I purchased the material for Intermediate Algebra and noticed that it seems to cover much of the same material as in beginning algebra. Can someone explain if this is typical for most algebra 2 high school courses? My son is going into 9th this year and completed to the middle of chapter 5 of beginning algebra (Lials). The person who will be tutoring him this year would like him to finish through ch. 6 this summer. After that, the choice is to move into the intermediate algebra book, or join his brother in MUS alg. 2. The tutor is a MUS user and teaches it in co-op classes, but will use Lials for my 9th grade if we choose. My 11th grader used MUS since pre-algebra. It took two years to get through algebra 1, primarily due to a lack of accountability and my not being a math person. He did MUS geometry last semester. We were planning to put him in MUS algebra with the tutor mentioned above. He has probably forgotten much of algebra 1 concepts so I'm having him review this summer. Any thought on this decision? Wendy

My 8th grader is on strike. There has been a slow deterioration in his mood regarding school since December to the point where he didn't do anything a couple weeks ago. He's frustrated with me regarding math(I'm slow) and doesn't see the point in the rest of the subjects since they'll make him do them all over again anyway if he goes to college (or high school for that matter). Yes there is a certain level of depression here, so I have not seriously put down my food and locked him in his room. He is brighter than average and shines in the area of analysis of situations. He's very principled, yet following his principles will cause him grief and alienation since society often doesn't think like him (or maybe they do but don't bother to try to change things). He will not willingly and happily do school just because I say so at this point. Over the last week he has done 1/2 to 3/4 of his assignments. He will. It add Latin back in,however. He doesn't see the point in it and argues that is doesn't count as a foreign language credit now anyway, so why point him through it when he still has to do two or three years more anyway. Of course I've given all the reasons for doing it but do far he's adamant( even looked up requirements at the catholic high to see if they make 8th graders take a language). What should I do? He doesn't care if I take away his computer or knitting project (he knitted 2 16foot long dr who scarves and is working on another). Other than that he's reading War and Peace, which seems like a strange thing to take away from a noncompliant teen Thoughts? Wendy

I sent my son in to work on math the last couple weeks without my oversight because I've been recovering from surgery. He told me that his new geometry course (Jacobs 2nd edition) is boring and not even math. I finally sat down with it and I understand what Jacobs is getting at (logic etc)with the first chapter, although I'm personally not interested in it and do find it more boring than working an algebra problem. I can totally understand why my son said what he did, since he's a "show me the formula and tell menhow to use it" guy. Does he need this first chapter or can it be skipped????

I would just assign it ad see how it goes. Personally I love Steinbeck. My son read Of Mice and Men in 7th and Grapes of Wrath in 9th and clearly enjoyed both. They were among the few books he actually maintained a discussion about. He isn't a big reader unless it's fantasy type stuff like books like LOTR, Eragon, Hunger Games but he really, really did enjoy steinbeck. I think it is because he has a tender spot and like many teens today is concerned with justice and fairness. Grapes os Wrath is one ofthe most important American novels. There are some (by today's standards mild) curse words, but IMHO by the time they are in high school they should be ready for a challenge in the subject matter they read. It is really difficult to find high school level material that will challenge them that does not contain language representative of the people the story deplicts. My kids know we don't talk like that, and that most educated people don't talk like that, but of coursethey know it exists and I can't shield them forever As far as the movie, my son and the group or kids that read and discussed the book with him found of sorely lacking compared to the blol. Plot elements were changed and sequence of events reversed Read the book!!!!!

We have the and I am using them with my 8th grader. The 11tb grader is watching the video series on Annenberg Media called the Western Tradition which are fabulous and have much more content than the tc high school program. And content on Annenberg if free!

I'll add that the first time I saw the professional touring company, I cried through the entire last scene. I was riveted and had to return to the theater the next night to see it again. I took my boys to Dallas to see the last performance in Dallas of the last tour (when we didn't know when we would ever be able to see it live again). Randal Keith was with the tour for years as ValJean and was said by the associate director to be one of the best. Many of you probably saw him. Even after hearing the music that many times, it still has the ability to move me. It has inspired us to watch the video with Liam Neeson and all of us to read the full-length unabridged book. This is by far one of the best novels you can have your kids read and discuss! The musical does an admirable job of telling the story also and there are study guides on the UK site that look pretty good http://www.lesmis.com/london-uk/education Even with the bawdy scene, I would not hesitate to bring a young person to the show or let them listen to the music. Most kids understand, with a little explaination, that what is going on in that scene is not admirable behavior and, as my good friend told her car-Les Miz-singing kids: you will not repeat THAT particular word outside of that song. Most of it goes right over their head anyway.

♫♪Will you join in our crusade? Will you be strong and stand with me...♪♫♪ We've have been listening to and singing this sound track since my boys were 6 and 10. Last year my oldest, at age 15, played Javert and my youngest Thenadie in a community theater's youth production. Here's Michael as Javert: He has done at least 20 shows since the age of 6, directed a few, sung with the FW Opera chorus, and this was the only show that made him so sad to see end that he cried.

Have those of you wishing to use Miller/Levine considered ordering the lesson plans through Kolbe Academy? You can purchase just the plans and I believe this will give you access to the other materials, but you would need to check on this....you may also need to enroll for just that course or buy the book/answer key pack. Kolbe is very flexible in this regard and they are still using the Dragonfly book, which can be found for a better price than the new one, although that may change in a couple years. I visited with an academic adviser at a bookfair yesterday who said she likes the newer book better and is wanting to change the lesson plans.

