You're not the only one who has hit that wall! 100 EL used to be the newest and greatest thing out there but there are a number of other programs out there now that people seem to prefer. I think OPGTR could be a great next step to continue phonics instruction if he doesn't mind continuing on with something scripted (the one dc I used this with balked at that a bit). I have no idea of where to tell you to start, though. Maybe a bit of trial and error? With a couple of my dc after 100 EL they did Horizons K Phonics and Reading: http://www.aophomeschooling.com/horizons/grade-k/phonics-and-reading/ It was colorful and fun and did the job well if you think your ds might prefer a bigger change. It might be a bit too much writing for a 5yo, though. Another option that my last ds did quite well with (he was one that picked up reading easily, too) was to use Explode the Code workbooks along side of Pathway Readers. The first ETC workbook may be too easy for our ds now, but it could be a good review to build on. This option is pretty inexpensive! I'm sure there are other options as well but if you already own OPGTR I would go with that first!

CM is my favorite but I need WTM ideas to keep me more organized!!! So a bit of both, really. But a bit heavier on the CM side.

I lived in Fiji for 13 years and overlapped with Deb in NZ. And now I live in India. What Deb said is spot on. I'm sure they would be very pleased to receive something baked or veg. for you. Personally I would go with baked because I would feel more confident of giving them something they liked that way! Cooking Indian veg. for an Indian kind of scares me! :001_smile: As far as their traditions it will depend on their religion.

I think most 4th graders would find SL readers more interesting. But if you think your dd needs the extra stuff from the Pathway readers go ahead. I used Pathway readers to teach my ds to read (they were great for that!) and he enjoyed the stories. We never read them to level 4 however. I would suspect that if you use the SL IG and have your dd discuss the books she's reading with you, that she would actually learn as much with SL.

Of my 4 kids that I taught to read the BEST experience was with the last. I used ETC with Pathway Readers and added copywork from the readers now and then. Wished I had done that with all of them!!!!!

These are lovely!

Is it really, though? I'm no scientist but just googled 'how do they know that carbon dating is accurate' and found some interesting stuff both pro and con.

Yes, I've always thought the Job reference is an interesting creature, for sure, whatever it was. Who knows?! Does sound a bit like a dinosaur. The Job 41 description is about a creature that has smoke and flame coming out of its mouth! Could be just figurative speech but I've always thought that would be quite cool! And you're right. Job would be after the flood. I think around the time of the patriarchs but after the flood. I think I've always assumed that if dinosaurs made it to the flood that they were too big to get on the ark! :001_smile: The references to creatures that don't exist to day are pretty ancient, though, and not in the time of Jesus as far as I know.

I've got to say that I have really enjoyed parts of this thread! Love to hear different viewpoints. The Jesus on a dinosaur picture is a bit, well, bizarre to me. This is the first that I've heard of any YE people (I am one) considering that dinosaurs made it past the flood if they even existed until then. I've never heard that before!!!!!

I just googled 'scientific facts that have been disproved' and found an interesting array of them that were once widely believed! I think as another poster pointed out, our ancestors were rational people, too, yet they believed the science of their time even though modern science would say that it was based on theory not fact. I think we could safely say that some of modern Science is based on theories that scientists are still trying to prove, too---yet many believe them! That's why while I appreciate modern science, I consider it all to be a bit fluid. After all I grew up being told dinosaurs were reptiles covered with scales, and now they're birdlike with feathers? I still haven't gotten over Pluto not being a planet anymore! A reptile that could generate fire isn't too far of a stretch of the imagination really.......! Whatever, some amazing creatures did roam the earth at some point. The ones that are left are pretty amazing, too. P.S. I tend towards YE and am not ashamed! :001_smile:

Winter Promise does for MOH 1 in their Ancients program. Haven't used it myself, though.

Hugs!!! Not knowing is not easy.

