of support and resources. Tulsa and OKC are really nice, very affordable and the job market is better when compared to almost every other state. I'm in Tulsa but I grew up in OKC. I would never go somewhere else.

From my understanding More Roots has what it says...more roots. So you can just add them to the first set. I will be purchasing both soon. Looks like a fun intro...hoping ds thinks so ;)

We are are after schooling...for now. I want to bring ds home next year but he isn't so thrilled. He initially wanted to because he had been held back twice and attending a school that neither of us liked. However, we just changed school districts and they promoted him a grade. So, for the time being, he seems to be liking school and of course, making friends that he isn't too keen on leaving. But next year is middle school. *cringe* This is exactly when I pulled his sister out years ago for a few years...but she didnt crave the socialization like ds and only wished to be left alone with her library of books ;) He may not do well with the daily isolation, even with lots of friend time and outside activities. But then again, that may be exactly what he needs. So we shall see...

Dark is Rising series was one of my dd's favorites at that age! It truly made her fall in love with fantasy. This reminds me...I promised her yeeeears ago that I would read them. ;)

Yep that's my kiddo too lol. So I'm all ears!! ;)

What do you do when your kids just don't want to do school related things anymore after school hours? My ds (12) just wants to do sports and run around after sitting all day but there is work to do to get him caght up. We are trying to remediate spelling and math and I would like for him to be reading a book every evening for at least half an hour. We are really talking one hour per night, but he complains daily and is almost to the point of tears sometimes.

Thank you for all of the replies! A lot to consider...although I will say that I'm leaning towards Phonetic Zoo at this point. I've heard it mentioned for awhile but never really "looked" at it until now. My biggest fear here is the cost if it doesn't work. So for those that use PZ, am I to understand that in each lesson a spelling rule is taught alongside a word list using that particular rule? And then the child is supposed to master that rule before progressing to the next level or rule? And then the personal list chapters are words you take from the child's other schoolwork that he has misspelled? Thanks in advance!

How is the science portion? I was looking at this for my son next year because he is so artsy and not very into heavy lit but he really loves science and I want it to hold his interest.

I think we have almost the same children, so I'm all ears. Its like classical education was made specifically for my dd...she devoured Homer, Shakespeare, excelled in Latin and French, applied her logic lessons to every day things, read 24/7 without being asked...but my son...not so much. He was different and I thought something was wrong. I made the mistake of putting him in public school, thinking "more experienced teachers" could help. He only got held back two years and suffered in numerous ways because of it. Including a dislike of school in general. What I will be doing next year when he comes home is tailoring what we do to his strengths (of which, come to find out, he has an abundance) and letting him have plenty of time to explore his interests (science, art, sports). We will still work on the other stuff but I think when we try and fit our children into a one-size-fits-all box, we do them a great disservice. We each have our own gifts, talents, strengths and weaknesses. My ds is very physical, has a big heart, loves to help others, loves animals, science, art and is great at sports. So he isn't the best speller, the best at math, the most avid reader.... We can work on making improvements in those areas, while focusing on ways help him find and perfect his strengths and interests. No two children are the same - and what a dull world it would be if they were ;) Best of luck! ETA...if I could do it all over, I would have put of formal school until he was 7-8. I would have done a more Waldorf, Charlotte Mason type of thing and let him have the early years to play, explore nature, do art and fun science experiments. But at the time I thought doing school ala TWTM was the only way to go. *sigh*

It was just too teacher intensive, complicated and ds 12 is too old for the tiles. It looked great but it didn't work for us. I want something that will still teach spelling rules but that is more open and go - something he can do mostly independently, and that will also go over commonly misspelled words. He is generally a poor speller -although he can memorize a list of words long enough to pass a test. We frequently go over words he has misspelled, but he soon forgets if he is not directly being tested on them...in book reports, school worksheets, text messages, emails, etc. Suggestions?

Thanks for the replies! So what would you suggest using in its place before CE 1? Rummy Roots looks like a laid-back, fun intro. Anything other suggestions?

I'll be doing this next year while working a 40 hour 8-5 work week but ds will be almost 13 at that point and my fiancé will be home to supervise (only) during the day while he does independent work and projects based on his interest (likely science and art). My adult daughter will come over and tutor history and lit a couple days a week, my mom will get him once a week for library and field trips and I will do the main instruction for math and LA in the evenings for an hour or two. Saturdays are for science and catch up work. I will be delegating some of the household chores, as well as a couple dinners to him during the work week -in part so it doesn't get out of control, but also because I think it's important that he learns to contribute to the family - and then we will do a deep clean on Saturdays. Sunday is for rest. We will have to work in soccer and time with friends and family but I think it's doable. We already after school a bit now so my weekday evenings won't change much. And honestly Saturdays we seem to be doing a lot of sitting around anyway, so i think more activity would be good for us. Good luck! ETA...I homeschooled him for half a year a couple of years ago while I was a full time student and this also worked fine. Either way, I think it's an issue of good time management, detailed pre-planning and asking for help in some areas. Even if that means hiring a housekeeper to come once a week or even once a month for a deep clean - that in itself can feel like a life/sanity saver.

Is this good compared to other programs that teach beginning Latin roots? We will eventually be switching from FLL to MCT in a year and I want to do Ceasars English 1 alongside Town, but I want a good introduction before just starting him on CE because it looks kind of tough. So I thought we might do MCT's BL next year alongside FLL4 to introduce him to Latin roots. Thoughts?

"Density of the pages and less practice"? Could you explain? Thanks!