I used Lost Tools of Writing I (4th edition) with my son. The comparison essays did not come until the very end of the program. I'm not sure if that is different in the new 5th edition. For the first several essays, the writer would choose a character and an action that the character did or decision that the character made and write an essay about whether the character should have done that (for example, whether Bilbo should have gone with the Dwarves to The Lonely Mountain). Each essay took 3 weeks. The first week was devoted to Invention. The second week worked on Arrangement. The third week focused on Elocution. Unless the new edition is different, you can start off right away using books that your child is reading. I personally let my son choose his own topics, but you could brainstorm different ideas with your child if that's helpful to get started.

Does anyone have reviews of this? I have looked through past threads but haven't really found anything. In fact, it seems like most people only use Thinkwell for math. I'm also looking at their Economics course if anyone has comments about that.

How much writing are your kids doing? Per day? Per week? What type of writing? Within a writing program or separate? We used LTOW last year and had great success with it, completing an essay every 3 weeks using issues pulled from whichever of the Great Books ds15 was reading at the time. He really did no other writing. I want to ramp up his writing in the upcoming school year, but I really don't have an idea how much is appropriate or how to fit it in. Looking for thoughts and ideas from the hive... Thanks!

I was considering using HOMW instead of BiblioPlan Companion as a spine, not in addition to. Or does that really negate the purpose of using BiblioPlan in the first place?

Has anyone tried to correlate these?

Ds15 has completed Discovery of Deduction this year and wants to continue formal logic next year. Me: What?!? You're joking... WHY? So, I have been looking a Traditional Logic 1 and 2. Having completed DoD, would he start with Traditional Logic 1 or go to Traditional Logic 2? The sample chapter of TL1 on the website looked like things we have already covered in DoD.

Ds15 is currently using this program. He seems to like it and finds it quite easy. I like that the lessons are short. I also plan to use the High School Reinforcement next year.

I'm using 180 hours per school year as a benchmark for a credit. Although ds doesn't have a clear idea regarding college at this point, I have checked into the admissions requirements for some of the local universities. Most don't seem to have any specific requirements at all regarding PE, so I'm not really concerned about this. As Momto2Ns indicated, I could consider the time he spent on these activities either way, and certainly, he would have at least 1 credit over the course of 4 years if needed. Any other potential gaps in our 9th grade plan?

The public school requires 1.5 credits in PE for graduation. Ds really isn't into sports, except sabre fencing, but he does do workouts at home 2-3 times per week in addition to the 2 hours spent fencing, and he may develop interest in other sports over the course of the next few years. All in all, I'm estimating that I'll have 1.5 credits over the course of 4 years. We are planning to cover health another year. Music and foreign language are not required at all by the pubic school for graduation, although they do require 8.5 credits in electives. I'm planning for 1 credit over 4 years for music, although I could just keep that as an extracurricular?

Ancient History: History of the Ancient World Great Books, as many as we can get to using Omnibus I and IV as a resource Lectures from the Great Courses which correspond to the above Math: Saxon Algebra I (he's a little more than halfway through this and we will move on to Algebra 2) Biology: Miller Levine Macaw Edition Labs using LabPaq and Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments Language Arts: Lost Tools of Writing Analytical Grammar High School Reinforcement Introduction to Literary Analysis using Teaching the Classics followed by Windows to the World (Jill Pike syllabus) free SAT vocabulary lessons from National Math + Science Initiative Logic and Rhetoric: Art of Argument followed by Discovery of Deducation PE 2 hours of sabre fencing per week plus home workouts 0.5 credit? Music Guitar 1 to 1-1/2 hours per week 0.25 credit? Spanish I at the public high school Intro to Tech & Engineering at the public high school Too much? Missing something?

What I like about MFW AHL is that it integrates Bible, Literature, and History. But from the threads I've read, it might do that too well...to the point that it is difficult to change it up. It seems to be a meaty program, and I also like that it's written to the student for learning more independently. I think I'm going to try to get my hands on just the lesson plan portion and have a look. Dina, thank you listing all your resources! I'm taking a look at these and especially like "Bible in World History" Thanks ladies!

First, there are other resources that I'm interested in implementing. For example, I thought I'd like to use Teaching the Classics + Windows to the World for lit analysis this year. However, I've read posts indicating that the daily time commitment for MFW AHL is around 3 hours per day, which makes me really hesitant to add more to the English component and also probably eliminates the possibility of adding in some Great Books. We're also halfway through Lost Tools of Writing, and I'd like to finish that program but I don't know how easy/appropriate/adviseable it would be to substitute LToW for the AHL writing assignments. Finally, I'm not thrilled with Notgrass as a spine. The other options I'm considering are WTM approach or Omnibus with HOAW or Spielvogl as spines. Can anyone familiar with MFW AHL offer some advice??

