From what I've seen of the Chemistry at this level, everything IS very common - salt, sugar, crackers, flour - things you actually DO have around the house :).

FWIW - Sonlight isn't that expensive :). The IG is only around 10% of the core price, the rest is BOOKS, glorious, wonderful, hold 'em in your hand and love them BOOKS. Ahem. I love books. If you plan on buying SL type books anyway, cores aren't bad. They are certainly more than a reading list or schedule, they're a huge box of books. If you buy used, a big box of books for a pretty good price! TOG overwhelms me, SL is just right for us :). We do narrations, verbal summaries, copywork of narrations and from our books in SL and Apologia.

We too school year round. Sometimes just basics, sometimes the whole enchilada. We are in enchilada mode right now :D! We take breaks whenever we like! To the relatives in the BIG city for two days a couple of times a month. To the far away farm relatives every six months for a few days, when we get sick, when I have an important deadline (or just get distracted!!) When we are butchering a steer, going to town days....you get the idea. Sometimes we school on weekends (gasp), sometimes we take breaks mid-week (gasp). Field trip to the OTHER big city for a few days midweek...taking time off to pack/unpack... We are VERY flexible ;).

:bigear:

:hurray: Thanks!

We are doing Apologia astronomy this year with the LBC guide and book recommendations. The astronomy itself is a bit 'texty' for me, I can't read it forever like a living book (I get bored), but my daughter really likes it. The notebooking journals from Apologia for each course have MANY book recommendations for each chapter, but we don't have that :). I like adding lit to our science and need to keep it on a single subject for a longer length of time. We don't feel jumping around like SL often does leads to great comprehension.

Thanks Amy! That sounds great. I really like somewhat scripted programs actually! What would you say the grammar requirements are to enter their courses at this level? I have a good intuitive knowledge of grammar but I don't know many of the official terms and functions (if that makes sense.)

I think RS4K and Apologia is a good combination. What dd and I have read together in the pre level 1 chem student text is already enriching our Apologia astronomy study!

It says you can use it with students as early as 5th grade, but it does count as 1 year of high school latin. I think it's a bit like Henle-style made easy/updated in terms of the teaching approach. Apparently (if I'm remembering correctly) it covers 1/4 of the Latin grammar. So, moms with no previous Latin experience - you are finding it fairly easy to teach and get into the swing of yourselves?

I took two years of Latin in high school using the Cambridge texts and did quite well (received a Latin Honors Award), but sadly I have forgotten nearly everything. The vocabulary benefits are still in effect, but the grammar is nearly all lost to the dusty halls of memory. I'd like to shake some of that dust off in preparation of teaching my own children. Can anyone speak to the experience of self-educating with First Form Latin from MP? I need something fairly open and go (I do have three littles and a newborn), Wheelocks looks TOO intimidating for me. :tongue_smilie: Latin moms, I'm counting on you to give me the goods. How hard would it be to get restarted with Latin using this program by myself? :bigear: Thanks in advance!

I found it...HERE! :) :party: The WTM For Sale board is awesome. I've also had some very good success at the Want To Buy board too! You do need to do some stalking though...

:iagree: I'm about to send off Paypal for a used copy of Chemistry Pre Level 1. :D My daughter keeps asking me to load up the student text for her to read on the computer, so I knew I had to get her a copy of her own!

We use SL without the LA (or science for that matter) too. I adore it, it makes my life so easy. History, geography, read alouds, and readers all in one package (we aren't doing the Bible this year because we already had something else on the go, but I'd like to do it next year). It is all scheduled for me, and I become paralyzed by overplanning so I love it - it actually gets done! The books lead to great discussions, and I like having some reminders/accountability from my IG for timeline figures and mapping activities. Most importantly, it has added the joy back to our homeschool. I had pared down to basics (reading, copywork, spelling) when we were moving/pregnant etc. and homeschooling just wasn't FUN. Sonlight makes it fun :). Many people claim it costs a lot, but it doesn't. The IG is a small portion of the price, the rest is BOOKS. Glorious, wonderful BOOKS. That you get to keep. I love books :). Well worth it to us.

