Oh do I understand this! Our church search has been discouraging because of all the things you stated above. We want to be discerning about where we worship and mostly who are dc are around as we head into the teen years. I hope God leads you to where He wants you to be.

I was right there a few years ago. For me it was the loss of my babies (7 losses). My faith in God was shaken to the point that I doubted His existence, His love for me. I absolutely could not see why such things would happen when all around me were women not wanting dc/babies. The sorrow I felt and the confusion overwhelmed any other thought/emotion in me. I actually told God to get out of my life, to leave me alone. Thankfully, He didn't. There is so much I want to share about what I went through but I won't...too long to post here and I'm not sure everyone wants to read it. But I will say this - I'm still a work in progress, my heart still hurts greatly from losses that are continuing to happen, yet the one thing that has happened because of all of this is that I realize that what God wants from me is my trust/faith in Him. He wants me to take my sadness, anger and confusion to Him, to not try to hide from Him or run. I picture one of my dc feeling angry or sad and they come to me...that's what God wants me to do with Him. I don't understand everything that happens, I don't ask whether things are caused by God, but I know from what I've gone through that He has worked all things for good...hard to believe when the loss of human life is involved, yet truly that is how it has turned out, and the "good" is that I have found a deeper relationship with the Lord and a fuller understanding that He does care - He cared enough to let me do my thing, work my way through my sorrow, rant and rave against Him, even tell Him to get lost...and when I was done He was still there loving me. I've never felt His caring presence more. The thing that knocked me out of my despair was the line from Facing the Giants: the husband has stayed up all night praying, his wife (who has just been told that her dh is sterile and there won't be a baby) goes to her dh, and he asks her, "If God never gives us a baby, will you still love Him?" My heart broke, I had to face that question myself and I struggled with the answer, yet I know now what my answer is. My heart hurts deeply for you, for your loss. I don't want to preach to you but want you to know that I've been there, have posted something just like yours on another board. I pray that you find healing...I am truly sorry for what you are going through.

This is an openly Christian movie but for our family Facing the Giants was amazing. The dc got the message about not giving up, trusting God, glorifying God even when things are bad. For me the message about fertility and "I will still love Him" was powerful beyond words. I don't buy movies, we don't watch movies regularly, but I bought this one for my dc and they watch it once/month. I was honestly shocked at how well it was done and how awesomely it impacted all of us.

After hours online researching and dowloading excerpts, my dc love the Chalk Dust program! They were laughing at his "down home" phrases (which I often use myself, lol) and said that compared to TT this was "it". Great. Well, at least I'm just starting the upper levels of hsing and hopefully will be able to use this w/all my dc...that might help with the price shock. Isn't it funny how different programs grab different people? The one thing my kids really liked is how they could see a teacher. Only having a piece of paper and text like w/TT on the screen was distracting to them but seeing an actual instructor made all the difference...plus he's just got the neatest approach and voice, very understandable. off to find out how to pay for this now... I so appreciate this board and the time you ladies take to answer curriculum questions. :)

My Saxon 87 and Alg.1/2 material is on the way, yet I just read the thread regarding the upper levels of Saxon and am quite discouraged. I looked at Chalkdust math and about fell over at the prices...no way can I afford that! Then I went to TT and viewed a sample Algebra lesson (multiplying negative/positive #'s) and what struck me immediately is that the students are told the rule, told how to memorize the rule, but not once was the rule explained. By this I mean when 2 negative #'s are multiplied together and result in a positive #, it was not explained why that happens. So just with that one lesson I know that I will have to sit with them, take my own notes and be ready to supplement with my own instruction. Has anyone else using TT found that to be true with other lessons? I'm planning to spend the rest of my day going through as many sample lessons as I can and hope that the others do a better job of explaining "why" and not just "how". Edited to add: OK, just went through about 5 of the sample lessons w/my dc and they hated it...absolutely, completely hated it!!! Back to square one I guess.

