You could always add things or do extra activities if you think it's not enough. I don't require my 4th grader to do all that is in the notebook. I think it's fine for up to 6th grade, or 7th if he/she is not ready to do the general science independently. My daughter (now 8th grade) did the general science last year and the physical science w/lab this year, but enjoyed listening and reading the flying creatures with us. It is really interesting, and I'm sure they would learn something. Whether it would be enough would be something you'd have to decide. I think you can see sample pages on Amazon. If not there, you could do a google search and I know there is some website that lets you see sample pages of that book. (The table of contents and some of the readings). I believe Apologia says that the books are written at a 4th grade reading level. My boys (2nd & 4th) both like to take turns reading aloud from it. They have a website for extra materials if you are interested in adding more to it or going more in depth.

We are using this for the current school year. It's geared towards K-6th grade. I am using it with my K, 2nd, and 4th grade students. My 2nd & 4th grade kids have the notebooks (journaling pages) and I expect more of my 4th grade student than of my 2nd. My K just listens and does the activities with us, or does a collage or picture while the older ones are doing the notebook. They enjoy the notebook. I've not seen or done the lapbook pages, so can't offer any opinions on that.

We may be interested- My son will be 16 in the fall, 10th grade. He can type well and is interested in computers/programming. Would this be considered a high-school level course? (Would there be enough to do to meet high school requirements for an elective?) Would you be grading the homework and giving feedback online? I guess there would be a forum for questions/discussions? Please pm me if you will be doing this.

and me, please. The vacation post has been edited- before I had a chance to read it.

I think you're giving him too many choices/options, and that may be overwhelming for him. If he agrees that he would like something to help him with his struggles, tell him that is what you are going to do. You are going to see a special doctor that will be able to help him with the things he struggles with. You could explain to him (if they do "label" him), that a label is a tool for themselves that gives a general idea of the types of things he struggles with. For example, if you say "fruit" to your son, he has an idea of the kinds of foods that go into that category. "Fruit" is more specific than "food". When the doctor's label, they are not limiting him, but rather describing his characteristics. People are all different. Even fruit is very different from other fruit. I wouldn't ask him what he wants. I'd just say we have an appointment with a different doctor (whether you choose a therapist or a specialist) who will be better able to help him with the things he struggles with. And mention that the doctor will need to ask him lots of questions so that he can better understand what the issues are. I hope you find something that all of you are happy with. It is hard to struggle through those kinds of issues.

If you subscribe to a thread when you post, then they are easy to find by clicking on quick links at the top of the page. Otherwise, if you click on your name, you can go to your profile to see all of your previous posts. It's easier to find past posts that way. :) We love the Leap Frog videos here, too. It makes learning to read so much easier for the kids.

I've heard good things about BJU. Especially for science. My son likes the style of Apologia science and Teaching Textbooks for math. They teach directly to the student. I couldn't really recommend a text for literature and history since we love the literature approach.

Our 10 year old boy read the Hobbit. He has his dad in case he has any questions or doesn't understand something. They are reading the Lord of the Rings aloud together. (He just turned 10 yesterday). He loves them, and has also read the Narnia series. I'd say they are much more like Narnia than Harry Potter. We don't read Harry Potter either.

BTW, the lessons in MOH 2 are noticeably longer than the lessons in MOH 1. I didn't get tired of reading last year, but this year the lessons are longer (though there are fewer of them for the school year).

Wow. I didn't even realize there *was* music. I just asked my two boys (who both complain about using the audio cd's) if there was music or just talking (since I don't remember hearing any music). One said, "I think there's just talking" and the other said in a really annoyed voice, "YES! There's music!!" So... I'll put one in and listen to it, and let you know. Well- there *is* music. It was really soft, and in the background, and appropriate for the lesson (bagpipes for Scotland & Japanese music for reading about someone in Japan). My 7yob and I didn't notice it at all and it didn't bother us (and maybe even contributed positively to the mood of the reading). My 10yob (with sensory difficulties) says it really bothers him and he would rather read the lesson on his own right from the book. (I've allowed this if he can answer questions after the reading and is getting more out of it). Personally, I find the author's voice a little distracting and would prefer to hear a male voice reading the lessons. I've thought about asking her to have her husband read the audio cd's, but haven't done that. She is a little difficult to listen to (though I like her writing style). That all said, I'm glad we have them because now history gets done when it wouldn't have otherwise.

