I voted INFP but both my F/T and P/J are pretty close. Reading the descriptions I think either INFP or INTJ could fit. I just went with the higher scores. Julie D.

I like Peterson Handwriting's lowercase cursive instruction. It uses four basic forms to make most of the letters, and all letters start at the bottom and most end there as well which makes connecting them easy. The program has you practice forming the letters before you even pick up the pencil through air writing and finger tracing (which my son needs to do a lot of). While eyes-closed practice (large on unlined paper) is just mentioned occasionally, we do quite a bit of it which really helps my son. That said, the forms for the capital letters are much more difficult, but I just teach simpler forms the same way. There are instructions for lefties, but I haven't personally used them. HWOT is written by an occupational therapist, and we had great success with the capital print letters, and not so much with the rest of the program. I think for my son consistency in start points is very important. All HWOT's capital print letters start at the top, and all Peterson's lowercase cursive letters start at the bottom. Both HWOT's capital print letter and Peterson's lowercase cursive letters rely on four basic forms. (HWOT has big curve, little curve, big line, and little line; Peterson's has sharp top, loop top, round top, and roll top.) HWOT has lots of non-pencil activities for their capital print forms, and Peterson's has lots of non-pencil activities for their lowercase cursive forms. I really hope you find something that works for your son. Sometimes I'm still discouraged because my son's writing is not pretty, but I can read it and it's not painfully slow for him anymore. I also wanted to add that things like slant boards and pencil grips do help, and they will get to the point of not needing them anymore. Julie D.

I'm not really up on the current technology, but I believe Core 2 Duos are supposed to be better processors than the Dual Cores. I am still running an XP machine here, so I do not know what you need to run Windows 7 successfully. That would be my major concern with a processor; for the apps she'll be using, processors have been more than adequate for several years. If I were buying a laptop for college my biggest concerns would be a comfortable keyboard layout and long battery life. Sorry I'm not the answer you were looking for. Julie D.

I'm thinking you might not enjoy this book. I read it when our library first got it. I liked the inside-the-author's-head feel to it which drives many people crazy, but this book is the same kind of speculation about what life might have been like for this family that I do with my own family's history. I look at the facts and make a guess, and inevitably my own experiences and point of view influence that guess. I did enjoy it; it did move a bit slow at times, but I always finish a book once I start. Julie D.

Since you're having so hard a time deciding, I'd recommend the cheapest of the choices. (I have no idea which that would be.) The important thing is to do a LITTLE phonics and a LOT of read-alouds every day. Julie D.

I've never been sure of separate since I missed it in a district spelling bee, 4th grade, I think it was. I also have difficulty with several, the word I missed in 3rd grade. I'm not too bad at spelling, but I always got so nervous in front of all those parents. You'd think missing a word would make it stand out forever, but in my case it has only made me remember to look it up every time I use it. Julie D.

Ds started with PP, moved on to SWR, came back to PP and also RP. Dd started with SWR, went to PP and RP and is just about to finish up both books (ending 2nd grade). I never used the Word Works so no comments there. What I didn't like about Phonics Pathways: It only introduces one sound at a time. I prefer learning all the sounds a letter or phonogram makes at once. I don't like the two letter blending exercises that appear to be open syllables since they are practiced with a short vowel sound. What I like about Phonics Pathways: It's simple, it's inexpensive, and it covers phonics all the way through multisyllable words and advanced letter combinations. I like the large print and the white space. What I love about Reading Pathways: This is so, so good for building fluency. My son was naturally fluent and it was such a shock when my daughter was not. The pyramids helped immensely. How I use Phonics Pathways currently: My daughter started with SWR, but I switched to AAS and PP. Basically she learned all the sounds for the single letters first, then I started the three-word section in PP. We read about 5 minutes of PP, and then I have her write about 5 words she just read on the whiteboard. She does a page a day now, but at first she might have done only a third or a half. If a page is really difficult we repeat it until she gets it. We do Reading Pathways now, too. Another 5 minutes or so of reading, and then write a short phrase or sentence from the pyramid on the whiteboard. For the multisyllable mini-pyramids we only do one sentence (with two long words) a day. Read the first pyramid, write the word on the whiteboard. Read the second pyramid, write the word on the whiteboard. Read the sentence. Her fluency is much better, but we also do team reading which has helped. Of course, I use AAS for spelling which reinforces the phonics. I probably could use Phonics Pathways for spelling, but the book is really set up for reading, which I like. I could probably use AAS for reading, too, but it's set up for spelling. I am just lazy. In any case most spelling programs will reinforce phonics, and it's not necessary to do that immediately. Other things you should know: SWR taught me that writing is an important part of learning to read. Phonics Pathways tells you to write at least some of the words everyday, and it works much better if you do that. (I didn't pre-SWR.) It can be in sand, on the whiteboard, on the carpet, in the air; but definitely do a little writing with it, even if it's just tracing mom's sand writing with a finger. Even though I prefer vertical phonics, the majority of children have learned short vowels first, so you could definitely use PP to teach the letters and sounds if that is your approach. Julie D.

