Rainbow Resource is, sadly, cutting back on the number of conferences at which they exhibit. I was very disappointed when I found this out and called to ask why. They said they were finding that people would look at curriculum at their booth, walk away, and purchase it somewhere else. Not worth their time and effort and money spent lugging things to the conferences if people aren’t going to buy from them. So you might want to check the conference you normally attend to see if they will be in the exhibit hall at all. I know they will NOT be attending the MACHE (Minnesota) conference this year. If you are upset by this as I am, please call them and say so—they may come back if enough people will gently ‘complain.’

I am looking into TGATB Language Arts I am curious if any of you have new thoughts on this curriculum. Do you still like it? Can one of you explain how the spelling works exactly? In the sample pages it doesn’t appear there are any tests...do words just get added on each lesson? Would love to hear your updated reviews! Thank you!

Thanks for all the recommendations! Going to spend some time researching!

Anyone know of a good book on early Christian martyrs for mid-upper elementary? Non-fiction preferred. I know there is an entry on Perpetua and Felicity and maybe a few others in the Loyola Kids Book of Saints, but am looking more for one on just martyrs. Thanks!

Haven’t heard of this one. Will look into it. Thanks!

Have totally been tempted to check out her show but don’t really think we have that much extra stuff apart from old furniture that DH wants to keep until spring for some reason. But maybe she would show me my weak areas! Just don’t want to get rid of something then a year and a half later need it—something DH experienced this past week....🙄

Joining the fun! Getting rid of old coats, snowpants, etc that I don’t want to keep around for 6 years until our 3 month will wear them, stained/ripped clothing that our 7yr old keeps shoving back into her drawer instead of washing them and putting them in the to-go box (I swear she is so attached to her ripped jeans she will weep when I throw them), getting rid of a bunch of toys and trying to only have legos, train tracks, and a SMALL smattering of Playmobil/Calico Critters. On the other hand, need to start getting some baby toys besides some crinkly Taggie square for our 3 month old (sigh. Can’t she just play with wooden spoons???) Need to ditch ugly couch, old craft stuff, and doll house that is falling apart that some one gave us, and to find a new home for our old dining room chairs. Hopefully this thread will keep me going!

Yes, and the repetition is clearly why DD has been learning so well. However, a whole year of just Fables would be too much, and just repeating the same concepts without adding any new concepts, or taking it to a new level, which I believe the continuation courses do (?) may be disappointing to DD. However, since we started in 3rd grade as opposed to 4th it might be good to really solidify the concepts already learned before progressing. Sigh, so much to discern!

Good to know! Does their Fables course repeat concepts as well? Curious to know, though I think a whole year of fables would get old. DD3 is enjoying the writing, but I do think another year of basically the same stuff would get tediou . Especially if I would be the teacher for AFF, instead of Pudewa. Some lessons are learned easier and better when someone else teaches them, and in this house writing is definitely one of those. Thanks for the info!

Yes, looking through R&S geography, I definitely want something less workbooky. Looked good, just not what I am looking for. Will take a look at Beautiful Feet. We like to read a lot here! Thanks for the suggestion 🙂 Yeah, we don’t have words like geyser and fjord (well, the horse we talk about!) in our everyday conversations, living in the plains! They are going through Geography A-Z independently, copying definitions and drawing pictures. They like it, and my 1st grader asked if something was an archipelago the other day, so they must be learning at least a bit. Will just have to look at a book like you said and see if there is anything else I think we need to touch on. Thanks!

Jim Weiss narrates numerous audiobooks. The Hobbit The Mouse and the Motorcycle

I have found the best thing for my kids is just to simple keep asking them, “How do you think you could solve that problem?” Usually they then stop to actually think about it and come up with an answer on their own. If not, I ask, “Well, do you think....” phrasing a solution as a question. Sounds like you are basically doing this already. Gets tiring, I know. Just keep it up, and maybe start asking about how they would solve small problems you have “Oh no, I need that spoon to stir the soup with, but it is dirty. How do you think I could solve my problem?” Sounds hokey, I know, but I think it helps bump their stalled brains (yeesh, they can ask some silly questions) get over the “I have a problem” full-stop mentality to, “oh, I can solve it!” Good luck!

