Picks and Pans this year? Or help me get highly motivated for the next school year!

[FloridaLisa]

This year was a gitRdone year for us. Many of you know that we had a significant loss last summer and most of my energy went to other needs -- including parenting my 7 kiddos, keeping up with them and shifting to accommodate our loss. I'm am truly so thankful that we did get many things done! Slowly, but surely, my desire and interest in homeschooling has returned. I am hoping a picks and pans thread will give me an uber-shot of motivation as I plan for next year! So, I'm :bigear:.

 

For us this year, I had a senior, junior, 9th grader, 7th grader, 1st grader and pre-Ker. Here's my rundown on our year:

 

My top find:

Exploration Education's Physical Science, Advanced Version. My 9th and 7th graders did this completely on their own. Lessons are on CD, every day requires notations in the student logbook, and every module has an interesting hands-on project (steam boat, homemade guitar, rocket, sundial, circuits, electric car, house wired with electricity, solar fan, glider, etc). And best of all -- every single thing you need is in the box!! If a piece of tape is needed, it's in the box. No running out or delaying the project until Mom gets to the store for an item. Loved that!

 

Still Love:

Classical Writing Diogenes. I really love CW and wish I had started this curriculum with my olders. It sat on my shelf for several years because I was afraid of the teacher learning curve to implement. We started this after Christmas when I finally got some wind in my sails. Things I love about CW: incremental approach, integration of writing and grammar, use of classical writing examples, analysis and word study required. I can't wait to start this with my 8th grader this year.

 

Tried and Trues:

 

*Rod and Staff Grammar -- another I wish I had used with my oldest. We will go into R & S 9 for the first time next year.

 

*Saxon Math -- for our bread and butter and

 

*Life of Fred -- for a fun relief

 

*Florida Virtual School Latin I, II, III -- solid class, no bells and whistles, but gives my kids *official* credit (which our state schools want) and it's free. Kids can get honors credit, take the NLE, be in Latin Club and word is FLVS will soon add AP Latin.

 

My dc had several notable outside classes (literature, apologetics, Write the Novel Way) which they also loved.

 

So, would love to hear how your year fared, what you loved, what you'll ditch. :001_smile:

 

Lisa

Edited April 30, 2012 by FloridaLisa

[regentrude]

So, would love to hear how your year fared, what you loved, what you'll ditch.

 

Tried and True:

Art of Problem Solving.

Precalculus for DD, Intro to Counting&Probability for DS.

Still my favorite curriculum of all.

 

Short History of Western Civilization by Harrison.

To-the-point, well written consecutive text without distractions. DD loves it.

 

TC Company lectures How to Listen to and Understand Great Music by Robert Greenberg.

 

 

Good choice this year:

Chang General Chemistry for chem. Shorter than most college intro texts, the book covers chemistry thoroughly.

Labpaq kit was very good.

Still, we're glad chem is pretty much done.

 

 

Total flop aka My worst curriculum buy ever:

Teaching Company High School Chemistry with Mr. Cardulla.

It moved soooo slowly, was more math than chemistry, repeated every explanation ten times - maybe good for struggling students, but deadly boring for a student who gets it the first time. The course had no demonstrations (I had really hoped for something visual). The first TC course ever that I will return for a refund.

 

Other:

French dual enrollment at university: wonderful. Lots of work, but DD thrives on a schedule, made friends in her class, and will continue next semester with the next course.

 

English: we are still finishing up a wonderful semester about Shakespeare with a hodge-podge of resources. I have way too many books, websites, ideas. Too many plays, too little time. Gobbling up input, a bit behind on output. But love and enthusiasm about Shakespeare firmly in place - more important than cranking out dozens of papers.

[Lori D.]

Just the one DS at home this year, and he is graduates in 2.5 weeks!

 

Good choice for us:

- dual enrollment, 2 semesters of ASL for foreign language

- dual enrollment, 1 semester Writing (foundational course) -- wish I had outsourced writing last year, maybe as an online course...

 

No bombs. The rest was just "get 'er done".

 

______________________________________

 

 

Past highlights/most helpful resources from homeschooling 2 DSs through all of high school include:

 

- doing Literature, ala WTM

- made our own Literature course: "Worldviews in Classic Sci-Fi"

- doing weekly timed essay practice from past SAT prompts

- short Study Skills co-op (10 hours) that I put together and led

- short Public Speaking co-op (15 hours) that I put together and led

 

 

- Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings

- Windows to the World

- Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance

- Jacobs Algebra and Geometry

- Math-U-See (made the high school math possible for DS with LDs)

- Notgrass Exploring American (US History)

- Chortling Bard (Grammar review/usage practice)

 

 

- involvement in extracurriculars, which really helped with responsibility, leadership, maturity:

* Worldview Academy summer leadership camp

* YMCA's Youth & Government, model legislation program

* student class representatives on homeschool Student Council

* 3 years involvement on the local public school tennis team (earned Varsity letters the last year!)

 

 

Happy High School, everyone! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[H0MEFree]

Notgrass Government ended up being a good one, thankfully. No one I knew had ever tried any of the Notgrass materials so it was a real "risk" to buy it sight unseen, but it was a great program. We are keeping it for the next students down the line.