Keep in mind I no longer use SWR, but I did use it for two and a half years. How are you doing your dictation now? I'm a little confused, because it sounded like you were going to do all the parts of it in a different order, except maybe skipping the summary at the end? It didn't seem like it would save a lot of time. When you do the dictation you use the fingers to help them visualize the word before they write it. So they shouldn't be seeing a word wrong very often. You go ahead and tell them what phonogram to use if there is any question, especially with the littles. On the other hand, for your more advanced ones who I assume are reading well, I see nothing wrong in giving them a list to copy and mark. I would probably dictate a couple of the harder words first and then give them the rest of the list. I think the 6 year old in D likely needs to do the whole dictation. Saying and hearing the sounds and blending them together is really important for reading. Of course maybe she is reading well already. I hope that helps a little; as I'm reading this I realize I sound really bossy, but I didn't mean to come across that way. I just remember it took me awhile to get a rhythm going with SWR. Julie D.

While my daughter was learning cursive I just copied the top model in cursive on the top lines, and then she copied onto the bottom lines, ignoring the second model. Julie D.

I had planned on covering 3 short sections a week. There are 105 sections which would give a 35 week year. This is basically how we did SOTW 1 and that worked fine for us, but it might bother you to be jumping between two civilizations in a week. Julie D.

My son is not mathy, and we have done well with RightStart. I like how it helps me to teach math, and the abacus is not nearly as fun to play with as blocks. Also, we sandwich math in our day. Starting and ending with something fun and easy (piano, read alouds, science, art) has worked best for us.

I think I have everything I need for the first half of the year. I placed my last orders this weekend. For the second half I still need to get MCT Town, Artistic Pursuits K-3 Book Two and supplies, and likely new piano books. My son will finish up RS E by the second half so I'll need something for him then. I'm leaning toward Singapore 4 days a week, RS Geometry 1 day a week, and LOF Fractions and Decimals as a short daily supplement.

You're not ruining your daughter! :grouphug: Something that was very effective for reading with my daughter was to stop independent book reading. We spent five minutes sounding out isolated words. If she wanted to make up a sentence after sounding a word out, I let her. Then we read together for another 15 minutes or so. We did well with Charlotte's Web, but you could use any chapter book your daughter wants to read. I explained we would read together, and when my finger paused it would be her turn to read a word. I picked words she could sound out easily, and only a couple of words per page. So I did 99% of the reading at first, but her eyes were following the page as I read so she could tell when it was her turn. I generally used words at the end of a sentence, and after a while I stopped when there were two words left. She automotically read both, but you might have to excitedly tell your daughter that she's ready to do two words now. Keep proceeding like that. Short dialogue sentences are the easiest to do when she's ready for whole sentences, but probably no more than one sentence per page. Then we worked up to having her read two sentences, then a short paragraph, then a longer one. We still read together books that are harder for her, but now she does one page and I do the other. Anyway, I really think you're doing well with what you've picked. We just found this a very pleasurable way to deal with the frustation of knowing HOW to read, but not really being able to do it. And as for the handwriting, my son struggled so much. He was really 9 before it started to become easier for him, but it did happen. Think how wonderful it is that she isn't at school being constantly frustrated by written work that is beyond her. :grouphug:

I can see why with little ones you'd want to have a more independent math program. On the other hand, I tutored struggling math students in college, and your son is so fortunate to have a mathematically-inclined mother. Spending time using the math you know works for your son would be a wonderful gift to him. Your post seemed to imply that you had finished Saxon 6/5? Am I reading that wrong? It seemed odd that you'd be that far with a struggling 9 year old. I haven't used Saxon, but perhaps breaking up the lessons into 2 days of half an hour each would be better.

