They have lots of neat free stuff. I've also purchased some Math Mammoth supplements there when I didn't own the entire blue series. I've also purchased homeschooling philosophy books that were on sale, a story about a homeschooled girl, lapbooks to use as supplements etc. etc.

I have no idea, but we are enjoying AAR too, so I'll eavesdrop and bump you :).

I think MOH is your best option for less expensive, ready-to-go biblical integration :). However, it isn't at all like reading TOG's teacher notes. The lessons are only around 600-700 words long (two to three paragraphs) and are not written to an adult, they are written directly to the grades 3-8 student. TOG's teacher notes are...long...and definitely written to the adult/teacher.

Congrats! We are only on level 2, but we've also seen great improvements :). Level 2 is going fast though, so maybe we'll be at the same place you are when DD #1 is 9! Thanks for sharing!!

Well, those are all good choices. I'm about to start Mr. Popper with my five-year-old :). She loved My Father's Dragon (the whole series) and The Boxcar Children too. I would personally wait on Charlotte's Web until 6 (details, details, I know, but if you're trying to pick and choose, there you go!)

Off to look, thanks for the heads up!

I think they are really different balls of wax :). SL comes with ALL the books you need - MFW relies more upon library usage, especially in K. MFW integrates early phonics and early math into their K program - SL's core, not so much, math is totally separate and the little K readers that you can get are just sort of stand alones (for me this is a plus because reading skills often move at a different pace than other things) I haven't used MFW so I don't really have their K booklist, but I sure like SL's selections!

I think they are really different balls of wax :). SL comes with ALL the books you need - MFW relies more upon library usage, especially in K. MFW integrates early phonics and early math into their K program - SL's core, not so much, math is totally separate and the little K readers that you can get are just sort of stand alones (for me this is a plus because reading skills often move at a different pace than other things) I haven't used MFW so I don't really have their K booklist, but I sure like SL's selections!

Does anyone here do this? We have been doing science one day, history the next, but I've noticed that my daughter just really gets going and geared up, then we switch to the next subject when she really wants to keep going. So, I gave her the option to keep doing 1/1 OR to switch to 2/2, or 1 week/1 week OR to try something really radical (;)) and just keep going with our Canada studies until we are done, then do our chemistry until it's done, then our next SL core until it is done etc. Sort of like subject-based unit studies :). The last one is the option she voted for! I talked to DH about it too and he's excited :). Does anyone else do this?

Thanks Merry - I think it will be a blast! Well, that chart is GREAT AngelBee, thanks for linking it, it will be a HUGE help. I might even be able to throw some MOH 3 in there at the end of 1+2 since MOH 2 only goes up to Gutenberg from the looks of it. I totally forget yahoo groups and I seem to have a hard time using the files there - they always have SO much and it is trickily organized a lot of the time! For our Canada studies I'm using Donna Ward's Canada, My Country - beefed up with MOST of her book recommendations and a few others :). I've thrown some Canadian lit into the mix, some Canadian poetry (trying to make it a bit more SL ya know?) It is more of a geography course, but I plan to read through The Story of Canada by Isabel Barclay with my children as well (I traded a local hive mom for it, but it is out of print I think?) Next time through I think we'll use Donna Ward's Courage and Conquest which is more history based, but I wanted to give my children a quick once through for hitting the highlights of Canadian geography/demographics/political structure/famous people etc. :)

Great! Thanks for clarifying.

Thanks! I know Heather sent me her MOH/TOG schedule, so I'll look at this! I am on the MOH groups, but didn't know this was there...bad on me! Heather is so great :). This is a great chart! The weeks are different for 1+2 of course, but I can just line up the CHOW chapters :).

Keeping it super-simple. Finishing AAR Pre-1, seeing if blending has kicked in - if so, on to A Beka's Handbook for Reading and readers. I'd like to start MUS Primer (need to order), lots of read alouds. Tagging along in everything else when she wants to (see signature, she likes narrating better than her older sister). She is pretty much doing her own thing for handwriting - she writes up a storm if I spell words that she asks me for her by sound! I'm just clarifying letter formation for her with AAR. Learning the books of the Bible and trying to sneak in on our other memorization. Speech therapy with mom (articulation delays).