 

4 out of 5 stars * * * * *

 

 

Teaching Textbooks for upper grades starting with Pre-Algebra and on up. A happy standard in our home for years. The only thing that could make it better would be stronger covers.

 

4.5 out of 5 stars! * * * * *

 

 

Progeny Press Literature Guides have not been as great as I had hoped. They are adequate and immensely better than using LLATL (that's really bad) but they seemed a bit weak in my opinion. The Poetry one was good, however. Resale value is terrible.

 

2 out of 5 stars * * * * *

 

 

BJU Bible Truths for middle school and high school. We have used the older blue cover editions you can score used on Ebay for a song. This series is solid but we have still supplemented.

 

3 out of 5 stars * * * * *

Edited April 30, 2012 by H0MEFree
spelling

[FloridaLisa]

Great list as always Lori!

 

Just the one DS at home this year, and he is graduates in 2.5 weeks!

 

Good choice for us:

- dual enrollment, 2 semesters of ASL for foreign language

- dual enrollment, 1 semester Writing (foundational course) -- wish I had outsourced writing last year, maybe as an online course...

 

No bombs. The rest was just "get 'er done".

 

______________________________________

 

 

Past highlights/most helpful resources from homeschooling 2 DSs through all of high school include:

 

- doing Literature, ala WTM

- made our own Literature course: "Worldviews in Classic Sci-Fi"

- doing weekly timed essay practice from past SAT prompts

- short Study Skills co-op (10 hours) that I put together and led

- short Public Speaking co-op (15 hours) that I put together and led

 

 

- Literary Lessons from the Lord of the Rings

- Windows to the World

- Dave Ramsey's Foundations in Personal Finance

- Jacobs Algebra and Geometry

- Math-U-See (made the high school math possible for DS with LDs)

- Notgrass Exploring American (US History)

- Chortling Bard (Grammar review/usage practice)

 

 

- involvement in extracurriculars, which really helped with responsibility, leadership, maturity:

* Worldview Academy summer leadership camp

* YMCA's Youth & Government, model legislation program

* student class representatives on homeschool Student Council

* 3 years involvement on the local public school tennis team (earned Varsity letters the last year!)

 

 

Happy High School, everyone! :) Warmest regards, Lori D.

[FloridaLisa]

Anyone else??

 

:bigear:

 

Lisa

[RobinL in Canada]

Lisa,

Just glad to know that you're doing well. Remember not to be hard on yourself--you have much on your plate! Blessings to you and yours.

[BlsdMama]

Tried & True:

 

Life of Fred was a fantastic find this year.

 

Elegant Essay was a hit.

 

IEW's Essay Intensive was worth it's pricetag.

 

Windows to the World - we start this soon and I like the look of it. (I like it much better than Teaching the Classics. For me that was very, eh. I had the book, the DVDs, and I have the Worldview supplement though I've not watched those DVDs. They were fine, but very common sense I thought and nothing incredibly great.)

 

 

 

I guess it got the job done....

 

Rod & Staff Grammar

TT

 

 

Looking Forward to:

 

Notgrass / MFW - WHL We've just begun this as well.

Checking out Saxon Teacher.

[Rhonda in TX]

BJU DVDs - a mixed bag

 

Hits:

 

Algebra I - huge, huge hit - DS likes math for the first time ever

Physical Science - loved the class (makes it a hit), but very difficult for him

 

Misses:

 

Writing and Grammar - eh... I decided not to emphasize grammar this year and we were already using IEW for writing so we dropped it

 

Mixed:

 

Geography - he loved the class, but we decided to cut out the videos to make our day a bit shorter

Literature - he had a love/hate relationship with this class - pretty much determined by whether he enjoyed what they were studying

 

Other hits:

 

IEW SICC-B

 

My biggest regret this year: We didn't read nearly as many books as I would have liked. It was a difficult year for DS and he's not a big reader, so I let it slide. He'll be doing some reading over the summer to make up for it.

[coffeegal]

My top hit for the year: Tapestry of Grace. I honestly didn't expect to love it as much as I do. It's flexible, makes my life easier, and has improved the quality of our homeschool. I can gush for hours!

 

Second top hit, but not highschool level, is Elemental Science. I picked up the logic Earth and Space science when it was marketed in March, and found a upper highschool/lower collegiate level text for my highschooler to use as his spine. Even my science hater is now enjoying science. This summer I'm going over TWTM science section with a fine-tooth comb as seeing if I can adapt for biology next year.

 

Saxon Math is always a standard hit around here. :001_smile:

[Vida Winter]

We had several hits this year:

Part One: Online Courses

La Clase Divertida High School level online course - dd took high school Spanish 1 Intermediate - many good things to say about this course.

 

Derek Owens math and physics courses - excellent courses, and Derek grades and sends back homework/exams with amazing speed. I can't wait for my middle dd to take Physical Science with him, although we would probably do the homeschool option instead of Derek doing the grading. DD17 is going to take precal this summer and then AP Calculus with Derek during her senior year.

 

History at Our House - dd11 took Upper Elementary American History (recorded) class with Mr. Powell. It included geography and history through art. She enjoyed it a great deal and plans to take a live course in the fall. The best thing was that history actually got done every day this year.

