I'm not fully qualified to anwer since we haven't used Hake yet, but I'll tell you why we are going to use it next year FWIW...It's the spiral method. I can't imagine that it wouldn't help students retain what they've learned with the regular review that the spiral approach uses. But, like someone else said, it probably depends on the student. Grammar is dry and it's hard for kids to understand why they need it. I honestly think that the lack of desire to learn the subject leads to lower retention. We've used Shurley, R&S and Easy Grammar over the years and now we are using the ALL samples. Out of these, I'd have to say that the year we spent with EG was the worst -- she didn't retain a thing that year! Now that ALL will not be available, I'm choosing Hake because of it's spiral method. I have been greatly impressed with the way this method has helped my dd in math this year, so I am going to go that direction with grammar too. Again, FWIW... Lucinda

I agree with Patty Joanna about bias. We are reading through B.K. Kuiper's "The Church in History" this year as a resource book for TOG YR-2. Although there are things I really appreciate about this book, we can definitely see by the treatment of Arminian theology in the text that it has a Reformed slant on church history. Since we have a Methodist background and lean more toward Wesleyan/Arminian theology - I am presenting it to my dd and adding lots of time for discussions so I can also teach her another viewpoint along with the author's bias. Bottom line in my post is to suggest Kuiper's book, but be aware that it presents history from a Reformed point of view. (Which is the same to a degree as TOG curriculum as well - which is why they chose Kuiper's book, I'm sure.) If you are Calvinist then there will be no issue, but if you are Eastern Orthodox or of an Arminian pov, then you'll have to make some adjustments. Blessings, Lucinda

I'm planning to go with the following choices for my youngest child for next year when she will be working at 8th grade level. Theology/Bible: Explorer's Bible Study/Discovery series U.S. History: Notgrass - America the Beautiful Literature: Notgrass reading list to accompany the above, plus classical literature recommended in TWTM. Language Arts: WWS, Hake Grammar, VFCR, plus book reports and weekly dictation, history and science response papers ala TWTM. Foreign Language: The Learnables/French II Math: Saxon - finish up 8/7 then head into Algebra 1 Science: Apologia Physical Science Logic: Discovery of Deduction Music: Continue weekly guitar lessons Art: Weekly lessons from mom's studio PE: Undecided as of yet I've actually had this plotted out for several months now! Blessings, Lucinda

I am not totally against dishwashers, but I do consider them a luxury. Most other countries in the world do not use them. We have friends from Japan that are always very curious when visiting America and see people loading and unloading the dishwasher, and they think it's rather funny that we do this. Honestly, I think most American families have always had a dishwasher, so the mindset of today is that it is necessary - but it really isn't. Before the mid sixties in American, everyone washed dishes by hand. Really, I grew up in a home without one and didn't die. I lived in a home as an adult without one and hand washed dishes for 8 years without dying. We redid our counters last year and opted to remove the old dinosaur dishwasher until we can afford to replace with a new one. There are four of us in our home and we all take turns washing, and it works out really well. There are a number of things that our culture has taught us that we must have, and dishwashers are just one on the list. I could name a number of other things to add as well, but maybe that's better for another thread. Blessings, Lucinda

Hey - I'm not far at all from Newberg! Right now I'm listening to the rain on the roof coming down in buckets. This is evidently supposed to turn into a severe snow storm during the night. Now if the temperature drops down to freezing, we'll wake up to an ice rink for sure, but who knows? Years ago I lived closer to the Columbia Gorge and my neighborhood was on a hill. It was so icy in the winter that I had to wear my golf shoes to go to the mailbox. After slipping on the ice twice in the driveway, I finally learned my lesson. Despite what I mentioned previously, I'd actually trade a snowy winter in the Dakotas for our Oregon winter slush, wind and ice! We are pansies when it comes to snow, but it takes a whole lot of grit to brave it through a silver thaw. Blessings, Lucinda

I agree with the recommendations for TT and WWS. Here are a few more: R&S English is very doable as an independent. The TM is wonderful if you do want to use it though. Pretty much pick up and go, it's so well laid out. Spelling Workout is very independent. Vocabulary from Classical Roots (VFCR) is another good one for grades 4 and up. NOTE: The Instructor's Guide (full version) is designed for classroom use. The Answer Key is really all you need. Apologia Science is also very doable as an independent study. I'd recommend being involved at least once a week if possible for discussions and/or experiments, but the Fulbright books for elementary students, as well as the middle and high school levels are all easily done without a lot of teaching time. For high school level, My Father's World (MFW) is designed to be very independent. Blessings, Lucinda

