Was this a joke? I hope so because otherwise I'd be REALLY offended. In fact, I'd probably have to declare that my manners were far too poor to write them a giant check. Sheesh!!

Petit Nicholas! Everyone in the house hates me when I (or now, dd) starts reading these! Hilariously funny and the humor is pretty untranslatable.

These are great suggestions, and I hope a few more people will respond with books, etc. Let me just say that I don't think it's lack of a stated professional aspiration that is so sad here, but the lack of any aspirations or believing that good things are possible for her that breaks my heart. As I said, I can't go into the specifics of the long history of abuse, drugs, abandonment, etc. that has produced such lack of faith in the future. This child is very interested in the outdoors, art, history, in fact everything we've been doing together. She has straight Fs in her school, but grandmother cannot yet pull her out due to the legal situation. I'm praying this will change and I can do more with her in the future. It's almost as if she doesn't believe she'll live long enough to make any plans, and (outside of her grandmother) she's never seen the example of making plans and carrying them through to success. But we can all get wonderful experience from that of others via books, so that's one way I'm trying to encourage her. It was particularly hard today, because last week we had the whole day together as her regular school was on spring break. Today she starts back afternoons, and she was begging me not to bring her back to school. We have been doing field trips, but often I just have time in the morning (amidst math, Megawords, some grammar, and some history/science) to do a little reading with her, so I want that reading to be effective on several levels--reading fluency practice, but also sheer information on history or science or scientists, hopefully in an inspirational way. I'm trying to do double or triple duty--skills, information and psychology in 3 hours! So good suggestions for books are really appreciated. I can't use with her what my dd did, because dd could whip through a mountain of stuff, while df (dear friend) can only handle a bit at a time. She's such a good kid, if you knew her you too would want to take her home and try to make the world better for her. Danielle

I am 1/2 day homeschooling an 11 year old, 5th grade girl who seems to have no hope or aspirations. She's the only child I've ever met who has no answer to what do you want to be when you grow up. When pressed, she will say, "I want to buy a house for my grandma", with whom she lives. I'm looking for two suggestions: dvds/videos (poor reader) or books that show kids overcoming adversity and going on to success. Scientists or artists or people in ancient times would be particularly good. books about girls who learn to cope with a troubled relationship with their mother--I just read her Anooka's Answer and it was a big success. Please help. I'm really struggling with how to teach hope. Danielle

My dd used Learn to Write the Novel Way last year (7th grade). I have mixed feelings--I thought it was well organized, but dd really bogged down when it came to actually writing page after page after page. In retrospect, I think I should have gone with something just aimed at adult writers--First Draft in 30 Days, or The Weekend Novelist--as she didn't really need the grammar/vocab aspects of the program, and did need more help in scheduling and time management. I think it is a good program, but pricey compared to the two I mention above. It really depends on the sophistication of your writer, and whether they are dedicated or reluctant writers. For the sophisticated and dedicated, I'd go with material pitched at adults. JMTC. Danielle

For very young kids, Gaston is a really fun program. However, you must read French fluently to be able to understand the teacher's manual. If you can, this program is a blast. There are 4 levels--kindergarten through 3rd grade. I purchased it from MEP-Eli, but I think it is also still available on Amazon. Danielle

Until children achieve fluency in a language, there is always more to learn! Once they achieve fluency, Jean is right, start studying it as you would your own language--literature, culture, etc. In my own case, my daughter began French in 3rd grade or so. Now in eighth grade, she's at about 2nd-3rd year high school French level. We've gone at a moderate pace and had a lot of fun with this. She won't have 4 years of any one language (we began Latin about 4th grade, and she is probably a year behind French in that) on her high school transcript, but I think good AP scores should take care of that. There are scores of advanced language texts available--visit any college textbook store and you will find plenty. I think most programs don't carry beyond a few years because 1) most US school programs do not approach serious language study until at least middle school 2)the major textbook publishers put out plenty of middle school texts, altho these are often hard to use at home 3) there are tons of high school texts designed for the classroom 4)there's lots of variety for adult level learners available online and at bookstores. For homeschoolers, I think the gap is mainly late elementary and middle school. There are lots of songs and games programs for younger kids, and Rosetta Stone, Pimsleur, Assimil, distance learning and French in Action/Destinos/Fokus Deutsch are all options for high schoolers and near high schoolers. During those middle years, a lot can be gained by solidifying grammar, developing vocabulary and reading and listening to material in the target language, as Jean suggested. Danielle