 

BraveWriter SAT Essay Course: dd17 took this course - Julie Bogart taught it - helped immensely even though dd took ACT instead of SAT. I thought it was overpriced before she took the course - I changed my mind when I saw how much time Julie spends with the kids (online) and the resulting benefits. DD is about to take another course with her this month (Expository Writing).

 

MyCatholicFaithDelivered - dd7 took Faith and Life level 2 online in preparation for her First Communion. It made the studying interesting and enjoyable. I will continue using this with dd7 and dd12 next year.

 

 

Part two: Curriculum

 

Teaching Company American History - I watched this series with dd17. How I would have loved this when I was a student. I stop the tape often to discuss topics.

 

Nancy Larson Science - it gets done and dd7 learns a lot. I do not have to search for items - it is all there.

 

Life of Fred - dd7 lives and breathes this curriculum. I have to stretch it out to make it last (our rule: no more than two chapters a day). We have done Apples-Goldfish this year so far. DD12 has done fractions/dec/percents just as a review - not such a big hit with her but it presents problems in a different way and I think she benefits.

 

CLE Math - (several levels) plodding but thorough. Sometimes I like to teach a concept a slightly different way but I like it overall as a math foundation.

 

Hake Grammar - it gets done and provides a lot of review.

 

Spencerian Penmanship - who would have thought? DD17 and dd12 both want to write in that old fashioned beautiful script. They are loving these workbooks.

 

Megawords - dd11 is not a natural speller and has enjoyed this program a great deal. It has also resulted in spelling improvement.

[Hope in God]

 

My top find:

Exploration Education's Physical Science, Advanced Version. My 9th and 7th graders did this completely on their own. Lessons are on CD, every day requires notations in the student logbook, and every module has an interesting hands-on project (steam boat, homemade guitar, rocket, sundial, circuits, electric car, house wired with electricity, solar fan, glider, etc). And best of all -- every single thing you need is in the box!! If a piece of tape is needed, it's in the box. No running out or delaying the project until Mom gets to the store for an item. Loved that!

 

 

Lisa

 

Hi Lisa,

 

I was looking at the Physical Science Advanced and was wondering how much time it took your kids to do per week? Do your children tend to be the sciencey type or not really? Where did you hear about it?

 

I would be interseted in anything else you would have to say about your experience with this curriculum.:bigear:

 

Thank-you!

[Hope in God]

I loved Analytical Grammar. This is one that you actually have to work through with your child but if your child has these types of grammar inclinations this is an excellent curriculum.

 

My daughter loved Sonlight Core H-year 2 of 2 year history. This was our first experience with Sonlight and it was great for my older child but wasn't great for my 3rd grader (the science). I think what made it so wonderful is that she really loved it and was able to do it all on her own (which is also why I loved it). Though I do consider it to be weak on the writing component.

[1Togo]

Like the OP, CW Diogenes is a hit as well as CW Aesop/Homer-in-a-Month. Like Hope..., AG is a hit. Second student through AG with same excellent results. Also, after trying several options for history, Biblioplan is a hit - easy to use, integrated Bible and history, and three to four days of history work, which leaves enough time for other subjects that take more time; i.e. math and science. We're using Apologia for the third time, and the Redwagon Tutorials have made it more interesting for dd. Also, using TtC for the third time and enjoying it again. Jury still out on math.

Edited May 2, 2012 by 1Togo

[Miss Marple]

Had 2 dss: 10th and 11th grades

 

Love:

Discovering Maths by Singapore. We opted for this over the NEM series for upper level maths (had used NEM before). It was just the ticket for both boys.

 

Loved BJU Chemistry with DIVE instruction.

 

Loved our at home literature study. Low key, but I got the boys reading good stuff. They particularly enjoyed The Man Who Was Thursday.

 

Enjoyed our at home history study. Again, low key using a lot of Netflix and other dvds. Our "spine" (loosely applied) was Sonlight Church History, but we really tweaked it to include a lot more world history. We also added in a short segment on Eastern Orthodox Christianity (on dvd). We also added a cool archaeology segment from Lukeion which tied in very well.

 

Loved outsourcing: Spanish and Government for DS#3 (dual enrollment)

 

Busts:

 

There were no real terrible courses, but I realized over the year that I expect a lot more from an online class than perhaps others do (IOW, I was unhappy with organization and lack of grading). DS#3 took Greek online and it was really good for him to get him motivated to take Spanish concurrently. However, we were both unhappy that the required homework was seldom graded - which made it difficult for him to know how to study for tests. The same thing occurred with DS#4 online grammar/vocabulary course. Both did well, but I guess I expected more involvement from the teacher for the price we paid (more than a concurrent course at our local university).

 

DS#3 had a horrible instructor for a super easy course at the local university (computer application-basically the Microsoft Office course). It was a 2 day a week class - one day instruction, one day lab. She never showed up for lab. However she required the students to be there and instructed them to call her if they had questions (HUH?). How does a student who has no idea what he is doing explain the problem over the phone? She actually told ds one time to ask someone else who was in the class since she couldn't figure out what he needed. She was at the gym and had a hard time hearing :(. A nice e-mail to the dean on my part asking about the logic of requiring attendance but the teacher not being there led to at least a little more input on her part on the day she was there teaching. He scored an A despite the bad experience. His teacher was shocked that he got an A. We think she had some difficulty with him being homeschooled and concurrent: she asked all the students where they went to high school. My son said he was homeschooled and her reply was "I'm sorry". Student next to him told him to not worry about it because that teacher was just an ".ss". Also, we heard that some teachers refuse to give their concurrent students A's. But thankfully this course was one which all assignments were scored online. He got 4/10 of a point more than he needed for an A. :) Good learning experience all around.

