The Latin Road Pays Off!

>>>Please comment on the Latin Road <<<


I used Latin Road for 3 years. My kids were VERY successful with it, and my son still remembers all his Latin even after 3 years without cracking a book! He had to take a college placement test at the college he's going to, so they could see which class would be appropriate for him. He passed all 3 levels of Latin, and started the university in Junior level! Yippee! He enjoyed Latin Road so much that he has continued his Latin studies in college.

Latin Road uses a lot of memorization, rote learning, flash cards, and practice, practice, practice. It took as much time as a math program, and we had to do some Latin translating everyday, just like you do math problems everyday. It was very mom intensive, as you say. I used to spend about 2 hours on weekends getting my own lessons done, so that I would know how to teach it the following week. Her lessons are well laid out, and I never had any trouble figuring out what to do each day. It was VERY clear, and each lesson was about the same length of time to complete, and each lesson was very clearly labeled. Again, sort of like a math book, I guess! It was written for homeschoolers, so that's part of why it was so easy to use. Each day we would do some flash cards, recite some memorized lesson or read aloud, and do some copy work or translating. It was a LOT of work, and hard, but my kids really seemed to like it, and it really paid off in the end.

Hope that helps!
Blessings,
Lee
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Ideas for Marine Biology

>>>>Do you have any ideas for Marine Biology?<<<<

This is what I would suggest:

• The Seaside Naturalist: A Guide to study at the Seashore by: Deborah A. Coulombe
• Marine Biology Coloring Book
• National Audubon Society Field Guide to North American Seashore Creatures.

I would encourage you to do some dissections. I would order some critters for dissection from Home Science Tools as well. You can dissect fish and all sorts of stuff, look at the Biology section of their website, and then ask your child which ones they would like to discuss.

Get some Sea Monkeys from Home Science Tools, and watch the little sea creatures grow for a while. You also might consider an aquarium for a time.

You could go on a field trip to somewhere with an aquarium, or even just a beach. If you choose a beach, go at high tide AND low tide.

You could have some literature books as well: The Old Man and the Sea, and The Pearl by Steinbeck are Jr/Sr High level. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch and Island of the Blue Dolphins are a bit younger. There are MANY other sea-themed literature selections. There is also a great non-fiction book we used called "Dive" by Sylvia A. Earle, a female marine biologist. It has great pictures.

Get some videos from the library by Jacques Cousteau, or other videos from the library to supplement. Our library carries the "Eyewitness" series of videos, and I'm sure they have a Marine life movie.

Hope that helps!

Blessings,
Lee
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English and Grammar Every Year!?

>>>Do you think it is necessary to teach English and Grammar every year?? <<<

No, I don't think it's important every year. We taught grammar one time, in 7th grade, with Winston Grammar and that was that. My kids did great on their SATs, so it was obviously plenty for them. We did do foreign languages in high school, so that was another way we got grammar without "teaching grammar" if you know what I mean. We focused more on writing.

Blessings,
Lee
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Homeschool Art Without the Mess!

>>>Did you plan the art studies or let them do it as they wanted? I debate a lot about whether its worth setting aside the time for art study.<<<

Art is really, REALLY my weak area, so I actually set aside time for art study, otherwise we would never do it! We never had a problem getting math or science done, just art, LOL! I scheduled it for 2-3 times a week, 1-1/2 or 2 hours at a time, depending on the year. Even so, it was something that we sometimes just didn't do. (Art is so messy, you know.) We did the book "Art Fun" the first year, the Feed My Sheep for two years, then Draw Today. We also did some pottery classes, and that was fun. I have some art games that they played, and there were some books on artists that I had them read over the years. If your kids just "do" art, then maybe you don't really need art study. We NEEDED art study, because my kids didn't ever DO it otherwise. In high school I taught them art mostly from an art history perspective, and art appreciation. I suppose in high school, it's good to have some art appreciation course, but maybe other kids just naturally end up studying art without any help at all. Hey, Alex studied economics without any help! Kevin studied Russian History, of all things, without any encouragement! Just not art....


Blessings,

Lee
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A Desperate Mom's Plea: How Do I Pay for College?

I want to tell you that the "desperate mom" feeling is completely normal! This is the absolute WORST time of year for that feeling. Most students have already chosen a college, and have already applied and are eager to leave home. Yet most parents are looking at the sticker price of the college and feel completely overwhelmed because you haven't received any financial aid yet.

