Sorry I'm late on getting back with all of you but was busy over the weekend. Lots of food for thought here. Still trying to decide what to do. DH is leaning on "letting her by an 8th grader" even though she's the one who wants to proceed to high school. She's very bright but she is still just a kid! Also, our family life can get a bit complicated with having a lot of kids, and I don't want to put undo pressure on her to succeed, especially if I cannot support her 100%! I am leaning on continuing with our plan of Alg 2, Traditional Logic, Latin with a tutor (but trying to pin her down more on "how" to assess her grade level), German 2 through OK state, and Chreia. I am calling the high school tomorrow to see if they would allow her to take Biology which I understand "advanced" 9th graders take. Then World History a la WTM with extra writing/reading for Ancients in high school. I think I will keep track of all her classes and start assigning credits to them, then I can see what the year looks like and go from there. I would feel good if she can do solid work in 4-5 of these classes, meaning that they would appear to be high school credits down stream. I never realized this would be so complicated! I guess it's hard when you have a kid who is not really at grade level in all areas. Any more comments are welcome! I have read all of your comments adn shared them with DH. (BTW, he finds all our little acronyms funny and proposes another one to follow HTH--TFTH which is Thanks for the Help. I told him it just doesn't have that ring to it and probably wouldn't fly, LOL) ' Jeri

I understand what you're saying about math and college. She is right on board to take Alg 2 (8th), Geom (9th), Trig/precalc (10th) then Calc (11th). Right now we are living in Germany but at that point we will probably be back in the US and then she will go further in math with CC courses. I also understand what you say about her mind maturing along the way, and thus her thinking/'writing. Her desire is to "graduate" from high school early. As a homeschool mom, I'm not sure what that looks like. If I don't count anything until high school (9th) then it's almost impossible for her to "graduate" early. But maybe it's just more important that she has the "work" that is required by her colleges of choice, and not have a clear breakdown of four years of school from age 14-18. Do I make any sense here? As for the German, according to the website at OK State, it is high school German so I guess I can count it as such, right? For the Latin, she recently started working with a tutor and given the level she is working at, her tutor said she is equivalent to two years of high school Latin. But you're saying that you would not count this as 2 credits, right. Can you explain (again) why? Good tip on the Logic course! She will do Basic Trad Logic next year in 8th. But are you saying that this is not high level unless it is done in high school? Really, I appreciate you input! I am just trying to reconcile her age, her "grade", and her courses. Jeri

Is it: 3^2 - 2^3 + 45/3 * (-1 - 2) In words: Or three squared, minus two cubed, plus 45/3, times (negative 1 - 2) jeri

I guess I've moved up in the board hierarchy by looking at high school! Didn't really realize that! jeri

I've been reading the high school-to-college threads with great interest. Thanks for all the input into what courses your kids are taking and what types of colleges they are applying to. My dd is in 7th this year. She and I are contemplating her high school years and her goals for college. She is a great student and, as of now, is hoping to work in math and/or science. Here are the *important* courses she is taking right now: Alg 1 (and most of AOPS' Counting adn Prob) German 1 throught OK State Latin 2 with a tutor CW Maxim Next year she is hoping to move into high school courses. I am figuring that she has already taken four with the Alg, German, and Latin. Would you agree with that? Regarding CW Chreia--does anyone know if that's a high school course? Or do I have to wait for Herodotus to count that? What about Logic--would Traditional Logic be a high school course? What *does* constitute a high school course, anyhow? Isn't it some formula like 3 hours a week of classwork and 3 hours of outside work? That sounds like a lot, but perhaps that's true. And now I'm learning that anything they learn as a non-high schooler (ie middle school) doesn't count as a high school credit! Is this true? Thank you! Jeri

