LadyR Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I like seeing what worked and didn't work for you all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lori D. Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 And BTW -- yes, there is a similar thread going on right now on the K-8 board, but I don't think many high school items were listed on it. : ) Thanks for posting this -- I like seeing everyone's lists, too!! : ) And this was our first year of high school! Warmest regards, Lori D. Â Â WINNERS Worked as well as I hoped for, and many way exceeded my expectations! Â - Jacobs Geometry - Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings - Human Odyssey textbook (by Spielvogel) - Garlic Press publishers study guide for the Odyssey - WTM Great Books study of ancients; we used: 1. Epic of Gilgamesh (abridged, by Westwood) 2. The Iliad (Fagles) 3. The Odyssey (Fagles) 4. Oedipus Rex (Fitts & Fitzgerald) 5. Antigone (Fitts & Fitzgerald) 6. Greek myths (various authors) 7. The Aeneid (abridged, by Church) Â Â Â WORKABLE Wanted to like these more. Â - Put That In Writing 1 (after much modifying, went from loser to workable) - Apologia Biology (Content is ok. Text is chatty/dry. Line length is *too long* -- makes reading very tiring/easy to lose your place.) Â Â Â LOSERS Â - Analytical Grammar (good program; just didn't get done here -- more "workbooky" than we like) Â - SL6 historical fiction readers for the ancients (*I* liked these, but apparently these were too young in reading level, or too much ancients (or something!) for our boys, and many did not get read as I'd hoped) Â - SMARR study guide for Gilgamesh (by Robert Watson) (VERY disappointing! $8 for 7 sheets of paper folded into a booklet of 28 pages -- and 10 of those 28 pages were front/back covers, publishing info, or blank!! Content was only vocabulary words, comprehension questions, and less than a dozen "critical thinking" or discussion questions:mad::mad:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hsmamainva Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I can tell you what has worked well for my oldest so far!  Winners:  Sonlight (Core 100) - she used it in 8th, but some may choose to use it in 9th  Smarr's Literature Guides - she really enjoyed this program -- we used the Introduction to Literature (9th) and World Literature (10th) programs -- she moved on to taking College Composition I & II at the community college in 11th and received A's on every essay she wrote  Spielvogel's Western Civilization for 10th - she really enjoyed this text! She started 11th with Bailey's The American Pageant, which she enjoyed, but then she decided to take US History at the community college, so she never made it past the first few chapters  The Learnables Spanish - Year 1 (9th), 2 (10th), and 3 (11th) -- I had reservations about this curriculum, but it's worked out beautifully for her  Apologia Science - Biology (9th), Chemistry (10th), Physics (11th) - she really enjoys them  .............  I don't have any 'losers'!  She didn't care for BJU Geography (9th), but she wouldn't call it a 'loser'  And she's satisfied with Teaching Textbooks, now that she's using it the 2nd time around ;) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gwen in VA Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Winters -- almost everything we've tried The Lively Art of Writing Dolciani algebra 1 & 2 Jurgensen, Brown, and Jurgensen Geometry Henle Latin  Losers -- Put That In Writing 2 The Thinking Toolbox (We loved Fallacy Detective, but....) Wheelock's (sorry.world -- Wheelock's is just not us!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tmkclscroggins Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 WE've had a rough year this year but had some definite winners!  Winners: Foerster's Algebra I OSU German - this one is wonderful! Truthquest History  I don't know if this is a loser, it just wasn't great for us: Natural Science - Scholar's Online   melissa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwimmerMom Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Winners: Lightning Literature Apologia's General Science Chalkdust Pre-Algebra Phonetic Zoo, Level C TOG's Writing Aids  Losers: Educacion Espanol (the only espanol dd can speak after 1 year is to order food) The rest of TOG (It just didn't work for us: didn't fit my teaching style, didn't fit Bean's learning style, but she did enjoy the books) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liza Q Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 My 17 and 15yos say that The Iliad was a LOSER and the Odyssey was a WINNER. Â My 17yo thinks that Does the Center Hold? An Introduction to Western Philosophy by Donald Palmer was a winner. And she