Could you elaborate on why she loves it? Curious. Also, during class times, is there kid chat (chatting to each other) during lectures. Also, would you say classes are relaxed or studious "use-every-minute" type classes? Holly

Well, Veritas uses the Wheelock curriculum and Potters uses Lingua Latina (I believe). These are very, very different curriculums. Honestly, I'd do a search on this forum and look at feedback on those two curriculums. Personally, I don't like either of them too much. But, if I had to choose, I'd use Wheelock. YMMV!

I wouldn't call our experience a success story, but we did learn a lot! DD took bio as a 9th grader. The class was rigorous. We used PH and covered the entire book-over 1,000 pages. The month of May we finished the last unit on human body and began taking SAT practice tests. From the first practice test, we knew we had major problems. (co-op class of 4 kids) The students were scoring far lower than we expected. The practice tests were really, really hard. Going over the practice tests, we found that our kids knew the content but were not seeing how the tests were often tricking them into the wrong answers. Over the course of May, with intensive work, the kids improved their scores over 200 points. The week before the test in June we did a bunch of review and MORE practice tests. In the end, dd scored approx 250 pts better than the first practice test she took. The practice tests helped in a couple ways. First, the kids saw how the test makers often try and trick you in many different ways. Second, the kids saw how they needed to create a strategy when they decided how many questions to attempt to answer. (You do get dinged for wrong answers.) Third, the kids understood how long an hour is and learned to budget their time wisely. Yes, we spent an exorbitant amount of money on practice tests. Yes, it was worth it in the end. Some of the practice tests were way, way harder than the real thing! This was pretty discouraging to the kids. The test book that ended up being closest to dd's final score was McGraw-Hill. However, the book isn't highly regarded, and I only bought it because we ran out of the more highly regarded publishers. One of the difficult things about our experience is that two of the big topics on the bio test, genetics & biochem, were covered in our book at the beginning of the year. So, we found that the kids had to spend a bunch of time relearning these topics. It is a case for having midterms and final exams. Had the kids reviewed these topics in January, we might have saved ourselves some headaches at the end of the year. The other thing to remember is that you are often taking these tests with students that have taken the AP class. That wrecks the curve. If your child is going to end up taking the AP class eventually, I'd recommend waiting to take the SAT II. If they are not going to take the AP, then make sure your coursework is rigorous. That was our experience. YMMV. I am hoping that the extra time we spent preparing for this first SATII will pay off in the long run. The students will be more prepared the next time around. They'll know how helpful the practice tests are. They'll know what kind of questions to expect. We'll see. The same kids are thinking about doing the SAT Chem. HTH, Holly

Thanks Kate!! The Seattle Symphony has a wonderful reputation. I'm sure the harpist is a fabulous player. In fact, I think one of Megan's friends at harp camp (she's there right now) is from Seattle. I'll ask her. Thanks again for all of your help & advice! Holly

Thanks for your reply, Holly

Where does Lewis say he is trying to portray Muslims? Is that something he stated? There are lots of different religions in the East. Is there a quote where Lewis says he is portraying Muslims. I'm not arguing that he didn't say it. I'd just like to know where this quote is located so I can read more. (And yes, I've read the books.) Not trying to be argumentative, Holly

Could you give me the Lewis quote for this? I'm ultra-curious as I've never heard this.

I am absolutely giving two credits for English this year. She gets one credit for Advanced Composition and one credit for Literature of the Western World. This reflects time spent, output and there is no way I'll only give it one credit. Of course, I'm keeping the book lists and course description so that I can "back up" the transcript. Here is her credit load: Advanced Composition-1 Credit Literature of the Western World-1 Credit Music-1 Credit Algebra I-1 Credit History-1 Credit Biology-1 Credit I haven't really decided on course titles. Advanced composition might be confused with musical composition, so I might change that title. I totally understand the concern with over-crediting. But, I feel personally, with this particular year, I would be completely short-changing my daughter by only giving English one credit. YMMV Holly

