We don't do preschool. But we start K (actual curriculum) when the child is ready. dd1 - age 5 dd2 - age 5 1/2 dd3 - age 4 ds1 - ???? (probably 5 or 5 1/2)

I thought Scholars Online was a Christian program? Are you using "secular" to mean not Catholic? Or is there more than one Scholars Online? (Sorry if that sounds like a silly question. My oldest dd is just getting to the age where I have begun looking into online classes. So I really don't know everything that is out there.) I have been considering Scholars Online myself. My dd can begin next year. I would prefer a secular program, but cannot find one that I really like. Scholars Online is currently at the top of my list since they have a great reputation, offer both Latin and Greek up to the sixth year and accept students of other (or no) faiths on the understanding that it is a Christian program.

Did you see the sticky that was just put up? Peace Hill Press is providing the first ten chapters on their website!!!!

I would love to read a review of this program from anyone who purchases it. The reading selections look very good. But, I couldn't get a good feel for the program from the samples. It has been on my "watch for" list for a couple of months!

Thanks for all of the suggestions!! I'm copying them into my files now. I even have a couple of them on my bookshelf and had forgotten all about them.

The workbooks I purchased new from Rainbow Resource a few months ago have a 1997 copyright date. They are the only ones I see for sale, so I would say yes. (I have a 1994 teacher's edition and I haven't noticed any discrepancies between the TE and the worksheets either.)

Does anyone have a list of books they read to go along with math? I have already gone over the Living Math website. I am looking for additional books at the 5th - 12th grade levels, things along the line of String, Straightedge and Shadow or Phantom Tollbooth. Thanks!

Living outside of Gainesville, and having a dh that is a big Gator fan, we wear lots of blue and orange together. :D To answer the original question - all of my dds wear black. Mostly in the winter, as it is too hot in the summer.

This is not a secular publisher. Song School Latin is not secular. Most of the book has nothing to do with religion. There are a few references. The biggest being the chapter on Christmas. Some may want to just skip that chapter. There are no trees or santa, etc. The words to learn are baby, angel, star, etc. There are sentences to fill in words that pertain to the birth of Jesus. I could probably list all of the references, if anyone is interested. I personally would not use any books at a higher level than the early elementary (Song School) level. Religion looks to be more imbedded in the texts at the higher levels.

I would like to incorporate the NFL season into our school work. I was thinking maybe statistics, graphing, probability. Does anyone do this with sports? If so, what have you done?

An Ambleside yahoo group I belong to posted this book from Google Books. It looks really good. I am going to add it to dd8's language arts. It is called Grammar-land by M.L. Nesbitt. http://books.google.com/books?id=iXgSAAAAIAAJ

As a democrat, I am voting for Obama, however: If McCain/Palin do win this November, I think one of the best things that will come of it is the position it puts Todd Palin in to be a role-model for America. We already know women can make good politicians. (I'm not sure if that is a compliment? :)) But we still seem to question the ability of men to be primary caregivers. If Todd Palin can handle the position of husband to the VP, with all of the press that is sure to come with it and no doubt some cutesy names. If he can handle being the primary-caregiver (and father) to a teen-aged girl, a seven year old girl and a special needs infant while also being a solid support to a teen-aged pregnant daughter and eventually being a supportive grandfather as well, (all the while dealing with a wife who will often be stressed, over-worked or simply absent) I think he will be paving what has been a bumpy road for men, particulary men with wives that are choosing careers previously dominated by men.

We have school whenever my dh is working - six days per week. On our day off dh and I sleep in. The kids get their own breakfast and entertain themselves - quietly. If the weather is good we usually pack a lunch and spend the afternoon on the water. If the weather is bad we watch movies and play board games. That covers 95% of our days off. :)

My ten and eight year old do this as well. They have done it for years and don't seem to be outgrowing it at all. It drives my dh crazy when they are supposed to be doing something like cleaning the kitchen. It takes them twice as long. I have to separate them for some classes like math - or it is all they will do. They do not share a room, but will sometimes "meet up" in the bathroom - which gets them in trouble as well. :) The neatest thing happened earlier this week. Whatever imaginary people or animals they were - they spoke in Latin. Much of the discussion was in English discussing what their make-believe characters were saying, but the characters were speaking Latin!!! That was the first time they had ever done that (to my knowledge.) And without any suggestion on my part. I was smiling to myself the whole day.

Has a specific title or release date been determined for your new book of memory work selections? Thanks!

