I'm in there with all the others that say they are simply passionate about certain curricula choices. Gosh, if I got paid for all the recommendations I've made on this board, I could have quit my part-time job a long time ago! Blessings, Lucinda

Yo! :):):)

Summer, I am using TOG here at our house and don't find it (so far) to be too bent toward a certain theology. Like I said in another post on this thread, we are Methodists and have a slight difference in our theology than some of the Reformed groups. I believe that the Somervile family is Presbyterian, and that is their leaning in worldview, but I believe it would be easy to adjust points of theology if it comes up in the curriculum. As involved as a parent is using TOG, that shouldn't be too hard to catch and modify as needed. I hope it doesn't cause you to pass on an amazing curriculum like TOG when it might not even be a problem at all. I don't think its a bucket of worms...we're all learning and growing together. Blessings, Lucinda

Some of this is very different from what I've been taught. I am a Methodist, but consider myself to be Protestant because I am neither Orthodox or Catholic. Make sense? There is also a distinct difference between Baptist and Arminian theology. Methodists, Nazarines, Salvation Army, Church of God, Quakers, Wesleyan are all examples of denominations that follow Wesleyan theology - which is strongly rooted in Arminian belief and practices. Many Baptists, on the other hand, view a few things differently than those groups. Most differences are related to the subjects of grace, selection and the topic of eternal salvation. I could be wrong, but I've always thought these points lean more toward Calvinism than Arminianism. In the end, I really don't think these points matter that much as long as a person agrees on the basic tenants of the Christian faith as they are clearly laid out in scripture. I just find it to be interesting to learn about how the different denominations came to be. Blessings, Lucinda P.S. BTW, in my younger years as a Christian I was first a Baptist, then a Pentecostal and then finally became a Methodist! I've been through several theology classes over the years as I learned about each one.

Thanks Tina! That helps a lot...now, hopefully we can work it out for our co-op to stay together. Blessings, Lucinda

We've got 3 6th graders in our little group, and I was wondering if they could work independently with their books and then meet once a week to do experiments and supplemental activities plus go over the week's lesson with a teacher. Does that seem like a good fit for Apologia at that level, or would the teacher still need to do a lot of prepping? Blessings, Lucinda

That's exactly why I ordered this program. We use SP, and so the recommendation is that you add a good vocabulary curriculum to your LA. When this is the case, they say (pg. 340 of TWTM) that you should "plan on doing the grades 4,5 and 6 books over the 5th and 6th grade years (it isn't necessary to begin them sooner) and move on to Book A in 7th grade." They also state that you should plan to complete A and B in 7th grade, as well as C and D in 8th grade. It probably wouldn't matter that much (IMHO) if you used A & B in 8th grade though. By what I've read in TWTM, I don't think using VFCR is even necessary if you used SW for spelling. This is thoroughly explained in the Logic level LA section of TWTM. Blessings, Lucinda

Okay, now my question is this: How teacher intensive are the Apologia courses? Would it be easy for a teacher to just open up and go, or is there a lot of prep work involved? It looks like my friend may be willing to teach in our little co-op again this year if we can find the right teacher-friendly curriculum. Thanks once again fellow Hive members for your input. Blessings, Lucinda

Maybe it would help if someone listed denominations that fall into the category of Reformed believers. I'm pretty sure that I have a general idea about what most denominations believe, but would find it interesting to see which ones are actually considered Reformed. I think that Presbyterians would be included in this group, but am not sure about others. Anyone? Blessings, Lucinda

Hey Heather, I'm glad you chimed in! I'm confused about which website and stores you are talking about. I thought KingFisher Cove is just one little store over on the east side. Please fill me in ASAP. I've been on my laptop all morning trying to find resources. Wow! I should know next week which curriculum we'll be needing and would most definitely be interested in buying used books from you. Would you mind pm'ing me with prices? Thanks and God bless, Lucinda

I just went ahead and bought both 5th & 6th grade levels after I read the WTM recommendation. We're going to start out with 5 and move along until we've done both books. Blessings, Lucinda

Now I'm really confused about whether I should go all the way over there or just go to Exodus! :lol: Blessings, Lucinda

Same town as me? Really? Blessings, Lucinda

I just talked to them and they said they do carry pretty much all of the books, so thanks again for the tip. BTW, have you ever been to their store? If so, do you know how it compares to the Exodus store? Blessings, Lucinda

