I think literature study guides could be a good way to add some depth. I really like the Total Language Plus study guides, they can be done independently. Science is a great way of stepping it up as well. They can do the experiments on their own and keep a lab notebook. Again with science, a lot can be done independently.

It really depends on the child and the mom who is teaching. But I love the preschool program and Jr K and K curriculum. It has a nice mixture of book work but also great literature and the Enrichment is very much like Five in a Row which I am a huge fan of for the younger years. For the elementary and middle school MP works great if your kids like workbooks and reading and answering questions in a traditional school manner. This is not bad at all, but just what works for you. I do think the questions are very good and the workbooks are straightforward . My daughter and I did two years of MP, the 4th and 5th grade materials I believe. We really learned a lot. I didn't always use the workbooks as is. I found it enjoyable to teach. I like the extra books for teaching American History. I think the Latin program is the best. I tried teaching Latin with other programs and this is the only one that really worked for me to be able to teach. I don't like the high school. For me it has too much Shakespeare and I don't like the textbooks for history. I think the literature studies are boring. So the approach just doesn't work for me in the older grades. 7th grade is where it starts to lose it for me. It becomes too hard and boring. I am not interested and my kids are not interested in that deep of classical education regarding Henle Latin, Shakespeare, spending an entire year reading Divine Comedy. It is just too much in my opinion. It just wasn't the direction for our family. I needed a more variety of books. I have been homeschooling for 20 years and for years I kept trying to entertain my kids with school and trying to find stuff that inspires them and all of that. I read tons of books, I read all the time, my husband reads all the time and my kids don't. They love stories and like to be read to but they don't read on their own much. So for me I exhausted myself comparing myself to other homeschool families who seemed to be able to inspire their kids and had all these great experiences. I was never able to accomplish that. My kids were never going to love school more than playing with toys or stuff like that. I had to adjust my expectations and find a balance between school being a good experience or being a bummer. So after awhile my approach to school was about filling their heads with good things. My focus was on family and being together and our relationships and also on Christ. So I picked curriculum that they did well with, they could learn from and that I could implement and teach to them. We have used alot of Sonlight over the years, that was probably our main curriculum for history, literature and they have wonderful science!! Math U See for math, Writing Rhetoric for writing but now my daughter is IEW for writing. Most homeschoolers are eclectic and while it's nice to find a spot and just want to sink in to a method of homeschool or a certain curriculum, realistically most people use a variety of things. Focus on what works for your family. I have tried off and on over the years to do more Charlotte Mason stuff but I found it was to overwhelming for me and my kids. I think we need less with more focus, the Feast is a beautiful idea that did not work in our family. However, Simply Charlotte Mason website has wonderful Picture Studies that I use and also has a book on Narration that is quite useful.

We have a variety of health issues so fasting is a struggle. But we do try and do other things. We have a Jesse Tree that we do as a family. I have a book that I recently got from Ancient Fatih store recently about the traditions and I would like to read through that a bit and see. We have had alot of anxiety and stress for a few months now on various issues and I would like to really spiritually embrace this advent season. I would enjoy a PM group if others are interested. Blessings, Nancy Ann

Yes, The Ukranian Orthodox Church does have it's own under the Russian Patriach. So, it really does feel like political reasons the Constantinople Patriarch did this. But, he is also in a very precarious situation there in Turkey and some say that he is trying to please the western world which wants Ukraine to be separated from Russia. The force in Ukraine is that part of them feel they are connected to Russia and others want to be separated from Russia. Not all Ukraines want out like our western media and information want to let us believe. It is most certainly a political and culture issue that they are dealing with and the rest of the world has their opinion and stakes in it as well. So the church has gotten messed up in it as well. Which is sad and unfortunate. We don't know the hearts and minds of many of these people who are making decisions and so I try to refrain from harsh judgement on the people involved, but it does seem to not have been handled well.