Hi Kate, DD plays harp. She is actually at harp camp in Georgia right now. If someone comes up with a harp/spanish camp, we'll be there in a heartbeat!! France is the "harp mecca," or so I've heard. If we lived on the east coast, maybe I'd have some kind of French connection. However, we really only have connections to the harp community in Israel. And my understanding is that the language we'd have to know is Russian. I've looked at Concordia. It looks like a great place! I went to the UW website and the foreign language immersion programs look really neat! One year of college foreign language in 9 weeks is fantastic! Thanks for bringing up these ideas. I'm talking it all over with dh! Holly

Well, I finally figured out WHY dd should study a foreign language: :D

Thanks for all of the suggestions re: cc. I can't really imagine fitting spanish cc into any of the next three years. I don't see any subject I can take time from-she's overworked as it is. I'm just stumped. Waaa-:willy_nilly:

I have a couple of deaf friends. They "educated" me on the political issues regarding ASL a few years ago. It is a hot button issue within the deaf community. So, while on the surface ASL seems like a good alternative foreign language, I'd be losing a few friends over the choice. It is just not a good choice for my family. Holly

You are right. I know I might have to pay extra for an alternative. I'd actually consider something like going abroad, except that she could never take that much time off from her music studies. You are right! Holly

I couldn't do it in 5 hours. Could she go in a different room with some noise canceling headphones? Otherwise, what would she do all day waiting for school to start?:confused:

Thanks Sue & Peela! Peela, I was kind of thinking that my experience would be similar to yours. It sounds pretty open-ended to me. When I taught Latin there was a LOT of checking homework, quizzes and tests. Hmm. I'm still pretty undecided about foreign language as my "ridiculous thread" (I posted tonight) clearly shows. Thanks again, Holly

I'm just going to come out and say it- How can dd "do" foreign language without doing a foreign language? Terrible, isn't it? Basically, my dd is very, very busy. Aren't we all? She has a full schedule next year. I think she will be very competitive (potentially) for college acceptance in a few years (she'll be a sophomore). However, we just don't have any motivation, with the exception of getting into college, to do foreign language. I know that she needs three years of the same language and I just totally want her to use those hours to do other things. I "covet" those hours. I find myself feeling very, very bitter toward the whole process of learning a foreign language! I taught Latin for a couple years and I am very aware of how many hours it actually takes to learn a language and to comprehend the grammar of that language. I know that if I do something informal she'll learn next-to-nothing. We'll consistently give it too little time and it'll be worthless. If we do something formal, I'll be annoyed at how much time it takes. Then she'll forget it all be the second year of college. I can't think of any creative way to get out of this requirement. And I suppose this is just a rant! But, can anyone help me?????? Any alternative, creative ideas? Waaa!:svengo:

Anyone with experience with the online latin tutors for Cambridge Latin? TIA!!! Holly

I would like something like Traditional Logic by Cothran. I'm not interested in "extra" stuff because the closer to high school kids get, the less time they have for a subject like logic.

A couple of polish playground games: http://www.polishsite.us/lifestyle-and-entertainment/games-and-puzzles/199--playground-games.html And cookies http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/family/feature/famf010501_ffcookie1/famf010501_ffpoland.html A neat idea for a very educational craft. Take thick cardstock and copy a map of Poland on one side and a famous painting by a Polish artist on the other side. You might want to have the kids label their own map, first in pencil then in pen. Next, have students draw on jigsaw shapes, first in pencil and then with sharpies. Then they cut out their puzzle. (or parent helpers do) Finally, have them put their puzzles together. First try with the map side. Then try with the portrait side. If you give the kids different paintings, they can take turns solving their friends' puzzles.

My personal fav. (and I laughed till I cried):

Read her other 2 posts. Obviously a TROLL!

Hands-down- World War I by Vejas Gabriel Liulevicius!

Because most of the meat you mention has a sauce, really none of the meals will work. Nitty gritty-You can eat meat, butter, eggs, cheese, and vegies (green mostly). Almost all sauces are going to be high in carbs. Holly

Our local university awards 6 credits for Am His and 3 credits for Am Gov. I've always heard that history is more comprehensive than gov. But, I haven't BTDT. Holly

We are also doing Preparing.