When they have school in the morning (usually six days per week) they are supposed to be in bed at 9 and lights out at 9:30. When there is no school the next day they need to be in bed around 11:00. We stay fairly close to this, except when we have family or friends staying at the house.

We first tried Writing Stands - sold it. Then we tried Classical Writing - sold it (this was the first year it came out.) Then we tried Classical Composition - this worked well but we sold it after finding things we liked better. Then we found Michael Clay Thompson's program - really like this and plan to stick with it. Then we looked over Classical Writing again now that there are multiple levels, student books, teacher's manuals, etc. - really like this and plan to use it to supplement MCT (sold Classical Comp. at this time.) Things I have purchased to read through and decided wouldn't work even before trying to use them: IEW LLATL Write with the Best R&S Grammar and writing Hake Grammar and writing Galore Park grammar and writing (really like and use their foreign language programs) Oak Meadow grammar and writing (really like and use other parts of their curriculum) Sonlight grammar and writing Charlotte Mason plan of narrations into essays without a writing program Bravewriter I'm sure there are others as well. :)

We address the issue of bias by reading multiple books on a subject whenever possible. We do not use an encyclopedia as a reference - assuming it to be less biased or "more accurate" (although we do like to use Wikipedia on occasion as it seems to be a quick source for nearly any topic.) There really can't be an accurate description of history, there will always be multiple viewpoints so we read and discuss the prevailing ideas about a topic from different time periods and form our own viewpoint from what we know. We are continually reshaping our own thoughts as were those who wrote the books. What a particular author wrote at the time a book was published isn't necessarily what he/she continued to think throughout life. I don't think our family addresses history with skepticism (at least I hope not) so much as with fascination and a desire to continue to reform our own ideas. Not all thoughts or ideas are equally valid nor do they deserve equal weight. But, as we continue to read, think, discuss and form our own ideas; it becomes easier to discern the difference between a prevailing idea of the time and an individual's personal bias reflected in their writing. Moving from philosophical to practical :D We do not read the Famous Men series so I cannot address those books particularly. Right now we are covering the time period around Columbus. For spines we have: Foster - World of Columbus and Sons VanLoon - Story of America Hakim - History of US and supplemental: D'Aulaire - Columbus Sis - Follow the Dream Brenner - If you were there in 1492 Fritz - Where do you think you are going, Christopher Columbus? Fritz - Around the World in 100 years Baker - Juan Ponce de Leon Baker - Amerigo Vespucci Guy - Drake and the 16th Century Explorers Hynson - Magellan and the Exploration of South America Teaching Company CDs - Early America Conrad - Pedro's Journal Schein - I Sailed with Columbus Annals of America - Discovery of the New World (written by Columbus) along with anything else I manage to find :) and I am reading: Mann - 1491: New Revelations of the Americas before Columbus Sugden - Sir Francis Drake Boorstin - The Discoverers (maybe) Menzies - 1421: The Year China Discovered America We will discuss what we have read. I will share any information I have read that is above their reading levels (that I found interesting.) And we will begin to form our own ideas of what was going on at the time of Columbus, ideas that will continue to grow and change throughout our lifetimes. Our favorite questions for history are not: Who was.... or What happened when.... They are: Why do you think that? and Where did you read it?

The third grade number line (in the meeting book) runs from 120 through -20. I use the third grade meeting book for Saxon 2 and 3 so I haven't seen the Saxon 2 number line. HTH!

Was it Queen's Language Lessons? http://www.queenhomeschool.com/alphapage/alphaframe.html

Our phrase is a bit longer - Life isn't about fairness. Life is about love, respect and happiness towards ourselves and those we love. My kids will repeat this to each other. It is usually only the little ones that question fairness. I will quickly turn around a - That's not fair. Asking the child if she loves (sibling) and if there is some reason she would be taking away from (said sibling's) happiness or earned priviledge? We would consider a statement of unfairness to be disrespectful to both the sibling and the parent. We would deal with the child's poor attitude, but would never feel a need to address the "fairness" issue at all. We would not punish a child for such a statement, but we would be quick to verbally share our disappointment in and disapproval of such an attitude.

Sagira - Thanks to the links for evolution. Science, Evolution and Creationism looks like it would be a good fit. I am definitely going to check out the PBS videos as well. Jenny - I think Primal Myths will be exactly what I was looking for. Thanks everyone, for the great suggestions so far!

Thanks for the suggestions. I have added In the Beginning to my wishlist. Unfortunately, Born with a Bang looks like it will be too young. (I really like Life Story as well.) We are in the middle of a two year tour through mythology as well. Our focus this year is Norse mythology, but we are also doing a basic sweep of world mythology. We are currently finishing up Greek and Roman mythology and Old Testament stories from last year. I was going to focus only on Norse myths this year, but we have a set of four books by McCaughrean on myths and legends of the world that I really wanted to read (The Golden Hoard, The Silver Treasure, The Bronze Cauldron and the The Crystal Pool.) Then the kids decided they want to read a couple of other books, so we are doing world myths alongside our focus on Norse mythology.

