Well... Honestly your list would overwhelm my DS (who will be a 3rd grader). It would be far more LA's (i.e. composition, grammar, handwriting, spelling) than he could tolerate. He doesn't see the point of LA for LA's sake and fights tooth and nail, but will read or be read to endlessly so we use a lot of books to correspond with SOTW and Science. I also use Sonlight's book lists. Anyway... We will use: Math-CLE300 Science-per WTM guidelines as well as a health unit History-SOTW2 with AG as well as an overview of US History through the Civil War LAs- finish CLE200 and move through CLE300. Narrations and copywork with SOTW. Journaling and summaries per WTM. Latin- Songschool Latin Music- piano lesson, composer studies Art- per WTM guidelines

We had dinner at the inlaws. We live in the same neighborhood and have Sunday dinner together every week. They are wonderful people. I called my mom on Friday because I knew she was going out of town for my sister-in-law's dad's funeral. I'll call her tomorrow afternoon when she gets back home since I couldn't reach her today (She doesn't have a cell phone and didn't know where she would be staying.).

I'm not a local (I'm from Olympia myself) but I know a few years ago you could ride a train from inside the zoo to Washington park playground and back to the zoo again. Made for a fun day. I'll be watching this for other ideas!

:iagree:

I started with the 200 level and one day congruency just popped up in a 'we remember' section... That's the only time I recall wondering where that came from! I just took a few minutes to explain it to DS and we moved on. I really like CLE Math. I think it's gentle and rigorous. DS is doing very well with it. We also use CLE LA. I don't like it as much as I like the Math but I think that has more to do with the topic itself than with the curriculum. DS despises LA so I feel like I'm banging my head against the wall every day.

I'm waiting for the positives to hit. I'm holding on to hope. My kids fight constantly. DS8 complains that DD4 is too much of a distraction because she is breathing. I don't know how he possibly survived PS if one little girl talking to herself in a corner is such a huge distraction that he can't focus, lol.

I forgot... There are pretests in the -01 LU's, but none of the rest of them... Many people just skip the 1st LU altogether as it is all review of the previous level.

Awesome!

We started with CLE Math201 in January and are in 208 right now. There isn't a pretest that allows you to skip ahead. You could take the placement test (available for free online) to see if you could skip levels, but it isn't built into the LU's. You can also do as another poster suggested and go through 2 lessons/day. We do one complete lesson and then with the 2nd lesson go through the new information and pick and choose our way through the rest. DS is rather mathy but he has been able to do this and score 95% or higher on each LU.

Each LU has 17 lessons. Two lesssons include a quiz and one includes a test. That gives you one extra day to review if you have issues or to do the alternative test from the TG. Each light unit would take about 18 days at that rate, and 10 light units would add up to 180 days of school/year. I think the workbooks are divided into 10 because it is a nice even number, and it keeps the LU's small and portable.

I can tell you what DS liked if that will help. I don't remember which specific chapter they applied to but: Black Ships Before Troy by Sutcliff Alexander the Great by Langley Esther's Story by Wolkstein The Flying Horse: The story of Pegasus by Mason (IR) King Midas and the Golden Touch by Craft Dragon Prince by Yep The Empty Pot by Demi (IR) The Great Wall by Mann (and most of her other books too... we just read this one today) The Buddha: the story of Siddhartha by Grubin Tutankhamen's Gift by Sabuda The You Wouldn't Want to Be Series... wherever they applied Any of the DK series are nice for reference and visuals ... as are the Usborne books I'm sure there were more he liked but those I know he enjoyed. I forgot : Rimonah and the Flashing Sword Temple Cat Exodus by Wildsmith Minotaur and the Hero Mr Semolina-Semolinus

He actually helps on every service project, has complete the physical portion of his Eagle project, and has done an incredible job of catching up to where he is considering he joined the Scouts when he had just turned 16... BUT... he has 12 days to turn in his packet, complete the merit badges he is missing (at least one Eagle required), and complete the write-up on his Eagle project. He's had time to do it all but is continuing his pattern of procrastination followed by expecting the adult leaders to jump through their own hineys to help him at the last moment. He's done with this every rank thus far and I just don't think it's going to happen for him on this last rank. Part of me hopes it doesn't because there is a valuable lesson to be learned.