I think my son would really like this curriculum and just wondering if anyone has used this. We have read the History of US by the same author and disagreed on some areas but overall was fine with it. I am just really not interested in having my son read some books that are going to talk about how the church hated science and that Christians and the church got in the way of science progressing. It's all false for one thing, but more importantly I just do not think I have the energy this year to weed through all that stuff. I also could pre read but I have to buy the curriculum first to pre read, our library does not have these books. So, I would just like to know if some people have used this curriculum and read through it with their child and can help with this. It really seems like a neat core to study and I think my son would like it. But because Book Shark is secular it won't have any notes with Christian content to help me wade the waters a bit like the Core 100 did when using History of US.

Memoria Press Kindergarten is fabulous! It does not take long each day. It has a solid phonics, math and penmanship. Than it adds in recitation everyday which is really a wonderful way to start the school day. Recitation are things like calendar, time, money, reciting the alphabet, basically all these neat little tid bits that I would not always think of. Than the enrichment is wonderful. It is very similar to FIAR where you read the book each day and discuss and learn things. There is also bits of science and history as part of the enrichment that is just enough for this age.You also get art cards and each week you look at a new art picture. There is also a music selection each week. There is not a CD for the music, but you just Google it and will be able to listen to it. I get extra books for the science at the library. I may not get the exact title they recommend but I can usually find one that is similar. The Read Aloud book each week can usually be found in the library but you can purchase the read aloud books separately. There is also a craft book that has crafts for each week that goes with the picture book. I think this is a great curriculum that has a balance between the basic three r's and also some gentle learning like music, art,crafts and picture books.

My son is a 6th grader and we use Sonlight. I am thinking of wandering off the path of Sonlight and doing my own. I have done this in the past and we have just not read as much literature on our own so that is what is making me second guess this decision. However, we are in a nice habit of having Read Aloud time and also independent reading time and so maybe it will work. How many literature books do your children read in a year? How many literature books do you read aloud to your family in a year? Do you plan the books ahead of time or choose as the year goes on? I know it depends on the size of book and age of child and reading level of child, but just wanting to have a basic idea. I was going to shoot for one Read Aloud a month and maybe 12 - 15 literature books for my son's reading list. We school 10 months out of the year. Thanks.

Thanks Merry. :)

Completely and enthusiastically agree with Bill on this. I wonder if he is just not ready to move onto the double digit. My son complained as well when we did subtraction. We used Right Start math and he loved math until we hit subtraction and it was a big wall. He could do it but it was harder and he didn't love math as much. We slowied down and didn't push and took a break. I would continue with your math program. Singapore is a great math program, this is just a a bump in the road and it happens with ALL math curricula, it doesn't always mean you need to change. I would just stop for awhile and just have him keep his addition and subtraction math facts fresh by doing flash cards 3 times a week and do something else for math. Games or a fun workbook of puzzles or there is a book called Family Math that has easy games you can play with your child. It's cheap off Ebay or maybe your library has it. Amazon sells it. Peggy's Math Games is another book. These books can sometimes be overwhelming because they give so many ideas and all of them seem important or fun. I recommend just picking two games and work on those for awhile before doing something new. With Family Math there are all sorts of different concepts you can work on and not even deal with subtraction for awhile. Family Math may be a good investment for you because it works so well for times like this, when you just need to shelve something for awhile to take a break but you don't want to NOT do any math at all!!

My son is 11 and still plays with them. They are great. His friends have enjoyed playing with them as well. I got totally lucky and found 2 brand new sets at the thrift store for $4 for each box!! These were large boxes that would normally be $80 each!! My husband was with me at the time and had no understanding of why I was squealing with delight!! But, I bet you guys understand!! :)