says that The Brothers Karamazov is a TOTAL WINNER which is really irritating me. It was not on our list and she keeps reading it instead of writing about the Aeneid..... Â For me, Smarr Ancient Lit was a winner. It does not go into much depth and we needed to supplement with The Lively Art of Writing but the selection of literature was excellent and the schedule was priceless. Â Teaching Textbooks is a winner as well for all of us. This is our third year using it and the explanations and graphics have been unbelievably helpful. We are not a mathy bunch, my girls and I, and we appreciate all the hand-holding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periwinkle Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 9th grade son (creative artist, reluctant academician):  Clear winners:  Lial's Introductory Algebra (taught by Mom, not the dvt) Teaching Company World History (he loved Linwood Thompson-but goofy goes a long way here:D) Apologia Physical Science (tried this in 8th but too overwhelming...just right this year!) Practical Graphic Design Advanced Winston Grammar Shakespeare's Much Ado About Nothing Dante's Inferno (who knew this would catch him?) Don't Check Your Brains at the Door by Josh McDowell (I was thrilled to find a devotional he would actually READ!!!)  Losers:  Oxford Latin Breaking the Barrier Spanish 1 (this moved way too fast and furious for both of us)  12th grade son (math-science logical guy):  Clear winners:  Plato's Republic Lightning Lit World Lit Introduction to the Practice of Statistics (Moore and McCabe) How Should We Then Live DVD's Handbook of Christian Apologetics Sister Wendy/Annotated Mona Lisa for 1/2 credit art history (fun!) Computer Science Lab cdrom  Not quite losers:  Dr. Callahan Calculus (well, we did finish it...let's see how college calc goes next year) Campbell's Biology (this actually convinced him to NOT major in biology, ha!) Barron's Grammar the Easy Way Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura K (NC) Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 I mean, I can completely understand her loving that book. But I can completely sympathize with you in wanting to get some other books done in addition. My youngest would rather read a Redwall book than any book I assigned him, but Redwall doesn't have quite the literary oomph as Brothers Karamazov! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura K (NC) Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Winners: Saxon 8/7, though my 13yo would beg to differ. Foerster Algebra A Beka Science 6: Observing God's World Sonlight's 20th c. history   Losers: SRA Explorations and Applications 5 and 6 Sonlight 20th c. literature How to Read a Book  And we've had some other losers, but that was more my fault than the book's fault. For example, I'm burnt out on Rod & Staff after so many years, even though I know that it's the best program. We didn't get as far this year as I needed to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moira in MA Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Thanks for starting this thread. Here are ours: Â Winners for 10th grade dd: Â Scholars Online 'Intro to Playwriting' -- this has been a fabulous course, she learned *so* much. Scholars Online 'Latin III' -- she wants to be a classicist; need I say more. Foerster's Algebra II [& Trigonometry] -- she enjoyed the interesting problems. Omnibus II -- loved the books and the discussions especially Dante's Inferno. Gileskirk Christendom -- it's Dr G., enough said. Chemistry 'The Central Science' -- she wants to study more chemistry at college. Â Losers: Spanish II Breaking the Barrier -- too little use of vocabulary, really needs an instructor. Â For 8th grade dd: Â Winners: Omnibus II -- she enjoyed many of the texts. Gileskirk Christendom Traditional Logic I Â Losers: Scholars Online 'Natural Science I' -- way too much information & too little class interaction. Spanish I Breaking the Barrier -- same issues as Spanish II. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 For my 10th grade son: Â Clear Winners: Â Dolciani Alg II/Trig Oxford Latin III Latin Mythica (Bolchazy) Teaching Company lectures by Philip Daileader (Early, Late and High Middle Ages) Â Whether I will declare Campbell's Biology a winner may depend on my son's AP score. The tome was overwhelming, a terrific book, but I don't know if it was our wisest move. The generic high school texts lacked complexity, but we really stepped into it by going with this college text. Â This is something that I just have not yet processed: was the AP focus the right thing to do? What I love about homeschooling is that it enables us to follow our passions, but I feel that my son lacked the time to follow many of his outside