| "GBA
really is the Rolls Royce
of homeschooling programs."
Anna von Marburg
Your
program just seems too amazing to be true! I was so
excited when I found it. I would love to do this with
my son.
Thanks so much!!!
Suzanne Houchin
We are in Botswana, Africa and it is summer here with
rains perhaps once a week. We are originally from
Port Townsend, WA? There is a serious draught here
and we boarder the Kalahari desert. It is into the
high 90’s and low 100’s but we have a
pool and air conditioning so it is livable? Botswana
is a wonderful country with lots of wild animal and
open vast spaces. They are trying to form a democracy
and are the best example of democracy here on the
continent. My husband is with USAID and so we will
be in third world countries for several years, moving
every few years. This is a new life for us and it
has its challenges? Nothing we have seen compares
with the beauty of the Puget Sound and the mountains!
You live in paradise? Thank you so much for all your
help – we are new to home schooling and trying
hard to do a good job. So grateful to have found your
Academy? Thank you again, Kay Hammond
I
want to pass on a discussion with a family friend
the other night. He was pretty amazed that Kelsey
had read Nichomachean Ethics as part of the Great
Books program; even though he hadn't read it he has
a friend who's a philosopher and had heard of it.
My husband Mark and I had told him that it was about
happiness. Kelsey came in the room and he said, "So,
Kelsey, what does Ethics say that happiness is?"
She answered without a pause, "A virtuous activity
of the soul." We were so impressed that the knowledge
was in that long term memory!! Kelsey has passed us
in her education at the tender age of 14! ! Humbling,
but as the saying goes, we want our children to stand
on our shoulders! Thank you for all you've done.
Also, reading my bible the other night I read in Sirach11:27-28:
A moment's affliction brings forgetfulness of
past delights; when a man dies his life is revealed.
Call no man happy before his death, for by how
he ends, a man is known. Sounds
like Nicomachean Ethics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With gratitude,
Kathy
Weber
I look forward to the possibility of homeschooling
my daughter, Michal, for many years to come through
the GBA!
Sincerely,
Sandy Marcucci
New Jersey
Thank
you very much for your time and thank you so much
for putting together such a great curriculum!
Sincerely,
Mag Moutier
This
was what we were looking for in a curriculum. It has
been developed with the view of satisfying a curious
young mind intellect. Thanks for your attention and
professionalism regarding our requests.
Thanks,
Aida Vega Aquino, Puerto Rico
I
received the quarterly tests, downloaded them, and
printed all in 2 minutes flat. Thank you again. We
have been having such tremendous success with this
program and recommending it to others that it is a
joy to speed things along.
Thanks again,
Hrstevend
Hello!
I am taking a minute to rave about the penmanship
of my two daughters! I used the Spencerian handwriting
booklets from your curriculum over the span of two
years instead of just one, with just 15 to 30 minute
practice sessions each morning. The result is astounding
sixth grade writers! They get so many compliments.
It is a remarkable program that develops not only
incredible handwriting, but discipline, order and
perseverance as well. I HIGHLY recommend it to all.
They write adeptly in this beautiful handwriting in
all their subjects, in their personal correspondance,
etc. It is a well formed habit and not just a "let's
use our best handwriting for this particular notebook"
kind of program!
Thank You,
Bridget Turpin
Good
Morning, You are such a pleasure to deal with. I can
count upon you for a prompt answer to any query or
problem I may have. Thank you for being so professional
in your approach. Have a great weekend.
Jeanette Meditz
Thank
you for your prompt reply regarding this week's assignment.
We appreciate the GBA's staff dedication in working
hard to gain further recognition/recommendation for
college credits.The level, tempo, amount, and quality
of readings and discussions topics certainly exceed
that of many colleges--most definitely at the undergraduate
level. We wish you well in your endeavors.
Sincerely,
Khadija
Thank
you for your ongoing work. The future of our nation
depends upon the free-flowing discussion of "the
great ideas." We've been homeschooling our kids
for about six years using the Calvert School program
from here in Baltimore (my son is 13 and my daughter
is 9). This year we switched to the Great Books Academy
program, and like it very much. Again, thank you,
and I hope you have a very meaningful holiday season!
Sincerely,
Mickey
You may not remember me, but I was a student of yours
during my freshman year of your Great Books Academy
program online. First of all I just wanted to take
this opportunity to thank you for mailing out my transcript
to Connecticut College as well as the other schools
I am applying to. All my interviewers who read the
transcript for the class I took with were very impressed,
and I think it will definitely give me an edge in
the college acceptance process. I'll keep you posted
on how it goes.
Secondly, I wanted to take the time to let you know
what I have been up to the past few years. As you
might remember, I after my first year of the Great
Books program, I decided to transfer into the local
high school in my town. Since then, I have had a lot
of new and interesting experiences, and I have also
had the opportunity to take a few discussion based
courses, which I think the past experience from your
class helped me to succeed in. I firmly believe that
taking the online course has helped me to think about
things more deeply and to formulate my opinions and
beliefs better than I would have otherwise, skills
which will come in handy many times throughout the
course of my life. I also know that I will always
be glad that I spend that year engaged in intellectual
pursuits which even as I have gotten older have yet
to be surpassed.