 

Next Year: Ds#3 doing 13 hours concurrently (Spanish 2, Biology, Trig, US History); Ds#4 doing 9 hours concurrently (Spanish 1, College Algebra, MicroComputer Application). We will continue our literature study at home - very low key again but covering some good works.

[plansrme]

My whole post disappeared as I hit "post," so here is an abbreviated version:

 

Picks:

 

AP Chem through ChemAdvantage: This has been fabulous; my daughter feels quite confident about getting a 5 on the exam (which is Monday). She has scored high 5s on every practice exam. She had a study session with some friends who are seniors at the best public high school in the state and feels that she is probably more prepared than they are.

 

Chalkdust Calculus: This is our sixth (and final, sniff sniff) Chalkdust course. On a whim, my daughter signed up for the AP Calculus AB exam. The head AP Calc teacher at the local STEM magnet where my daughter will attend next year looked over the TOC from the first five chapters (CD only covers the first five chapters of the textbook) and told her one AB topic that is not covered in the DVDs. She had a friend explain that and is now scoring solid 5s on her practice exams.

 

Worldview: We used a variety of materials, including Understandin the Times from Summit Ministries, but the big hits here were (1) On Guard, an apologetics study by William Lane Craig (available on Amazon or reasonablefaith.org), along with a series of DVDs of debats Mr. Craig has done over the years with prominent non-Christians (these are probably available through his website, but we received them for contributing to his ministry--which I also highly recommend!); (2) a study of old earth creationist materials such as Origins (there may be a new edition of this); and (3) a study of Sophie's World.

 

AP Economics: We used the McConnell Brue text and study guides for these exams, and she's doing well on practice exams. She feels at least as, and possibly more, prepared for this than her friends (the same ones who are taking AP Chem), and they spent the entire year on micro only.

 

 

The only pan was that her writing teacher (that would be me) did not do nearly as much writing as she'd intended. She is definitely fired.

 

Terri

Edited May 2, 2012 by plansrme

[Julie in MN]

A good year for us, I think.

 

Algebra II with Math Relief, my kids and I just like Mr. Firebaugh

 

Biology with Virtual Homeschool Group, probably a little easier since quizzes and tests are multiple choice, but this lovely, generous woman saved me from strangling my son halfway through the year :tongue_smilie:

 

French tutor to go along with Rosetta Stone & E-Z workbook. The tutor was recommended to me by Ann here on the board, and she is a treasure.

 

WHL for World History, New Testament survey, World Literature, and 1/4 credit Geography, I am quite happy with all of it. Subbed in my son's book club and several videos from TTC, etc., but basically these 3 credits were solid and what I wanted for my son.

 

Phy ed consultation with a sports medicine doctor was part of a good phy ed/fitness/conditioning credit this year. But quite disappointed with YWCA raising their homeschool class rates in a sneaky way - suddenly one class wasn't a semester but only 2 months, with a week or two off, at the same price :001_huh:

 

Much better year than 9th grade here!

Julie

[Gwen in VA]

Winners --

1) AP Chemistry through Chemadvangage (PAH) -- dd is my third child to take the class, and each time I am impressed anew by the excellence of this class!

 

2) British Lit with Dr. McM on Scholars Online. Again, dd is my third child to take the class. Each child has had a very different experience of the class, but I love the discussions and the fact that at the end of the class they all could discuss literature at a new level.

So-so --

1) AP Gov't through PAH -- my fourth child to take this class! It gets the job done but it is not exciting.

 

2) Math at home -- the teacher did not impose strict deadlines, so the student is way behind in her work. I am considering firing the teacher (who is me!)/

Busts --

Trying to homeschool while working 15-20 hours per week (doing music and teaching) in addition to doing several other EC's (a serious instrument, reasonable church involvement, and dancing). Unfortunately, time does not function like the budgets of some organizations -- just because you use all of the time available and desperately need more does NOT mean you are awarded more! (Dd is seriously rethinking her EC commitments.)

Lesson learned -- God made 24 hours in a day. If He had meant for us to get more done, He would have made the days longer!

[elegantlion]

We did some high school level subjects this year (8th):

 

The Good:

 

Discovery of Deduction - I was concerned as I enjoyed but wasn't thrilled with AofA. DoD was a big hit. It's formal logic, it's well designed, the curriculum builds week upon week. IMO this book works best when you work with your student. You definitely want to make sure they understand one lesson before moving on. The TE is a complete copy of the student book with answers.

 

LL Lotr - Still working on, but have loved, loved, loved this study. We've been basking in Middle Earth all year and it's has sparked a love of linguistics and Tolkien in ds. We tweaked as I've mentioned in a few other threads.

 

Irasshai - A Japanese program from Georgia Public Broadcasting. We've barely tapped the surface this year, but ds chose Japanese and is enthused and motivated to complete this 3 year program.