Hi Gail: Please, no need for apologies! I thought it was a pretty funny comment, actually! And, after 6 years of using all kinds of homeschooling materials, boy do I know what you mean. I, too, always have to be careful not to follow my normal, drama-queen tendencies and email is a place where my "humor" has often got me in trouble. Actually, to a writer, negative comments can be as helpful as positive ones. No curriculum will be right for everyone I hope my other comments will be useful to anyone thinking about language study. I am certainly not the last word on language study, just a real enthusiast. I love this board and have learned so much from other peoples' expertise and comments, that I do want to try to be helpful when I have any experience that maybe someone can use. To melissel: I think you probably did the right thing. First Start French is really geared for children at the earliest about 3rd grade level, not really young kids. It's intended for children who are at least nibbling at the logic stage. Danielle

I certainly hope my book for Memoria, First Start French, isn't soul crushingly boring, but I'm always open to suggestions for revisions in future editions. There is a point, however, where things like foreign language and music require some toil in memorizing and practicing that just isn't the most gripping, albeit essential, education experience. As my daughter says, it isn't much fun memorizing all those words, but it sure was fun being able to talk, read magazines, and watch tv the last time we were in France. And being able to read "Petit Nicholas" has been more than rewarding. The reason First Start French focuses mainly on grammar is that I don't believe that it is possible for a teacher/parent who doesn't speak French to give their child a total immersion experience. However, it IS possible to give the child a very solid introduction to vocabulary and prononciation, and a firm foundation in grammar, which will allow the student to fly once they are mature enough to take advantage of other great programs--like French in Action--that are only suitable for a much more mature learner. In the meantime, students using my program will acquire a store of vocabulary, basic grammar, and a great deal of cultural information (I hope), all at a much more affordable price than other French programs. Would I recommend anything else? Absolutely. First Start French (and most other language programs I've looked at) would benefit by some "real world" experience, both listening and reading. It all depends on how much time and interest you have to give to it. Some people want to spend 45 minutes a day on language and move on to other work, and my book will cover that. For some, language study will be a hobby and FSF (or other program) will be the springboard to much more involvement. This is just great--listen to songs, watch cartoons, read books! You might be interested in an article I wrote for Home Education Magazine about how I worked with my daughter to give her further experience http://homeedmag.com/HEM/244/foreignlanguage.html Language (any language) study so enriches the mind that I wish I could do it all day long! Even a beginning knowledge gives immediate benefits. In addition to French, I've learned a little Japanese (got us through 3 weeks of independent travel in hinterland Japan), Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Dutch, Latin (a really tough pursuit for me!)--some of these I know and speak better than others (none to real fluency), but all have been worthwhile. Finding materials for the pre-high school crowd is tough. Any one program should be a floor, not a ceiling, to your language study. Begin with a solid program, then supplement it based on your own needs and time. Better to do something than nothing at all. Danielle

Run, do not walk, to your bookstore and buy "Secrets of a Freelance Writer" by Bob Bly and "Well Fed Writer: Back for Seconds" by Peter Bowerman. If your child wants to make a living as a writer, this is absolutely the way to go. Danielle

I have general math regrets! We used Saxon from 3rd through 6th grade. It was workmanlike, but dull for my highly verbal kid. She dreaded math except for Fridays, when we did "fun" math with other books like Penrose, Number Devil, Challenge Math, etc. When she began getting so many wrong, I switched her to ALEKS for 7th. She enjoyed ALEKS for the 2/3 she got, but when something was really new, the explanations were terrible for her and for me. When we contacted ALEKS for further explanations, we got back more math-ese. This year we discovered Life of Fred and it's been such an improvement! I'm using Beginning Algebra with her, and Percents with another child I'm tutoring. If I had it to do over, I'd buy a bunch of flashcards, Family Math, the Penrose books, and Hands-on equations and just do those until the child had learned the math facts. Then I'd move into LOF. I'm using LOF percents with a fifth grader, and I think she'll be in the Algebra book by maybe the middle of 6th grade, a year+ earlier than my own dd. It could have been so much more fun. Danielle

My daughter wants to be me, but not work as hard (what does that tell you!) Two years ago, she wanted to be a chef. Last year, she wanted to be a manga artist. This year (14yo) she wants to be a world famous harpist (emphasis on world famous, I think), composer, and professor of ethnomusicology. Whew! Make no small plans, huh?! Danielle