Ds13 just finished the KidCoder programming course. It was not a hit for us. He felt that something would be introduced and then not practiced or applied, but then a project would require its use much later on. He struggled greatly toward the end of the course. He wants to continue with programming. He just didn't care for this course.

In addition to the amount of content, there are many, many activities that correspond to each lesson, especially if using the interactive features. Just this evening I was looking over the very first lesson, Lesson 1.1. In addition to just reading the lesson content and any discussion utilizing the information in the teacher's guide, there are 3 videos you can watch, at least 6 different activities, 2 different projects, 4 study guide pages, 2 vocabulary activities including flashcards and a crossword, and 2 different assessments. I may have even missed a few things. Obviously you can't do everything...but you feel like you want to because so many of the activities tie directly into the lesson content. I can easily see spending 2 weeks on each chapter, which would make it impossible to cover the entire book.

Thanks, everyone, for your comments. I did end up purchasing a microscope because ds expressed interest in it. He also wants to "grow things." :) I still haven't decided what lab program/package to go with, though. I do know that the LabPaq kit comes with its own portable microscope, so if we end up going with that we'll be more than covered in the microscope department. Still researching so if anyone has more tips/advice/favorite biology labs, I'm all ears!

Exactly! So which program do you feel has more hands-on types of labs? Some seem to lean more heavily toward microscopy and others less so.

Ds13 is grade 8/9. We're using Miller/Levine macaw edition for biology. We have the virtual lab package that came with the interactive digital path, but I'm exploring options for live biology labs to go along with this curriculum just in case the virtual labs are not interesting for him. Two in particular that I'm really considering are LabPaq and Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments...not that I wouldn't consider others. I'm in the process of researching them and would like to get the hive's opinion. Can anyone compare/contrast or make any recommendations? I'm reading through the Illustrated Guide right now, but I'm deep in microscope territory (which is making my head spin). And LabPaq lists the experiments but not much else. Are these similar programs...or very different? In terms of cost, they seem similar assuming I buy the kit from Home Scientist. (Of course, then there's the microscope...which is an entirely different thread I could start :lol: ) Any advice? Thanks! Katie

This thread is a month old, but I'm looking for just the test packet to use with BtB iPad app. According to a previous poster, the packet is sold separately. Anyone know where? I'm not finding it on the BtB website unless you purchase the whole package.

Ds13 reads the news articles posted on Student News Daily website every day. On Friday he takes a quiz about the stories he read that week. He also chooses a news item that interested him and gives an oral presentation on it.

We are a Christian family but not evangelical, and are we using Core F this year. The core uses some biographies from the Christian Heroes Then & Now series. Those books are easily omitted or, if the person is someone you think should be read about, easily substituted with a more secular book. If I remember correctly, that is the only part of the core that is overtly evangelical. I'm traveling right now so I don't have it in front of me, but I'll be home tomorrow so if you have other questions feel free to ask. I don't really feel that the core's "central purpose" is promoting evangelism, although Sonlight may state in their literature that it is. My son has learned so much about geography and other cultures, and he has really enjoyed the books. Honestly, I think you'd be able to use the core pretty much as-is with just a few substitutions.

Hydrothermal Vents and Creatures That Live in Them A deep ocean hydrothermal vent is a fissure between tectonic plates on the ocean floor where water shoots out at high temperatures. Scientists hypothesized that these rifts existed, although no such rift had been discovered before 1977. In 1976 scientists sent unmanned craft down into the Galapagos Rift. These craft fetched water which had strange mineral content. As a result an expedition was launched in 1977. A manned submarine dove down into the rift to a depth of 2500 meters. They discovered hot springs in the ocean floor which were actually hydrothermal vents. Scientists called the vents "lush oases in a sunless desert...a phenomenon totally new to science." As I dive down into the ocean deep, I splash and feel the cold water washing over me. Now I will endeavor to search for some hydrothermal vent creatures. First, I see some giant mussels! I observe their shells are yellow, and they feel rough like stone. I understand their food is bacteria they get from the seawater. The next species I encounter is the giant clam. Freaky! Now these have white shells and red flesh, the cause of which is their oxygen rich flesh. I measure one of these monstrosities, and it is a whopping foot long! I move on to the white crab. These are the predators of the giant mussels, but they also eat tube worm stalks. Tube worms have white stalks protruding from the ground and red plumes filled with a substance called hemoglobin. Sometimes they can grow very long. They only get energy from the bacteria inside of them. They have no mouths or digestive systems. Now that I have seen some of these vents and creatures and their habitats, I will return to the surface, for I am quite out of oxygen!