If you've followed WTM recs closely long-term, are you pleased with the results?

[HappyGrace]

I'm visiting from the K-8 forum, with oldest dd in 4th grade. I've been on these forums for 9 yrs, but never fully went with WTM recs. I've been all over the map with my homeschool "philosophy"-quite eclectic, but mostly classical-based.

 

I've been thinking more about finding a path and sticking with it to simplify things and have a better vision and focus. WTM has always resonated with me. If you have used it for a long time, can you mention whether you feel it has worked well, and why? And also, any negative aspects you have found? What, if anything, would you change if you could do it over again?

 

(xpost K-8)

Edited February 15, 2010 by HappyGrace

[lllll]

..

[JennW in SoCal]

I'm wondering if you haven't gotten many responses here today because not many of us feel we can raise our hand and confidently say "oh yes, I've followed the WTM very closely". My impression is that most of us currently with high schoolers are eclectic and following the WTM do one degree or another.

 

My approach was to consider what the final result of a classical education should be, and worked towards that using whatever materials worked best with my 2 different boys. To me that meant that my boys would be well read and able to analyze and respond to that reading logically and articulately. I had them do logic and lots of narrations and essays, but no writing programs. They didn't get through much Latin, and I rarely used the specific recommended materials either.

 

But keeping the focus on the written word is what worked well for us, and I don't regret it a bit. Anything I'd change? That's a hard one to answer as I constantly adapt and tweak anything that isn't working.

[Joan in GE]

"which WTM recs have you followed closely long-term and are you pleased with the results?"

 

It is the WTM skeleton that gave me vision and learning hooks. The mental organization of the subjects has helped me organize my mind, my library (by century and time period), (by science subject - physics, chem, etc), and my children's educational paths. All the other systems that I saw seemed too limited in their scope or too detailed for flexibility.

 

Even if some of the books are not quite what I want, it is just a matter of slotting a different book in the same position in the overall framework.

 

We have done history notebooks (though not at the proper pace) for the last 8 years and ds esp. really likes them and continues. We've used most of the books rec in the WTM and lots of others. Our pace is excruciatingly slow though. We enjoy studying what has happened in the past and need more time to absorb it, even with 4 periods a week just history reading (not the lit part). (I like the Visual Guide better than the DK)

 

We have a timeline but it is much bigger (length of a long hall with all kinds of postcards, book cutouts, stickers, musicians, artists, on and on) but we visit it less often (ie don't put things on every week).

 

Ds did the Chem notebook in 3rd grade and really liked that. Did it a bit differently with dd due to the chem kit I was using for my 9th grader his second time through. In high school, I found the books recommended on the WTM high school board to be more adequate. We've changed the sequence and left out earth and space to give time for more advanced science in 12th grade. With dd we'll do E & S earlier. Ds did them on his own on the side unofficially.

 

The R&S grammar books have given my ds and dd a much better grammar base than I have. They are correcting my poor dh and even occasionally me. Ds was able to do quite well on the trial PSAT and I have to credit them. Something I learned only a few years ago was that we didn't have to do ALL the exercises.:001_smile: Apart from drawing sentence diagrams, they do them orally which speeds up the process and leaves more writing time for history pages, letters, etc. It seems that at least some students have only so much writing that they can tolerate. So use it in more memorable pursuits is my rec. (They'll probably want to keep their history notebook, but not an answer book for their grammar book.). Keeping a grammar notebook (rules, speech groups, etc) is useful over the years when they need to reference it.

 

Ds did the Vocab from Classical Roots series with success. I don't think it is sufficient. It is a base. He still does vocab now with lit study guides and some other books. The spelling books are not bad. We've used them all. For part of last year we switched programs, but it didn't really seem to change my daughter's spelling. She is slowly absorbing the lessons..