 

THE UGLY:

 

Algebra - Math became THAT subject this year, you know the one that requires you go to the backup of your backup plan. I had planned to finish LOF beginning algebra, which ds likes and was using well. But I didn't feel like it focused on the terminology enough. Ds skims some things and would miss important points. Still like Fred through. Moved to MEP, which worked as ds gets math, but is not a fan in general. Again not enough instruction. The organization of a text is very important to us not getting frustrated and distracted. MEP, even though free, ended up being too frustrating. Moved to 60s Dolciani, which I love, but don't have two copies. Ds would get confused with the instructions, I'd have to grab the book, decode it from technical 60s speak, again frustrating.

 

Finally settled on Lial's Beginning Algebra (the hardback series). The format is much better. I was able to find a solutions manual and two copies of the text for less than $20. The instructions are more clear, the terminology is presented well. Now we'll just have to work through the summer to finish as we opted to start with ch 2 and didn't start until February. :svengo:

 

If I were doing it over I would have stuck with LOF, bought the new practice book released in February, and made worksheets for the terminology.

 

The Really Cool:

 

Ds decided he wanted to learn about relativity. So we spent several weeks reading Simply Einstein, watching The Elegant Universe on DVD, discusing Einstein. He wants to read The Elegant Universe now. Um, we haven't studied physics yet, but it was fascinating, lead to some great conversations and speculations.

 

Computer stuff - I don't know what he's doing, but he's taken this journey through programming this year. He started with a desire for animation, moved to programming, then java, then drawing on the computer, back to java, now he's at C++. He does all of this in his spare time, I stay out of it. He's asked for a book on C++ now.

 

Books- Ds was a delayed reader, never liked to read. This year we found a series that changed that, Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix. He's still not a voracious reader, but he's not resistant to it either. Last night he came down and dragged four books to his room. Happy mom. :D

[OnTheBrink]

Hits:

 

MCT. It just fits how dd learns and she's done better this year with English than she ever has.

 

VideoText Algebra. So much better than MUS, I could cry.

 

Misses:

 

Notgrass World history. Dd found it to be boring and we went back to MOH with supplementation.

 

Harmony Fine Arts. Nothing really wrong with it, but it was just sort of meh for us.

[TippyCanoe]

.

[tvaleri]

Hi Lisa,

 

I was looking at the Physical Science Advanced and was wondering how much time it took your kids to do per week? Per week, about 60-90 minutes with EE; additional time with videos/extra books Do your children tend to be the sciencey type or not really? Yes, very geeky =D Where did you hear about it? Homeschool Bookfair

 

I would be interseted in anything else you would have to say about your experience with this curriculum.:bigear:

 

Thank-you!

 

Picked this up at a homeschool bookfair last spring. As we walked by the booth, my 14 yo son glanced at the model and exclaimed, "Hey! That's centrifugal force! Wish I'd been able to build something like that..." Thought ds 12 would love EE because it's computer based and lots of hands-on. Long story short, began year with Apologia General Science, shelved it, and pulled out EE.

 

Ds, 12, loved hands on, computer usage, and all components at his fingertips.

As for time each week, that is dependent upon whether a project is built or not. The lessons are super short which is why we've put it away for the summer while I locate a physical science book to expand on some topics. It only takes about 10 minutes to read through and work on questions which are multiple choice and forming a "best guess" (hypothesis).

 

Frustrations: He'd already learned much of the first half of EE in gen sci. After using Apologia with four others, I feel EE falls short teaching the scientific method and completing a lab report. No deal breakers, those topics are easily addressed. In addition, EE covers lots more topics than Apologia. We are saving the second half for late summer when it's too hot to enjoy outdoors =D

 

JMHO,

Teresa

[EKS]

I homeschooled my 10th grade son for the first semester of this year.

 

What was excellent:

 

Ways of the World by Robert W. Strayer: A brief world history text, college level, that emphasizes themes rather than minutiae. Extremely well written (I know, as I read the entire thing aloud!).

 

Derek Owens' Precalculus: Simply the best experience we've had with an online course. Thorough and easy to use. My only wish would be that the practice problems be incorporated into the workbook (as Mr. Owens has done for his other courses), rather than have them in a textbook. The textbook is from the mid-90s and somewhat difficult to track down. It also would make it more streamlined experience.

 

Miller and Levine Biology: We used the Macaw edition. Excellent explanations and illustrations.

 

What I wouldn't use again:

 

The Teaching Company's History of Science lectures: The first set was ok and interesting at times (and at other times it was very difficult to understand) but the second set was absolutely awful. We ended up abandoning it altogether. Not worth the money.

 

Word Within the Word volume 3: Ok, I didn't actually use this with my son, but his school uses it, and I ended up more involved that I would have liked. While I love Caesar's English, WWW expects *way* too much memorization each week. Ten words or stems should be it, not 35 or whatever it was.

[cbhrbooth]

Best hit:

 

One Year Adventure Novel -- my daughter loved this creative writing series, and we plan to repeat it next year just so she can write a second manuscript. Fabulous resource.

