Nice, bright and organized! I love it!:001_smile:

We use Spelling Power and love it! Just 15 minutes a day to complete pretesting, study misspelled words and complete an enrichment activity. Quick, easy, and my dd8 is retaining and using what she has learned. :001_smile:

Thank you for the suggestions so far! :) Has anyone read through the Mystery of History series? :bigear:

Next year, my dd8 will be studying an overview of world history. In preparation, I would like to read up on all that I've forgotten ;). Do you have any suggestions for an overview? I had picked up a book over the summer and it was so dry!!! :glare: I'm hoping for something narrative and interesting. Maybe you've read a book on a specific time in history that you loved? I love history and am looking forward to your suggestions! Thanks in advance,

We had similar issues with Singapore here! We did not have a foundation in Singapore, and I think that was the problem. This is our first year homeschooling and I don't believe the skills were introduced in the same order or in the same way. So, we were trying to build a new building on the wrong foundation. I switched to CLE Math and we both love it. It breaks down the addition/subtraction facts into smaller chunks and now she is confidently completing her math assignment every day! Hope you find what works for you. :001_smile:

I'm enjoying The Count of Monte Cristo and Worship:The Golden Thread.

My son had an iguana for 10 years. It started small....but really grew! My husband built him a cage that was from floor to my shoulders and at least arms length across. They are neat animals, but a lot of work. They need a lot of room for climbing. We fed him fresh fruits and vegetables. Some people will tell you to feed them applesauce and pellets for lizard, this does not make for a healthy iguana! They need a heat rock and a heat lamp. The heat rock is to help them digest their food. The heat lamp is to regulate the temperature in their cage. You also need to mist them periodically depending on the humidity in your home. Our iguana shed every few months. That was really fun to watch. She also laid eggs. She never became agressive, but we have heard of other females who get quite aggressive when they lay their eggs. Iguanas have flat teeth, so even if they try to bite it usually does not hurt. As it grows, however, you will need to purchase gloves as their claws will cut you. We also put our iguana on a leash and walked him around outside sometimes. You do have to watch for large birds who will try to swoop down and grab them. Just a few things I remember from our time with Iggy! Hope you make the best decision for your family!:001_smile:

Thank you so much for these suggestions. They look very intriguing. I was searching for companionship on my self-education journey and am happy to have found this forum. I am also contemplating tackling "Traditional Logic 1" and "Writing Strands 6" over the next year. I have never studied Logic and it has been years since I have written anything but a grocery list :lol: Thank you again for the suggestions, Dawn

I want you all to know how happy I am to find other adults who read and are eager to learn! :001_smile: I was sensing the world had gotten sucked into reality TV land, never to return......... I am reading "The Count of Monte Cristo" for the first time. I have ordered "How To Read A Book" and "Invitation To The Classics" to read next.

Do you also get headaches at weddings and other events where large groups of people are wearing perfumes and hair products? If so, that might be your answer! ;)

A great resource for understanding "young earth" is answersingenesis.org. Click on the "Get Answers" tab at the top. From there you can find many articles on this subject. Hope this helps! :001_smile:

:iagree: We use the 3M product too. I have hung my large US and World laminated maps with them and it works great!

I use Spelling Power with my 8 year old dd and she really likes it. I believe the program has been very effective. She has gotten through the first 10 lists in 3 weeks and has taken the first delayed recall test today and scored 100%! If you have gotten the most recent edition you received a resource CD and a DVD that explains the program. We follow the basic program of 5 minutes testing, 5 minutes of review, (using the 10 step process), sentence writing, then a 5 minute activity. I did not purchase the student booklets as the resource CD has pages to print off as needed. My daughter loves the activities. The resource CD has some of the activities you can print out onto cardstock, but a friend of mine gave me the purchased box of pre-printed cards and there are so many great ideas in there. It is truly worth the money! I like how the cards include great reinforcement spelling activities along with dictionary, grammar and writing skills. I feel it is a well rounded program. I also love that the child sets the pace. I mean, why have the same word to work on all week when you already know how to spell it? My daughter has loved the sand writing, yarn words, crayon scrapings and tape recording activities the best so far. The activity box is color coded and is graduated for different ages and abilities. So, there's plenty of room to grow! I hope you enjoy using the program and that it is effective for you as well!:001_smile:

Sorry, forgot to finish answering the questions! We have maybe 40-50 kids. The wonderful part is that older kids play with the younger ones! It has very much a family feel. Most of these kids have grown up together.