I use Excel spreadsheets. I have a three-ring binder used for only my personal records. I have a one-page sheet for each child that has everything they need to do K-12. Then I have a one-page "schedule" for each subject the child is currently doing. I save the schedules to excel so I can just reprint the schedules as each child gets to that class. So for my dd 8 - I recently reprinted the Saxon 3 schedule. It has every lesson for Saxon 3 and room to record Fast facts scores. There are no dates on the schedules. I just put a check after each lesson as we finish. I can get a quick visual as to how much of the book we have left at any time. She also has a sheet for FLL 3 and a sheet for Lively Latin 1, etc. So I have seven or eight sheets per child during the school year. For each one I just put a check mark or a date when each lesson is completed. When the sheet is complete I file it and pull up the next one. If I am grading the class I have the lessons that get graded in a different color ink (usually red) and I leave a blank to record the score right on the checklist sheet. So a Saxon sheet would look like this Lesson 21 Lesson 22 Lesson 23 Lesson 24 Lesson 25 Test 3: ____ / 20 Lesson 26 Lesson 27 I would leave just enough space before my next row to put a date or a score, etc. My one rule is that everything for a class must fit on one page - front only. So that I can quickly and easily get a "big picture" of where we are and how my child is doing in each subject I have to make the sheets for history, science and literature each year as those change from year to year and I combine two children for these subjects. I'm sure that was all incredibly confusing! :D

Now that we are solidly underway this year, I want to start planning the next year. I am planning to do a year long study of prehistory, evolution and creation myths. Can anyone suggest some non-fiction spines along this line? I am looking for something fairly current and something that supports evolution. I would like something at the logic level or above. I am also looking for good sources for creation myths above the grammar level. We will be doing this class once, possibly twice per week. So some depth, but nothing that can't be covered in 40-60 lessons. Thanks!

If your dd is self-motivated, there is TRISMS. The student has to be willing to put the effort into it, but it is all four years and includes history, literature, writing, humanities and some science. It can be used by the student, quite independently. You would still need to add math, foreign language and I would suggest additional science. http://www.trisms.com

We try and spend $600.00 a month for a family of six. This is up from $400.00 last year, but the kids are getting older and grocery prices are going up. Milk is well over $4.00 a gallon around here. :sad:

We register as homeschoolers. I like to have the public school activities available - sports, music, free college classes. I don't know if those are available once you register with an umbrella school? And I felt reporting attendance would be more annoying than reporting a yearly test score. (I have no justification for this - it just somehow felt more restrictive or intrusive?! :)) I would have tested the kids anyway. I'd go with whatever makes you feel more comfortable.

If it was the sickness and not the curriculum that stalled the year, I would just use last year's plans. If you only made it through 25% - you still have a good portion to do. You have all of the materials and plans. That would give you another four months to continue to get well and you can plan and start a new year in the winter.:)

I know you are frustrated, but I just had to say, that made me laugh out loud. We transition to Thompson's language arts which starts in fourth grade. The fourth grade books are too easy (IMHO) so I will use them along with FLL 4 for the rest of my children. There is a big jump from their 4th grade to their 5th grade books. I really like that I can easily use both programs in 4th and therefore transition easily into MCT which is 4th-9th grade. I plan to be finished with grammar after 9th grade. :)

I consider us year round schoolers, but we take nearly the full month of December off. Like others in Florida, I agree it is too hot and too muggy and it storms nearly every afternoon in the summer. We have found it better to get more schooling done in the summer and enjoy the wonderful weather and winter holidays in December.

The One Small Square series? There are several in the series.

One note - Saxon K is designed to use three lessons a week and not four. They are sort of "blocked" in that fashion. The other day or two in the week are for review and manipulatives to reinforce the lessons. Doing four lessons per week will throw off the rhythm a bit.

Me - bleu cheese DH - Everglades Seasoning - He uses it on everything.

If you just want a timeline and not a notebook -- this is what I use. http://chaos1.hypermart.net/index.htm They are laminated and Rainbow Resource sells them for $11.25 each. (I bought most of mine used. I think I found them on homeschoolclassifieds.com.) I tack the one(s) we are using to the wall. When we are done with that time period, I roll it up, throw on a rubberband and store it until the next time we need it. We use post-its, white board markers and sometimes pictures put on with that tacky stuff that comes off again to add anything that isn't on there. Then I just quickly remove the items and wipe it down before storage.

I am looking for used curriculum websites other than: WTM swap homeschoolclassifieds vegsource thislittlepiggystayshome ebay abebooks alibris I am down to my last piece of curriculum left to purchase (at least for a few weeks.) :) I can't justify purchasing it new and I am tired of checking all these sites twice a day. Are there any others? I have already done a search of the yahoo groups for curriculum sales, as well. Thanks!

We are quite boring. We do all of the textbook and workbook assignments for a unit. Then we do all of the IP assignments for the same unit and then we do all of the CWP assignments for the same unit. Then we move on to the next unit. The only things I schedule out of order are the Review assignments in the textbook, workbook, IP and CWP. I spread them out so that we are doing a review every 3 weeks or so. These are the only thing I grade. I keep the scores to myself at this time - just to see where the kids seem to be.

Thanks! From the website I found a link to a blog, and from the blog I could access the document. I'll try and post it here, in case anyone is interested. http://static.scribd.com/docs/c9k2zf3tmokaq.pdf

My dh is a Bulk Sales Representative for Pepsi. He sells Pepsi products to grocery stores. He also builds the Pepsi displays at the front of the grocery stores and along the endcaps, restocks and cleans the shelves while he is there, and is always pushing for more shelf space and an extra Pepsi cooler on the grocery floor. :D He generally works 65-70 hours per week, so I can stay home with the kids. He is our hero! :)

Sorry if this site has been mentioned recently, but I just stumbled upon it. It makes a nice bookmark. It has well over 1000 authors arranged alphabetically and links to mulitple free literature guides for most authors. http://litplans.com/