Ours is Cypress Cove Academy. We live in a cypress cove and have always loved cypress trees and water. Nothing too creative. :) We are studying Norse mythology this year and I really love this name. It seems to encompass everything I would want in a school name: it brings up images of beauty and nature and growth. It has a feeling of strength and uprightness and represents all areas of life - a sense of life-long learning and gaining of wisdom and wholeness of life. And to top it all off - it is just a cool name to say. :)

Our glue, crayons, pencils, etc. are kept in a cupboard in the kitchen. We use the two drawers closest to the livingroom. The small silverware sized one for pencils, crayons, etc and the larger one underneath, usually for pots and pans, stores bulkier things. All of our paper is kept at the computer table in the living room. We have four bookshelves in the living room for school books. And we have one of those flat file folder holders that you see hanging on walls. It has twelve pockets to hold folders and lies flat against a wall. I have it nailed on the inside of the utility closet door in the living room. So no one ever sees it. The rest our our books are on bookshelves in each of the bedrooms. Our large whiteboard sits atop our wood stove in the living room. This is something of an eyesore, but I haven't found anywhere else for it at this time. :)

I don't think that book actually follows the series, despite the similar name. The authors are different. I didn't see anywhere where it said that book follows the elementary Good English, Oral and Written series. But maybe I missed it? Elson did put out a literature series for high school that looks interesting. I think I've only found one book though. The series is called Literature and Life. http://books.google.com/books?id=ZJ4XAAAAIAAJ&rview=1

LOL That's what I was thinking. I have never even heard of a library gift shop!

I found a grammar program on Google books similar to Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons. But, the emphasis is more on reading and writing with less on grammar usage and dictation. I like the layout in these books. They have the lessons grouped by month (chapter one is for September, chapter two for October, etc.) with a review at the end of each month. And they include lots of short literature readings. http://books.google.com/books?id=xchEAAAAIAAJ&rview=1 - Book 2 (5th and 6th grade) http://books.google.com/books?id=bPkAAAAAYAAJ&rview=1 - Book 1 (3rd and 4th grade) They also wrote a third book for 7th-8th grade, but I can't find it. In case the links don't work, here is the information. Good English, Oral and Written by Elson (of Elson Readers,) Runkel and Lynch

I had to pick other. My husband kept his last name. I kept mine and took his, but with no hyphen. Informally, I only use his. On anything legal, I have both. All of our children have both last names, no hyphen. They generally only use my husband's last name as well.

Thanks Melissa! Well, no good stories? That isn't promising either. :sad:

Our house goes on the market in under two weeks. We are trying to be positive. But our three top choices for houses to purchase have all been on the market over 300 days. That certainly doesn't sound promising for us. Anyone from Florida have a recent, positive house selling experience?