I have a reluctant writer and it's tough. I do think a timer can be helpful, it's a suggestion from the author of Brave Writer. Except, you don't start at 30 minutes but maybe 10 or 15. It's called a Free Write and it's really helpful to just help kids put their thoughts on paper. Many times with reluctant writers that is the first step, just getting something on paper! It sounds like she is already writing but when it's something she is interested in. Anyway... the Free Write is you brainstorm with your kid about anything they want to write and set the timer for 15 minutes and they can write anything they want. Tell them not to worry about spelling, grammar or punctuation. You do this once a week. Some people do it on Fridays and call it the Friday Free Write. After a month you can collect all the Free Writes your student has done and let them choose which one they want to polish up. You can help them edit it. Another suggestion is Writing Strands. My son is a 6th grader and he is doing level 3. Level 3 is where you want to start, I believe level 1 and 2 are for really little kids. It is a good program that helps to work kids through with learning to write. It could be she just is not ready yet. I recommend getting Writing Strands level 3 and try it and if she cries and has a meltdown just put it aside, and just try 2 or 3 times a year. Maybe she just won't be ready for a structured writing program until 6th grade. If that is the case than just keep encouraging the stories and letter writing. Also, consider copywork and dictation until she is ready for a writing curriculum. I worried and worried about writing with my reluctant son, but he's ready this year to learn and it's going well, he just wasn't in 4th grade.

Yep, looks good to me as well. Also, it does depend on the child and you WILL know when you start over scheduling! :laugh: Usually, a child will just be tired, or sometimes not interested any longer or they may throw lots of tantrums. Now, sometimes this behavior can have other reasons, but it can also be an indicator of a child who needs more down time. You seem very attentive to what your child is doing and their needs and so I am sure all will be well!! Sounds like you all are doing great!!

He may be too young to tell him to just do his work on his own and tell you when he is done. My 11 year old sort of does this but it's takes a couple years of practice and giving him things to work on independently. I started having him do some small things on his own when he was 9. Have you tried giving him his own check off list? This is how I started with my son to move him to independence. I put down just a few things like Math - Lesson 32, or Read Chapter 12 of his book etc... I still do a lot of stuff with my son, For one, I enjoy working with him, I don't have a lot of other kids to homeschool. My daughter is just 4. So, I like reading and doing things together. But, I have him do some things on his own. Many times, like for language arts. I sit at the table with him and we do All About Spelling together, than I read through the Growing with Grammar lesson with him and talk about it, than the assigned grammar workbook pages he does by himself. I just get up from the table and he works on it while I do the dishes or something, or do something with my daughter. The only time it works for me to assign my son something on his own is if I write it down on a list and tell him now it's time for him to work on his list. I put chores on that list as well. I think kids this age, especially boys still need some hand holding. Don't worry, he is still young and he will gradually grow up and be even more independent. It sounds like maybe you are swimming upstream.

Mondays are tough here. It's hard to get back to learning after having a weekend filled with the kids being able to do whatever they want. My son is 11 as well. For us we don't get everything done on Mondays that we do on other days of the week. I focus on the important stuff, it just seems to take longer to do things. I think we teach them the value of hard work not by the result of how much work get's done but the attitude that we have to keep pressing on even when it's hard. I consider it a win when we do school even on days where no one is in the mood or when we have other challenges that day. We may get less done, but for me it's still a win that we pressed on and tried our best.

I am still not sure we are going to do Core F, but it's nice to know the books will fit, there are some books that look really good. I am wondering if I can just read Mystery of History volume 1 and 2 instead of STOW volume 1 and 2 for Core G? Basically, buy Core G and just not read STOW. I know it won't match up, but I think it will be good enough overall. Just wondering if it's possible to pencil in that schedule change in the Sonlight Core schedule? I know it won't work with MOH volume 3 and 4 for Core H as they are more involved. But I don't mind taking two years to do Sonlight Core H with doing MOH 3 one year and MOH 4 the next. Maybe adding in some Core F at that point. Than do Sonlight Core 100 for 10th grade.

Merry, I am VERY familiar with your blog!! :) I have been over your posts about MOH often!! Thanks for your input. I went ahead and ordered MOH last night. I am about 99% sure we are going to use if for world history and so I want to spend some time looking at it and see how it could work. We are doing Core E, but may be done after Christmas, depends on how it goes.