I
think it also helped me to be accepted to Yale for
a summer course.
Again, I just wanted to take this opportunity to thank
you, for both mailing my transcript, and for the excellent
experience I took part in three years ago which I
still look back pleasantly on.
SIncerely,
Joseph Guida
I'm very
glad that I had the opportunity to work with the Great
Books program, with you and Elisabeth and Mary Lee,
and with other helpful people at the Academy. Most
of all, I'm happy that I had a chance to see how much
50+ CPDLF students got from working with the GBA program.
I wish you and your colleagues at GBA much success
and thank you for being partners in the education
of CPDLF students.
Take care,
Dot Querry
Recieved package.
Just delighted to begin reading these wonderful books.
I still have to find a shelve to place them on. Thank
you all for your time and attention. You can't beat
the sale of knowledge at reasonable prices. God bless.
Eric
"After discovering
your program, I was very excited, hoping it was everything
it claimed to be, but I really couldn't tell for sure
until I had the materials in my hands to look over
carefully. Well, let me just tell you that your materials
exceed my greatest expectations! The Philosophy program
if fantastic, and Harcourt Science is unbelievably
wonderful! It's more than I ever hoped to be able
to find. I was trying to make up a curriculum this
good all by myself by collecting a variety of materials
and using the best parts of each. It was just too
complicated, especially considering I have four children
to attend to at different ages and grade levels. It's
so wonderful to know that my best efforts could never
have brought me a program this thorough and matching
to my standards this exactly, so by signing up my
son with your program not only do I gain a superior
curriculum, but I get the support gained from the
lesson plans (a huge plus!) and all the other services
you provide. I am ecstatic! I can relax knowing my
kids are getting a truly fabulous curriculum and I
don't have to pull it all together and plan it out
all by myself."
KM
And
just to give you an idea that my son is no slouch
- he is 14 going into 9th grade and has done some
parts of GBA for the past 4 years (since their very
first year) and will be doing the High School program
this year. He decided that he wanted to take Math
this semester at a local community college and went
and took the placement exam a few days ago. I fully
expected him to place in one of their "pre-college"
math course, and he was just doing the English portion
because he "had" to since it was part of the test.
He didn't prepare for it at all. He did fantastic
- he gotten into a college level pre-calc course,
and he passed through the entire English test. Basically
testing out of a Freshman English course. Actually
his college advisor was amazed by his score -and asked
him 3 times how old her really was. His English score
was a 114 out of a possible 120 (50 needed to pass).
His advisor said that few adults get scores that high!
He was told he could take almost any freshman college
course he wanted to! He chose just to take math though;
he has a full plate. 9th grade Socratic Discussion,
College Level pre-calc, a homeschooler's Japanese
class, and Harcourt Brace Science at home with me
- the only course I am doing with him this year (he'll
do his science lab course at the CC next year).
Y. T.
"I am really
looking forward to beginning to use your courses this
year. I am so pleased with the flexibility you offer
to parents and your selection and recommendations
of what you have found to be the finest teaching materials.
I have not enrolled in any particular homeschool program
in the past because I was not able to use materials
I already owned or particularly liked. I want to enroll
her in a classical program where I will ultimately
make the decisions in her education, but where she
will have accountability outside the home and where
she can receive a diploma."
"By the
way, that science text is excellent!! It is the most
perfect textbook I have ever found for my autistic
son. It relates the part to the whole nicely, is completely
logical in progression within the book and between
the grades, and provides perfect presentation using
experiments first and then the information. I have
also heard raves from special needs parents about
Shurley Grammar."
"I really
like the science books as a guide to make sure I am
covering all areas and they have lots of good hands
on experiments...The Good Books are (no pun intended)
great! The children love listening to them and I love
reading them. They are excellent for CM narration
and really help improve vocabulary... To sum it up,
I would have to say that the math and science curriculums
are good and rigorous. The literature is really nice.
Shurley grammar has proven to be very enjoyable..."
"Your science curriculum is excellent. I really
like it..."
I
want to enroll my son Jack(gr.6) and daughter Georgina
(gr. 4) for the US September school year. As you know
we are in Australia and our school year begins in
January and goes to December. I would like to start
in September so that Jack can start the Grade 6 socratic
discussions from the beginning and then I will just
start their enrolment at the same time. I will be
in touch with you later about this but I just wanted
to let you know that I am quite sure at this point
of doing this in the next few months.
I am using the entire
GBA curriculum now and it is just beautiful. There's
a great deal of work but I'm getting an education
as well! GBA really is the Rolls Royce of Homeschooling
programs. Thank you for all your help regarding my
order.
Kind regards,
Anna von Marburg
With my 14yo son he started out at grade level and
hasn't really had a problem, but one of the best parts
of GBA is that you can pick and choose from the grade
levels. They have no problem with you doing 7th grade
reading and 3rd grade math (for example), you just
do whatever level your child is at. They now have
placement exams to determine where your child should
be (they didn't have those when I started), and also
many of the individual programs also have placement
exams on their websites (for example, I know that
there is a Saxon Math on-line placement exam).