SOTW 3 and FFL 3 should definitely be fine. She could start with SOTW 1 if they want to do Ancients, but it's not necessary. WWE is a little trickier. If you have WWE1 I'd see if she could do the evaluation at the end of the book. If not, then you'd know to start with 1. If she can, keep in mind that WWE2 is read aloud by the parent; WWE3 is read by the child. WWE2 uses copywork to preview before dictation. WWE3 has no copywork, only dictation. I would lean toward WWE2 if she is just starting, but does OK with WWE1. Hope that helps.

Michigan's pretty good, too. If you're the parent or guardian, you can just go ahead and homeschool your child; the regulation just specifies you should cover a list of basic subjects, but you don't have to register or report anything. There's a private school option also, but I don't know much about it. Julie D.

:iagree:An Old-Fashioned Girl also flashes forward to adulthood in the middle of the book. There's a lot of discussion about appropriate courtship behavior. I've never read Under the Lilacs. I wanted to when I was younger, but could never find a copy of it. Maybe I'll look now! It does sound more appropriate than even Eight Cousins. If I were going to read Alcott to a 4th grader it would be Little Men. The children stay firmly in the realm of childhood. There are many children in it, and I identified with different ones over the years. Getting lost picking berries, having a circus, and playing cook are all easy to relate to even today. There is a chapter where the twins' father dies which may be difficult for a sensitive child.

We're doing the first K-3 book. I'm not artsy, so I really like the planned projects because I can't think of things like that myself. The kids really like it. We do art class last thing Monday afternoon. The kids are usually eager to get going Monday morning so they can get to art.

Why would there need to be last names first? (What a sentence!) Regular people are peasants or commoners, not part of the nobility or clergy.

As I've been reading the formality threads, I started wondering when regular people started using titles. Does anyone know?

I hope not! I've been feeling that way this week, too! But I think when your daughter is ready for rhetoric, you will be, too. Mommyfaithe, thank you for posting. I think the lectures are excellent, too. But he really isn't ready, as much as the perfectionist in ME hates to admit it. I'm trying to picture gradually flowing from grammar to logic stage instead. Julie D.

Actually, I wondered why they didn't include 28. The thousand cubes are mostly used to introduce very large numbers. At one point you use them to help visualize a million. There is also a template in the appendix you could copy to make your own in whatever quantity you'd like.

First, I would accept that history is disjointed; many puzzle pieces are missing. I spent a lot of time thinking about middle school history, and I realized my ten year old is just not ready to do the extensive writing required in TWM. However, I did try to plan it out a bit myself. The history encyclopedia and timeline are the components that tie it all together. I picked out the literature selections I wanted read, googled them to figure out exactly when they were written, and then scheduled them accordingly. I planned to let my son choose what topic he wanted to do for history research. We have a World Book Encyclopedia and a small but excellent local library for that. He'd be able to search the card catalog at home before we went. I wasn't too worried about exact timing. If the literature is read a little ahead of the history being covered, it will be a great preview and may influence which research topic is picked. If it's at the same time, there's great reinforcement. If it's a little after, there's background for the literature. Sometime I feel that prepared things are TOO tied together. All the connections are already made. Let your children discover the connections. We still read aloud a lot of the literature lists, and I don't even tell them what era the book is from or anything. We just sit down and read, and pretty soon if we've covered it in history one chimes up, "Hey, that's just like...." Or later they'll get to history and say, "I already know something about this." If they don't immediately make the connection, putting the events on the timeline should ignite it. LOL, I was just rereading the beginning of the logic stage history recommendations, and here's the first sentence, "During the logic stage, the student learns to find connections." See, you don't have to do it; they will. I hope I at least came close to answering your question. I tend to overthink things, so I'm sorry if I did that. Julie D.

Do you consider smoking pot a serious problem? Easy, Healthy, Nutricious

Nonfiction. My son had no interest in stories and never read them for pleasure until he was 9, although he would tolerate me reading them aloud. But he ate up every book in the library about firefighters, money, the Titanic, building houses, rockets, and more I can't even remember. Maybe as homeschoolers we think of those things as work, but for a little kid it's fun to find out how things work. Julie D.