interests this year. Part of this was due to the demands of biology and his other school work. He also spent a lot of time at the ice rink which was ultimately good for his physical and emotional development. Sports commitments come with a huge price though. Â Maybe the problem is that my son has so many interests and there are never enough hours in the day to do everything. Â Back to the list: My son says the best book he read for school this year was Canterbury Tales, followed by Inferno. We all loved seeing Henry V performed at the reconstructed Black Friars Theater in Staunton, VA. Â We're tired. I suspect that I'll have more to say in this thread after I walk away from our schoolwork for a bit and process things. Â Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaNY Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Losers: SRA Explorations and Applications 5 and 6 Sonlight 20th c. literature How to Read a Book    Laura, if you don't mind my asking, what made HtRaB a "loser" for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaNY Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Since my dd was in 7th gr. this year, I will only post about the curricula that would be considered hs level. Â Winners: R&S English WTM/WEM (Intermediate GB study, meshed with some of WTM hs plan) Henle/Lingua Latina VfCR Â No losers at the hs level. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Veronica in VA Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Winners:  Her Spanish class - they used BJU Spanish 1 Fix it grammar Apologia Biology Notgrass American History Math Relief Algebra 2 The Scarlett Letter  Losers:  Autobiography of Ben Franklin Huck Finn (not sure why she didn't like this, she said she got tired of them going down, down the Mississippi - LOL!)  Lightning Lit was ok, but she didn't really like the selections that much.  Veronica Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brenda in MA Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 These are for my high school junior.  Brenda   Winners  Chalkdust Pre-calc (great improvement from Saxon Advanced Math last year) Sonlight Core 300 DK book + several readers (discussed w/spark notes & WTM-style questions) Spark Notes for several Core 300 readers Potter's School Computer Programming & Literature courses Giancoli Physics Great Source American Government  Losers  Apologia Chemistry (did not adequately prepare son for SAT2 test) Sonlight Core 300 reader guides in IG -- content was inadequate Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaNY Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Â Losers -- Put That In Writing 2 The Thinking Toolbox (We loved Fallacy Detective, but....) Wheelock's (sorry.world -- Wheelock's is just not us!) Â Gwen, can you share why PTiW 2 was a "loser" for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captivated Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Winners: Sonlight Core 300 Teaching Company courses : Argumentation, The Odyssey, World History: Fertile Crescent... Clues in Crime - Duke TIP program SOS Spanish II Apples Daily Spelling - I would rank this as a huge winner b/c I saw great improvements in my son's spelling. He would put this on the loser list. :) Saxon Algebra II - but only cause we had a tutor who taught this, we could not have done it on our own. Â Losers: Traditional Logic (first book was ok, second was mind numbingly boring) Editor in Chief - didn't seem to help as much as I thought it would Apples Daily Spelling - ds didn't like it, thought it was worthless BUT I saw saw HUGE improvements in his spelling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaNY Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Winners:Teaching Company courses : Argumentation, The Odyssey, World History: Clues in Crime - Duke TIP program   Captivated, can you share your experience w/Argumentation? What grade level are your dc? I have this, and I was thinking of going through it myself. Was this used as your logic/rhetoric course?  I'm curious about Clues in Crime? What kind of program is this?  Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 For my 10th grade son: Clear Winners:   Teaching Company lectures by Philip Daileader (Early, Late and High Middle Ages)    Jane, I'm so glad to see these on your list of clear winners! Ds will be using them independently next year as his history spine. It will be his senior year and since he has covered everything on my list for history including government and economics, he was allowed to select the time period he wishes to study. I just purchased the last of this series today (High Middle Ages) after having purchased the other two when they were on sale last month. He and I were looking over the lecture titles today and he was very excited. Since I will be teaching during the day I'll have to find a way to fit them in in the evening so I don't miss them. They do sound great!  