 

It took me awhile to be able to do literature analysis. I needed more than the WEM and Cliff notes. Having almost no literature analysis training or habit, we had to begin to use much more detailed type guides. But that has been extremely successful in the general plan this year. Last year we really plodded not using those guides and ds was not that happy. Some of the works are quite difficult. It helps that dd is now old enough to do some of the same books as her brother and they can discuss concepts and comprehensions of situations. But there are not always these guides for some of the more difficult works. (There are other types which are too in depth for some of the philosophical/political ones) Now they really like lit analysis and are getting better at discussing and analyzing. We have been using primarily Progeny Press (high school level), though I've bought some others like Pathways Pub (not quite as good as Progeny but still thoughtful questions), Novel Units (not as much analysis and the vocab exercises aren't as good), Total Language Plus (no answers to the hard questions - but some good questions), Lit Links (only have this for 7-8 gr) and not much analysis, I think we'll need to find even better guides or use an online course to prepare for SATII but PP have been a great help in getting me moving. ....

 

Composition grading is one of my weak points, but ds took an online writing class last year. I saw below that I'd forgotten some of the materials...and just had to write that my children did not like the 30 lessons in outlining but we are using them since they're here. The concepts in Writing Strands aren't bad, it just seems like the lessons should be consolidated.

 

Math...I think Saxon is ok for the lower grades, but not sufficient for the upper grades. For dd we'll try switching to Dolciani for Pre-Algebra. Ds switched to Dolciani from Saxon for Alg/Trig. I hesitate to completely recommend anything as dif programs can make an enormous difference and he's not through Calculus yet.

 

Logic.Rhethoric - we've done some of her recs and dc like some of the books better than others - eg dd loves the Mind Benders books. The Critical Thinking books lose me in some places and we've stopped book two to use some other argument development books.

 

Foreign Language - not Power Glide. Rosetta Stone as an "immersion" base before doing high school level work...can recommend OSU German for that. French is done at maternal level since we're here.

 

Art history and music history - do artists and composers chronologically. See art hx post here.

 

Dc are now diligent students. They start studying at 7:30AM because they wanted to start earlier and have a lot of capacity. It took dd awhile to work up to speed. This year in 6th grade, she is finally getting into the swing of things. Ds was a hard worker from about 4th (now in 10th). So don't give up if they are not doing everything on your list. Sometimes the students just need to mature a bit; just keep plugging away and sprinkle in interesting studies (eg dd loves history related craft projects and ds loved historical models) so they don't lose their love of learning.

 

It took us several years before we were actually able to finish a grammar book in the school year. But I think it is the work ethic of diligent application that means more. Then when their brains adjust, they have the habit and can do more at one time.

 

For my children here in Switzerland, there were too many hours alotted to literature and not enough to living languages. We tried to do Latin, but it kept losing out and got bumped down to just the Greek and Latin 'roots' with English from the Roots Up. Also, since SWB is a literature/history person, the science and math part needs development but has been filled in here on the boards. But her program is not fixed in stone; it flexes with the home. Overall I cannot imagine how I would be floundering without it's guidance, except to remember how it used to be before we started using it - going from one curriculum to another.

 

Also, I have to say that the book sat on my shelf for half a year before a friend mentioned it. I looked at it, did the hours calculations and thought that she was crazy. But then we started doing the history part...then some other subject and one thing led to another. ..I still think that playing in the garden and all those healthy outdoors occupations are very important for the younger ages...

Edited February 20, 2010 by Joan in Geneva

[Jane in NC]

Very satisfied.

 

My son attended a Montessori school through sixth grade. I planned seventh grade using TWTM first edition. The second edition came out about the time we began homeschooling. There were some curriculum recommendation changes but I found that the second edition had details lacking in the first so I was glad I bought it. Anyway, our homeschooling journey began using many of the ideas developed in those books.

 

The exception was Math. I am the official WTM Dolciani Proselytizer--enough said?

 

I also altered the science recommendations in part to create things that worked better for us and to take advantage of assorted competitive teams in the area. (My son participated in Envirothon competitions for a number of years so we have done a lot of Environmental Science.) He also had the opportunity to take several good lab courses at the local community college.

 

I strongly advocate for Conceptual Physics in 9th grade. I think that a good old fashioned course in Natural History could work well in a home school. I regret not using Faraday's Chemical History of a Candle in 7th--it would have been much better than the recommendations for 7th grade chemistry in the second edition WTM.