I've been reading the high school-to-college threads with great interest. Thanks for all the input into what courses your kids are taking and what types of colleges they are applying to. My dd is in 7th this year. She and I are contemplating her high school years and her goals for college. She is a great student and, as of now, is hoping to work in math and/or science. Here are the *important* courses she is taking right now: Alg 1 (and most of AOPS' Counting adn Prob) German 1 throught OK State Latin 2 with a tutor CW Maxim Next year she is hoping to move into high school courses. I am figuring that she has already taken four with the Alg, German, and Latin. Would you agree with that? Regarding CW Chreia--does anyone know if that's a high school course? Or do I have to wait for Herodotus to count that? What about Logic--would Traditional Logic be a high school course? What *does* constitute a high school course, anyhow? Isn't it some formula like 3 hours a week of classwork and 3 hours of outside work? That sounds like a lot, but perhaps that's true. Thank you! Jeri

I started AAS with my 7 yo and my (ESL) 9 yo in the fall. We flew through it in a couple of weeks becasue it's mostly just short vowel sounds. But it was good because it sort of set up a base for me to go from. We thenk did AAS 2 so we could get into more advanced phonograms, but even these they mostly knew. I was looking at cost then adn decided to buy HTTS. BTW, we bougth the student packs (actually two since I thought they would both use them) and the tiles and my kids didn't want to use any of these. So we used white boards instead. Were I to buy AAS 3, I would only buy the TM. HTTS: This is a completely different type of book. There are no scripted lessons like AAS. It is a book where they give you a very detailed rule, give you the approximate grade level to teach it (ie. grade 3 and up), give you sample words, then sample phrases and/or sentences. Honestly, I was sort of overwhelmed when I first got it because I didn't understand how to use it. You just have to pick it up and turn to the first page and dive in. I don't have my kids write the rules in notebooks, but I do write them on the whiteboard and we state them orally and review. I think that the onhly thing I'm still not quite right with is that not every word is listed. I'm used to spelling books that actually list words for every phonogram. But for the words that donj't have rules (ie. the "ea"), they don't give you a list of words. So, I combine HTTS with SWR right now. I also have Spelling Power which I might use as well, jsut to list words. Another thought is that I have learned a lot from the HTTS rules as well! I mean, I never knew that there was a rule for using "ow" inside a word! (When l, n, -er, or -el follow). HTH jeri

Someone suggested a Latin tutor about three months ago. I contacted her, hired her, and have been very pleased with her services! I finally feel like I am getting my dd some great Latin direction. But now I'm thinking about writing. She is 12 and has used CW Aesop, Homer and is almost done with Diogenes. I really like the program and I do think she is a very good writer. But I have been a bit remiss in that I don't have her write essays other than in CW. What I would like is a tutor for her writing so I don't have to assign, edit and correct! (With three other youngers this takes a lot of time!) Does anyone have suggestions for this? I don't really want a group class (although the gifted program at Northwestern taught by MCT look good!) if I can help it. Someone who thinks along the same lines as the authors of CW would be nice. Any ideas, Oh, Hive Mind? Thanks. Jeri

I have never seen R&S readers although I have used their grammar books. Re. PR: I think these are delightful and often very funny books! My dd went through the last book and workbook of grade 1, and is now on the final grade 2 book. She loves them since the stories are often quite amusing. I love them becasue I think that they teach character but are not preachy. As for the workbooks, she is not in love with them but I think that they are quite solid. I use them to make sure that she understands the stories and for new vocabulary. HTH jeri

I had a feeling that the 1 was in there for a reason, but couldn't figure it out. Great help! Jeri

Can't get this answer! Algebra people, jump in! Simplify: -2xy + 2y^2 ____________ +1 x^2 - y^2 -2y (x - y) _____________ +1 (x+y) (x-y) -2y _________ +1 is my answer! x+y But he lists the answer as (x-y)/(x+y) It's driving me crazy!!!