Here's our list of clear winners for this year (11th):  Boorstin's A History of the United States Perelandra with the study guide by Progeny Press The Old Man and the Sea (ds loved it!) Artistic Pursuits Senior High Book I TTC Art Across the Ages, supplemented with The Annotated Mona Lisa The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin  Clear Losers (as per ds ;))  The Scarlet Letter Notgrass American History Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grace is Sufficient Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 For science minded son Winners:  Apologia Biology and Chemistry Put That in Writing 1 Home2Teach writing course Rod & Staff English 8 Videotext Algebra Notgrass World History  Losers: Stobaugh's Lit Analysis course (don't remember the name) Critical Thinking Book 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RebeccaC Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Winners; Sentence Composing for....... The Life and Writings of C.S.Lewis Teaching Company Life of Fred Vocabulary Cartoons Apologia Science Bob Jones Geography A&E, History channel, and Discovery Channel Documentaries Rosette Stone Spanish  Mixed review one boy loved other tolerated was Winter Promise's Sea and Sky with Older Learner guide. Another mix was Moving with Math and Easy Grammar.  Great New find is English Grammar 101 http://www.englishgrammar101.com/Lessons/Default.aspx with computer security up high enough to get rid of side bar ads. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quiver0f10 Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 The only thing we didnt' really like at this level was PTIW 1. We tried it twice and it just didn't work for us. We are switching to IEW and I hope that's a better fit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ms. Riding Hood Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 are: Â --all the Apologia sciences (have used all except marine biology and adv. biology--and we'll do adv. bio next year). Dc love these and find them easy to understand and interesting to read; they have been excellent preparation for the AP chemistry & physicsB exams, and the CLEP biology exam. Ds will take the SAT physics next week, and he feels confident. What a huge relief for this mom of six, who cannot on any level "teach" science! And we are not young earthers or strict 7-day-creationists. In fact, older ds (the very science oriented one who reads lots of science) has read many sides of the young/old earth debate and formed his own opinions. Same with literal vs. abstract interpretations of the creation story. Now I see younger ds struggling to form opinons on these issues as well. I suppose I like that Jay Wile gives his point of view; dc certainly won't be hearing it from many other sources, though they will be getting plenty of the more current wisdom. Of course we discuss a lot, and I suggest reading or quote to them from things I read. But we love these books "as is". Not to mention that Dr. Wile is a helpful guy when we've ever needed him. Â --Rod & Staff grammar. At first glance I thought they looked dry as dust. But after using them for 3-4 years, I really must say they are little gems. And cheap, too! Â --Thinkwell Calculus. This was discussed in another post, but ds logs on and watches a fabulous college professor teach the subject. What more could I wish for? Â And the losers are: Â --Writing Strands. I wish somebody could convince me these are great because I hate seeing them sitting there on the shelf. But I really detest the author's writing style. I can never look at a page and easily determine exactly *what* is supposed to be done. I'm sure it's just me. Â --Abeka Grammar & Comp. Maybe they get the job done, but in the least interesting way possible. I used them for three years with oldest ds, for grammar only, and didn't care for them at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LadyR Posted May 29, 2008 Author Share Posted May 29, 2008 Here's mine - 9th grade:  Winners: Bob Jones Physical World Lial's Basic College Math Put That in Writing 1 Vocabulary from Classical Roots TruthQuest History  OK: Asimov's Chronology of the World Breaking the French Barrier Abeka Health  Loser: Lightning Lit & Comp - just didn't work out for her Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Begonia Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Dd completed 8th grade this year, so I'll list only the "high school level" curriculum and reading material:  Winners:  Wheelock's Latin I online class with Sasha Decker Jacobs Algebra (a fabulous and