 

For us, TWTM could be improved by some changes to the math and science plans, but perhaps that is because of who we are in this family. Other families may adapt the literature list but appreciate the science recs. This adaptability also works well from child to child as noted on this board.

 

Best,

Jane

[Jennefer@SSA]

It took me awhile to be able to do literature analysis. I needed more than the WEM and Cliff notes. Having almost no literature analysis training or habit, we had to begin to use much more detailed type guides. But that has been extremely successful in the general plan this year. Last year we really plodded and ds was not that happy. Some of the works are quite difficult. It helps that dd is now old enough to do some of the same books as her brother and they can discuss concepts and comprehensions of situations. But there are not always good guides for some of the more difficult works. Now they really like lit analysis and are getting better at discussing and analyzing.

 

Joan, could you share more about what you've used? I would love to hear as I feel like this will be me as well. I am working through TWEM but it is slow going for sure! :bigear:

[Nan in Mass]

I've altered it enough to fit our family that I hesitated to post here. On the other hand, I used the directions in TWTM to make those alterations, more or less, so I consider us very much WTMers. And we are very, very happy WTMers. The only disadvantage that I have run across is that I had to work a bit to help my children figure out how to take tests and answer textbook questions. They don't know the implied background (if a sponge is mentioned, is it assumed dry or wet? do the children have anything in their pockets?). They misjudge the depth of the answer required, its length, whether it is supposed to include just the stuff in the textbook, or their own knowledge too, or their own inferences and judgements and ideas, and whether an answer is right when it isn't a complete answer, and whether it is right if they can think of an exceptions, etc. You wouldn't believe how badly written many questions are. Other than that, we adore TWTM. We are successfully and comfortably doing TWEM for high school literature.

-Nan

[MomsintheGarden]

I'll never forget the first time I saw the WTM in a bookstore, just after it first came out. My oldest was 9, and we had been dabbling with this and that curriculum. I said to myself, "Wow - this is it! This is what I have been looking for!"

 

I have never used everything in the WTM during the past 11 years and 7 children. I have bought all three editions and many, many of their recommendations. We have used what works for our family, and that is what I think SWB and her mom intended.

 

My oldest (19) is now a sophomore in engineering school. He is doing very, very well. He is thankful for all of those classics I made him read and write about, and we are STILL discussing them. He understands the flow of history very well.

 

My second oldest is 17, and will head off to college in the fall. She tracked her brother with the classics in high school, reading them in 7th-10th grade. It was challenging for her, but during these last two years of high school she's had time to do several AP's and CLEPs, getting a head start on her college work. I'd only recommend that track for very motivated students, though.

 

My younger children are benefiting from what I learned from them, and what I am continually learning from the WTM, SWB (saw her and her wonderful mom last summer at a conference), and these boards.

 

Am I satisfied? Absolutely! DH (Reg) is happy with what we are doing, too. He works at home and sometimes he hears me reading from SOTW. He always comments about how much great stuff we are learning.

 

GardenMom

 

Here's some of what we did/didn't do from the WTM:

 

WEM: Used this extensively for high school, along with a mix of those classics recommended in this and the WTM. Like Joan, I needed more help with literature analysis.

 

Logic: We used the "old" rec. of Intro/Intermediate Logic texts + DVDs. Worked well for my mathy students.

 

History: Pretty much straight WTM middle school - high school, and now doing it that way with my youngers using SOTW + Activity guides. Great success!

 

Timeline: A wall-mounted thingy is not for me. We use the History through the Ages book-type in middle school.

 

Math/Science: We used Rainbow Science for middle school, and Apologia + AP-type textbooks for high school. Math is ABeka in elementary, Chalkdust in high school. Not much WTM here. WTM's strengths for us lie mostly in the lit/writing/history fields.

 

Language: We don't do a Latin program, but do roots instead. We do modern languages.

 

Writing: Can't stand Writing Strands. We use IEW + starting some CW.

[lllll]

..

Edited March 23, 2013 by 3kt68

[Colleen in NS]

I regret not using Faraday's Chemical History of a Candle in 7th--it would have been much better than the recommendations for 7th grade chemistry in the second edition WTM.

