These lapbooks look wonderful. I want to buy them all. Thank you for sharing. Debbie

These are both great ideas. Thank you ladies. I think i'll try some Key to during the summer and switch to MUS for next year if we still need to slow down. Thanks again, Debbie

My 7th grader is using Teaching Textbooks 7 this year. It started out great at the beginning of the year but that was all material she already knew. She has really struggled with it this 2nd semester. She thinks the guy on the CD is confusing and says she can't remember the 'new' concepts the next day b/c she is doing too many different things. I was going to have her do TT Pre Alg next year but now I'm not sure I should do that. What program would you recommend? Thank you Debbie

Thank you for the info Jann and Maverick. I am going to go ahead and buy one of these now. Debbie

Jann, Thank you for this info. Can I ask what is the difference between the calculator you listed above and just a 'regular' one? My dd has only used a regular 1.00 calculator from Walmart for basic operations. I'm wondering what else she could use it for if we got the one above. Thank you Debbie

usually spend 1800-2000.00 just for curriculum. This does not count extra classes, memberships etc. I usually pick up things here and there during the year as well.

The Sonlight reading list is excellent and has already been suggested. What about the Childhood of Famous American series? They are autobiographies of famous American and written on a 3-5th grade level (I think). My children have loved them. There are many of them and found easily at the library. You can find books on any one from Babe Ruth to Walt Disney to Buffalo Bill. HTH Debbie

My just turned 16 year old dd wants to get a summer job at a local movie theatre. We live in a small town and have a small theatre. She worked all school year as a teacher aid on Fridays with a mom's morning out program. That was a paid job and will go back to it next school year.

Thank you for posting this. I am so glad IEW has come with somethign for the younger crowd. |Debbie

Love it. Have used levels TT7-Geom. have tried Saxon and MUS for higher levels and much prefer TT and plan to stick with it.

I just wanted to add that I have used both PLL and ILL with my children and like them both. Also, I would still use something that teaches diagramming in the younger years if that is the program I wanted (I want to use FLL 3 next year). I plan to introduce the diagraming part and see how its received. If its not received well, we can skim or skip that part of the program. Debbie

I can relate to what you are saying. I feel the same way. I'm drawn to both CM style and to traditional grammar that includes diagramming. My children are ages 7,9,13 and 16. I have done both methods. I do not teach diagramming in the younger years at all. If flopped with my older kids so I just decided to let it go. I have a huge family with lots of nieces and nephews and did an informal survey of my own. I asked all the kids I knew in highschool and beyond how much diagramming they did in school, when it was taught, if it was helpful etc. Then I asked one additional question: What was the most helpful thing you learned to help you in college. The response by all was similar. They all said that diagramming was taught in 7th or 8th grade and then they never saw it again: not on CLEP or AP tests etc. the answer to my last question was always the same too. The most helpful thing for all was the be well read and learn to write well. Okay, that is not big surprise to homeschoolers! ha ;) I found the information about diagramming interesting and it just confirmed what I thought about doing in my homeschool already. I am not trying to do as the public school does but did want to know about how useful it may or may not be in the future. I found that when I taught it in 8th and 9th using Analytical Grammar it was picked up easily and understood. I plan to keep reviewing it until graduation. HTH Debbie

I will 2nd Analytical Grammar! It is a bit expensive but worth it and an older child with no previous grammar can use it. Debbie

My 10th grader is using Sonlight and I am seriously thinking of using something else next year. Not only have *I* gotten lazy but I think I've allowed my dd to do so as well. I find we are doing less and less discussions and I'm letting the student notes and questions slide. SO basically she is just reading and writing a few papers every now and then. She told me last night she does not remember much of the American history we did with core 100 last year. I am not happy about that. Now I am wondering if we were doing more with what she reads if it would stick more. I have to educate myself on what she is learning and get more involved. I am pleased that my dd is an independent learner and can be a self learner but I have to ask myself should my 10th grader be a self learner?! Shouldn't she have someone involved with her learning process while she is still in high school? This post may not be helpful at all. I guess I am in the same boat as you.

I have been using TT for the last 2 years with 2 children and have not felt the need to supplement anything other then drilling multiplication tables for my 6th grader.

My youngest boys learned in K and 1st and used SpongeBob typing. It sounds silly but it worked and taught real typing skills and it was fun. They are in 2nd and 3rd grade now and email their dad daily (he is deployed). HTH Debbie

I always but the Apologia schedules from Sonlight. They list any materials you will need for the next weeks experiments and list the vocabulary words for the module. I do think it works out to about 2 weeks per module. Debbie

I bought the microscope and then my daughter barley used it with Apologia Biology. It was allot of money to spend and not use that much. You are safe to wait to purchase it. Debbie

We have had bunnies in our yard and you are correct in your thinking about the vegetable garden. They can eat up your plants pretty quick too. It will be so fun to watch the bunnies! Debbie

I am in the 'had it, sold it' camp...only I had it and sold it TWICE. ha I wanted to like it and use it because it looks like such a wonderful program but it caused me so much mental clutter and stress when trying to figure it out that I decided (Twice) it was not for me and to stick with what I know and what has been working. I will admit that when I see posts about TOG I sometimes get a pang of jealousy and wish I could have made it work for me. :glare: Debbie

My kids used Typing Instructor Deluxe too. I don't think any of them have needed to finish the program either. The best thing that helped to get their typing up to 'speed' was giving them email address to email their friends and each other. I also have my 7th grader type her papers for school. Once she started emailing, she picked up typing in no time and it also improved her spelling! Debbie

Analytical Grammar is a good option like the other poster said. Since you have been using Rod and Staff you could go for something much lighter for a year or 2. What about Easy Grammar? It gets the job done and can be done quickly each day. Debbie

I started IEW SWI C with my 10th grader this year. I got this advise from SWB herself and its been a gem! My daughter has been able to work through this program on her own and has learned so much from it. She told me just this week that she now feels she could take any writing assignment as given (Like in a SL manual) and do it with no problem. That is good news to me! Next year we will either do the continuing course or do the Essay course that IEW offers. I'd say go for it and its not too late. The older the child, the quicker they can work through it. HTH Debbie

I just wanted to add something...... With MFW it is very easy to add in more if you want it. I added in *some* of the SL readers for my child who uses MFW. I was able to add in just the right amount of reading for her. SL was too overwhelming for this child. I think MFW with SL readers is a great mix. I have even heard of some ladies using MFW as their base and using SL Lang. arts with readers. Debbie

I have had this program for some time and tried it 3 times. It was on the 3rd try that things clicked for me and now I understand what it is trying to teach. It is working great for my children and I wish I had stuck with it before.