unexpected hit in our house :) done in combination with a CD of whiteboard lectures from http://www.kingdomtutors.com) Mythology Alpha and Beta classes from Lukeion.org EPGY writing courses SAT Question of the Day from the College Board site NaNoWriMo month-long writing contest Anything to do with the national election (books, websites, cable news channels, volunteering etc.) The Iliad Ovid's Metamorphoses Oedipus Rex The Crucible Bless Me, Ultima Shakespeare: A Winter's Tale, Julius Caesar, and Hamlet  Losers:  Analytical Grammar (dd didn't find it particularly helpful. She feels the Latin course gave better training on grammar concepts) A local creative writing co-op class (two thumbs down!) The Odyssey (lacked novelty. Dd had heard the story too often before she sat down to read it herself) The Aeneid (too long, too dull, dd didn't "get" it. Perhaps we should have waited on this one! :tongue_smilie:) Hesiod (not read in a modern translation. Dd found it to be both dull and dense) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Katia Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 12th grader  Winners:  Wordsmith Craftsman Lightning Lit World Lit French in Action, level 2 Life of Fred Teaching Company Economics lectures  Losers:  Put That in Writing, level 2 Alpha Omega Government, Economics Lifepacs MUS Stewardship Math  10th grader  Winners:  Wordsmith Craftsman Vocabulary for High School Students Pimsleur Japanese complete level 1 Let's Learn Kanji, Katakana, Hiragana Alpha Omega Lifepacs: Bible Alpha Omega Lifepacs: Civics Teaching Textbooks Life of Fred  Losers:  Lightning Literature:American Lit Alpha Omega Lifepacs: Geography Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane in NC Posted May 29, 2008 Share Posted May 29, 2008 Jane, I'm so glad to see these on your list of clear winners! Ds will be using them independently next year as his history spine. It will be his senior year and since he has covered everything on my list for history including government and economics, he was allowed to select the time period he wishes to study. I just purchased the last of this series today (High Middle Ages) after having purchased the other two when they were on sale last month. Â Â My son will be following this series with a reading of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, which Daileader discusses in one of his lectures. I figured that it would be a good summer assignment. I wanted to mention the book in case you stumble across a used copy somewhere. It might be a nice addition to your son's program. Â Jane Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captivated Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 My ds is 17 and I did use it for Rhetoric. The instructor is great, great examples, great teaching. My ds did the program with a friend - they got together once a week and then discussed and wrote from the topic. Â Clues in Crime - DS thought it was fun. :) It was interesting and took about a semester to work through. Not heavy science but thorough. Here is a link to it http://www.tip.duke.edu/independent_learning/cdrom_courses/clues_in_crime.html (by the way, I'm posting this on the used forum in the next day or so :) ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
percytruffle Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 My son will be following this series with a reading of Barbara Tuchman's A Distant Mirror, which Daileader discusses in one of his lectures. I figured that it would be a good summer assignment. I wanted to mention the book in case you stumble across a used copy somewhere. It might be a nice addition to your son's program. Jane  Thanks so much, Jane. I will be sure to look into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deb in NZ Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 here's my thoughts after almost 2 terms...  16yod: Winners--- MUS PreAlgebra (dd is understanding maths & enjoys it) Apologia Biology (dd LOVES the Apologia texts) Sequential Spelling for Adults 1&2 (we're finally seeing improvement in her spelling) SYRWTL Latin 1 (dd says this is so much easier to understand than LC1, which we tried last year) Trail Guide to World Geography  So-So--- Science Roots Jump In writing course  Losers--- SL 200 Making up my own Spanish program with SOS highschool Spanish & Easy Spanish  14yos: Winners--- MUS Epsilon (maths is sticking & ds doesn't complain too much about the work) Apologia General Science (last year this was a flop with ds, but this year I'm working more with him & we're making progress) Sequential Spelling (I can now understand most of his writing) Trail Guide to World Geography (ds would call this a loser, but I'm pleased with how it works for our family) Latin Prep 1 (a much