 

Do you mind elaborating a little on this? The second WTM edition 7th grade chem recs are on my list of things to find in the next few months.

[Nan in Mass]

Every time my children have struggled or gotten stuck, it has turned out that it was because we didn't do enough of some TWTM recommendation. Having trouble knowing what to study for that community college class's test? Didn't do enough outlining. Having trouble reading that material? Didn't do that vocab book or didn't read (rather than listen to on tape) enough of the logic-stage lit list. Don't understand that bit of history? Didn't finish Kingfisher. Having trouble with that writing assignment? If we'd finished that Writing Strands book we wouldn't have that problem. Can't punctuate that sentence? More dictation would have helped. Can't answer those science questions? Narration would solve that problem. Every problem except that earlier complaint I made could have been avoided if I had followed TWTM more closely. My middle one is wired a bit differently and I pulled him out in middle school. I wish I had realized that those early WTM skills that he couldn't do were the key to the later things that he struggled with, and taken the time needed to get him firm in those skills rather than trying to continue at grade level. One of the really cool things about TWTM is that it builds all those skills needed later in college or high school. Some children manage to learn them on their own, without any specific practice or instruction, but if your child is not naturally gifted in academic skills, TWTM is the answer. It has specific instructions in those skills. It levels the playing field and gives almost every student the skills needed to go further in school. And if you have a child who is good at those things naturally, it provides plenty of material to think about and opportunities to use those skills by presenting a range of materials for each grade, some easier and some harder. It is easy to skip ahead in some things and lag behind in others.

-Nan

[Colleen in NS]

It appears I was maybe supposed to go through each subject/curr???? So here goes ...

 

Latin -Latin Primers, Henle, mostly. LRTEG a little, but too expensive. Would have spent that money elsewhere if I'd known about Henle. Various ones have done parts of other things, like Jenney's First Year, etc. 21yod announced to me last year that she finally enjoyed Latin. She's been doing Latin since she was 11yo! - slowly. I'm not sure any kids actually enjoy Latin .... until they get close to the end of it. :) (19yod did Wheelock's--fairly good.)

 

other foreign lang's - BBG for Biblical Greek. Dc tell me this program is easier than Latin. But, then, they did Latin before they did this. (Hence the true value of Latin???) As far as the other lang. programs like Power Glide, Learnables, and Rosetta Stone, dc tell me they were great for speaking, but lousy for grammar. Our dc wanted to be able to read the lang. as well as to speak it. So we ditched those and used the library to find old foreign lang. books which had actual grammar in them.

 

Math - Saxon because that was about all there was when we began back in 1988. Didn't know about ABeka. Not pleased with Saxon and wouldn't use it again. Went a totally different route, using many different books.

 

Logic - Mind Benders, A Case of Red Herrings, Intro and Intermed Logic, Traditional Logic I & II .... all OK. Added more to this and still doing logic.

 

Spelling and Reading - didn't care for Spelling Workout. Probably because already knew how to use WRTR and this seemed more orderly to me. Phonics Pathways was great companion for WRTR.

 

Typing - Mavis Beacon. Kids loved it, even though ds's (in mid teens when we began WTM) could NOT, for the life of them, understand WHY they needed to learn to type. :lol:

 

Grammar - ABeka. Great and would use it again. Added extra diagramming of sentences from another program to it. Didn't keep the grammar notebook. They seemed to absorb it without it.

 

Vocab - Vocabulary from Classical Roots. All dc went through a few of these. OK, but I think they learned most of their voc. from just reading extensively. Hard to say ....

 

Writing - 30 Lessons in Outlining, WS, a little of Wordsmith, ABeka writing units, Elements of Style, New Oxford Guid to Writing, Imitation in Writing units, etc. Neither dc nor I cared for Wordsmith, but rest seemed to help each other. Dd's esp. loved Imitation in Writing when they were younger. Elements of Style seemed scatterbrained to me, but dc seemed to get it. (Some of dc didn't think it was worth reading every year.) They said ABeka was particularly good; but it may not cover all that WS does. WS needed MUCH editing by me. Excess verbage. Also, with WS, I had to 'bring it back home' for our dc. He would tell to write on this or that, and they would look at me like :001_huh:. So I would have to sit and converse with them about things in their own lives which they could substitute for his sometimes loony ideas.