Ain't it the truth? Here in our neck of the woods, an inch of snow causes the media to become like a circus!! You'd think we were going to be hit by a major blizzard by many of the news reports. Sheesh!! My parents were born and raised in S. Dakota and always thought Oregonians go crazy when it comes to snow. My dad would often say the same line as mentioned in another post here, the one about people not knowing how to drive in the snow actually being more dangerous than the inclement weather. LOL! Even so, I love it when it snows - especially snuggled up in my warm house, looking out the window. :) Blessings, Lucinda

:D :D :D Yes, I DID mean Visual Latin. Thanks for pointing that out. I have no idea how I came up with Lively Latin, as I've never even considered using it. I must have been tired when I typed that post. Blessings, Lucinda

I don't recall a video that addresses this exact question. When WWS was being finished up and we were all anxiously awaiting the release, we were all talking about it extensively here in the Hive and on FB though. During those conversations this very topic was brought up more than once. I actually asked SWB on FB if my dd would need to go back to WWE before starting WWS since we had never used WWE. She personally answered me and explained that the early lessons give a good review of narrative writing that is taught in WWE, and that I could go ahead and begin WWS with the idea of seeing how my dd would do in those early lessons on narrative writing. She suggested that if if my dd struggled, I could go back to WWE if necessary. We took her advice, and dd did just fine with WWS. She LOVES SWB's teaching methods and is doing very, very well in writing this year. I've seen a huge improvement already! I hope this helps. Blessings, Lucinda

I know you said you prefer textbook learning, but I'm going to throw this one out to you anyway :D because I believe Lively Latin is truly worth consideration. The course is very engaging, and it connects students to a classical language in a way that is relative to our modern world. Considering that your student is new to homeschooling, it may be a great introduction to the language for the first year. If you want to move on to other curriculum for high school, I believe that the Level 1 would give a good foundation - or if you like it, you could move on within Lively Latin as it advances. We left our lower level Latin studies a couple of years ago and switched over to French because my dd wanted it so much. The plan has been to come back to Latin for high school, and we will be using Lively Latin. Blessings as you explore all of the wonderful options in homeschool curriculum. Enjoy! Lucinda

:iagree::iagree::iagree: I, like you, find it to completely annoying. Blessings, Lucinda

I researched this out a few weeks past and decided to go with Hake for next year as well. You can follow this link to the official website and actually look at some lessons to get a good feel for it. Because we are going to continue with WWS next year, we will not be doing the composition part of Hake. We'll use the grammar lessons only and combine them with VFCR and our WWS program. (I would do the same with R&S, Shurley or any other grammar curriculum that includes composition. It just isn't necessary when you're already with a good, solid writing course, are doing dictation regularly, as well as history or science responses, book reports, etc.) Blessings, Lucinda

Thanks for the info. The J's keep showing up in work related e-mails, so I hope it doesn't mean they're joking. I'm also seeing it on Facebook frequently. Interesting....and according to the link you sent me, it makes perfect sense since I use a Mac. I text, but certainly am not as much into it as others and didn't realize how many new symbols and text abbreviations there are out there until I tried to search this one out. Gosh, I wish we could just use our written language intact instead of creating yet another way to abbreviate words! Blessings, Lucinda

I've seen this a lot lately and don't have a clue what it means. It's the letter 'J' all by its lonesome after the end of a sentence - like this. J {Scratching head....} :D Lucinda

If the above referenced book is the one you are thinking of, it is available on PaperbackSwap.com. I just looked it up there with ISBN 1588162125, and voila! There it was. Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree::iagree::iagree: I agree completely, especially since you are already doing IEW in addition. In all truth, I don't think SWB herself would suggest that you do FLL4. WWS holds the student's hand well and is very easy to jump in to for any student that has basic writing skills. Honest. ;) Why not give the WWS free sample a try and find out before you take the plunge all together? Blessings, Lucinda

Here is some advice I just pulled up from the R&S website (FAQ section): Considering that your ds is strong in grammar and has finished the ALL sample, I'd be inclined to suggest that you go with his grade level, but check out the scope and sequence chart to be sure it looks right. You may want to back up to 6th or 7th grade level in order to avoid gaps in learning. Hope this helps! Blessings, Lucinda