We don't particularly care for the Troop DSS is in and we tried to get him to change to another Troop that we know is diligent, organized, and lives by the oath and the law. DSS only has a few friends and the few he has are in his current Troop so he refused to even look at another troop. He was also intimidated by the idea that he might be forced to do things right in the other Troop, so he decided to stay with the lax Troop. When DS bridges in to Boy Scouts he will be going to the Troop that does things by the rules and holds their boys accountable. We want his Scout experience to be built around the idea of earning rank and badges through personal merit and accomplishment.. and we want him to learn from the experience, not just view it as boxes to check to get some badge or award.

I voted "sometimes.' Sometimes I read them outloud to him and sometimes I make HIM read them outloud to me. He has a problem with following the directions (i.e. it says "circle" and he will underline instead) and I feel like he needs to learn to do it properly (not just get the right answer, but answer in the correct manner).

Thanks for all of the suggestions.

We have started using the listed narratives as copywork and I have him focus on penmanship. I copy the lines into his notebook and have him copy them as neatly as he can. I have him try to summarize books/chapters from our other reading but he is very detailed in his retelling. Generally I don't write them down. I just want to know that he comprehended the story. I know this goes against the whole 'Narration' idea but it has made for much happier school days here.

I bought the Complete Book of US History for a quick review for DS. I haven't used it yet, though, so I don't have an opinion on how it went.

And why? My kids are 4 and 8. We have Mathlinks, a pegboard, and a tanagram set that see regular usage. I was considering Funtastic Frogs for the 4 yo. The 8 yo does well with math with or without them but I thought we could make things a little more fun. Other thoughts?

I voted early 50s but that's assuming I will HS these buggers through high school... Even if I stop before then, I really have no idea where life is taking me right now. I might go back to work in a clinic but I would be more likely to teach at the local Community College.

Best wishes for an uneventful 9 mos!

You know, before I started HS'ing I found it odd that my HS'ing neighbor's son couldn't read at 7 yo... Of course now he's 10 and could read Shakespeare and comprehend it so I guess she knew her child better than I did. Who woulda thunk it?

Someone had mentioned liking these for their Kinder. I looked at them on Amazon and WOW are their a lot of book/card options. Can anyone offer some guidance as far as a good place to start? I was looking at buying the numbers and beginning place values set which includes: 108 small Funtastic Frogs, 10 plastic Logs for Frogs, eight two-sided full-color activity cards (8" x 8"), plus teaching suggestions. I was also considering buying some of the activity books but I wondered what others had tried and liked. Thanks!

We have the Mathlink Blocks from Learning Resources, Playful Patterns from Discovery Toys, and a Peg Board. What are your favorites and why? My kids are 4 (preschool) and 8 (2nd grade) if that makes a difference. Thanks.

A few weeks ago I posted about my stepson and his behavior and issues. I thought it was time I gave you an update in case anyone was wondering how he/we were doing. He is still living here. He is not allowed alone with the other children or the dog. He is seeing a psychiatrist in addition to his counselor. The psychiatrist has not prescribed any medication yet which surprises me but we are trusting his judgement. We have worked with the counselor to set a plan and timeline to address behaviors such as school, job, future plans, and so on. He turns 18 in less than 2 weeks and needs to exhibit certain behaviors by then or we are to start 'cutting him off' systematically. We will see how it goes but I feel better to have a plan, and one that is not generated out of parental emotion. Thanks for all of your input.

I read it cover-to-cover when I was first considering homeschooling and I have reread several section multiple times. I have put post-it note 'flags' on several sections that I refer to regularly and I keep it next to my recliner so I can grab it whenever I get a wild hair.