 

Solid, reliable favorites:

 

Tapestry of Grace Year 1 (Literature, History, Government, Bible)

Rod & Staff Grammar

Saxon Algebra 1 4th edition

Apologia Biology

[Rain]

Best find:

 

Auto Upkeep: Basic Car Care, Maintenance, and Repair by Michael and Linda Gray

 

http://www.autoupkeep.com

 

Absolutely excellent text and workbook! The author is a former high school auto shop teacher and later administrator, and plans to homeschool his own son. The text was developed for public high school but is very homeschool friendly. No fluff, plenty of illustrations, *real* activities with clear step by step instructions, a ton of useful information in a very accessible format. This was just a fabulous course, and dd learned *so much* about basic car care, maintenance, and ... um... repair (hence the name). It goes in depth into each of the car's systems, with a chapter each on lubrication, suspension, fuel system, cooling, ignition, how an engine works, buying a car, alternative fuels, etc. I can't say enough about this course!

Edited May 24, 2012 by Rain

[Murphy101]

Pans:

Lukeion Greek online: Almost no instructor feedback other than "study harder" and all the grading was either missing entirely or way after it could be helpful for studying. The Quia system sucks and the teacher made little to no effort to stay on top of the grading through it.

 

Homeschool Coop for foreign language: fellow students had even lower expectations of the class than the teacher. Most didn't bother to read the assignments, much less do any of the homework or test studying. Very demoralizing and defeated the point of a class setting for learning a foreign language.

 

Picks:

Everything else.

[Miss Marple]

Pans:

Lukeion Greek online: Almost no instructor feedback other than "study harder" and all the grading was either missing entirely or way after it could be helpful for studying. The Quia system sucks and the teacher made little to no effort to stay on top of the grading through it.

 

 

:iagree: this was our first experience using a homeschool marketed outsourced course. It has made me wonder if my expectations of an online course are vastly different from other homeschoolers. I don't think I'll go that route again. I'll utilize dual enrollment. It's cheaper as well :glare:

 

That's too bad about the co-op. That's why we eventually quit ours - lack of motivation and expectations of the teachers, parents, and students. I think you should check into TCC if they have the language you are interested in.

[Murphy101]

:iagree: this was our first experience using a homeschool marketed outsourced course. It has made me wonder if my expectations of an online course are vastly different from other homeschoolers. I don't think I'll go that route again. I'll utilize dual enrollment. It's cheaper as well :glare:

 

That's too bad about the co-op. That's why we eventually quit ours - lack of motivation and expectations of the teachers, parents, and students. I think you should check into TCC if they have the language you are interested in.

 

We are, but we can't afford it unless they qualify for the tuition waiver. I hope they do!

[snowbeltmom]

Online Class Hits:

AoPS

AP Chemistry with ChemAdvantage: This was oldest's second class with ChemAdvantage. These classes were excellent. I hope they decide to offer the honors chemistry class again in the future for my younger kids.

 

Online Class Busts:

Lukeion Latin I: I ended up dropping middle son from this class after the first month despite the fact that he had a high "A". This class was eating up way too much time. I also didn't like the QUIA format - after completing the homework, ds then had to spend more time entering the information into the computer to be graded.

[Jenny in Florida]

Out only "hits" this year, really, were certain books, mostly ones we read aloud together. My son really enjoyed Pygmalion, The Frogs (and thanks due to the folks here who suggested that one!), both of which we read for English. He also liked The Cuckoo's Egg (Cliff Stoll) and has loved Bringing Down the House, both of which we read for math.

 

Okay, I guess we also had success with Imitation in Writing: Greek Myths. And he enjoyed studying for and taking the National Mythology Exam, although he's irritated that he missed one question and ended up with "only" a silver medal.

 

And the cryptography study went pretty well. In the last few weeks, he's spent many more hours than I assigned coming up with his own codes and ciphers and compiling a booklet of all of the ones he studied -- with examples -- to share with his friends. They are all now busily writing coded messages for each other.

 

FLVS Spanish I was a total flop. He had the exact same experience with that course as he did with the middle school American history one from last year. The courses have been redesigned to rely heavily on cutesy graphic presentations, which seem to have displaced some content, and which he finds distracting and irritating. Too many of the assignments are pure fluff, and neither of the teachers were especially reachable or helpful. In both cases, he hated the class so much that he stalled and did no more than perfunctory work, focusing on gaming the system for a grade, instead of learning anything. We withdrew him after the first segment and are going with a different approach, which we'll have to continue over the summer in order to make up for the lackluster first half.

 

It's sad, because he's had a lot of good experiences with FLVS prior to last year. But, on the basis of these two courses, he's opted not to do any more with them.

[Swimtaxi234]

 

Best find:

 

Auto Upkeep: Basic Car Care, Maintenance, and Repair by Michael and Linda Gray

 

http://www.autoupkeep.com

 

Absolutely excellent text and workbook! The author is a former high school auto shop teacher and later administrator, and plans to homeschool his own son. The text was developed for public high school but is very homeschool friendly. No fluff, plenty of illustrations, *real* activities with clear step by step instructions, a ton of useful information in a very accessible format. This was just a fabulous course, and dd learned *so much* about basic car care, maintenance, and ... um... repair (hence the name). It goes in depth into each of the car's systems, with a chapter each on lubrication, suspension, fuel system, cooling, ignition, how an engine works, buying a car, alternative fuels, etc. I can't say enough about this course!