Janie Grace, how are his fine motor skills? Can he 'walk' up and down a pencil to adjust his grip or does he have to use his other hand to help? Does he write from his lower arm and move his wrist easily or does he kind of write from his shoulder? The above (plus other things) can be signs of Dyspraxia. My ds has this. I had NO idea because I was more focused on his Dyslexia until he was 11 and found out when we had him tested other than being aware that his handwriting was really messy and difficult for him. Hopefully it's just his grip as others have mentioned, but if it doesn't improve it might give you an idea where to start looking so you know how to help him. :001_smile:

Although I've never used it Winter Promise does for Ancients: http://www.winterpromise.net/product_info.php?cPath=21_38&products_id=693 If you join the MOH Yahoo group there are schedules posted with MOH and other books. Some of these schedules have to do with scheduling MOH with Sonlight instead of Child's History of the World, etc. Or you could look at a lot of different curriculum of living type books to get an idea of what books are available for the period of history that you want to cover and schedule it with MOH yourself. Curious to see if others know of a curriculum that totally fits what you want!

I really appreciate all the feedback! I am so thankful for this forum so I can have a relatively good idea of what I'm getting before I get it because I usually have to stick with it regardless because of postage, etc. I didn't want to make my first post too overwhelming to read but the reason this is so important to me is that I haven't been homeschooling for the last 2 years since we came here. Our work in India is with women so I need to be involved, too. For a number of reasons, however, over the next couple of years we will have to spend chunks of time in New Zealand (dh's home country) and I will get to homeschool my youngest again through the changes. I am so excited! Dh and I are just noticing that since our youngest hasn't had as much homeschooling as the older kids, that even though we do daily family devos that he doesn't have the same foundation in the faith for his age that the others did. I see these next 2 years as my window to change that and am trying to plan it very intentionally. So far for the first year I plan to have him do some daily Bible reading on his own as well as scripture memory. We'll be using Victory Journey Through the Bible to go along with our study of ancient history. We'll use Apologia Elementary Science (I've used it before). He's very bright and, for example, before we stopped homeschooling when he was six he wasn't overly impressed with Leading Little Ones to God because he kept informing me that he already 'knew all that stuff'. I guess I'm looking for something that he will like that will yet again reinforce the basics with him and challenge him to think a bit while being interactive with me about it. While the story part is a bit silly to me in the chapter I can see online of this book I do like the content of the rest of the chapter but it's hard to say that it's exactly what I want without seeing the rest of the book. I'm open to other suggestions as well! I do like the looks of the Herein is Love children's commentaries but people seem to say their heavily Reformed and that's not the only slant I want to present to my ds. Thanks!!!

Are you talking about the audio stories Adventures in Odyssey or something else?

Thanks so much, ladies!!! Gives me some good food for thought.

Thank you!!! I'm looking for 'amazing' so sounds good. :001_smile:

Thanks!!! I'm mainly thinking for my almost 9 year-old. Too much for him? What age is your dd?

Anyone?

I've looked at this online and it looks great. It's a pretty big, heavy book, though, and since we live overseas and would have to carry this back and forth a bit, I need to know just how good this is/isn't! :001_smile: For those of you who have used it: is it worth hauling around or should I go with something lighter to carry? Thanks!

Oh, good site! I haven't used this yet but have friends who like it: http://www.amazon.com/Story-Starters-Helping-Children-Written/dp/188920904X/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1316753300&sr=8-6

I would agree that Sonlight does a pretty good job of what you're asking for. And where it doesn't (and in any curricula unless it's constantly slanted) you have the perfect opportunity to have good conversations with your children!

These are GREAT! Thank you so much!!!

http://ia600309.us.archive.org/29/items/introductoryles03maxwgoog/introductoryles03maxwgoog.pdf Lower Elementary http://ia700301.us.archive.org/0/items/introductoryles00maxwgoog/introductoryles00maxwgoog.pdf Intermediate I hope these will work! nansk explained earlier today (thank you!) on a thread of mine about Wheelers Elementary Spelling a different way to do it----and it seems to work even for us internationals!!!!!