 

Rhetoric - Rulebook for Arguments, all currently in Classical Rhetoric for the Modern Student, more to go. Like these.

 

Literature - many books-on-tape when we first began. Very helpful and never would have occurred to me if hadn't read WTM. Began ds's in Rhetoric lit. list (= GB's) because of they were in their mid-teens. Dd's were younger. After they learned to read, they progressed quickly, so I let them skip most of the Modern list for Logic stage and start the GB's. 2 dd's read a lot of those anyway, or we all listened to them in audio form (Austen, Bronte, Stevenson, Doyle, etc.). May ask them to go back and read some more of the more classical fiction. It was wonderful being able to just go down a list of books for their reading.

 

GB's - HTRAB, WEM, GB's themselves. Dc did most all of WTM rec's - timeline(small, personal ones or bought one), memory, KF + topics, geography work, context pages (not on every single GB), etc. All worked well. Also added in outside reading like bio's of authors and time period or whatever struck their fancy, the purpose being to flesh out the time period a little more. Esp. important for ds's since they hadn't gone through the Logic stage of WTM. Worked great. Dd's also do this. They all write something about what they've read after they read the GB; and I'm not picky about what they write.

 

Also, I combined the GB's list from HTRAB with the list from WTM. Did this because wanted to include more of the nonfiction books on their GB's list. Hence, the time problem I referred to in my original post. And, hence, our dc are way past the ages you, the op, are probably thinking of. :tongue_smilie:

 

Dc tell me HTRAB was more helpful to them than WEM. They read HTRAB after they had read some of the GB's. More helpful than reading it before, because easier to visualize how to use it on a GB if you've actually read a GB. Also, not worth the money for us = Jackdaws.

 

Discussion - informal and spur of the moment. Amongst themselves, mostly, and sometimes with me. They were able to read faster, grasp the material more quickly, and analyze it much more in depth than I was. My greatest contribution here was to direct them all back to the Bible as the standard for evaluation of everything they have read. Did this by asking things like, 'So how does that compare to what the Bible says?' (in other words, questions you won't find in anywhere in HTRAB or WEM or, etc.).

 

 

Science - mostly library. WTM suggestions used very loosely. Dc do go through the Self-Teaching books. But they also read many library books. Added other texts - for example, 17dd is currently going through a 1940's, high school chemistry book for her chemistry. Excellent writing and a pleasure to read. It seems once they reach a certain age/reading level/maturity, you may as well give them a high school or college level textbook to read; instead of bothering with the more 'fluffy' books. They do experiments when they want to. Didn't insist on that too much. Although, some of them really enjoy the 'danger' aspect of experiments. ;)

 

Music - very few of WTM books. Did something very different.

 

Art - very few of WTM books. Did something very different. A note here. Ds's (mostly) didn't want art books with nudity in them. Sculpting books can have a good bit of that. And art history books. I had to find things without all the nudity.

 

Bible - included this here because it takes time to study the Bible. All our dc were required to study their Bibles daily. We've also done various group things at various times. This meant less time for school subjects. Another reason for our extending school past typical high school years/ages. Didn't like the WTM recs for religion. Found other things.

 

 

So, basically, we've used WTM as a starting point to go deeper into most of the above subjects. It has been excellent for that. In fact, last year all 5 dc and I sat down to go through all 3 editions of WTM to evaluate where they are and where they're going (some are doing college level subjects at home now). It was then that I realized that the WTM book IS their transcript. ;) And I'll be saving it even if I donate most of our other books as they all finish them.

 

And now it's time for me to get ready to sliiiiiide down the driveway (ice and snow) and take 17yod to her ortho appointment (the 'poor-man's' version of the gap year ... orthodontics :)). So HTH.

 

Kathy

 

Kathy,

 

I really appreciated being able to read all this detail. Thank you!