I like their spelling curriculum, but haven’t looked too much at their other stuff. Will check it out, thanks!

I have a struggling speller as well. That is an understatement. She is an absolutely horrible speller. I tried Apples and Pears, but it was not independent and it took way too much time. I also wanted something more independent and didn’t have all the extra pieces and hands-on parts. I tried having her write the words 5 times each one day, spelling them out loud to her animals the next, writing the vowels with one color and consonants with another...all those practice things. I have come to the conclusion that it really doesn’t matter the curriculum (none that I had tried really worked). After an abysmal first half of the year in which little progress was shown, I purchased Spelling Plus and have been using their practice technique with the curriculum I already had. Oh my goodness. I don’t know why it is different than the practice I had her doing before, but she has been advancing so well! And her knowledge is actually carrying over into her other writing work (which it never did before). After the first few times of guiding her through the daily word practice she now does that independently, and it only takes a few minutes each day to dictate sentences to her. I would strongly suggest you take a look at their method. You can use their lists and pre-written dictation sentences (buying all their curriculum, or do as I do and just use their method with curriculum you already have. Next year I am going for the economical Rod and Staff with Spelling Plus practice.

Just looking for thoughts on 4th grade geography. We did Memoria Press’ United States Geography this year with my 3rd grader. Looking at their World Geography for next year but think it may be just a bit too much for her next year. I also have a 1st grader who will want to get in on whatever her sister does next year. Looking at Trail Guide to World Geography (do we need the CD??? Or just the book?) We do SoTW, so get maps in there, but would like a little more. What are some suggestions for good curriculum? Also, I hate to even ask this cause the thought of it depresses me, but do I need to teach my kids map skills in workbooks like Evan Moore? We do compasses and directions just in daily life and we use maps not GPS, so the get a lot of that kind of thing already. We are also going to take a road trip to the East Coast next summer, and I will have them help plot our course and guide us on the way. Do I really need to do those workbooks? They just seem like busy work needed only to get them ready for “Standardized Testing!”

Following. Had a 3rd grader this year who did IEW SWI-A. If I did SICC-A next, I would also spread it out over two years, but am also wondering about using that or the theme based. Good to hear the opinions so far. Wondering if anyone else has more thoughts?

I hear you on this and if it were DD1, who is very math and science oriented at this stage, I would keep going. DD2 however is more inclined to reading and writing and that side of learning...math, well, she is doing fine, but it isn’t as natural or easy for her as her sister. If she keeps doing well and I think she is ready I will move her along, but unless something changes I see her stalling out. I just want to have a few good options up my sleeve if need be! I will check out these suggestions. Thanks!

Dd2, who is in 1st grade this year, began the CLE light units for math the middle of last year— simply because we did not like what we had been using for kindergarten math, she wanted to do math, and she was able to handle the first half of the light units. However, she is due to finish up the first grade level the middle of this year, and I don’t want to push her into level two. I think she could handle the first light units, but I don’t see her keeping up as well as she did with level one, and I definitely don’t think she would be ready for multiplication this year! I obviously don’t want to just stop doing math however, so I am looking for a good suggestion to keep her learning but not too fast for the second half of the year. We have some math games, but I don’t want to just play games either. What would be a good segue between CLE level one and CLE level two? I will have a new baby the second half of the year, so if there are just some good work books she can keep up with on her own, so much the better!

Thank you all for the help! We are just starting the process and looking at everything all at once is sometimes overwhelming. Glad to hear there is not many homeschool requirements.

My DH is going through a job change of sorts and to do so he needs to attend a single academic year at a seminary in Fort Wayne, Indiana. ***any others who went through colloquy out there?** What I need to know is firstly about homeschooling laws in Indiana. **i year there is a great homeschool community at the seminary....anyone know about that?*** Are they good? What are the requirements? And secondly, for any of you who have gone out of state for a year, what do we need to do for permanent residency? Do we need to switch everything over for just 9 months? Drivers’s lisences, etc. and then where do I say our school district is? Do we change that to a school in Fort Wayne? Can we say our permanent residence is at my parents’ in Wisconsin and have that be our school district? How on earth does all this work? We haven’t jumped around states since we were married, so not really sure what to do with everything. Thanks for any help!