We didn't use WWE at all, just went from a mixture of writing lessons (R&S, TOG, WS and my own ideas) straight to WWS, and dd is doing just super. She has found WWS to be very easy to understand and implement. She thinks SWB rocks! Somewhere I had read or heard SWB say that a student does not need to have used WWE in order to succeed with WWS. I took her for her word and found that it was so. Blessings, Lucinda

We don't use the audio much, but it's nice to know that if we need to compress some time during the week that we could actually listen to the lesson rather than have dd read it. As for the CD with visuals, yes, it is very helpful. We use it all the time and are glad to have it. This is a great course and my 7th grader really loves it. She told me she loves Apologia courses and never wants to change. :~) Blessings, Lucinda

I'm with others in that I've not personally noticed anyone voicing their preference about gender UNLESS they already had 2 or more children of one sex and would like to have at least one of the opposite. For instance, my son and dil would have one more child if it could be guaranteed that it would be a girl. They have 2 boys and 1 girl already. Another example of a reference to gender is my boss at work and his wife...they have three daughters, and his comment has been that he's totally outnumbered, even the pets are all females! Truly, this is the typcial type of comment I've heard referencing anything about gender. So.....not really any references that I can think of that point toward disappointment about gender of an unborn or newborn child. Most of my friends and family, co-workers and network of acquaintances all seem to be quite happy with whatever the good Lord chooses them to have. Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree: Thank you for sharing this Scrappyhappymama. I appreciate your comments a great deal. Blessings, Lucinda

Heavens no! My comment was made to mean that there are some positive things that DID come out of the feminist movement that women (whether they consider themselves feminists or not) can be thankful for. The best examples being the fact that we can vote and we can earn equal pay. What I didn't add was that there were some not-so-positive things that came out of that movement as well. But really, I think it's hard for women today to completely understand what life would have been like without the benefits and rights that we now have and mostly take for granted. What I LOVE about life in the free world is that we have the opportunity to choose for ourselves whether or not we will have a career outside the home, or if we will stay at home and be solely homemakers and mothers; we have the choice of what beliefs we live by, and we as women in America even have the choice of whether to marry and have a family or not. I do not want to take it for granted that I am able to follow the call of God on my life without fear or suppression. Blessings, Lucinda

I think there is a huge difference, as some have pointed out, between militant, radical feminism and a more moderate version of feminism. I was there in the 70's and it wasn't pretty at all. In one decade we saw the pendulum swing from one end to the other. One of the big changes was the adoption of abortion rights into the whole feminist package. That was totally opposite of what the original feminists, the sufferagettes, stood for. Did you know that they were completely against abortion? They stood for the rights of women and children - born and unborn. They weren't just promoting women's rights to vote, they also opposed violence against women and children and a long list of other things. As a Christian, I believe that God sees male and female equally, yet we do have unique characteristics and roles in life. Neither gender is better than the other. The women's movement opened up a lot of things for us that we now take for granted - things that I believe were intended by God to be our freedoms all along - so we should be thankful for the changes that came about. But because many of us don't stand for "The Right to Choose", we tend to shy away from being labeled as a feminist. If I were, I'd have to say I'd be a feminist in the sense of Susan B. Anthony, Mary Wollstonecraft, Alice Paul and others who believed in the rights of women, but were all pro-life. These women are actually my heroines! If anyone is interested in learning more about these things, there is a nonprofit organization called Feminists for Life that could be checked into. (feministsforlife.org) Blessings, Lucinda

I'm an older mom with a 12 yo as well as grown sons, one of which is married and has children. I can't IMAGINE being in their business like you have described. It's a mother's job to LET GO when her kids reach adulthood. She's done her job, now it's time to stand by with lots of cheering, encouragement, love and prayers. If your dear mother can't do that, then I would recommend being respectful and loving to her while also not sharing details of things that should be private decisions between you and your dh. Dh is your partner in life, not dear Mom. Having said all that, I'd say tell Mom you are expecting (since the cat is out of the bag), but draw a boundary line where you need to by not sharing all your plans. If family can't be positive and supportive of your decisions for life now that you are married and on your own, then they should lose the right to be informed of certain things. I'd call the grandparents after you have the baby and graciously invite them to come visit your family. Be loving, but firm and don't let anyone cross the line. Period. Blessings, Lucinda

Our rescued Beagle/Corgi mix is named Ginger (short for Gingerbread). She's an adorable red head that was a gift for Christmas to our dd. Thus, the fitting name. My childhood dog's name was Jiggs. Blessings, Lucinda