[Jane in NC]

Do you mind elaborating a little on this? The second WTM edition 7th grade chem recs are on my list of things to find in the next few months.

 

The book recommends the Smithsonian MicroChem Kit which for us was a bust. The kit came with plastic lab gear that seemed less than precise. Further, the quantity of chemicals came up short. We found that we easily exhausted the supply during an experiment or two and lacked sufficient material for another experiment in the book.

 

The book Mastering the Periodic Table is good. We used that and assorted library books on elements as well as books which suggested experiments using household stuff.

 

After a semester, we abandoned ship. My son joined an Envirothon team so we decided to supplement this with wetland studies in a Jason program. (Jason still produces curricular materials for middle schoolers but I think that they have changed how they do things. The materials at the time were good but were quite pricey, essentially set up for classrooms not homeschoolers.)

 

I love Faraday's work, The Chemical History of a Candle. I borrowed a copy a few years ago on Interlibrary loan. Imagine my delight when a leather bound 19th century copy was handed to me! The book is based on a series of lectures that Faraday gave for children at the Royal Institution. I think that these six lectures could serve as amazing stepping stones for middle school chemistry, including some more modern things from the library and possibly some of that good old hands on stuff we were talking about on the other board. (How about making a wooden frame for test tubes as a preliminary project?)

 

The book is readily available on the Internet if you want to download it for your reading pleasure.

 

Jane

 

P.S. To be fair, other people have had great success with the Smithsonian kit. Maybe we were just unlucky since the plastic ware is not consistent in every kit.

 

ETA: Here is an interesting website with an edited version of the lectures and some great photos. Also, a friend used a more modern book that contained the Faraday lectures and suggested experiments relating to the principles outlined. I do not know who published it but I suspect that it may have been the out of print Faraday's Chemical History of a Candle: Twenty-Two Experiments and Six Classic Lectures by Chicago Review Press. Also, we read Oliver Sachs' delightful book Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood aloud as part of our 7th grade chemistry work. My son also read a nice biography of Lavoisier, the so-called father of chemistry. The latter ties in well with history since Lavoisier was also a tax collector who was guillotined during the French Revolution.

Edited February 17, 2010 by Jane in NC
extra stuff

[Joan in GE]

Joan, could you share more about what you've used? I would love to hear as I feel like this will be me as well. I am working through TWEM but it is slow going for sure! :bigear:

 

Hi Jennefer,

 

Sorry it took so long! I started editing my post to add the various things and the lit analysis materials I use the other day and then didn't have the books on hand. I've now put the materials we use right in my original post so that they are all together.

 

Best,

Joan

Edited February 20, 2010 by Joan in Geneva

[elegantlion]

I love Faraday's work, The Chemical History of a Candle. I borrowed a copy a few years ago on Interlibrary loan. Imagine my delight when a leather bound 19th century copy was handed to me! The book is based on a series of lectures that Faraday gave for children at the Royal Institution. I think that these six lectures could serve as amazing stepping stones for middle school chemistry, including some more modern things from the library and possibly some of that good old hands on stuff we were talking about on the other board. (How about making a wooden frame for test tubes as a preliminary project?)

 

The book is readily available on the Internet if you want to download it for your reading pleasure.

 

Jane

 

P.S. To be fair, other people have had great success with the Smithsonian kit. Maybe we were just unlucky since the plastic ware is not consistent in every kit.

 

ETA: Here is an interesting website with an edited version of the lectures and some great photos. Also, a friend used a more modern book that contained the Faraday lectures and suggested experiments relating to the principles outlined. I do not know who published it but I suspect that it may have been the out of print Faraday's Chemical History of a Candle: Twenty-Two Experiments and Six Classic Lectures by Chicago Review Press. Also, we read Oliver Sachs' delightful book Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood aloud as part of our 7th grade chemistry work. My son also read a nice biography of Lavoisier, the so-called father of chemistry. The latter ties in well with history since Lavoisier was also a tax collector who was guillotined during the French Revolution.

 

Jane, thank you for that link!! Ds and I started into Chemical History of A Candle earlier this year. We both found ourselves needing more visuals for the books and had to put it aside. Your link will help.