Thanks Carol! We do have read alouds for the whole family that are an advanced level. I am currently reading aloud Oliver Twist. And I am reading aloud Age of Fable to dd10 to go with our year long look into mythology.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me muddle through finding what I was looking for. I think I have it figured out! I re-read Adler's How to Read a Book and there was my answer. My primary problem is that I feel by age ten or so, it is time to move beyond education for information alone. But, I wasn't sure how to go about this. So I started looking for a curriculum that would do this for me. Adler's book has just moved up several notches on my scale. I feel I have turned a corner and my idea on how my dd's education will proceed has become much clearer. According to Adler, the first stage of reading is Elementary. This is reading for information or pleasure. It is basically the only reading you do until you reach a ninth grade literacy level. Everyone reaches this level at different times, but I know my dd10 reads and comprehends beyond a 9th grade level. So, on to step two - inspectional reading. For some reason I have always skimmed this chapter in previous readings (that and the section on speed reading.) So I somehow missed that there are two components to inspectional reading. The first is how to "skim a book." How to systematically and quickly look over a book, determine its main purpose and merit and make a decision about further reading. I think this is a very important skill that is often overlooked. So we will begin to work on "skimming" not only books, but journals, newspapers and especially websites. But the other half of inspectional reading (something I had completely missed in all other readings) was my lightbulb. Beginning to read books above your reading and comprehension level, this was the step that I was missing between reading for information and analysis of "great books." Up to this point it has always been my goal to find books and curriculum that were "at grade level" or easy to understand or interesting to my student. I think this is the step that is so important to me, that I feel many people never take. Going from reading books at grade level to books above your comprehension level is a big and important step. So Adler suggests that before you begin to analyze these books you first simply get into the habit of reading them. Learn to choose a good book you know will be a great challenge and read it from beginning to end. At first there will be the feelings of frustration that to this time would have had me finding something else for my children. But the whole idea is to work through this frustration and confusion - not find something easier, but rise to the challenge of something harder. I think it makes a lot of sense that the student will gain a sense of accomplishment by simply finishing the books. Before you can analyze what is difficult to understand you have to really know that you CAN read these books, you will not understand everything you read, but you will understand some of what you read and you will grow from these readings. So at the inspectional level you read a book completely through, you think about it a bit and you write a paragraph or two about what you did understand. Do you feel you understood the underlying theme - write a bit about it. Did you pick up on a key term or two - write about them. Before beginning discussion and analysis my dd has to become comfortable with reading books worthy of discussion and analysis. I know I differ from many people on this board in this matter, but I truly feel that learning the skills of reading, writing and speaking well are much more crucial than learning information and these skills are my focus from the grammar stage on. Information is so easy to acquire these days. Anyone with internet service, or a library, or a mailbox can obtain more information in a couple of days than he can assimilate in a lifetime. But if you can't read, write or speak with real understanding what is the use of the information? (Stepping off my soapbox now.) So I am rearranging dd10's schedule for this year. One half of her books will be at her reading and/or grade level. I am going to continue to pull together my own history/literature/geography program from what I have and what interests us. I will be using several books from different sources because it seems to make more sense to me than reading only one book and getting only one viewpoint (although I agree that one book is plenty at the grammar level.) We will use these books for our discussions and work on outlining, essay writing, vocabulary, etc. So all of our discussions and analysis will remain closer to the informational level for another year or two. All of kids are talkers and love to discuss what they read, so I can really take that in any direction I choose. The other half of her books will be readings that I know are well above her reading and comprehension level and have content I consider to be worth understanding. I will begin with short stories, articles, primary documents and move up to longer books. The list will include books on history, science, geography, literature, art, religion, etc. I will try and tie most of them in with our current studies. Her only assignments for these readings will be to read them from the first page to the last and write a couple of paragraphs at the end. Discussion is optional - but always welcome as is any additional writing, research, etc. After a couple of years of this, I think we can comfortably take the next step. We will take her practice of outlining, analyzing, discussing and writing that she had previously done at an informational level and combine it with her readings at a higher level. It makes perfect sense - at least to me! :D This is what I was looking for in our educational plan. I just couldn't seem to put my finger on that next step. This plan will be challenging and exciting to my dd. She loves to read. Yet, knowing that she isn't expected to be able to understand everything she is reading or to analyze or even to discuss the readings will give her the freedom to take that important step without the added pressure of performance. Thanks again to everyone that helped me think this through!

The town I grew up in had a Little Crotch Lake and a Big Crotch Lake. And Big Crotch Lake was right off the main road into town so you had to see the big green sign on a daily basis. I hated it even as a child. I have heard that the lakes have been renamed. :)

Singapore is mastery. The older texts -- Ray's Arithmetic, Primary Mathematics, etc. also use a mastery approach.

TOG is very tempting. LOL It does seem to have the analysis at the logic level that I am looking for. The religion doesn't mesh with what we teach our children, but it does seem to be worth the price simply as a teacher resource. There are so many books to choose from and many would work fine. The teacher notes are extensive and I like the depth of the program. And I really like that you purchase all of the levels at once. I think it actually gets too deep into religion at the rhetoric level to work for us, but I could see the next three years working well. Hmmmm. It would certainly give a very solid base to work from. I thought I printed the three week sample for year two - but it turns out I only printed the first week! :D

TwinMominTX - Thanks for your thoughts! The girls are actually almost nine and eleven. I only consider the oldest to be logic stage and capable of that type of analysis. I guess it seems to me that we could build the framework from the reading itself (and what we have read to this point.) I wonder how much exposure is needed before analysis is begun? Or, I fear I am simply thinking like an adult and not a child? I just can't seem to find that level where she will be challenged but not overwhelmed. She has done the chronological and seems to desire more from her studies but where do you go at that point? Spending another three years doing a chronological study while outlining will probably bore her to tears. Even reading literature and simply answering questions on plot, setting, etc. is starting to lose her. She really isn't feeling challenged. (I am really just thinking aloud at this point - no need to feel you have to respond. :D) I can't seem to find a curriculum that provides the depth of thought or analysis that she seems to desire yet remains at her age level.

Thanks Jessica!! Actually, I hadn't read your second post when I posted my relpy. I do have the Great Ideas Program and the Gateway series which we may get to later. I may have to purchase Teaching the Classics this year. It would probably work really well for the literature plan I am looking for. Will you be posting a review when you finish going through it?