If you are using the newer Dolciani texts, do you have your child do all of the math problems? So far, I have only glanced through the texts, but to me it looks like a very large number of problems. Does your child do all of the: Oral problems Written problems set A, B and C Mixed Review Calculator problems Computer problems Self tests Chapter Reviews Chapter tests Misc. Applications and anything else I might be leaving out? I plan to work through part of the Algebra I book in the next couple of months, but would like to hear the experiences of those who have used the texts. If you don't do them all, which sections have you found to be optional? Thanks!

milk, batteries, oranges

Thanks! I think I will leave it to them to decide. I mentioned that it would be faster, but if they prefer to print - oh well. :001_smile:

I follow the standards of several private schools that fit our goals better than the public schools. I like to see what curriculum they are using and what they study year to year to make sure we are close to where we want to be academically. Highlands Latin School -- http://www.thelatinschool.org/ Roxbury Latin School -- http://www.roxburylatin.org/ Hillsdale Academy -- http://www.hillsdale.edu/academy/academics/curriculum.asp Sage School -- http://www.sageschool.org

The last I heard the new levee system will not be complete until 2010. If they are still depending on the old levee system, it is unlikely to hold up even as well as last time. And this time around, everyone has a very good idea of exactly what can happen.

I would like to move my children into writing their foreign languages in cursive. While they both know how to write in cursive they both print when writing in a foreign language. I was thinking of making copywork for them in cursive, as their complaint is they only see the foreign languages in manuscript form and feel it would complicate things to try and write in cursive. My own thought is once they get over the first hump of practicing it, they would write much faster and smoother. Thoughts?

I would like to move my children into writing their foreign languages in cursive. While they both know how to write in cursive they both print when writing in a foreign language. I was thinking of making copywork for them in cursive, as their complaint is they only see the foreign languages in manuscript form and feel it would complicate things to try and write in cursive. My own thought is once they get over the first hump of practicing it, they would write much faster and smoother. Thoughts?

I have tried searching for this already. I know it has been discussed. I just can't think of the right terminology. I want to make copybooks (copywork designed by me and stuck together in a book) for my kids. I don't think they are really called copybooks but something else that I can't quite remember. Anyway, are there sites where I can do this? Thanks!

I would not call them trainwrecks, but many of the families in our area are homeschooling children below their "grade level." Some pulled their kids from school because they would not be moving up the following year and some pulled their kids because the areas around here do not have any schools for behavioral or even learning disabilities so each school is trying to cover everything with a very limited staff inside the school. This causes the school system and the parents of such children to really butt heads. I also know families that do not consider book-learning to be of vital importance. Their kids are good kids, but not at the grade level of their peers. We are a farming community and a couple of families homeschool so their kids can spend more time working. I really don't know them well enough to say where they are academically, but they plan to stay in the area and work within the family. So they aren't really thinking about college and test scores, etc. I do know of at least three families that tried to put their children back into elementary or middle school and were surprised and even outraged that their children would be placed a year (and one of the children - two years) behind their grade level due to test scores. Personally, I wasn't surprised. There really are a lot of parents in our area that have no idea how to homeschool. Many parents have a limited amount of education themselves. And they are really reacting to a present day situation. They are not thinking about long term plans, colleges, or anything overly academic. They have no intention of researching theories of education, learning types or homeschool philosophies. Many have no idea what they are going to do. They hope the child will get into middle school or high school at some time. I hear a lot of anger at the school system and how it has failed, forcing the parent to homeschool. But nothing about where to go from there. They are homeschooling to put an end to a situation they are in, but with no clear idea of what to do next. I have yet to meet a single homeschool family (including those that have chosen to homeschool from the beginning and really know what they are doing) who has taken advantage of the free education available from the community college and state university in our area. They are both an hour from our house, but only about 30 minutes from a majority of the families I know. Sadly, many parents do not have expectations of college for their children. And they say that. "My child really isn't college material." How does a child overcome statements like that coming from his/her parents? So the schools in our area are always struggling with admitting children who were homeschooled. The last I heard Florida simply does not accept high school credit from homeschoolers. I imagine it would be very time consuming. I suppose it would require a test for each subject?

Here is a link to some projects for new girl scout badges. They are focused on community service. You do not have to belong to girl scouts to use them (or earn badges or anything.) All of the projects are on the website. There are ten listed along the right side of the page. If I remember: one deals with homelessness, one with breast cancer awareness, etc. http://www.studio2b.org/lounge/gs_stuff/ip_home_is_where_the_heart_is.asp