If you trusted the program all the way through, did it produce a good writer? Were they read to move on to SWB's suggested rhetoric texts? Were you happy with the program and its results?

I would like for dd to take at least 1 logic course in high school but I'm having trouble finding anything secular other than college texts, and I'm not sure she is ready for that. She is not a strong writer, so I would like to find a sequence where I could work on writing and logic simultaneously and then move into rhetoric. A search of past threads turned up options of The Snake and the Fox or An Introduction to Formal Logic by Peter Smith. Has anyone had success with either of these? It seems there isn't much available for secular logic curricula.

I was going to recommend the same book. I read it a few years ago and am re-reading it now that we are entering the high-school years. The author outlines a good plan for allowing your child to choose their own literature while, at the same time, ensuring they are choosing quality literature. Basically, you lay out a few requirements and then the student chooses books that fit those requirements.

Got it. Thank you. I think I'll have to get the ebook and just make do without the TG. I wonder if I can print the ebook. I've never purchased an ebook through Google Play Likewise, I'm going to have to settle for the audio versions of the lectures. They're fairly inexpensive through Audible. Thank you for all your help.

KarenNC, thank you for that detailed response! Yes, this is for a 9th grader. This is my first time planning for high school and I'm finding it hard to determine how much material to assign for a credit. I would love to see your syllabus. I will pm you my email. So is the general consensus then than the Bolchazy book can take the place of Hamilton? If we complete it in its entirety, will it be worth 1/2 credit, along with the Vandiver lectures? The exams are a great idea, too. Thank you!

I intend to have my 14yo listen to TGC's Classical Mythology series (12 hours) and read Hamilton's Mythology and complete a study guide for it. Any other suggestions to make this worth 1/2 credit? Thanks.

Like Key to... series but starting even earlier, with addition, substraction, mutiplication, division, etc? I know the Math Mammoth Blue series is set up like this, but are there any others?

I have a 7yo and a 9yo. Would Miquon be good for those ages?

Thanks, but according to christianbook.com, these both have Christian content. :)

I'm looking for something simple, inexpensive, nonconsumable. Think Rod and Staff but secular. Is there anything like that?

This is awesome! Thank you!

Dd finished Teaching Textbooks 7 and is ready to move on to prealg. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that I can fit TT into the budget this year. Are there any relatively inexpensive options for prealgebra?

The first hurdle is always, "I don't know what to write," which leads to her procrastinating and then staring at her blank paper for a good long while. When she finally is finished, it is one long piece of writing with no paragraph breaks and filled with run-on or fragmented sentences. The sentences need to be reordered and restructured. There really isn't an introduction or conclusion. Basically, the whole process is difficult, and she gets discouraged.

My 14yo HATES writing and thinks she just can't do it. I was looking at Writing With Skill, thinking that maybe the specific instruction and breaking it down into small steps would benefit her, but wow, it seems kind of overwhelming. How can I tell if she is ready for it? What other programs are good for struggling writers? Secular is preferred. Thanks.

Gotcha. Thanks. :)

What do you mean by "a lot?" A lot of material covered? Time? Heavy concepts?

Sure. I won't be able to order the American Odyssey or the TGC course until next week, though. Then I need to get cracking, because the school year is almost upon us. :) I also wanted to use the Critical Thinking books, but I'm not sure yet if it's going to fit into the budget.

Thanks for this. Yes, I was referring to The Great Courses US history. I can't find a reasonably priced DVD set, so I hope the audio will be sufficient. I think I'll try to match up the chapters in American Odyssey will the TGC lectures and maybe supplement with a few chapters of Zinn or Lies My Teacher Told Me.

Hey, thanks. I've never heard of bookfinder before. Pretty neat.

Thank you.

I can't find on their website where to buy just the text itself without purchasing the entire course. Thanks.

Thanks for the suggestions. I will look at Foner. I enjoy Zinn, but his book doesn't cover ALL of American history. I may end up having to do this, I just was hoping to find one resource that I could use as a main spine. I am hoping that TGC's History of the United States lectures will cover all the main points. Oh, wow. I think you just saved me $12. :) I like Zinn but I would have to fill in the gaps. I was skimming through A People's History last night since it had been a while since I had read it, and there really isn't much on the founding fathers, the Constitution, etc. I had considered K12's American Odyssey too, but I don't have any way to preview it until I actually order it myself, so I'm not sure if that plus Zinn would be too much reading for my 14yo.

(This is used as the spine in Funda Funda's US History course.) I keep reading that conservatives love this book and liberals hate it. I am most definitely NOT conservative. :) Any opinions? I'm not sure I have time to read it myself and possibly find an alternative if necessary. I'm thinking of using it but balancing it out with Zinn's People's History, but that would make for a lot of reading. They're both pretty hefty books.

This is great, thank you.

I actually already had this thread open in another tab because I searched for it just yesterday. :lol: My 9th grader will be doing LLLotR this year, and I want to beef it up by reading some of the other works mentioned in the curriculum (Beowulf, Sir Gawain, etc) and also some more Tolkein. This thread is a goldmine. My biggest problem is not finding resources, but figuring out how to schedule them. LLLotR schedules the 3 books to last the full school year. When you are reading extra book (unscheduled in LLLotR), are you reading them simultaneously alongside LOTR or do you speed up your reading of LOTR to make room for the other books?