Memberships to museums and zoos are our most expensive. They are also the most educationally beneficial though. Language Arts is our most expensive subject. We are a LA heavy group. I probably spent $300 on materials. Science comes in second. My oldest loves science, so I buy a lot of kits, dissection kits, classes, etc. History is our cheapest. Math will become the most expensive as I suspect I will have to outsource it within the next 2 years.

LA- FLL 1, HWT, Spelling Workout. History/Social Studies- Ancients, using a combination of things. SOTW will be our spine. Ds enjoys geography, so we will do a hefty amount of map study, games, state memorization. Math- Probably Singapore, but I may use Rightstart because I want something more scripted. Logic Safari and some Critical Thinking Company logic books. Science- Nancy Larson level 1. We do a ton of science, but I think NL will be our structured science time.

I think you could accelerate WWE, especially level 1. However, I wonder if your child would be better served by going at a slower pace with a higher level. In my experience (and every kid is different of course), my oldest enjoys the work when the content is more difficult. For instance, she really didn't look forward to WWE because it wasn't challenging. When we moved on to Writing With Skill (which comes after WWE4) it was just difficult enough to keep her interested. I do think FLL can be taught with more than one lesson a day, easily. I rarely teach just one lesson in FLL. Best of luck!

Quizlet is amazing. I use it for my own schooling all the time.

Write down the formulas for him if needed. I recently went back to school, and in order to proceed in my math class, I had to write down the fraction operations. I cannot remember how to do fractions. I can do more complicated problem (college level math), but can't do fractions.

http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=Spelling%2FVocabulary/8&category=Vocabulary+from+Classical+Roots/1962 Here is the Cathy Duffy review: https://cathyduffyreviews.com/homeschool-reviews-core-curricula/spelling-and-vocabulary/vocabulary-resources/vocabulary-from-classical-roots

I don't see true educational neglect. I agree with posters that say the kids that are being neglected are often not ones out and about. They are also likely to be people that are "homeschooling" but doing so to cover up other issues of abuse. I do know kids that, in my opinion, are not being educated properly. I have a friend who has a child that is simply stalled. The parents are not treating the child's disabilities in any real way and instead fly from one curricula to another. Then they complain when the kid doesn't make any progress.

Concerts. It only happens a few times a year because I live far away from the city, but I love going to see my favorite bands. It is one of the few things that totally refreshes me.

We are doing Classical Roots because Dd is interested in Latin and Greek. I don't know that it's a better program, or has an advantage over any other program, but they work gets done because it's interesting to her.

I wouldn't assign any reading...I simply don't see the point to it at this age. If they are reading all the time, that's wonderful. There are some kids that would do fine with a required reading list, but others not. I would hate to make reading a chore. If there is a list of books you want them to read, get them on audio book or read them aloud. As for what it looks like in our house- both kids read whatever they want. There are a lot of books I want them to be exposed to, so I check them out at the library and put them on a bookshelf. About 80% of those books get read. My daughter recently read Number the Stars because I had talked about how much I enjoyed the book as a kid. A lot of books are read because I talk about them so much.

My daughter has been doing dissections since she was 7. I got her variety kits from Home Science Tools. A few she did independently on her own, with the booklet, and a few I did with her. At 9 she sat in on a necropsy and watches veterinary surgery. Some kids will never have an interest in that kind of thing...but some find their passion early on. I am a big believer in letting the kid lead the way. You can always pull back or offer a different suggestion if something doesn't work.

Thanks for the tips! I don't have a problem telling her she can't read them...but I'd like to provide an alternative so the passion doesn't die out. She's doing everything you suggested, but I haven't heard of Angelia Stanford. I will check that out for sure. Thanks!

Hi all, I have a 10 year old girl that loves mythology. Greek, Norse, whatever. The problem I'm facing now is that she has read every book on mythology I can find, and is now asking to read the college level texts she recently saw at a book store. Normally this would not be a problem. I generally encourage her to read and explore at a level beyond her grade. BUT mythology really ramps up in content...sex, rape, violence. What are your thoughts?

Hi guys! I'm looking for a little insight into a situation- I have a 20 year old kid in my life that needs to take the next step. He is an avid reader, intelligent, and engaged culturally. He's at a cross roads though and needs to make a life change. Normally, I wouldn't push college on a kid that really has no clue what he wants to do with his life, but this particular guy is different. I won't share too many details because they aren't mine to share, but he has been stifled academically and emotionally most of his life. I'd like to be able to give him some advice or help him form a path. What kind of college degree or course of study would you recommend? Thanks for any advice!

I think it's possible to not have it consume your life, but it will be a huge focus. For me, I do all my planning in advance so I can use my free time as truly free time. I took2 weeks this spring to purchase and plan my next year. I cleaned the school room, printed everything, etc. Now all I have to do is buy a few school supplies and that's it. So the summer is totally free. During the school year, I try to treat school as my job. M-F 8-1, is scheduled for school. I'm not always great about that, but something I strive for. I have a lot of other passions and interests, as do my children. So making homeschooling my only focus wouldn't work. But it will always be a huge part of our lives.

Yep! I get all my hair color there for sure. Any face or grooming supplies. I buy hair dryers and straighteners there too. It's a great place!

I have this cart too. It's my all time favorite product. I agree that's incredibly sturdy and durable. I've been thinking of getting a second cart for books.

This is quite a topic! I slept over at boyfriends houses all the time, and my husband and I spend the night with family several times a year. Even as a married couple, there is no sex going on. The most surprising thing about this thread, to me, is the implication that spending the night means sex. I think the act of sleeping next to a significant other is often of more importance than sex. To be honest, it's much easier for a couple to find a place have sex than it would be to just simply sleep next to each other.

Oh, I realized I had more thoughts. :) For me, personally, I like the way Riordian uses sexuality and different lifestyles in his books. All kids go through the red-faced embarrassment phase when they are presented with relationships. But I think allowing them to read about relationship dynmaics through characters they love and respect allows them to think about it without the embarrassment. They can process it in their own way. The content isn't graphic, but they get an idea of relationships without too much information.

My 9 year old has read all the mythology books by Riordian. She's read each series 3 times, or so. They are great books, and I appreciate the author not talking down to the reader.

I'm keeping it simple for kindergartener. He can read already, so I'll just reinforce that and go over some phonics/spelling. Math in Focus 1A starting in September. He enjoys mathematical thinking and has a nice grasp of patterns and numbers. So again, I'll help reinforce that. HWT for printing. We won't do much beyond that, but he will participate in science, history, and Latin with his sister.

I love this thread. I'm going to totally organize our school room. I've been obsessively watching classroom tours on youtube. We were nomads for so long that it's really important for me to have a solid room this year. We bought a house, so I'm able to paint the walls, and spend a little on decor. I'm going to reread the WTM, as soon as I unpack it. I'm going to spend several days of binge watching netflix and generally just getting to a level of unkept slothiness unlike anything I've ever done before.

Hey all, I'd love resources and input! I am looking to incorporate strong female role models into my daughter's education. I'm particularly interested in the more radical or fringe women of history, but welcome all suggestions. Movies, biographies, works of art, etc. Thanks!

Great advice everyone! Thank you! I do think some of it is pressure and time. She does better when she's writing at home, though not much. I can, and should, spend more time correcting spelling and talking about the rules as I think that would help. I'm going to spend some time incorporating the suggestions and see how it goes.

She is on level 3. An example of her spelling from a competition this week: pnk (pink), crle, (curly), orng (orange), and beter (better). She has a real problem with common words such as those, but can spell more complicated things you wouldn't expect (failing to think of an example right now).