better fit for ds than PL we tried last year) A Backpacker's Alphabet penmanship book by LightHome Publications ( great practice for HS boys, we can now read most of his writing)  So-So--- First Start French (we've put that aside for the moment, to simplify the workload & concentrate on attitude & working to the best of ds's ability on the basics)  Losers--- SL 5 & SL-LA 5 (just wasn't a good fit for us, we love the books but just couldn't get SL to work for us with this core)  JMHO, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Denise in NE Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Winners for 7th grade Rainbow Science (dd liked last year better than this year though) IEW Student Writing Intensive Continuation Course B (WORTH THE MONEY!) Rod and Staff Grammar (a clear winner every year!) Rosetta Stone Spanish Saxon 87  Winners for 9th grade The same IEW course Analytical Grammar High School Reinforcement Rosetta Stone Teaching Textbooks Algebra II Lightning Literature 8 Fallacy Detective/Thinking Toolbox  Losers  BJU Space and Earth Science (My 9th grade dd used this course. I wouldn't recommend it without the DVDs - which I didn't order....)  Speech at our local cooperative (My 9th grade dd received an A+ both semesters but -oh-the TORTURE we all went through as she prepared each week! She never did grow accustomed to speaking in front of the group!)  Vocabulary From Classical Roots (My 9th grade dd despised this series. We're switching to Wordly Wise next year)  Lightning Literature 7 (7th grade dd didn't like the reading selections)  Sonlight 5 (They both hated this!)  Positive Action: Life of Christ (this wasn't a bad course - I just thought the application part was a bit lean)  Denise in NE Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Begonia, Â You included Ovid's Metamorphoses on your list of winners. I recently posted asking for favorite translations of this work. May I ask which translation you used? Â Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cedarmom Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 Winners- Doing debate- he loved it and it increased his confidence Omnibus II-especially Dante Teaching Company-lecture on Dante Lingua Latina  Losers-  Nothing really - we didn't do Speilvogel as much as we should have, but it is a good text Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mommyfaithe Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 My 17 and 15yos say that The Iliad was a LOSER Â And she says that The Brothers Karamazov is a TOTAL WINNER which is really irritating me. It was not on our list and she keeps reading it instead of writing about the Aeneid..... Â LOL....My dd is reading The Brothers K too...and can't put it down...go figure! Â ~~Faithe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LisaNY Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 My ds is 17 and I did use it for Rhetoric. The instructor is great, great examples, great teaching. My ds did the program with a friend - they got together once a week and then discussed and wrote from the topic. Â Clues in Crime - DS thought it was fun. :) It was interesting and took about a semester to work through. Not heavy science but thorough. Here is a link to it http://www.tip.duke.edu/independent_learning/cdrom_courses/clues_in_crime.html (by the way, I'm posting this on the used forum in the next day or so :) ) Â Thank you, Amy! What a great idea to work through it with a friend. :001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sharon in MD Posted May 30, 2008 Share Posted May 30, 2008 [quote Not quite losers:  Dr. Callahan Calculus (well, we did finish it...let's see how college calc goes next year) Campbell's Biology (this actually convinced him to NOT major in biology, ha!) Barron's Grammar the Easy Way  We are looking really seriously at buying this.....I'd love to hear why you were less than thrilled.  Please let me know! I'm desperate for BTDT info! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periwinkle Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Ds bogged down in the middle of the material and wouldn't email Dr. Callahan! I was irritated, but it was his senior year...he was busy and stressed finishing his Eagle rank and filling out college and scholarship apps, so I do understand a little. I got the Teaching Company Calculus Made Clear video for him to watch while we spun his wheels for a month or two...then he picked up the course again and completed it. Originally, he was going to take the AP test, but we decided he wasn't feeling as confident as we had hoped. He needs to take 3 semesters of Calculus in college, so maybe it is good he is starting at the beginning there. Â I'd have to ask ds specifics about the course...I do know