The kids in our co-op are from newborn to 18 years of age. We have many large families! They do not want to do pot lucks or field trips together. They currently have an International Night where each family brings food from a country and shares about that culture. (Not sure why this flies, but they don't like potlucks???) They also have a science fair with a local ps science teacher coming to explain the ideas behind each experiment and to answer questions. There is a fine arts night once a year. Other than that they have game night, skating, bowling etc. Someone in our group suggested that each family make a model of a famous building from any time in history, then share the history of that structure. I thought this sounded good! Has anyone else tried this? Any more ideas out there? :001_smile:

I've recently joined the only homeschooling co-op in my rural neck of the woods! It is not a teaching co-op, more a social gathering. They've gotten stuck repeating the same old activities for years. They are in a rut and I want to contribute to the group, but since it's my first year homeschooling I'm a bit green! :D So, could you share some ideas that have worked with your group?

Your question hit me on a good night! We're on our way to a BBQ to kick off Pioneer Clubs in our area! YEAH!;)

http://www.superteacherworksheets.com/ They have spelling lists by grade up through grade 4. :001_smile:

My son graduated from college in May. We've only been able to see him twice a year for the last three years. It's heartbreaking. Even though we did not hschool him, we never had that pulling away that comes with teenage life....we have always remained close....so when he left for college it did break my heart. We travel once a year to see him for a week or so, then he travels here to stay for two weeks every winter. My chest/heart literally hurts when we have to part again. At the end of each visit I allow myself 2 days to cry and sulk. I know that sounds funny, but it works for me. After that I begin to practice thankfulness. I thank the Lord for the wonderful young man he's become. I thank the Lord for his talents, his great attitude, his job, his friends etc. etc. This changes my heart to see the many blessings of life. It reminds me that this is what parenting is all about...raising a well adjusted, productive, God honoring young man! I have to remind myself that this is what he's supposed to do....move on, grow up, become his own person. This means we've done a good job! ;) I have found that facebook keeps us involved each others' lives. Every few days we catch each other on there for a bit of a chat. It helps to keep us connected. He often posts pictures of where he's been and what he's up to. We do the same. This way we don't miss out on the everyday stuff. My wish for you is that you find a way to stay close to your ds as you allow him some growing up room. :grouphug:

I totally relate to what you're saying! Even though CM is much more experiential, I have found this style of learning to be VERY effective. My dd has retained so much information and has remembered so many facts! This is especially evident in the Bible, geography, history and science areas. The way Carrie weaves everything together helps it all to stick! We had a busy week with other activities crowding our school time. However, I was able to double up some activities to finish out the week on time! I love the flexibility of the boxes. For reading we are notebooking and lapbooking. My dd loves to go back through all her notebooks and remember the books she has read. We are in our first year of homeschooling, and have just completed our third week of Bigger. I am thankful to have found such a wonderful curriculum! By the way, I am Happy2BHome on HOD. Tree House....you were smart to keep the same name on both! :D

Sorry....missed the last page of posts....see that my suggestion was already given.:001_unsure:

You might check out Keepers of the Faith. They have character studies, Bible and lots of other goals to accomplish. It's a bit like Scouts. You can order badges when they finish each goal.

A resource I have found helpful is classicsforkids.com. In the composer area there are worksheets that teach the history of each composer. You can also listen free to a piece of their music and the worksheet often gives you elements to listen for in the music.

I am using R&S English2 as well. Because I am not concerned about the volume of writing, as our curriculum affords many other opportunities, I do some exercises orally, but also have adapted a page protector to slip over the textbook page. We use colored white board markers to do many of the exercises right over the printed sentences in the book. For example, she can draw a capital over a small letter to start a sentence, add a period or question mark, draw lines to connect the fill in the blank portion. It has worked well for us! :)

Everyone has probably forgotten about this post...except for me! I just finished reading the book. I enjoyed it very much, but did not agree with everything I read. I loved that Peter Marshall used the original writings for most all of his historical accounts. It was wonderful to read from the original diaries, early historians, ship's logs and autobiographies of these famous American settlers. I was fascinated with the many flaws I found in my own thinking about who these people were. Reading their story, in their own words, brought such color and brilliance to the facts! I also loved the story telling, real book, quality of the read. However, I did not agree with the providential slant that the author was proposing. I do not believe America is the New Israel. It is not valid, in my mind, to take Old Testament prophecies and promises given to Israel from the Bible and apply them to America. I would highly recommend the book for it's historical content! Since my dd is studying early American history this year, it was a wonderful boost for my preparation.