Do you (as in anyone) think it is unproductive to do syntopical reading at a lower level? I'm not talking about "the great books" which would certainly be above my children's reading and comparing level. Is it in some way too difficult for children to read and compare children's books? (I am asking with complete sincerity. I feel like I have no clear idea of what is expected of my oldest as she matures.) For some reason I am having a hard time understanding why it would be less productive to take a time period or literary term and read several books about it to really flush out the differences in how each author approached the same subject rather than simply follow a chronological timeline? It seems that children in the logic stage are capable of analysis and comparison and writing comparison essays with a thesis. They are, aren't they? (If I am wrong here - just say so! I feel so bad for my oldest daughter, always my guinea pig.) Jessica - I love Adler's book and I think his ideas are great! As he claims, he was writing specifically about reading the "great books." I guess what I really want to do is take his ideas and apply them at a lower level. I don't think my kids are ready to address the idea of truth in each book or follow the great thoughts of mankind through the ages. :D But, I would like them to spend their time (once they reach the logic stage) reading and analyzing several books on a topic so that they are prepared to address ideas of truth and enter the "great conversation" when they are older. Does that make any sense?

It seems every history curriculum I look at (including logic and rhetoric levels) is only chronological. Basically read from a spine, read another book or two about the time to flush it out, do a project or writing assignment or discussion, etc. and then move to the next time period. Is there a curriculum that examines several different books from the same time period and provides discussion questions about how/why the writings are similar and different or different books/writings on the same subject from different time periods? I am looking for a curriculum where you read and compare actual books or writings, not one paragraph from this and one paragraph from that. I am looking for discussion questions and writing assignments that analyze a book not just for its time in history, but as it compares to others thoughts and ideas about the same time period. And for literature, it seems that what I have looked at chooses a literary term - read a book and discuss or write about that literary term and then next book, next literary term. Or else a simple chronological survey of American literature or British literature, similar to the history I've looked at. Is there a literature curriculum that focuses on one idea or time period or literary term and reads several books about this idea, time period, literary term and compares the writings? Something that analyzes the books and how/why they are different or the same, etc. And any suggestions for something similar in other subjects? Science, math, art? Thanks!

Laura, If the content is similar, is SYRWTL Latin 3 really necessary after Latin Prep 3? Are the students basically spending a year in review to reinforce the material? Or is most of the book new information? Thanks!

I am using Latin Prep with my dd10 and I do like it. But my dd8 is doing Lively Latin and I am thinking of doing Lively Latin I and II in 3rd and 4th for my next three and then moving into SYRWTL Latin I,II,III in 5th - 7th. I like the layout of information on the left pages and exercises on the right and I'm afraid much of Latin Prep I will have already been covered after Lively Latin II. Does anyone have a preference between the two programs? I know SYRWTL Latin moves faster, but we could spend more than a year on each book if necessary. Any reviews of SYRWTL Latin?

Why the teacher was "let go" would likely have a great deal of influence on which program I chose.

We wash at least two outfits (usually 3+) per day. But it is only the pants/shirts. Most of the year it is only shorts/tank-tops. The kids go barefoot most of the time- or wear boots or watershoes that are hosed afterward and left in the sun to dry. Even if they happen to have sandals or tennis shoes on - I just hose them. We never wear socks and I never wash shoes. Children of all ages are required to strip to their underclothing on the porch/mud room. They go staight to the shower with underclothing still on. I hose all clothing before bringing it in the house (or leave it on the railing outside if it is going to rain.) If we could afford one home improvement, it would be an outdoor privacy shower. :)

Thanks Colleen! She does do dictation once per week with Classical Writing. The only dictations I have ever been consistent with are those in First Language Lessons and the one per week with Classical Writing.

Thank you for all of the responses so far!! Does this seem reasonable per week for a dd 10 (nearing 11) who is a good writer? 1 notebook-like page for history 1 notebook-like page for science 2 outlines for history 1 writing assignment (Classical Writing or Thompson's) 1 narration (or writing assignment) for literature daily copywork (in French or Latin)

How many assignments do you assign each week? And at what age? I am trying to wade through history, science, literature, writing, Latin and French writing assignments. And trying to keep in mind the writing involved in math and language arts. We seem to be heavy on writing assignments this year. So, how many do you assign on a weekly basis?

I have purchased all of our supplies except index cards. I need to stock up on several hundred in different colors. Today is my last day for shopping. Does anyone know of a store with colored index cards on sale? The cheapest I saw yesterday was $1.49 for 100. I though someplace had them on sale for 9 cents a package - but I don't know where? Thanks!