I agree I don't see a point in rushing it, so many other great books. Even if a child would understand it I still just don't see the point. Watered down fairy tales are not dark and can be fun for kids. The originals are quite dark and I think reading the original Hans Christen Anderson and Brother's Grim is better for late middle school and early high school. That is my plan anyway. I remember reading Little Match Girl as a 3rd grader and it really disturbed me. I think the original fairy tales are better when older, if at all. I am not a fan but I suppose they are good for cultural reference.

I agree I don't see a point in rushing it, so many other great books. Even if a child would understand it I still just don't see the point. Watered down fairy tales are not dark and can be fun for kids. The originals are quite dark and I think reading the original Hans Christen Anderson and Brother's Grim is better for late middle school and early high school. That is my plan anyway. I remember reading Little Match Girl as a 3rd grader and it really disturbed me. I think the original fairy tales are better when older, if at all. I am not a fan but I suppose they are good for cultural reference.

Elijah 6th grade Hits Growing with Grammar Writing Strands = EXACTLY WHAT WE NEEDED FOR WRITING!! Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek Life of Fred 5 A Day math problems - got this idea from Math on the Level, works really well to work on some extra math problems. Trail Guide to the U.S - Making a notebook of all the states. 10 Days in the USA game- lots and lots of fun Daily Exercise - keeping an exercise journal, working really well! Schedule - Friday is a light day where we just focus on geography and doing the 4 day Sonlight schedule. We also play games Morning time reading books about Saints and memorizing prayers or bible copywork So-So All About Spelling - not liking the price, not sure it's worth it, don't use the white board and find the tiles to be cumbersome. Will try and just do lessons on paper and lapsize whiteboard without tiles and just using markers. Sonlight Science E - Apologia Elementary series is SOOO much better. Sonlight science works excellent for K-3rd grade, but than Apologia Elementary is better, more information and more depth. Typing Instructor - doesn't really like it but it works Rosetta Stone - sort of likes it but again it works Misses Reason For Writing - feels busywork and not enough time Wordly Wise - feels busywork Sonlight LA - I keep trying each year but Sonlight LA just does not work. Sonlight Geography - just not enough and cumbersome to use. Mary Beth Pre School Just bought too much stuff and feeling overwhelmed to the point where I end up not doing anything!! I feel like I have to use all this stuff now! I bought Timberdoodle Pre K curriculum with All About Reading Pre Reading, and Sonlight P3/4. I am thinking I need to accept my mistake, go slow and maybe use some of this for K next year, and just have reading time with her each day and play time. She doesn't like workbooks like her brother did. I am just going to wait until she is a little older and we will start Five in a Row. All, I need to do is find a good program to teach her to read. I am so done with All About Reading. It moves slower than I do after gardening for 3 hours!! So Done!!

Thanks for the reminder. I have a hard time with this date as well since we start school in August. I wish they would have more of a window for you to file the paper!