We did not, but I have both. The Apologia took 30 -60 minutes a day as it was (not counting co-op day). We skipped the evolution chapter in Apologia and went only with Miller for that one. I will used only Miller with my next 9th grader and my purchase the Kolbe lesson plans and tests.

We aren't using LOF for our main text, but still, I'm curious to know why you don't agree with the author? What else would they need to know to begin the fractions book? Ditto with beginning the Algebra 1 book. My son is working through the pre-algebra books and there are no new basic math skills covered that were not in the fractions and decimals books. The economics book is getting into a little preliminary algebra, but it's covered again in algebra 1. I kept waiting for LOF to get to signed numbers in pre-algebra, but I don't think it is going to. However, it is at the beginning of the Algebra book. As far as the topics that are covered in a typical pre-algebra course which are not covered in LOF, do they need these for algebra anyway???? Geometry is covered in pre-algebra in ps books, MUS, and Lial, but it isn't in my son's MUS algebra course. I think this is why the geometry is at the end of the school year. If they don't get to it they can still begin algebra the next year.

A simple grading system in which tests count for the majority of the final grade does seem to be the norm in college, but in high school grades seem to be calculated on a different formula. Actually, one can't say what that formula is because grades seems to be calculated differently at different schools and even differently among teachers of the same subject in the same school. Take math for instance. My son generally makes B's on his Lials basic college math tests, but he gets only 0-4 wrong on his homework. With working one lesson or problems set a day, tests come up about every 4-6 weeks. He works diligently, completely all the problems. Should his grade be a low A or a B? I surveyed the grades system of our local schools and found that they add homework into the calculation. Most of the teachers grade homework as complete or incomplete (it wouldn't be fair to mark off for incorrect problems while your practicing). Homework counts for as much as 40% of the grade. So that pulls my son up to an A. I personally believe that there are not enough questions on an Apologia test. I haven't looked at chemistry specifically, but I did find this to be true with General Science and Biology. After memorizing 15 definitions they are tested on 4????? After studying an entire module there are only as few as 12 questions? I compared this to an average biology test given in a high school class and found the the tests they give cover much more of the material: more definitions, more labeling, more questions, more essays. I suppose you could argue that if you miss two Apologia questions, you aren't an A student, but, gosh, are you ever penalized for those two when if they had asked five more on another topic you could have gotten an A!!! For this reason I actually added to the Apologia tests so that I was testing on more material. I felt this was fairer, especially on the definition part. Curving up is also an option, as well as adding an oral test to probe the student for understanding of the unit. Just my thoughts and one of the things I don't like about Apologia.

What is a good workbook to supplement Spanish? I seen the Spanish Now workbook by Barron's at resale stores, but there is no answer key. Seton homestudy uses this workbook, and includes their answer key. Is this a good workbook to use with the Seton key, or is it just the same to buy it new with the publishes key......or is there something better? We are using RS, and I think we will try the Pimsleur cd's also.

I just remembered. There are audio resources on the website which might be beneficial in general, and beneficial to uses of IEW specifically.

At the risk of offending the IEW "community", of which I am a part, I'd go out on a wire here and say that high school is a perfect time to BEGIN IEW, as opposed to beginning earlier. Here's why: IEW is a program that teaches style. If a student can not put sentences together well, IEW is not going to teach him. If a young student already enjoys writing, then he is ready for IEW. Go ahead and order level A (for elementary). But if not, wait until their older. If they are balking at writing a simple journal entry or book report they are going to hate the checklist. That said, the strength of IEW for a young student is it takes the "what to write" about out of the equation....brillant! What IEW can do for a high school student who already knows about sentence structure and paragraph writing is teach elements of style that take plain vanilla writing to a much high level. In the later units of the basic course, the tips on report writing are wonderful and highly useful. I started IEW with my kids when they were in 6th and 8th grade. They both enjoy watching the videos and love listening to Andrew. My 6th grader hates writing, though he is a natural. I had to slow down and stop with him(level B). We tried the American History Writing 1 this year instead because it is less demanding, but he hates history so we've decided to just write reports the rest of the year and pick it back up with student writing intensive C in the fall. My high-schooler has had no problems with any writing assignment because he likes to write. This year his writing has improved tremendously since I have be requiring EVERYTHING on the checklists. I chuckle at the persons post regarding the student who was told their paper was good, but they didn't include all the checklist items. This was discussed on the Yahoo Group and I learned that the reason for requiring every item is so that the student get practice in using all the components of style. Naturally they won't use all of them in every paragraph in all their writing at some point. There have been times when I've let a missing item go in an IEW assignment because I couldn't think of how to add it. Remember that TWSS was designed as a workshop and the student writing intesive as a three day workshop for the student. You can take as much or as little time as needed to get through the material. Then utilize whatever other IEW program you wish to for the remainer of the highschool time. We are currently using Elegant Essay and Windows to the World with my 10th grader, and will pick up SWI continuation course level C next year. I'd also like to get the essay intensive at some point. Hope this helps.

I t would be on your lesson plans (free to download from the site or the yahoo group if you don't have them) if it were included. Each level has a little more content and right now I'm thinking that this is a topic not covered in B.