1994?

I would continue to work on grammar and spelling, however, I give latitude when coming up with narrations. My dd used to draw pictures or cartoon strips to narrate her history. There's lots of time to get more serious - yours are only 5 & 7 - enjoy them and their crazy ideas!

nt

nt

I'd love to do this is 4 day/week - is that possible?

nt

I can say that because I am now on the other side of jr. high (one graduating 8th next month and one in 7th). I had the same fear/anxiety that you have now. I think that the change that happens in jr. high is more about quality and type of work versus any certain curriculum. Please remember that anything I say below is just my personal opinion and what worked for our family. I have two very different learners in my house so I'm doing different things with both of them. Here goes..... [should I go to a prepared curriculum like BJU to take some of the fears away?] Only if you like those types of curriculum. If not - skip it. I love having choices! [Math- half-way done with Abeka 6. (used Abeka from 1-6) We will finish and maybe start Chalkdust Pre-algebra?] Why not continue with Abeka Pre-Algebra? My ds did that and I think it's a good program and prepared him well. I would, however, switch to something else for Algebra I. Just curious if you feel you have to do Pre-Alg. in 6th or your kids are really ready for that? [Grammar- Used BJU until now. Will probably use Analytical Grammar] Either of these would work. I think if you go for AG - I would choose the Jr. AG. I chose that with my kids. I know SWB recommends AG for sr. high. [spelling- Calvert Spelling CD and Megawords] Good. [History- I made up my own history program covering World History over 2 years. We are mid-way. They are reading CHOW and doing the Calvert outlining book, Listening to SOTW and doing mapwork from activity guide, doing History Pockets and doing some reading from SL 6/7. I wanted them to have a nice over-view but feel this may be History-lite compared to alot of people.] This sounds like a lot of fun. I would keep going. It doesn't sound light to me. Have you studied Am. History yet? If not, I would move onto that after you finish your world history. You could always do a fun world geography year (or finish the year with it) before going through another history cycle. What might help is reading the history section in TWTM - this is where work is "beefed-up" as far as the work required (outlining, summaries, timeline, etc.). [Writing- Have done some IEW in the past. Plan to use IEW Middle ages next year and actually complete it.] If it works - keep it. [Reading/Literature- SL 6/7 books but reading them only. I am also use EPS Reading comprehension in Varied Subject Matter. Plan on using Lightning Literature in 7th for literature analysis but should I do something in 6th for "analysis". They read tons on their own too.] I would just continue to have lively discussions on the books their reading - don't need to get heavy into analysis at this point. LL7 will be a good intro. to that type of reading, when you get there. [Latin- really really unsure of Latin. I feel I need to teach it but feel quite inadequate. I am thinking of using Latin for Children for the DVD even though Latin Prep seems to be the book-of-choice here. I ordered Getting Started with Latin that someone mentioned but not sure if it is enough.] I'm not sure about whether many colleges care if your foreign language is in Latin or another modern language. We gave Latin a real try for 2 years then gave up. I realized FL was not easy for me at all. This is a class that we are outsourcing - Spanish. What I chose to do instead was word root study. There are many programs out there for this (Word Roots A & B; Voc. from Classical Roots; etc.) [science- Have Prentice Hall but unsure on how to implement. Do they just read and do the workbook and then some experiments? Is that in-depth enough?] We did Prentice Hall this year and I found them quite boring because we like experiments! We actually did the Apologia Elementary Sciences in 6th (2 books - 1/semester) and loved it. I also bought the experiment kits. Maybe this is a year you can study something they'd like to learn more about. Come 7th grade you can go into Apologia General Science or Rainbow Science (something more formal). Though I have to be honest here - we've never done a real "formal" science. I chosen from lots of different resources and just had fun with it. I knew my ds would hit it hard in 9th for science. [Logic- nothing formal right now. They enjoy Logic Safari and Logic Liftoff. When should formal studies start?] You could start Critical Thinking books, but we just stuck with the logic books like you are doing. In 7th we started Fallacy Detective (great book)! [They may also do a one-day a week enrichment that includes Public Speaking, Spanish, and Art.] This sounds great. If you want to have them do projects you can do that anytime. I don't put a lot of weight on those types of things, unless there was a real interest in it from my dc. Final thought - one thing that happens during the jr. high years is that your kids grow up. There are a lot of things that happen naturally, not from anything I've done or not done. Some things I've tried to keep in mind.... I want my dc to love to learn, even when we aren't doing "school". This is something I don't see from public school kids. I want them to be able to communicate clearly and read well. We did more work with essays (breaking them down), outlining, and writing in general. Lots of reading and a good grounding in math - solid concepts. Don't worry, they will have lots of time to work hard in high school and college. You've got 3 years to prepare them for the high school level work, so it may help to have an idea of your goals for them in hs (not curricula, but habits, work ethic, basic abilities, etc.). Most of all, have fun! Relax and enjoy your children. It sounds like you are already doing a great job.

nt

do you have the student text and teachers manual? Anything else that would help?

do you have the student book and teachers manual? Anything else out there to help?

I've gone through the TM and found that if you did it as they suggest (many times taking 2-3 days per lesson) that it would take you 189 days to get through the book. If you opted to do all the "optional" lessons also, it would take you 218 days. So, for those using Foerster's right now - how are you using it? How is the pace and is spending 2-3 days on some lessons not needed?

nt

What does this syllabus contain?

Also, when did you start preparing and how intensive were you (days/hours per week)?

how do you incorporate it? Is it a main spine or purely supplement?

though I would suggest purchasing your spine.

Looking for a text and experiments - lots of hands-on preferred.

nt

Looking at this for my 14 yr. old ds. He has severe acne on his forhead and nose only. This was suggested by the dermatologist. She also suggested antibiotics. My dh isn't keen on either. Any experiences would be great to hear.

nt

Also, what edition is best to get? I've got the 3rd edition in the TM.

Foerster's Algebra I (3rd Edition) or Dolciani's Modern Algebra: Structure and Method , Book 1 (1970).

We had used MUS, Key to Series, and other math programs for my dd, age 13, who really struggles with math concepts. TT has been great for her. She's doing Math 7 this year and I wouldn't even consider changing. She started off loving the lectures, but soon moved away from those and is using the textbook only. Having said all that, this is also the first year she could handle grade level work. This in itself gave her a lot of confidence in herself. TT breaks down concepts in a very manageable fashion and provides lots of review - but not a sickening amount. My ds, age 14, tried TT Pre-Algebra last year and hated it. He found the slower pace to be irritating. He is using Abeka this year and will switch to something else next year. If I had a child that was good in math and could grasp concepts easily, I would choose something other than TT. I just think you could cover more ground with a more intensive math program. I have not used Algebra I and above, so I can't speak to that - but like I said, my dd found this a real blessing.

however, he is into learning all he can on the history of war. This book has to be discussed as you go. I think 12 would be too young - this is typically listed as a high school level book due to the dialect.

We've always done a mastery approach so when I look at Saxon it appears very unorganized to me - though I know this is a spiral approach. Do your kids do okay with this - a different subject matter each day?