I have done Low Carb for about 3 years and found it frustrating and near impossible to stick to. I really like the The Body Fat Solution. He gives some really sound science and advice. Incredible book. He also gives a more balanced and doable solution. He also addresses the emotional eating in his book. As a Christian I couldn't quite get on board with some of that advice and instead use prayer. I think for obese and people who need to lose 35 or more keeping track of what you eat through calories will work. Yes, I have read all the science about calories and low carb stuff, but for quite a bit of weight one can simply count calories. Than once your reach a plateau you start to adjust your carbs, protien and fat. He lays it all out in his book and it's really fantastic. It's more doable and realistic compared to low carb. You can actually have the occasional cheat day for like a holiday or birthday. He is also very positive. I have struggled with my weight since I was in Kindergarten. It has been hard, but I have never given up. Why American's are fat is incredibly complicated. I think it's a mixture of food quality, not wanting to feel uncomfortable, and also stress., People are really stressed and lots and lots of people use food to deal with that. I am not saying people in other countries do not get stressed, I am just saying her in our modern culture we deal with stress by eating or having fun. Our modern culture tells us that if you have a problem you need to fix it. One thing we are not taught now days is endurance, sometimes things are just hard and there is not a solution. Life is sometimes painful and uncomfortable and you have to just strive through it. In our modern culture we buy things, eat things and watch things to not feel pain or be uncomfortable. Another book that I recommend is called Women, Food and God by Geneen Roth. This is not a Christian book, but I consider it Christian safe. She is a spiritual person and respects Christianity quite a bit. My husband and I read it together so he could help me discern. People who are not religious I think will get lots out of it as well. For me personally, almost turning 40 I have decided to stop with all the hopping from one diet to another. I am learning to pray ceaselessly saying the Orthodox Jesus Prayer and I am taking slow steps. Right now I am not changing anything about my food. Right now I make it a goal to take a walk everyday, stop drinking diet Coke, get to bed at a good time. These are three things that I can do and have the will power and energy to do right now. These are also things that science has shown to help with loosing weight and for people who struggle with emotional problems. You must exercise and you must get a good night sleep. Sleep is really important!! That itself is a good thing to research and you will come up with all sorts of important studies about the important of sleep!! Diet Coke also causes me to feel hungry and want to eat bad food. I don't eat as many fruits and veggies when I drink Diet Coke. So, I have been working on these for a couple months and they are becoming almost second nature to me, I still feel I need to keep working on it. But when I feel ready to move onto the next step I will probably do it meal by meal. I don't plan to do low carb but healthy foods like pointed out in the Body Fat Solution book. I have been overweight/obese my whole life and I have always kept trying. I find it offensive when people think all fat people are lazy and eat junk. I have probably eat healthy 85% of the time, but unfortunately times in my life and also being emotionally compulsive it only takes that extra 15% for me to gain weight or prevent me from loosing weight. In order for me to loose weight I can't mess up. Each week I have to be perfect with my eating. If I eat healthy for 5 days out of the week but than have a couple days where I fall and mess up. I will gain weight that week!! IT's really hard to have to be so perfect about something!! So, that is why I am going to do steps.

I really don't want this thread to turn into what is factual and what is not in MOH. I don't like how those threads usually go. Mostly I just want to know if this will be a good amount of history, especially if one does some of the extras like mapping and reading some biographies. We are used to a large focus of our curriculum being on history with Sonlight.

All of my groceries and household items and pet supplies are in one budget. It comes out to $180- $200 a week and about $7 a person each day. But, like I said that is also pet supplies and household/toiletries. For breakfast we have egg sandwich and breakfast meat or steelcut oatmeal and breakfast meat. Sometimes cereal and sometimes yogurt for quick breakfasts. Lunches - I have ready made salads from Trader Joes or sandwiches, the kids have sandwiches, or chicken nuggets, fishsticks, corn dogs with fresh fruit, sometimes canned fruit depending on the season and what's available at the grocery store. Afternoon snack - 1 fresh fruit or carrot sticks and ranch dressing, sometimes PB and J sandwich or crackers and cheese or yogurt. Dinner - Most of our meals are chicken and ground beef. We do tacos, spaghetti with the ground beef. We do chicken with various sauces along with brown rice and various vegetables. We have BLTA's during warm months (bacon, lettuce, tomatoe, avocado sandwhiches) During colder months making stews and chili. Weekends are such a hodge podge of meals. We have lunch after church either staying at church to eat or going out. During football season we have snack type foods or wings or BBQ on the grill. Saturdays we end up just having two meals a day. We have a late breakfast and than an early dinner and than popcorn or something for snack. I don't buy organic, I buy an organic wash from Trader Joes and when I come home from the store I wash all my produce. I buy salads in the bag which are either triple washed or organic. Organic milk and meat is just too expensive, it's triple the cost. I spent several hours researching one afternoon and was just not convinced I need to pay that extra expense. I am thinking of changing the lunches. I am not really happy they are eating those processed food and they are expensive. I am thinking of getting a quesadilla maker and making various quesadilla's for lunch. Also, home made pizza. Trader Joes has wonderful whole wheat pizza dough in the fridge section. Also thinking of getting a panini press. These are great sanwiches that you can load up with vegetables and heathy foods. I am thinking the ingredients for quesadilla's and panini's will be cheaper and healthier than fish sticks, chicken nuggets and corndogs. I also really need to start learning some soup recipes for the crockpot. My husband bring leftovers to work for his lunches, or I get him canned chili or frozen burritos. My kids are 11 and 4. Snacks and drinks seems to be our biggest problem. Big expense and not healthy. So when I need to cut down on the grocery budget buying fancy snacks and also buying juices, gatorade, sometimes soda or seltzer waters.