We've done MOH 1 (last year) and are doing MOH 2 this year. Both years we fell behind, and then caught up towards the end of the year. I finally broke down and bought the audio cd's, because otherwise I spent so much time reading aloud. With the cd's, I can be doing other things (like looking up maps, etc) while they are listening. My view of order of importance: 1) Read the lessons (or listen with audio) 2) Timeline (we color timeline figures while listening to reading, and then have a visual to refer back to later. As far as the memory cards- we did them the entire first year. They were helpful in that it forced us to review the lesson in just three sentences, and they could refer back to them during the quarterly worksheets/tests. But we never used them other than that, and it was like pulling teeth to get them done. (I actually ended up writing them myself each week, and having the kids tell me what to write on them). This year, we've skipped them entirely. Activities do help to cement the information in, so you might want to pick the more important lessons to do them with. My kids did learn & remember more when we did the activities. When we are in "catch-up" mode, we skip them. Quizzes & Tests- I actually skip when we're doing "catch-up". My kids doing MOH are young, so exposure is what I'm going for this time through. Maps- this has helped us tremendously, and I actually think I'd put it as #3 for importance. For me, I want to know where the lesson is taking place. MOH skips around *a lot*, so I want the kids to understand where we are reading about. It is our "geography". I hope that was helpful for you. I'm still trying to figure it out myself. Looking back, the time-line is what we've held on to.

We have it, but haven't put it together yet. I did buy the binder, which is really nice. It didn't come with figures; we have our own from Homeschool in the Woods (the History through the Ages). They are a bit big, but I figure that I don't plan to put in all the categories anyway. And it's a much larger space than the timeline we were using before. So even though our figures are 4x what they show pictured, I'm ok with that. I am having trouble trying to decide which categories to use for the different time periods. I kind-of wanted them by area (Greek, Roman, etc) for the ancients, so it's still sitting on the shelf until I can figure it out. You don't even need stickers- you could glue them in. That's what we've done with ours. The kids color them first. We've actually laminated ours with clear packing tape (or clear contact paper) first and I'm considering putting them in with tape or sticky tack so they can be moved around. But I haven't decided about that either. I'd love to hear what others have done with theirs.

:iagree: I also agree with the above post that said the mom may be on the spectrum as well. They have a hard time with "grey" areas and things need to be black and white. You should encourage her with how she should have dealt with the sand toy situation (and why). Also let her know that if she wants to encourage social skills in her son, that letting him control other people's behavior isn't helping him. I probably wouldn't send my kids to their house without me, but if you are allowed to go "hang out" during the event it might be a good idea. You might also let your kids know about this child's difficulty and some ideas of how to help him.

I don't require it for any of my kids. I have one allergic to all dairy, so I buy enriched rice milk for him (7 yob). All of them choose milk to have on cereal or when we have cookies or something like that. I have two who never drink milk from a cup (they will choose water or any other beverage first- they are 15yob and 6yob), and two who usually choose milk (13 yog and 9yob). One of the ones who usually chooses milk (9yob) will not voluntarily drink water unless I make him. He would drink milk all day long if I let him (and not eat since he'd be full of milk).

I think you'd be busier having to drop off, pick up, and deal with homework & teacher meetings. And your husband would have less time with them since you'd need to have them in bed early to get up early for school. It is difficult with no help from your husband, but on the other hand, my husband has been unemployed for a while and is here all the time- but he still isn't involved in any way with housework or homeschooling. And it seems it is harder to get things done when he is here. I would decide with your husband whether homeschooling is something you are interested in or committing to. You may wish to join a homeschool support group, and maybe trade days once/week with another mom to allow for errands without kids. (Ex. I watch your kids on Tuesday afternoons from noon-4pm and you watch mine on Wednesday from noon-4pm). The kids get playtime, and you moms get time to shop and do errands without kids (or even take a nap if you need to). You may want to make it just one day/week and have time only every other week if 2x/week is too much for your schedule. Your kids are still young- you have plenty of time to figure out what works for your family.