Almost everyone pays less than sticker price for a college. If your son has SAT scores of 550 and above in each area, then he is probably an above average student. If he doesn't, there is still time for him to take an SAT review class and retake the SAT test in March in order to increase his score, and increase his financial aid award.

In general the state colleges don't have as much financial aid as the private colleges do. If you can convince your son to apply to other schools, private schools, he may actually pay less that he would at the state schools.

I think you are already doing everything right, I think you are just in that crisis period when you don't know how you are going to pay. That feeling will get worse once you get his letter of acceptance and you STILL don't know how to pay. Most colleges tell you that you are admitted first, and then seems like a LONG time later until you hear about your financial aid! That's the worst time.... The only thing that I can really suggest is that you apply to a few other schools over the holidays; private schools where your son might be OVER qualified, and the BEST candidate they see all year.

Blessings,

Lee
The HomeScholar
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Using "Total Health" for Homeschool Health

>>>>"I know we have discussed Total Health in the past. Do you recommended getting the high school edition or the middle school edition? Also, should I get any workbooks? Is it necessary to use workbooks to get the full credit for high school health? Do I get the student text or the teacher's edition or both? And, do I need to get the tests and quizzes?"<<<<



We used both the Jr. High and the Sr. High texts. The boys liked them both. If you are getting just one, I would get the one that best meets the age of your child. If they are 9th grade or under, or if they are highly sheltered and older, get the Jr. High. If they are over 9th grade, or hang out with their youth groups, other secular kids, etc., then I would get the Sr. High version.

When we did Total Health, I chose not to get the workbooks. I wanted them to learn the content but I had so many other high powered courses at the time, I didn't want to have yet another thing for them to be tested on. We were doing Latin and Biology and stuff at the time, and it would have been just too much.

Both times I used Total Health, I combined it with their sports activities to make it a PE credit. I didn't list Health separately on their transcript. With their sports activities, I did have an EASY 150 hours of PE, and I did give them a full credit, but they were doing soccer, swim team and baseball at the time. If I had listed Total Health alone on the transcript, I think I would have given it 1/2 credit, because even with the tests and stuff, I don't think it would take the time for a full year at 1 hour a day to complete. In Washington state, we are required to teach health at some point in their lives, but they don't specify when or how much, so I had no requirement as to it being a whole credit in high school.

If you want to supplement, consider taking a CPR or basic first aid course, that would be great!

Total Health is a wonderful books, and both of my boys loved it. In fact, when I bought the first one, the kids ended up reading it on their own over summer before school even started. It had a wonderful tone, and had a nice balance between conservative concerns and some of the issues that Christian kids might face at school or youth group.

Blessings,
Lee
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Get Your Money's Worth with Apologia Science

Now may be a good time to say that I found Kevin with his Apologia Physics book again! Every time he gets to a new concept in college physics 202 (electricity and magnetism, physics for engineers) he likes to get out his book and review the concepts first. He's used the Chemistry textbook for some of his college calculus homeworks. I'm sure he'll review the Biology book when he starts college biology next year. We've decided to keep ALL the the Apologia books and send them to college with him: Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. They seemed so expensive when we bought them, but now I see that we MORE than got our money's worth.

Hope that encourages somebody,
Blessings,
Lee

Resources for Homeschool Records

>>>>Can you recommend a certain book or website that helped you with high school credits?<<<<

I bought myself one high school book a year, and considered it part of my curriculum expenditures. I started with Barb Shelton High School FormULA, and it was pretty good. She leans a lot on the unschooler approach - less structured approach, I should say. Lots on how to write up your high school experience after the fact, a lot about learning naturally in high school. She does seem to like forms, though. I always thought it was interesting that someone who was so into what appeared to be a go-with-the-flow style in curriculum would be so uptight about recordkeeping! She has tons of forms and stuff, lots of intricate stuff on how to make grades. I didn't use that stuff. But her overall theory of "write it after you do it" was helpful. She has a very VERY personal writing style - like she's just emailing you.

I also liked Mary Schofield's book The High School Handbook. She had some great course descriptions that I used a LOT in writing my own. It was a little less scary than Shelton's book, because there were fewer forms to fill out. She has quotes from a variety of homeschoolers using different techniques, but her advice is more concrete and straighforward, as if she's a textbook homeschooler. I got a lot out of her book.

Cathy Duffy's High School Curriculum Manual is good for choosing curriculum, and deciding what courses you should have. She doesn't go into the construction of a portfolio.

And I love Cafi Cohen's book on College Admission.

Blessings,
Lee
The HomeScholar
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