Simple healthy meals: Chicken breast with steamed brown rice and vegetable (we eat this twice a week by changing out the vegetable and one night having BBQ sauce on the meat and another night having Alfredo sauce, we don't use much of the Alfredo sauce, just a bit on the chicken) Steamed vegetables taste so much better than boiled or microwaved. Parmasean cheese on broccolli with butter is very good. I am not afraid to put butter and cheese on vegetables!! Spaghetti can be very healthy when you dice up in very small chunks so kids won't even notice, yellow onions, green peppers and mushrooms. Chop really fine and fry them in oil a bit, than add the ground beef and than when that's browned add the sauce. Tacos are cheap and healthy. We add tomatoes, avocado, lettuce, cheese, olives as toppings. I buy the really small corn tortillas and fry them in oil. It costs about $1.50 for a bag of 30 tortillas and that can easily last for 2-3 meals. Just keep in fridge. Alton Brown did a special on frying with oil and measured and showed how very little oil actually gets on the food and how it's really not that unhealthy to use oil for cooking. We have about 5 dinners each week that are basically the same and just 2 of the dinners are flexible. For lunches I usually serve a fresh fruit and sometimes canned fruit with whatever we are having. For breakfast I do make hot breakfasts most days. We have oatmeal one day and eggs with toast another. I make egg sandwiches and the kids like them . I sort of poach the egg, break the yolk cook them with the lid on, make toast and put a slice of cheese, butter and the egg. Kids really like to eat eggs this way. I don't care much for eggs either but I like the egg sandwich, I have mine open faced and without the cheese, just the egg, butter and toast. I alternate these breakfasts but somedays we do have cereal. Cereal is expensive but we love it so I just try and come up with ways to have other breakfasts most of the time. Applesauce is cheap, but those other ready made snacks can be expensive. I would only buy them when onsale. If there is a good sale on pop tarts than only buy them than same with the granola bars. This is where homecooking may come in handy. Making your own snacks. I think when one makes changes it's better to go in SLOW steps. I think changing out the snacks may be hard for everyone at first. Just look at your meals and see if you can simplify them and add in more fresh and healthy ingredients. Start with just dinners and do that for a few weeks or a month, than go to lunches, than breakfast and after several months when you feel you have conquered the meals work on snacks. If you do research on juice 100% juice is really not that much better than just the other stuff. It still has sugar. I recommend buying whatever is on sale and deal with that later. If you add in more fruits and vegetables to your meals that will be healthy and will do more for your health than the 100% juice. In other words if you get juice on sale for $2 and spend the other $2 on fresh fruit than your family is better off in my opinion.

We are a family of 4 and spend about 1000K a month. That includes household/toiletries and kitty food/litter. For awhile I was trying to do mostly organic but just couldn't afford it. It got way over 1K a month. We use about 3 gallons of milk a week and at $7 a gallon that was too much, Trader Joes we can get good milk for $3. I buy an organic spray from Trader Joes and wash all my produce now instead of buying organic. I would love to buy organic meat but that will have to wait until the kids are out of the house and it's jut me and my husband! :) I would love to try and find ways to lower my food budget, but it's hard when you still want to buy healthy and good quality stuff. I wonder if I am buying too many specialty foods. I wonder if I tried to do more simple homecooking, I would still get healthy but also cheaper! I have started to buy more frozen vegetables instead of fresh. This has really helped. But, I sort of feel we are not eating as healthy.