he thought the video featuring Dr. Callahan was "ok". The Stewart text certainly is dense. It made my head spin just looking at it. I took calc in high school and college, but unfortunately I didn't retain any of it and was pretty useless (this made the grading difficult, even with the solutions and test keys!) I think a capable tutor would have made a world of difference. Â It would be interesting to hear from someone who has compared this course to Chalkdust. We chose this one because it was more affordable. Â By the way, I have our used materials posted for sale on the swap boards if you are interested.:001_smile: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Begonia Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Begonia, You included Ovid's Metamorphoses on your list of winners. I recently posted asking for favorite translations of this work. May I ask which translation you used?  Regards, Kareni  Kareni, sorry that I missed your thread. My response to this thread was written while my dd dictated the items over my shoulder. Ovid was simply not on my "radar." :o  In response to your question, dd says: "I highly recommend the Charles Martin translation because it's easy to understand and the stories are fabulous! It's written in contemporary English, but it's not as annoyingly colloquial as the language in Stanley Lombardo's translation of the Iliad."  HTH. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kareni Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 In response to your question, dd says: "I highly recommend the Charles Martin translation because it's easy to understand and the stories are fabulous! It's written in contemporary English, but it's not as annoyingly colloquial as the language in Stanley Lombardo's translation of the Iliad."Â HTH. Â Thanks very much, Begonia and to your daughter too. I'll take another look for the Martin translation. Â Regards, Kareni Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mchel210 Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Winners: Abeka 3rd grade and 2nd grade La, math, handwriting SOTW 1 with activity book maps and globes Trail guide to the US Library books!! TT7 great addition Lifepac Health quest Click and read phonics (so fun!) Â Â Ok this year: Jump In apologia zoology 1 (great...but got boring after 4 months) bj la 6 Building spelling skills 6 Time4learning (my dd finished all the lessons in 2 months...not enough to enjoy) Â Loosers: Abeka 6 grade la christian liberty 6 grade history abeka readers. Kids didnt like any of them. Saxon math 5/4 Lifepac History, la, science LLATL yellow (found way too easy ) abeka spelling (too easy) Â Next year hopefuls: Sonlight 1 and Sonlight 4, SL la (looking for a change) library science on our own with usborne science experiments artisitc pursuits Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 are:Â --all the Apologia sciences (have used all except marine biology and adv. biology--and we'll do adv. bio next year). Dc love these and find them easy to understand and interesting to read; they have been excellent preparation for the AP chemistry & physicsB exams, and the CLEP biology exam. Ds will take the SAT physics next week, and he feels confident. What a huge relief for this mom of six, who cannot on any level "teach" science! And we are not young earthers or strict 7-day-creationists. In fact, older ds (the very science oriented one who reads lots of science) has read many sides of the young/old earth debate and formed his own opinions. Same with literal vs. abstract interpretations of the creation story. Now I see younger ds struggling to form opinons on these issues as well. I suppose I like that Jay Wile gives his point of view; dc certainly won't be hearing it from many other sources, though they will be getting plenty of the more current wisdom. Of course we discuss a lot, and I suggest reading or quote to them from things I read. But we love these books "as is". Not to mention that Dr. Wile is a helpful guy when we've ever needed him. Â Lynne, I'm curious about what you used to prepare for science SAT's, CLEP's, and AP's. Did you use the Apologia basic texts and the advanced texts? Did you use anything else for preparation? I was thinking about having 15yos take the Biology CLEP when he finishes his text in a few weeks. Â Thanks! Luann mom of 12 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolfoasia Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Â Teaching Textbooks is a winner as well for all of us. This is our third year using it and the explanations and graphics have been unbelievably helpful. We are not a mathy bunch, my girls and I, and we appreciate all the hand-holding. Â This is good to hear. I am thinking about switching to