They are not long at all. Most of them are about 5-10 minutes long, depending on the lesson. Blessings, Lucinda

Thanks for sharing your experience with buying materials at Powell's. I guess I based my comments on how tough it was finding things at Powell's in the past. I'm from this area, and while I was in college in the late 80's and 90's, there was a strong bias there toward very liberal, secular materials. Obviously, by what you've shared, they have become a bit more broad in their offerings. That's good to know! Blessings, Lucinda

I ordered both Fractions and Decimals and Percents for dd for this coming school year, although I know she is ahead of them already. I just wanted her to have some fun math to do once a week, per TWTM recommendation. We'll be using TT7 during the rest of the week, and LOF on Fridays. I'm really anxious to give it a try, especially after reading this thread! :thumbup: Blessings, Lucinda

That is mighty thoughtful of you, Debbie! We were wanting to look at pretty much all of them though....elementary through high school. :001_huh: Blessings, Lucinda

I did check after you posted, but my gut feeling was that they do not carry books by this publisher and I believe I am right. Powells is VERY secular and Apologia is VERY Christian with a creation based viewpoint. Thanks anyway! :~) Blessings, Lucinda

Hey, that's great to know! Thanks for the tip. I will check it out right away. Blessings, Lucinda

I'm just poppin' in to say that I have a used 2nd edition TWTM book for sale over on the ForSale board if anybody's interested. It still has some really great info in it, but since I upgraded to the 3rd edition I don't need it anymore. Blessings, Lucinda

If you were interested in looking at Apologia science curriculum in person and wanted to compare the various textbooks and materials, but were not able to go to the HS conventions -- where would you go to find them in the Portland Metro area? Exodus Bookstore is the only place I can think of. Is there any other store that carries the Apologia line? Thanks for helping me out here! Blessings, Lucinda

If I wanted a simple, fill-in-the-blanks kind of education for my dd, I would be done at lunchtime. But that is not the case here. We spend a good 5-6 hours per day 3x a week, and at least 3.5-4 hours per day 2x a week. That's because we want time to delve into fascinating subjects, enjoy our reading and have meaningful conversations about the things that are being learned. In other words, we want to learn WELL! There should be no race with the clock when it comes to school. Our kids are much more important than that, and life itself is much deeper than filling in the blanks with correct answers. Why would we want to merely memorize facts and move on? I feel so sorry for your neighbor and her children. They are truly missing a rich educational experience!! Blessings, Lucinda

I have a couple of MindBenders books ready and have also purchased The Fallacy Detective. Additionally, someone posted the following links to online pre-logic puzzles, and I have them bookmarked for us to use if we need them. http://www.mysterymaster.com/puzzles.html http://www.squiglysplayhouse.com/PencilPuzzles/index.html#Logic After the first semester of school I'll have to see how far we've gotten with these. At that point, I may go ahead with one of the Critical Thinking Co.'s books. We're just going to take a slow launch into logic, saving the formal approach for 7th & 8th grades. Blessings, Lucinda

Although my dd is bright and capable, math is not her favorite subject. And although I am bright and capable, math is not my favorite subject to teach. Dh is on the road a lot working, so is not able to consistently be dd's math instructor, so when we decided to switch from Saxon and MUS last year we decided to try out TT. It has been a real life saver for us. Now dd just loves math because it is such an interactive approach. I am happy because I can focus on other subjects that I am better suited to teach. Dh is happy because he thoroughly approves of the methods taught with TT and believes that it is an excellent fit for dd's learning style. And she is doing well, btw. She is using TT7 as a 6th grader and just scored 100% in math on her standardized testing. We are very satisfied and plan to stay with TT for the duration. An aside to this and hopefully another source of comfort for you: a coworker of mine that has a masters degree in math and teaches 5th grade swears by TT - says it is an excellent program. She recommends it highly to hs families outside the private classical school where we both teach. One final thought: TWTM recommends supplementing with another math program into the mix once per week. This recommendation is to go along side any math curriculum you choose, not just TT, and is to give students a variety to their math learning. I would recommend Calculadder drills for elementary students and LOF for logic and rhetoric stages. Have fun! Blessings, Lucinda