Just wondering- can you give me an example of any scripture that says Jesus died on Friday? I don't recall anything other than that he died on passover and that the following day was a sabbath. But ANY day following the passover was a sabbath, even if it wasn't a Saturday. So anything that specifically says Jesus died on Friday? (Apparently it isn't abundantly clear... and I do care about the integrity of scripture as you do).

$50 is not excessive to know that your pets are taken care of for a week (several times/day). That's less than $10/day. They wanted their peace of mind and felt it was worth it. It wasn't excessive for them. To return it, would be awkward at best for them. They want to give it to you. This is their gift to you. You need to think of them and accept it, and be appreciative. This will ensure neither side is resentful for if they want to ask you to take care of the pets again. They want to make sure you don't feel taken advantage of. That's a good thing.

I think so. It doesn't teach grammar, but it does teach some writing skills. You don't need prior writing experience to take this course. My 9th grade son got stuck on ideas, so hasn't moved past the 3rd week or so, but we're not in a hurry and he was doing other things. I'm going to put him on a schedule with it next year, though, because writing is something he is really interested in. The first half of the course is studying about novels- things like plot, characters, etc, and practicing coming up with your own characters & setting for your story. The second half is actually writing your own novel.

We're in the same boat- since Oct. 2008. W/O the severance pay & the 401K, we'd be in trouble. God has provided, our faith has increased, and our priorities are becoming crystal clear. It's tough. I heard the same thing about being unemployable. He's done software testing... but he just can't seem to get a position. Hopefully things will turn around soon.

Thank you for the responses. I am leaning towards Teaching Textbooks, mostly because my son said he thought he would enjoy it (and he's never said that for any math program before), but also because of the good reviews I've heard. I still haven't really heard anything bad about Teaching Textbooks. I'm planning to look at these others, though. I have a few more kids coming up the line and don't want to pick a different one for each of them.

We had one, too. It sounds like you know what you're up against, having had one before. Another consideration is how big the papers are in your area. Sunday papers were misery for us, and you may have to make several trips walking. (I think you have longer to deliver on Sundays). My concerns would be: - being out alone that early in the morning... (do you have a dog you could bring?) - EVERY day...even holidays & when your kids are sick - taxes & gas money - bad weather, though it's getting close to summer so it may not be so bad. You have some good pros as well. I would consider it. Maybe you could walk the route with the person who currently has it to see what it's like.

:iagree: Sequential spelling is just a little time each day, and my son improved dramatically in his spelling in just a week or two. My oldest was also a great reader and very poor speller. This program helped him the most, and helped my "natural" spellers just a little bit.

Something that really helped mine was the Leapfrog videos "The Letter Factory", "The Talking Word's Factory", and "The Code Word Caper". But reading & letters was his "interest", so he picked it right up after watching those videos a few times.

Sorry- when I posted, I thought you said Astronomy, not Anatomy. Yes, Anatomy is supposed to be more difficult. I'd start with either Astronomy, Flying Creatures of the 5th day, or Botany depending on their interests.

That depends on how much depth you want to go into, and how much you want them to absorb. I would stick with the one book, and when & if you finish it, you could start another. We did Apologia Astronomy last year and we loved it. There are tons of things to do besides the reading of it if you really want them to learn the material. If you get the notebooks to go with it (just one with the ages of your kids), they will get more out of it and have more activities to do. You can add to it with extra reading material & projects if you want more to do. If you finish it in the first semester, you could do a 2nd book for the 2nd one. There are people who finish it really early and want something else to do. We took about 2 weeks to complete one lesson (or chapter). A few days of reading, and the rest activities related to the reading and notebook activities. It took us the entire year (mostly because there were some weeks that we just didn't get science done, but also because we did extra things).