this for Algebra II. I have BJU Geometry ready and waiting, but I don't know about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolfoasia Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Sister Wendy/Annotated Mona Lisa for 1/2 credit art history (fun!) Â Â I LOVE Sister Wendy. I own her books (for me) and I bought the Annotated Mona Lisa last year, but I just didn't know HOW to do it for their studies. Can you give me an idea of what you did? (and how you made it fun?) Â We also have watched the first two videos of her Story of Painting. They liked it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jane Elliot Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 We had a baby in September this year, which is really fun but lethal for homeschool. So this year I was really thankful for these winners: Â Aleks.com Dr. Lund's Latin I class (Oxford Tutorials) WriteGuide.com (which got my high schoolers through their research papers) Â All three of these were top-notch quality and very hands-off for me, allowing me to maintain my sanity and focus more on my little guys. Â Another winner was www.thegreatbooks.com schedules and discussion guides. This was our second year using them and we've had some terrific discussions. Â Apologia is always a winner here, too. Â Losers: Hmmm. Can't think of anything major really. I wouldn't say any of the boys enjoyed HTRB, but Mary Alice Newborn's study guide was helpful, and all three boys admitted the book was worthwhile. Â I think one thing I would have done differently is to not allow 14yos to join debate. It took him out of the house one full day a week (the class was more than 2 hours away, he rode with friends) and kept him distracted the rest of the time. He let every other subject slide badly. Had the class been closer, or the kid more responsible, or the mom (me) not so distracted with baby, it could have been a great thing, but in this case I'm sorry I allowed it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carolfoasia Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 . And she says that The Brothers Karamazov is a TOTAL WINNER which is really irritating me. It was not on our list and she keeps reading it instead of writing about the Aeneid..... .  This is one of my all-time favorite books, but it is a LONG one. My classics book club is reading it over the summer, and I am a little concerned they will crash and burn on it! When they start complaining, I can always plead that I was not the one who recommended it even though I am leading the discussion, and they will probably forget that fact when they come whining. :) :)  (I would choose TBK over The Aeneid too. While my son didn't "mind" it, it was not one of his favorites in the classics that he read this year. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periwinkle Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 Ds read each "module" of AML (Birth of Art, Rebirth of Art, 19th century, 20th C, Contemporary), watched the corresponding Sister Wendy Story of Painting video, filled out several artist sheets (for all but the first unit), and took a quiz I made up based on AML. The artist sheet consisted of biographical information and reviews of 2 paintings including classification, style, color scheme, emotional response, and "why do you think the artist chose the subject matter?" Â We had planned a trip to the Natl Gallery to culminate our studies, but instead went to a local art gallery (so much easier on us and our pocketbooks!) Â Hth! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periwinkle Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008  Losers:  Autobiography of Ben Franklin  This was one of my graduating senior's least favorite books from high school! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heather in Savannah Posted May 31, 2008 Share Posted May 31, 2008 For 9th grade dd:  Keepers Teaching Textbooks Algebra 1 Apologia Biology World Geography - Georgia Virtual School Progeny Press Jane Austin  Losers Progeny Press Poetry Study Jacob's Elementary Algebra - Non mathy mom can't help when stuck Notgrass World History Powerglide French I  For 7th Grade ds: Keepers Write Shop 2 & Reading "War and Peace" for literature Forensic Science Math-U-See Pre-Algebra The Grammar Key - CDROM  Losers Mystery of History - We've been spoiled by SOTW all 4 books Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ereks mom Posted June 1, 2008 Share Posted June 1, 2008 Cornerstone Curriculum's Starting Points and supplemental books, especially:  Mere Christianity The Deadliest Monster Frankenstein Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde  Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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