I'm thinking of just doing the audios this fall with our SL 1+2. Linda Hobar did a nice job reading them IMO. If you learn well from audio, they are great. I'm hoping DD will really enjoy them - she learns a LOT from audio. I'm one of those strange people who doesn't learn well from listening, even when I read out loud I miss more of it than I do if I read quietly! What you get with the book are the pre-tests, quizzes, hands-on and extra research activities (might do a few but there are SO many to choose from), additional reading list, instructions for a timeline (we're using a different one), instructions for memory card review (I want to use these), and maps (I think we'll use Map Trek instead, but we'll see). HTH Hunter!

We have just the ancients DVDs. Very funny - the children love them (though I admit, I find them a bit fast!)

Do you mean...downloads? I see her CDs are on sale, but I didn't spot downloads for the Time Travelers. Please clue me in if she is going to do downloads in the near future!

That is a tricky question :). SL cores are updated almost every year, so it depends on both the Core, and the year you have as to what you'll be getting if you buy a used copy. Some years there aren't many changes, other years there are book changes, and yet other years SL does a BIG overhaul of their guides and you get a LOT of changes as to how the IGs are structured and what they include. Let me see if I can find a page for you at the SL website, it basically lists all the changes that have been made to the cores over the years. Personally, I wouldn't buy a core that was more than 10 years old, because there was a major change in the late '90s which gave us the IG types we have now (more or less). This really helped me when I was buying used cores and deciding which editions I was willing to buy :). http://www.sonlight.com/ig-update-chart.html

That is a tricky question :). SL cores are updated almost every year, so it depends on both the Core, and the year you have as to what you'll be getting if you buy a used copy. Some years there aren't many changes, other years there are book changes, and yet other years SL does a BIG overhaul of their guides and you get a LOT of changes as to how the IGs are structured and what they include. Let me see if I can find a page for you at the SL website, it basically lists all the changes that have been made to the cores over the years. Personally, I wouldn't buy a core that was more than 10 years old, because there was a major change in the late '90s which gave us the IG types we have now (more or less). This really helped me when I was buying used cores and deciding which editions I was willing to buy :). http://www.sonlight.com/ig-update-chart.html

I have drooled over HOTA before, but it was TOO expensive - I see it is on sale right now though, so it looks much more doable! Definitely going to talk to DH about this! I am sort of disorganized mentally and I can NEVER figure out the Harmony Fine Arts website. I have looked at it SO many times, but I just can't figure it out. Too complicated for me I guess!

Artistic Pursuits comes to mind, but it isn't super-inexpensive :).

I like how TOG integrates fine arts appreciation in the rhetoric level - art, music etc. BUT, is there something like this for grammar stage students that arranges art/music chronologically? We are doing SL 1+2 this fall and would like to do a bit of a grammar overview of these subjects to go alongside our history studies. Any suggestions?

Only in cores D and up :). In the earlier cores they are independent of the chronology and are chosen based upon reading ability. The early readers are GREAT for developing reading fluency and confidence though, we are doing the grade 3 readers this fall. It is a great progression from the K to the grades 4/5 readers moving from CVC words right on up to chapter books. Then in D and up, they are tied to the chronology and require a competent reader.

I don't have a lot of experience, but ask away. There are quite a few SL moms around here :).

Mine are 8, 5, and 2 (and baby, but she just kind of drools when I read) so they are a bit younger, but you really can't miss My Father's Dragon and the sequels. Farmer Boy - who can resist? Hmm, how about Homer Price!

We started once DD was established fairly well in reading English. So, it was just before she turned 8. We use Prima Latina too and I LOVE that it has memory work built in, makes it easy to memorize prayers in Latin. So, why are we starting early? DD wanted to get going! She is always egging me on to start Greek too...but I want a couple of years of Latin under her belt first, I don't want to get too many new subjects on the go at once! That's one of the reasons we are starting early. I want to ease into our languages, and would love to get Latin, Koine Greek, and biblical Hebrew in, so I have to spread things out. I think if I waited until 12-14 to start all of those, my brain would explode. That Memoria Press article a previous poster linked is a good read too :). PL is actually a bit of grammar review for us too, so it makes grammar seem more useful to my daughter, like - oh hey, there is grammar over here too! She asked for grammar this year too BTW! We're on lesson 6 of PL, doing 1 lesson every 1.25 weeks or so if we stay on course. When we are done, it will be on to LCI, then First Form Latin - thennnn??? Speed through Henle? Greek and Hebrew - don't even ask me yet! ;)