I like SWB's books very much, but I found the "genre" approach of the Well Educated Mind to be a bit confusing. I like chronological, or at least varied reading. Since dd decided she still wants to homeschool high school, I gave her the option of going with a more conventional reading approach--Brit lit, Am lit, etc. but no, she's a devoted WTM chronology approach after all these years, so we're going with the 4 year rotation again, and calling it (something) Civilization I-II-III-IV. Unfortunately, while I'm well versed on 19th & 20 th century brit & am lit, even after all these years of hsing, I still haven't read the actual stuff pre-19th century. I found the Clifton Fadiman Lifetime Reading Plan really helpful. The summaries really make you excited about reading the actual books, and give you one opinion on what you're looking for. Also, in prep for high school (but also because I enjoy them) we bit the bullet and bought the Teaching Company series "Great Authors of the Western Literary Tradition", which dovetails nicely with this approach. And Annenberg/CPB has a Western Civilization video on demand (free) series which is more focused on history than lit, but still goes nicely. So that's what I'm using--dd will begin the reading list this summer, and I began it before Christmas to try to stay ahead of her. The Fadiman book adds in important non-Western works, which I really like--not enough for a "non-Western" lit class, but seminal works. I'm reading the Ramayana (retold by R.K. Narayan, himself a stellar writer) now. Fadiman links some books (like Mencius) with their influence on political theoreticians in the west, and the non-western books make for a lot of thought on different standards of good and right. I highly recommend including this exotic "spice" and am sorry I missed it all these years. The more I read, the less educated I feel! but it sure is interesting. Danielle

La Boheme, absolutely. Very romantic, accessible story, gorgeous hum-able music and my guess is that it's shorter than Tristan. Danielle

What about Fokus Deutsch? We've had great success with French in Action, but Fokus Deutsch is available on the same site--www.learner.org. I sure would like to hear from anyone who has actually used this program. Danielle

I'm not a fan of unschooling, but I thought Holt's book, Never Too Late, was an extremely moving message to adults. Sadly, in some ways it was too late for him, as he died shortly after the book was published. But what a strong message it was about the intense pleasure of life long learning. Danielle

I really appreciate the extensive info! We haven't really investigated other music camps except Interlochen, and after buying the $14,000 harp in January, there's no way I can come up with the ^$6,000 for Interlochen, so I'm afraid I'm not much help on other camps. Also, harp is a fairly weird instrument, so what might be good for harp might not be good for flute or violin. Blue Lake was recommended to us by dd's harp teacher, and the harpist for Chicago's Lyric Opera (also a prof at Northwestern), so that seemed pretty positive. But you all have way more relevant info! Dd is signed up, but we haven't gotten conversation. She'll be in the high school program, as she'd be going into 9th grade in the fall. Never been incommunicado before--I hope I survive! Still, I really want to give her this opportunity for complete independence. The classical is exactly what she wants--ideally, she'd go for 90% classical, 10% celtic, and signed up for the minor in music composition. Thanks again for all the info--we were out of town for a couple of days, and out of commission for a couple more with horrendous bronchitis. Danielle

My experience with the Fractions books is only a few days long so YMMV. We did the first 2 chapters in about 1 hour, but the subsequent chapters have taken about 1 hour each. The child I'm working with is only about average in math, so with a more gifted kid, you might be able to get through the lessons more quickly. The author says, one chapter per day for Fractions and Decimals. However, Algebra in my experience cannot be done one chapter per day in one hour. The Homeschool companions for Algebra breaks it down into smaller bites (about a hundred or so lessons). Some of the "bites" have even been too big for my dd, who is gifted in math, but not a genius. Both kids have experienced these books in the same way--wow, mom, first it looks easy and fun, and like there's not so many problems, but you get to the problems and really have to THINK! Poor babies ; ) Danielle

We easily started with the Beginning Algebra. Now, I'm using Fractions with another child I'm tutoring. If your child is solid on fractions & percents, less than, greater than, multi-place multiplying and dividing, s/he is probably at Algebra. LOF covers a lot of ground under "Fractions" and "Decimals", but you're ready for Algebra if you have arithmetic down solid. I'd take a look at the samples on the website and maybe ask your child where they think they are. Or try Algebra and drop back if necessary. Fractions and Decimals are each about 30 lessons. Danielle