 

THANK YOU for posting this suggestion. I had been looking for an after school project for my daughter and this will be perfect. She is just getting her learner's permit and is suddenly crazy interested in how cars work.:001_smile:

[FloridaLisa]

Best hit:

 

One Year Adventure Novel -- my daughter loved this creative writing series, and we plan to repeat it next year just so she can write a second manuscript. Fabulous resource.

 

My middle school son completed a novel using this curriculum this year in co-op. It was his favorite class by far!! I had to keep it the carrot to all other work getting done.

 

Lisa

[FloridaLisa]

And the cryptography study went pretty well. In the last few weeks, he's spent many more hours than I assigned coming up with his own codes and ciphers and compiling a booklet of all of the ones he studied -- with examples -- to share with his friends. They are all now busily writing coded messages for each other.

 

What did you use for this? Sounds very engaging!

 

FLVS Spanish I was a total flop. He had the exact same experience with that course as he did with the middle school American history one from last year. The courses have been redesigned to rely heavily on cutesy graphic presentations, which seem to have displaced some content, and which he finds distracting and irritating. Too many of the assignments are pure fluff, and neither of the teachers were especially reachable or helpful.

 

We've had mixed experiences with FLVS courses as well. The one course that has consistently been good has been Latin, mostly because of the teachers. As the number of students taking Latin through FLVS has exploded, I've seen the teacher/student interaction decline. I think most of the teachers are carrying a huge load of students.

 

Lisa

[FloridaLisa]

Lisa,

Just glad to know that you're doing well. Remember not to be hard on yourself--you have much on your plate! Blessings to you and yours.

 

Thank you! We are coming along and beginning to have a new rhythm to our days and life. So much life still in the house and for that, I am very, very grateful.

 

Many blessings to you as well,

Lisa

[FloridaLisa]

Hi Lisa,

 

I was looking at the Physical Science Advanced and was wondering how much time it took your kids to do per week? Do your children tend to be the sciencey type or not really? Where did you hear about it?

 

I would be interseted in anything else you would have to say about your experience with this curriculum.:bigear:

 

Thank-you!

 

Well, my boys got behind the first few months. At that point, they started completing two lessons, four days a week. Most days required about 30 - 45 minutes (their record books had very short responses, but it was accurate). Some days required more work making the projects, but they loved those days and are still so proud of all that they made! We have it displayed in the living room right now. :001_smile:

 

I'm glad this thread is still going slowly! Sorry I was slow to respond!

Lisa

[Cosmos]

--Joint writing projects. Rather than assigning papers, I brainstorm with DD about possible topics, genres, or take-offs. We then each write our own, stopping periodically to read to one another. We talk about possible ideas quite often and DD takes my work quite as seriously as her own. Last week we had a chance to see the premiere of a one-man show based on Hound of the Baskervilles -- the sole actor playing around eight different parts. DD begged for tickets (she loves Conan Doyle) and then said excitedly, "Mom, this will be great for your Sherlock project! You can compare characterization in the novel, a Jeremy Brett version, the new BBC Hounds of the Baskerville, and this one-man show!" Watching me work through a piece of writing has been as helpful for her as anything we've ever done.

 

What an interesting approach! I would love to hear more about how this worked for you and your dd. Have you posted about it in other threads?

[TippyCanoe]

.

[HollyDay]

Hits:

BJU Chemistry

Progeny Press Lit Guide Scarlet Pimpernil, AOP Brit Lit

Total Health

 

Misses:

none really. Spanish 1 was not met with great enthusiasm, but I think it is more the subject than the material.

[elegantlion]

Basically I don't teach dd writing directly, but model it and share with her as one would in a writer's group or workshop. We also both -- this was dd's idea -- keep commonplace books, or notebooks filled with our favorite quotations from our reading. We share these with one another, and they've turned out to be the centerpiece of our language studies as we compare and contrast, discuss tone, diction, rhythm, my penchant for metaphor-heavy lines vs. hers for contrasting long involved sentences followed by short punchlines. This is a practice common among working writers and used in workshops as well.

 

 

I think most people here feel more comfortable with a more conventional teacher-student relationship rather than a kind of working partnership, which is what I feel dd and I have. I also think most people are, understandably, more comfortable with a curriculum that lays everything out for them. But the more you write yourself, the more you learn about writing, both doing it and guiding it. It's a different way of getting to the same goal, that of producing a high schooler who is a competent, confident, and effective writer. The difference is that rather than researching curricula and prepping lesson plans, I simply do it myself alongside dd. That's where my time and effort goes.

 

Hope this has been helpful, in explaining how it works if nothing else.

 

Thanks, this gives me some great ideas on how to handle our literature analysis next year. Now I have to dig out Freed's book again.

 

How do you handle more academic styles of writing, such as a research paper?

[pdalley]

Hit: Anything Notgrass. I think we finally found a history the boys love and the transition for oldest for high school has been gently but gradually more strenuous.

 

Growing With Grammar/Soaring With Spelling/Winning With Writing - Straightforward and to the point. Boys love it and retain it.

 

Fix-it Grammar/IEW theme based writing - took awhile but we became IEW fans this year.

 

Teaching Textbooks/Life of Fred/Beast Academy - Finally - math that gets done with no tears.

 

Studying God's Word Bible study series by Christian Liberty Press - a favorite from the start that keeps working.

 

Misses: Christian Kids Explore Science series. Too light

Apologia General Science and up - Too hard

 

Still searching for the right science.