Thanks for the suggestion Crystal. We are in Alberta, but we aren't big convention folks - there is a BIG one in Red Deer (around 5 hours away), but we've never even been to that! I'm not in a big rush, I'm set for the next school year, but I'm casting my net around for long-term solutions :).

We are both very, very weird in terms of the status quo here in North America, but we both feel pretty normal. LOL! I guess we don't go out of our way to be strange, eccentric, or odd, but we are, no avoiding it.

What everyone seems to forget about SL is that the teaching guide isn't so expensive, it's that you are buying a huge box of beautiful, wonderful BOOKS that you get to keep. Sonlight...it's for bibliophiles ;). I love it.

I have my own hosted wordpress, but it isn't strictly homeschooling :), it's...very eclectic!

I'm a keeper, but I'm also not someone who needs the latest edition of anything. I won't buy a super-old edition used, but anything in the past 5 years is generally good for me. If I like it, I'm keeping it, it goes with the books I have, so I'll just use it as-is with my upcoming kiddos. Now if I KNOW that *I* can't make something work, I get rid of it (like Phonics Road), but I keep most everything else even if we didn't finish it, in case I need it for a younger child.

Well, SL definitely isn't broken for us, we love it. I just keep getting that niggling 'maybe the biblical integration is so much better' feeling, but I don't know. This IS what leads to curric. hopping for sure! :O I think sticking with SL is safest because it's a known commodity, KWIM? I KNOW it works. I love using a book basket for my youngers with SL idea, thanks for that! I just need to get my books better organized so I can actually FIND that Martin Luther pic book when I need it without a 20 minute hunt, LOL! I am planning on running two cores max as my dc become older, both on the same topic, like core 1+2 with core alt 7 for example so my brain doesn't need to do SO many gymnastics!

We currently use SL. SL is very much my teaching style, I love reading, I love books. I love the easy to use grid that keeps me on track with reading the more non-fiction type books with lots of pictures that I'm not TOO keen on reading out loud. I like that science isn't on the schedule (heehee.) But, I keep looking at MFW. Here's why - better for multiple ages, better bible history/geography integration. Downsides - 2 years of modern/US-ish history in the 5 yr cycle. We are Canadians and need to break out for Canada studies every now and then. Doesn't look like ENOUGH books (I know the whole book basket idea, but i like that SL schedules the lit, I am BAD at planning, and we have a poor library.) I'm also not sure the schedule layout will work for me, but it's hard to say until I try it. Includes science on the schedule - could be good, could be bad...is it still do-able if you swap out the science? Anyway, my plan right now is lots of SL - mostly condensed cores to make room for Canada studies in 'off' years. Then in HS do MFW Ancients and World programs to get that great biblical integration at an age when the dc can really dig in, then SL modern history (300?), then Canadian civics/govt/modern history to wrap up with. But...even though I love SL I wonder if I'm missing out on MFW? I've heard all the pros, can you let me know if you are someone it didn't work for, and if so, why? Thanks for reading!

Okay, to be fair he cooks a lot, washes dishes, and does most of the discipline. Sometimes he reads stories to my mittles (middle aged children). We're both home with the family, so our set up is a bit different :).

Ummm, nothing. :P

Sonlight! Everything we have right now is working, and I would recommend more or less depending on the product (we like MUS too, DD says Steve Demme is a genius), but Sonlight is me. I love to read so it makes my heart sing :). We're doing Core K right now, amd I was just playing with my 1+2 binder this morning :D!

I rarely sell anything because I'm afraid that ...might just happen! I actually had my core K IG for sale at a local homeschool consignment shop. THANKFULLY it didn't sell and I got it back. We're now doing core K, love it, and I bought a used 1+2, can't wait to do it!

Our local library is...bleh. Small-town-rural-Alberta, there are only 3,000 people in our county in total!