 

Do you know of any recreations of these lectures on DVD or online?

[Colleen in NS]

I love Faraday's work, The Chemical History of a Candle. I borrowed a copy a few years ago on Interlibrary loan. Imagine my delight when a leather bound 19th century copy was handed to me! The book is based on a series of lectures that Faraday gave for children at the Royal Institution. I think that these six lectures could serve as amazing stepping stones for middle school chemistry, including some more modern things from the library and possibly some of that good old hands on stuff we were talking about on the other board. (How about making a wooden frame for test tubes as a preliminary project?)

 

The book is readily available on the Internet if you want to download it for your reading pleasure.

 

Jane

 

P.S. To be fair, other people have had great success with the Smithsonian kit. Maybe we were just unlucky since the plastic ware is not consistent in every kit.

 

ETA: Here is an interesting website with an edited version of the lectures and some great photos. Also, a friend used a more modern book that contained the Faraday lectures and suggested experiments relating to the principles outlined. I do not know who published it but I suspect that it may have been the out of print Faraday's Chemical History of a Candle: Twenty-Two Experiments and Six Classic Lectures by Chicago Review Press. Also, we read Oliver Sachs' delightful book Uncle Tungsten: Memories of a Chemical Boyhood aloud as part of our 7th grade chemistry work. My son also read a nice biography of Lavoisier, the so-called father of chemistry. The latter ties in well with history since Lavoisier was also a tax collector who was guillotined during the French Revolution.

 

Are you talking about two different books by Faraday? Which one is this? I might be able to pick it up this afternoon at the library, but am just trying to understand which one I'd be getting.

 

Oooo, looks like Uncle Tungsten is in our library, too! Will get that today as well.

 

By any chance, was this the biography you mentioned?

 

I'll be returning to this post to absorb more of what you said, later, after I find these books. Thank you, Jane!

[Jane in NC]

Are you talking about two different books by Faraday? Which one is this? I might be able to pick it up this afternoon at the library, but am just trying to understand which one I'd be getting.

 

The one at your library looks like a reprint of the original lectures that Faraday gave. The one that I mentioned in editing is a newer version in which someone devised 22 experiments to enhance the lectures.

Oooo, looks like Uncle Tungsten is in our library, too! Will get that today as well.

 

 

This book is so much fun.

 

By any chance, was this the biography you mentioned?

 

 

 

No, it was Antoine Lavoisier, Scientist and Citizen, an older volume.

 

Another after thought for those of you doing some chemistry in middle school: when spring fever hits and you need to spend some time outside on a nice day, think about soap bubbles. There are a number of terrific websites with information on the science of bubbles, like this one from the Exploratorium which also has a bibliography. You can tie this into math since bubbles form minimal surface areas. A good tool to assist you with this is the toy the Zome system. Here is one of their basic kits.

 

Then invite me over to play.

 

Jane

[Gwen in TX]

We started our ds with WTM the year it came out, 1999. Our ds was entering 1st grade. I followed very closely the recommendations (in the original edition - only one I've owned) for 1st through 4th grade, with the change of using Horizon math. Loosened up a bit from 5th through 8th - (using my own choice of Latin, used a book form of timeline, etc.). Stepped out quite a bit in high school (used Omnibus for history/ lit; we hated Writing Strands, so used IEW, which saved our sanity! used Apologia sciences, because our local co-op did labs together, took 28 hours of dual credit courses over the last two years - lots of higher math and computer programming). We used Abeka LA all through the years -- fantastic.

 

I think because we used the earlier methods, our grounding was firm -- ds had an ability to listen, to think, to answer, to outline, to write -- that foundation served us well no matter what curriculum we chose.

 

Ds will graduate this May - a year early (he'll still be 16, but turn 17 before fall). He'll enter college as a sophomore because of his dual credit courses.

 

I can say we are happy with WTM - we loved the philosophy of classical education, with our ds knowing and being able to defend what he knows in writing and speech. He could easily have been a nerd (math is his language and he is very "tech-y") but instead he is wellrounded, well read, and ready for the world.