We
were actually using Shurley Grammar before we enrolled
in GBA. It's funny, we used it in 5th grade, and then
enrolled in GBA for 6th and decided not to use it that
year. We picked it up again in 7th grade and then didn't
use it again this year. The reason we did it that way
is because Shurley Grammar basically repeats itself
from 5th-6th grade and then again from 7th to 8th. I
first noticed this on there website that they had the
EXACT same table of contents. So, I called them directly.
Ann Shurley herself confirmed for me that they are repeat
years to review and really cement the knowledge in,
but that if you felt your child already had the knowledge,
the years could be easily skipped. We thought about
moving to the 7th grade program in 6th grade, but decided
to do a "lighter" grammar year and to learn
traditional sentence diagramming in 6th grade. So we
used GUM Middle School Grammar that year (recommended
in TWTM). Then this year we decided to again do a lighter
review type year so we did "Editor in Chief"
instead. However, I LOVE Shurley Grammar. I think it
is an absolutely great program, and truly my son learned
more grammar in that first year of Shurley than he has
in all other years combined. I really feel that a strong
knowledge of sentence structure is important to good
writing skills so I am so glad I did that program. Josh
felt that the jingles were a bit much, so I really just
focused on the workbook. But you truly need to do what
is best for each individual child. As for starting Shurley
Grammar, when I first started it I called them and they
told me to start him at where ever he was at reading
level. I told them that he didn't have a good grammar
base, but was a good reader, and they said he would
do fine at grade level - and he did.
Yonit
"Just wanted to drop you a quick note and thank
you for all the time you have put into getting me
just the books I need. As I've told you before, it
is this personal attention and consideration that
keeps me loyal. I enthusiastically recommend GBA to
all my homeschooling friends and associates. Your
materials are always of the first caliber and so is
your service.
Thanks.
Sarah Holt"
"My children are enrolled in Great Books through
the CPDLF charter school in Altoona, PA. I am very
pleased with all the curriculum I have received thus
far." - Altoona, PA
"We
started school on Monday, the 19th as planned. I know
it's early yet, but we sure are finding the curriculum
refreshing. The Harcourt Science is quite a program.
We plan on using many of the online enrichment ideas.
The Developmental
Math is very different from what we were using. Not
so colorful, but Jade is excelling at it.
Both of
us love Vocabulit. I think it's a great the way it
integrates vocabulary, spelling, and reading. Just
what I was looking for.
Shurley
Grammar is very scripted and all encompassing. It
will take some getting used to but I feel confident
we will accomplish a great deal this year.
I am sure
this is more information than you wanted or needed
to know. I just want you (GBA) to know that we are
ever so pleased with our materials. Thank you for
everything.
Thank
you, ~Linda"
"We are getting
excited for next year! We've heard that GBA
will be offered by the cyber charter school here in
PA. So our kids can use the program at no cost
to our family (besides the fact that we pay taxes)
plus he will have a computer and printer and internet
hookup. If ANY of you know families in Pennsylvania
spread the word. OR if there are cyber charter
schools in your state encourage them to adopt GBA
as an option. This cyber charter in PA hasn't
officially started to enroll students nor have they
had any press YET through word of mouth they have
23 students waiting to sign up to use GBA. I'm
so excited for the kids!"
Gwen
"I just wanted to drop a line to say 'Thank You'
to the GBA family. I have spoken or emailed all of
you once or several times and I've got to say that
every single one of you has been very helpful and
understanding. It is so refreshing and comforting
to be able to call and get a real, live person on
the other line. So, simply put - THANK YOU, GBA!"
Jane
Forgey
"I
love what you are doing. Thank you for the great and
rich curriculum."
Lisa
Manley
HOMESCHOOLERS WIN TWO STRAIGHT NATIONAL SPELLING
BEES, WASHINGTON
(May 21) - The competition went to a second tiebreaker
before James Williams, a 14-year-old from Vancouver,
Wash., claimed victory Wednesday in the 15th annual
National Geographic Bee.
''I wasn't
expecting this at all, it's really exciting,''
the soft-spoken James, oldest of six children,
said after besting 55 finalists in two days of competition.
The deciding
question:
''Goa, a state in southwestern India, was a possession
of which country until 1961?''
Portugal was James' correct answer, netting a $25,000
college scholarship, a lifetime subscription to National
Geographic magazine and a week at SeaWorld and Busch
Gardens Adventure Camp.
Dallas Simons, a 13-year-old student at Martin Luther
King Magnet School in Nashville, Tenn., placed second
and collected a $15,000 college scholarship. Taking
third, and a $10,000 scholarship, was Sean Rao, 14,
a student at St. Gabriel School in Hubertus, Wis.
It
was the second straight year a home-schooler has won
the bee.
Ann Williams, the winner's mother, said she and husband
Craig had decided on home schooling before they had
any children.
''We wanted
to make learning a lifestyle rather than something
you have to do,''
she said. It allows the children to concentrate on
areas they enjoy and the family isn't tied to a school
schedule, she added. |
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