However, I just dove in. We had already done AAS levels one and two so I felt that they were ok with basically letter sounds. However, if you have never done this with your 4th grader, I would start here! It's very important that they *know* that "s" can make a /s/ and /z/ sound, for example. I like the way that this book has them spell nonsense words. This really helped my spellers (especially the ESL child) to focus on sounds. Then I would start with the easy words/sentences like on p. 6. Then, since mine are 4th (bjut ESL) and 2nd, I am not having them keep a notebook. But I do write the rules down on a white board as we go through them and review frequently! I haven't found this to be as complete as I hoped, although I do love the rules! So, I would make sure that I reviewed the words on p. 11 since this is all there is, for example, on the "ea" sound. In general, I have been following the book in the order the lessons are presented, but I do make changes adn I have picked adn chosen depending on my kids' learning levels. I.e., Your 4th grader will probably know a lot more words on the open syllable page (25) than my kids do. So we just brushed on this and kept going. On the other hand, they are using an old Calvert spelling disk for 2nd grade and it's covering the doubling of letters right now so we have jumped ahead to page 62 for the time being. I also have them keep sight word lists in a notebook, usually 10-15 at a time. I do go back almost every day adn pick either phrases or sentences from previous lessons for review. In general, I would have to say that I love this book for the rules and the sight word lists. I do find that I am concurrently using other spelling lists from other sources, partly for the review and partly because I am compulsive :). I have The ABCs adn all of their Tricks, SWR and SP from prevous children and now I pull them out and just go through the lists for any words we have already learned rules for so that they can write them in their notebooks. I find tht the rules must be reviewed and reinforced often since they can be lost from their little minds very quickly! Also, for copy work I really try to find something that they've already learned the rules for. Spelling Wisdom ( I use this with another child) might be good for this since you can locate words alphabetically in the back. Basically, I am trying to inundate these two youngests, along with another 4th grader I have, with a variety of spelling sources to constantly reinforce rules so that they become more intuitive spellers. Hope that this random post helps! And please overlook my spelling erros since I am just typing quickly! Jeri

For a 10 yo boy and 12 yo girl (both mature?) We are in that area on SOTW4 adn I thought it might be good. Jeri

Seriously, the big earmuff kind that people use at shooting ranges and at construction sites. They are great when I hear, "mom, I can't think because XX is making too much noise!" Jeri

I think once you get through the first year you could do without it and just go by the student pages. It really depends on what you want though. I didn't use all of the parts of the TM. Jeri

I fiddled around with Skype for a bit and then emailed dd's Latin tutor to ask her skype name. Two minutes later a message pops up that she is calling me, and there she is on the webcam! And I'min the corner of the screen! Very cool! It worked! Thanks for advice and info. Now if I can just get my family in the states to install webcams . . . Jeri

so maybe I need to ask her my "name"! Tack sa mycket! Jeri

So when someone emails me and their phone number is now embedded in their message (this didn't happen before I installed skype), I don't want to use that one. I need to call their computer, right? But how do I do that if all I have is phone numbers? Do I use their email address? (Sorry to sound so stupid here!) Jeri

We live in Germany and just got a new computer with a webcam (yipee!). I installed Skype but we have a couple of problems. First, I never seem to get any kind of video. I know it works since I can do a test and I can see myself on the screen. But so far it's limited to just voice. Second, I always thought Skype was free, but it seems like you have to load an account with money. So why does everyone say it's free? Thank you! Jeri

I bought some for my son for about $24 on thiss site before Christmas, but I don't know what they have left. Yes, very expensive! jeri

I last read the series. But I distinctly remember the horse's name being Nig. Anyway, I just ordered it from our library to read it to my younger kids so I guess I can check then. jeri

and I think we did ok today! We made a few little sections and will continue tomorrow. Thank you for holding my hand! jeri

Quote: Originally Posted by jeri this is a fantastic series. I cried at the end of the first two (my kids thought I was crazy). I also did *not* like the horse's name (Nig) so I changed it to Blackie. But you have to realize that language is appropriate to the setting. Jeri Quote: FYI niger (pronounced Nee gair) means black in latin. I didn't relate it to anything else. I say: Perhaps if you were reading it to your own African-American kids you would be able to relate to it. Back then it wasn't Latin they were talking, it was regular American and in this day and age that's a word I will not say. However, I'm still a huge fan of the series! Jeri

this is a fantastic series. I cried at the end of the first two (my kids thought I was crazy). I also did *not* like the horse's name (Nig) so I changed it to Blackie. But you have to realize that language is appropriate to the setting. Jeri

Now *that's* funny! jeri whose cat is with her parents instead of with us in Germany