[lauranc]

Went very well, and could recommend:

 

AP English Lit. and Comp. with Brigid Thompson http://teacherweb.com/USA/BlueTent/Thompson/apt16.aspx

 

Thinkwell Alg. II http://www.thinkwellhomeschool.com/products/algebra-2

 

Fluenz French http://www.amazon.com/Fluenz-French-supplemental-Audio-Podcasts/dp/B0016ZOUUO

[TippyCanoe]

.

[ereks mom]

Picks for EK (11th):

 

Music Ace was a big hit. She did it first every day.

SAT Question of the Day was something else she seemed to actually enjoy.

Teaching Textbooks Algebra 2 was a good fit for her.

She also enjoyed reading The Scarlet Letter, and she was involved in a production of Twelfth Night, so she came to really appreciate Shakespeare!

 

She didn't really enjoy everything else we did, but she didn't complain, either, so I guess we were successful. :tongue_smilie: There was nothing that we abandoned mid-year, which is usually what happens when we intensely dislike a program.

[mom31257]

Definitely recommend:

 

Lial's Introductory Algebra (thorough course with great examples and well laid out exercises)

 

Dive Integrated Chemistry and Physics (good, thorough science, yet easy and affordable way to get high school science done; used 3rd edition BJU's Physical Science Text)

 

MFW Ancient Literature Supplement (didn't use MFW program, but this was a great add-in to help me with ancient literature)

 

Figuratively Speaking (great supplement to learn and write about 40 literary terms)

 

 

Disliked:

 

Visual Link Spanish-This was not a good fit for dd. It was too auditory/visual for her, and we realized she really doesn't like computer programs for school. Dive felt different to her than this.

 

Starting Points-I definitely don't like that there is no teacher's manual for this, and some of the sections they have for you to take notes seem oddly labeled. This made it confusing for her to know what they were expecting her to do. I felt that some of the things were vague. Dd tolerated it, but I only had her finish half of it. She really prefers to develop her own worldview than someone tell her what it's supposed to be.

[elegantlion]

Dd has always been very confident and comfortable with research papers, ever since she was in mid-elementary school and beginning to look up resources beyond whatever book she was reading. She's a geek at heart, not a science-techy one but a bookish one, and she took to research like a duck to water. So she has always done this type of thing on her own and doesn't require it to be sociable (although she loves to read to me when she's finished).

 

However, if she hadn't been like this, I'd have approached the research paper in exactly the same way. Freed's technique is intended to apply to any kind of required academic writing.

 

Thanks. :D

[Cosmos]

Just a little bit; I have a feeling we're too out in the ozone for most people here. But since you ask, and since I love to talk about it...:D

 

 

Thanks, Doodler! I've read your post and I've marked it so I can come back later to ponder over this summer. I have already been planning do spend a chunk of time doing research and thinking about where to go next with writing for my son. Your story is resonating with me and definitely giving me some ideas.

[Donna in Sacramento]

Went very well, and could recommend:

 

AP English Lit. and Comp. with Brigid Thompson http://teacherweb.com/USA/BlueTent/Thompson/apt16.aspx

 

My ds17 is registered for this course in the fall. I researched a number of AP Lit courses offered online but it's Brigid Thompson's that seemed to resonate the most with us. Any additional feedback that you might have on this course would be most appreciated. DS17 will soon begin reading Great Expectations .

[lauranc]

My ds17 is registered for this course in the fall. I researched a number of AP Lit courses offered online but it's Brigid Thompson's that seemed to resonate the most with us. Any additional feedback that you might have on this course would be most appreciated. DS17 will soon begin reading Great Expectations .

 

Brigid offered amazingly helpful feedback to my son. He is a natural writer, but the class really helped him focus in on what's important in his essays. He never felt like anything was 'busy-work'-- he felt everything required was useful in some way. (although, he didn't *love* the grammar... he at least felt it was worthwhile)

 

 

Right before the AP exam this month, he started to worry about the essays-- and I think he sent Brigid 4+ emails asking various questions to help him get his head around things. She got back to him immediately and gave him great advice.

 

He felt well-prepared for the AP exam.

Edited May 29, 2012 by lauranc

[Donna in Sacramento]

Brigid offered amazingly helpful feedback to my son. He is a natural writer, but the class really helped him focus in on what's important in his essays. He never felt like anything was 'busy-work'-- he felt everything required was useful in some way. (although, he didn't *love* the grammar... he at least felt it was worthwhile)

 

 

Right before the AP exam this month, he started to worry about the essays-- and I think he sent Brigid 4+ emails asking various questions to help him get his head around things. She got back to him immediately and gave him great advice.

 

He felt well-prepared for the AP exam.

 

Thank you Laura! My impression is that her class prepares the students well for college writing/critical thinking, and not just the AP exam. I am pleased with the language arts resources she's planning to use in addition to the literature the students will read.

[lauranc]

Thank you Laura! My impression is that her class prepares the students well for college writing/critical thinking, and not just the AP exam. I am pleased with the language arts resources she's planning to use in addition to the literature the students will read.

 

Yes. Absolutely. My son is taking a class at a univ., and just got back his first paper. Got an "A" with very positive feedback on his writing.

 

He is a writer by nature, but she really helped him hone his skills.