My rationale on how to choose a language: 1. What does the child want to learn? 2. Does anyone in the family or nearby speak it? It's not imperative, but it does make it easier. 3. Does the child have any interests that make one language a better choice? 4. What would the child like to be able to read in the future? Reading can be as important as speaking. 5. Is there an immediate need--travel, relative, etc. I really believe that learning 2 languages at the same time is not all that difficult. We have stuck with Latin and French and couldn't be happier. Dd will almost certainly pick up some German in high school (advice by music professor who was just delighted that she already had Latin and French). Danielle

Don't be too sure. When we were driving to the tester, dh and I were speculating on what dd's IQ might turn out to be. We both agreed, oh, on about 135-145. We didn't say anything on the way home, both of us were just square-mouthed. Teachers and parents don't always assess these things perfectly. Or maybe dd just has notably dumb parents. Danielle

She's not really going to be at French I after an immersion program at Concordia. However, immersion often doesn't give much grammar background--it depends on what her goals are. Reading literature? She's going to need grammar. Speaking and living in another country? Conversation practice. French in Action is just a great program, but it is a significant amount of work. Altho designed as a one year college program, it has taken my dd, who began it at 13 after years of French at home with me, over a year to get through the first 17 lessons. She likes it very much, and her French is very good, but don't expect to cover it rapidly. Another idea to assess and place her: the American Association of Teachers of French has old National French Exams available. Perhaps you could pick an approximate level and order a test from them--they include listening, grammar, etc. If she passes with flying colors, you'd know what level to start at. In my own case, the first class I ever had in French was an immersion class. When I tried to transition to a "regular" French class (switched schools) it was really difficult to pick up the grammar. I knew what was being said, but not the precise "right" answer. Not that immersion is the best method, but academic French (read AP tests and college classes) require a pretty good grasp of paper and pencil grammar. Immersion is a priceless experience, but not the totality of learning a language. I hope your daughter has a wonderful time. Don't we all wish we could go, too ; ) Danielle

This is an issue I mull over a lot. I have seen how some kids do it, so here's what I know. They start taking junior college classes early--instead of high school, for example. After two years of amassing credits, they transfer to the state university--our state, and others, require a state school to accept anyone graduating out of the junior college system. This may work best if you're in a large urban area--say Los Angeles or Chicago--where the child can commute, and where the university has many commuters and diverse age group students. Dd and I have discussed this over and over, and she is opposed to going this route based on her own acknowledged emotional maturity level, even tho ACT scores say she's well ready academically (at 8th grade age level). If a child's primary interest is in science, I can see how it might be hard to corral the lab resources needed to challenge the child. However, for arts and humanities, there seems to me to be plenty of material to self teach to a very high level--especially with the reading program in WTM, which is way more rigorous than anything I ever had as an undergrad at a state u. (Sociology major, English minor) You have to judge the needs of your own child. I'm concerned that early entry bright kids don't usually end up at the top echelon universities, where perfect 800-800-800 SATs are not so rare. But maybe that's not so important to the individual child. In my perfect world, the top level academic kids would get the best places, whatever their age, ethnic background or economic level. Hasn't happened yet, sigh! Danielle

First, I agree--after 6 years of hs my PG daughter, I realize that 1) you will need to be an advocate right thru high school and 2) everyone talks about everyone else's kids, so just let it roll off. If it's any comfort, I've now made more than 20 calls to our local high school trying to straighten out the one or two classes she'll actually agree to take there. As to testing--we were told to wait until dd was in 4th grade (!!which she never made!), but things got so desperate at school in 2nd grade that we had her tested. The tester said we should have had her tested when she was 5, as by 2nd grade she was already ceiling out of the intelligence tests available, including the Stanford LM (for adults). According to the tester, with pg kids "that old", you might never be able to get an accurate IQ. For curiosity's sake, it would have been nice to know, but oh gosh, I guess the bottom line is "smart enough". So, maybe you DO want to consider earlier testing than we did. Also, if the testing results are in the HG+ range, you might want to consider applying for Davidson. Danielle

The Home Companion has extra problems and breaks the assignments down into 1 day chunks. I appreciate having a reality check on what is "reasonable" to do for one day's assignments. I wish he had a home companion for all the books, but I guess we will figure it out in the future. Danielle