I don't have experience with RS or MEP, but I have the light blue of MM2 and the blue of addition 1. I say the individual books would be more than enough for supplementing/review. I just got addition 1 on sale from currclick. For about $3 I got 66 pages of addition practice/review for my dd. I am a MM fan (so far). But free is nice--I am sure MEP is a great choice, too.

This was soooo helpful. Thank you!!:)

Good for you! Not so much here. We even had tears re: math! ALREADY. :glare:

Sorry--jumping in here.... What are these standards? Am I really supposed to follow them? I thought it was just certain subjects are required, keep some records, file something in October and that is it. I use CHEA for information.

I plan to start Monday with Math, English, etc. but still need to order MFW Adventures--a big part of the curriculum! I will ease into it, do review, get into a good routine, etc. I don't see what it would hurt if you started before you had everything. Just a head start on some of the subjects. I have no problem with that! :001_smile:

I really don't think it will make much of a difference. I would say that it just depends on the personalities of each of them. Teach your little guy now to love this new sibling and get him excited for him/her. I always made sure that my kids felt that the new baby was "their baby." Mom is having a baby, YOUR baby brother/sister. Maybe have him help pick out a new toy or something special for his new sibling. Really, again, I don't think it matters. I personally don't know, but I am sure the age gap will be noticeable for awhile. He just needs to be a big brother for a bit vs a playmate. He needs to love the baby and not feel replaced, etc. I would just focus on being thankful (which I know you are) for this new baby and not worry about God's natural plan for spacing that he has given you. It will work out! :001_smile:

My husband is a pastor of a congregation of about 50ish. I think people are right in saying it depends on how large the church is. My husband, in this smaller church, can give a lot of attention to people that ask. Does your church have any elders? Usually elders are assigned to members. I believe that besides the important role of studying God's word and preaching it faithfully, a pastor is there to help the sheep. He is the counselor and definitely part of his role is to pray for his people (God's people) and help them where they need help. If someone in our church has a problem, concern, etc., they approach my husband and he meets with them. We also have 3 wonderful elders that work alongside my husband. Deacons also are available for help. I would simply approach your pastor and talk to him with your concerns. If he doesn't have time for you (which is weird to me, but in a church with 1200!!!!) he should be able to guide you in the right direction. Sometimes large churches have small groups. Does yours offer this? They would be prayer partners, etc.

Thank you! That's helpful

How old are your girls?

I have not had to "go through this" yet, so I am by no means even someone that should be giving advice, but would like to hear what others have to say. I understand what you mean about protecting, in one sense. For my kids, more my 5yo ds than my 6yo dd, he would walk around loudly repeating things and making people uncomfortable. It is just not age appropriate. I don't lie to my kids....my son asked if babies are cut out of the stomach, and said, well, some are and then did not go into more details. :001_smile: We have never had little cutesy nicknames for biological parts, a penis is a penis and vagina, vagina, etc. Those don't necessarily get blurted out too much. :001_huh: It would be really, really hard to talk about the HOW of babies being made. It seems their minds are too young. They most definitely are not innocent, but I do understand what you mean about protecting their "innocence". Isn't there a grade where they actually study anatomy, etc.? Eggs and sperm? I would wait until then probably. Or play it by ear on how mature I think my child is? I am sure there are good Christian books are explaining it? Hmmm..... :bigear:

So, what are considered twaddle books, and are they really that harmful? I understand not wanting your kids to read "junk" (junk=twaddle?). I grew up reading Sweet Valley Twins/High, Babysitters Club, VC Andrews(!!), etc. I loved reading, but really wished someone would have given me better direction on good, worthwhile things to read. My 6yo loves Ramona books, American Girl books, Magic Treehouse, etc. Are these twaddle books? Someone said to me, it doesn't matter what they read, as long as they are reading. Given my past experience I feel strongly against that view, just don't know how to prove that statement wrong. Whoa, long-winded. Sorry, it's late. Any thoughts?

So then, would you say you are ?? Not Calvinist (i.e. reformed and protestant) but ______? Just interested. :)

This is a good question. Having 4 children myself, I have thought about this. I could not bear the thought of them not being of the elect--God creating them, me loving them, and then them spending eternity in hell. Acts 2 tells us that the promise (of the covenant) is for us and for our children. We can take comfort in this fact that God deals with his elect in this way. Of course, if one of my children does not grow up to have faith and be a believer, I take comfort in a sovereign God who does all things for his glory and works all things out for the good of the those who love him. It is something that should be studied prayerfully. Like in above post, I recommended Dr. Joel Beeke's book on this. It would be very helpful. :)

Hmmm, my head is spinning a little. I am getting all confused. :001_huh: I have a hard time believing you can be called reformed and not be Calvinist... http://www.monergism.com/directory/link_category/Reformed-Theology/Essays/

:iagree: R.C Sproul is helpful to read. Also, I enjoyed this book: http://www.heritagebooks.org/products/Living-For-God%27s-Glory%3A-An-Introduction-to-Calvinism.html

So using PLL with R&S isn't an overkill? It does seem like a lot looking at both, but I just couldn't decide between them!! :tongue_smilie:

Thank you for the helpful replies. I want to do a 4-day a week schedule, but with vacation days, holidays, etc., we go way too far into the summer. I want to start Aug 16 until first or 2nd week of June. Officially, I will do some light things on day 5 of the week, but I don't want to schedule things like math and english for 5 days, just 4. So it gets a bit confusing for me. :glare:

What dates are you doing school? How many days off, etc.? I have received some of the curriculum I will be using. A bit overwhelmed as to how to schedule each subject, lesson, etc. How do you do it? Sit down and look through each book and write down a day by day plan? Or a monthly plan? :confused: For example, I have R&S spelling and english 2. BUT, I want to use some of PLL, too. And then I have to figure out math, etc. I will be using MFW Adv, so that will help a lot with scheduling. I just came out short last year and did not complete books/lessons I should have. I know this is a simple task most have figured out, but I am have some trouble with this. I can't imagine sitting and going through each subject (someday for each kid, I have 4) and figuring out a plan. Thanks for any help. It does not look as simple as, oh, math has 154 lessons, so if I do math everyday I should be fine.....KWIM?

I needed them! They helped me to explain things the "Singapore" way, which I was not taught. It gives good helps and ideas in it, too.

Thank you! I need the teacher's guide believe it or not. I did 1A and found the HIG to be very helpful.

Anyone have a good biography recommendation? Please! :) Sacajawea, too, if you know of one.

I was wondering for those who have used it or have seen Adv--do you like the MFW teacher's guide for Singapore? Does this mean I do not need the HIG SM puts out? I am debating that over Math Mammoth for ease of use but don't know how much instruction and help is given by MFW. OR is it just a schedule and not a teacher's guide? :glare: Thanks!

:iagree: I plan on using Salsa. It is free! I have a 2nd grader and a Ker, so this should be good for now. There is a thread on this forum with different things to do in order to get all the episodes, and to enlarge the video. I believe you type in SALG_101. This is for episode 101. SALG_(episode number). http://dl.gpb.org/vsx/GPBPro/diglib_search/search Search Salsa Helpful guide to go along with videos: http://www.k12.wy.us/SA/cs/fl.asp

Anybody use MM with Singapore? Is this a crazy idea? :)

How do you do it? What do you buy from Singapore to supplement the MM curriculum? Sorry if this has been asked before. I did a search but could not find anything. I will be doing MM 2. So should I get SM 2A/2B workbooks? Textbooks? Or just IP or CWP? Thanks for your help!