I think they are cute. DS would love to have the swine flu one. We have seen them before in the thinkgeek catalog, but have never purchased one.

We school year round and begin and end subjects at varying times. We just keep going to the next book. I use the typical school year only for documentation/testing requirements. I think if your daughter is ready then you should start regardless of official schedules. You can always slow down or take a break later.

LOVE IT!!!! I am so glad I decided to make the switch.

I am hoping the "Parent Supplement" that Biblioplan offers will fill in gaps. Even with all of the extras BP offers I do not think it is comparable to what I have seen looking at the TOG samples. I drool over TOG but know it is beyond my budget this year.

If you are looking for more review with Rod and Staff you can always purchase the worksheets. Instead of doing them while you are on the chapter or topic, you can wait a few weeks and give the corresponding worksheet for review. We have used R&S for the past two years and find there is ample review without the worksheets.

I'm another vote for Abeka. We used it in 3rd and 4th grade and really enjoyed it.

:iagree: This was the best advice I got when I was going from book to book. I went over the problem missed on the tests and made sure we reviewed those lessons and then continued on with where the last test left off.

Unfortunately, schools are NOT the real world. In the real world someone hits me. I call the police. They get charged. If I'm bullied at work I go to HR. If the problem isn't resolved I leave. I refuse to accept that "kids will be kids." I would never expect my child to stay in an enviroment that was harmful to his physical or emotional well being. Only you know what is best for your child. I don't think your child deserved to be punished, but know that (at least in the school around me) both kids are always punished when there is a fight.

HTH

:iagree:

This looks nice and seems like it will be easy to combine. I had never heard of it before. Thanks!

Didn't you already pay the USER FEES when YOUR taxes bought the books???

I have learned to either start a program a few weeks before or after the "normal" school year so that books are available when needed.

This is our second year using MFW for science and I would say it is OK. It is very hit and miss. Last year we used Rome to Reformation and the Anatomy selection was HORRIBLE!! They used The Body Book by Scholastics as one of the main books. If we had to cut an paste one more thing I was going to scream. My son hated it and we ended up never finishing it. Another book used was Usborne First Encyclopedia of the Human Body. This one seemed really geared to a much younger child than my son who was 9 at the time. The best pick in they in my opinion was Janice VanCleave's The Human Body for Every Kid. We actually really enjoyed this book and did almost all of the experiments. We used this for vocabulary and made science note books to add to our study. The second part of the year uses Apologia Astronomy which we skipped for a later time. The Exploration to 1850 book starts out with Animal study which has been very enjoyable for us. It uses God's Design for Science: The Animal Kingdom which is very simplistic. We actually really like this book which remains informative without all the extras. The other book, The World of Animals, is written from a world view. It is an amazing book with lots of pictures and facts. We usually add in a lot of Zoo time and our own activities to fill in gaps. The second part of the year will be Botany using Apologia Science. I have flipped through the book and can already see this will be a good fit for our family. I already asked the owner of the nursery next door if he would give us a tour and we know a farmer who will allow us to come and watch them plow, plant, and harvest the crops. I think all of this along with our membership to the botanical garden will make for a great study. I have looked at what would be offered next year if we decide to stick to MFW and honestly I am not impressed. I have noticed that we are using less and less of MFW recommendations and I think we are ready for a change. I purchased RS4K almost 2 years ago and never got to it and think we might use that next year combined with ???

dumb. (Sorry, I can't think of a better word right now.) I have been sick this week and my patience is aready thin, but today DS has pretended not to know ANYTHING!! It took 2 hours to complete a 15minute Bible assignment with me practically doing it for him. I am tired and frustated. Although he shows resistance to learning at times it has never been this bad. Honestly, I just want to stop for today but wonder if that will send the wrong mesage. I'm wondering what others do when children aren't cooperating.:glare:

I have a slight overbite and ocassionally grind my teeth, but more often clench my teeth. I had to have emergency oral surgery this past Monday to try and save my bottom 2 front teeth due to constant clenching and banging them against the top 2. :glare: If you even THINK you grind or clench your teeth when you sleep I highly recommend getting a night guard. I am praying for my teeth to take or I'll be singing, "All I want for Christmas is my two front teeth...":svengo:

Yes, I am concerned with gaps in my sons education. Although I know I can not teach everything I would like to watch out for areas in which we are lacking and fill them in. I am not obsessed with gaps in music and art honestly. Our public schools have either completely done away with these classes or offer them as electives in junior and senior highs. My son takes art at co-op and is also in a cello class. We read about artists and musicians in regards to history and I feel that is enough. Science is one of the major areas I can see gaps developing. I can truthfully see myself placing DS in public school science classes as he gets older to supplement our homeschool education. (Not because I think they are superior but because of the lab materials they have access to)

Yikes! I am thankful my library does not charge for this service. We actually reserve all our books prior to going to the library so all we have to do is make one quick stop and pick them all up in one place. They also call us when books arrive from other locations throughout the system.

:D We can check out 50 books each. We have had a few nice librarians who have done an override though and allowed a couple more. We depend largely on our library for homeschooling resources.

I tried to keep DS on schedule today but I was exhausted. I am just getting over being sick and DH is sick with the flu. I woke up around 8:00 hearing DS in the kitchen getting a bowl of cereal. Around 8:30, he finished breakfast and started Bible (MFW) Prima Latina was next. We watched the DVD and DS completed page 1. Around 9-9:30 we began Rod and Staff English. I was giving a quiz and falling asleep. :001_huh: DS offered to read the lesson. Thankfully it was a review of something we did last year. DS completed the lesson while I took a short nap. 10-11ish We went over the math lesson (again a review) and completed the coresponding lesson. DS father called around this time and wanted to do lunch with him. I agreed. We completed the spelling pretest and WWE copywork. We met up with DS father and he went out to lunch. About 2 hours later DS came home and played on the computer for about 45 minutes. We left for swim practice at 4:15. Swim team from 5-6:30. Arrived home after 7:00. I was too tired to even being to think about cooking and cleaning so DS and I went out to dinner. We didn't make it home tonight until after 9. I am still exhausted...:glare:

We are eating left-overs, turkey, mixed vegetables, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, a tiny bit of stuffing, and fresh garlic vegetable bread.

Thank you very much! I have been searching and searching and couldn't find it. I was starting to think I was crazy. This isn't the website I remember seeing in my mind, but it is perfect. I really like the fact that it is self paced. We are still using WWE and Rod and Staff but we are going to need something a little more advanced. Writing is not a strength of mine, as probably everyone on here already can see, so I'm excited to have a little extra hand holding.:D

:confused: Yikes! I honestly don't feel unhealthy or abnormal because I prefer to be alone. I am actually a functioning professional that excels at my career which requires very close human interaction. I am NOT unhappy about the life I have chosen and wonder why people feel the need to label or fix me. I understand there are people that don't interact with others out of fear but there are far more that don't interact with others out of choice.

Ummm... I'm not even sure what half of those lyrics mean.:001_huh: I am really hoping they have radio editting at the very least because what I could understand from those lyrics is NOT acceptable in our home. Can you tell me how to get the lyrics to appear? I will have to take a better look when DS is out of the house. We listen to the radio but there are some songs that we shut off. I love the Jimmy Eats World song. It has such a catchy tune. I tend to sing the wrong words to songs, so honestly even the songs I THINK I know might be totally inappropriate, especially once the true lyrics are plastered on the screen. I attempted to play the game when I went to visit my younger brothers and apparently I'm not very good either. They kept teasing me that I was making them lose and I was arguing that I was playing every note, but I guess it has to be on beat. :tongue_smilie:I was concentrating so hard on getting the notes that I was sure it wasn't me. I wasn't aware it showed each players score individually until they pointed it out.

Do Guitar Hero songs contain profanity?? DS received this game as a birthday present and I have strained my ears trying to listen to the lyrics, but honestly I can't make out some of the song lyrics. If they do is there a way to block them like you would on the computer? ETA: He has Guitar Hero World Tour if that makes a difference.