Please include the quanity, frequency, sequence, and when you start/stop each. Are you a firm believer in copywork? No Would you do copywork with a dc who is able to write neatly for their age? No (no real reason why, just never did it) How about dictation? Part of spelling program Do you combine spelling and dictation? Dictation included in their spelling program Do you use a spelling program, track words your dc wants to use and is unsure of, or both? Spelling program. If dc finds a word not sure of we look it up together. When do you begin a formal grammar program? 3rd grade Do you use a separate editing program? No When do you start a formal writing program? 4th grade What would be your main LA's goal for each year? K : complete Primer work, beginning manuscript 1st : fine tune phonics if needed (ai/ay, etc.), begin A Reason for Spelling A, fine tune manuscript; no writing except for in spelling book 2nd: move to cursive if ready, otherwise continue manuscript practice, Reason for spelling B, light writing (5-word prompts, etc.), alphabetizing/dictionary skills 3rd: cursive, spelling C, slightly more focused writing, introduce grammar (Easy Grammar) 4th: final year of cursive (found old book out of print that is fabulous!), spelling D, Paragraph Series (love, love this program!); Daily Grams for review, Wordly Wise A,B,C 5th: spelling E; writing is focused on rewrites (taking simple work and making it better), editing, outlining, essays, poetry, types of writing; Rod and Staff grammar 6th: spelling F, more in-depth outlining and reports; grammar review I use the Wordly Wise books for my writing samples: copy a page/paragraph and dc outline/rewrite it. I do grammar focus one year then review the next year; the years we do review are the years I introduce something "new" such as Worldly Wise or Paragraph Series. Don't know if this is what you were looking for! I'm hoping others will post as I'm interested in what I'm missing. :)

Our saying is: Our family works because we work together. Hardly a day goes by that someone doesn't have that said to them. We use "Front and center!!!" too, and 14 feet come running. Works great. ;)

We use A Reason for Spelling and I love, love, love it! The variety of activities is phenomenal and provides great opportunities for proofreading, dictation, etc. I don't read the stories to the dc but they still get a lot out of it. I like that my involvement is minimal; once I give them the word list on Monday then I don't have to do anything until Wednesday. I also love that each book is set up exactly the same so I can have 4 different levels going at the same time.

OK, so the 3rd edition home study packet I have does not correspond AT ALL to the problem sets in the 2nd edition textbooks. So now my ? is do I just look for the 2nd edition tests/answers or invest in the 3rd edition level? I hate it when editions change....grrrrrrr

I have a brand new 87 book but it is the 2nd edition. For those who have used both 2nd and 3rd editions, would I be able to order/use the 3rd edition tests and use it with the book I have? I can make my own tests (that was my favorite class in college: Tests and Evaluation Forms) but would rather not reinvent the wheel if possible, and would rather not buy a new 87 book. Also, I have the 2nd edition of Algebra 1 complete w/2 student texts, a solutions manual and a home study packet. Is the newer edition really different? I hate to buy something if only the cover is changed.

Don't know about your library but ours has Rosetta Stone for free online. Woohoo!!!

I use the A,B,C Code books, then do the McGuffey's Primer. For me I've found no other program that is as effective as McGuffey's. I use Phonics Pathways for word lists that correspond with the sound being learned in McG's. I've had 5dc go through it now and all have learned to both read and spell very well by age 4-5yo. Maybe I like it so much because it is what my mom used for us?

According to the eval instructions if a student scores well on a level then they are ready for that level. Meaning if my dd aced the level 6 eval that means she has mastered level 5 material and is ready for level 6. This is different from the SM evals that are more an exit test. I'll test her on a PreAlg/Alg level and see what happens. Thanks, ladies!

My 9.5yod is finishing SM6B. I'd say she did about A-/B+ work in SM, however I know she is not ready for something like Saxon (or maybe it's me who is not ready for Saxon...dry, dry, dry!). I tested her using Horizons evals as I was thinking about having her go through level 6 (from the scope/sequence I looked at it covers things SM6 did not). She aced the level 6 eval so according to the eval instructions I would put her in level 6, right? For those using level 6 did your dc find it challenging? Was it a good transition from level 6 to preAlgebra/Algebra? My thinking is to also do SM Extra Practice so she doesn't lose the wonderful word problem solving skills she's gained - I love SM!!

I don't come to this site often because I am easily overwhelmed by all the suggestions/curriculum choices (I don't go to conventions for the same reason) but I need some advice. I have been hsing for over 7 years, I am a very involved "teacher" meaning I love to actually teach the lessons for every subject so changing to DVD's is hard to think about. But now I'm getting to the point that I have to start teaching the little ones more in depth and am considerning using some DVD's to help me with my older dc - Saxon DIVE is the first DVD I am considering. I'd love to hear from others especially those w/a # of dc how this worked for you - did your dc stay motivated/focused? Did using the DVD's prove to be a good or bad thing? If there is already a thread for this I'm sorry I didn't find it - if a link is posted I'll go read it. I really appreciate any advice. Karen - mama of going-on-8 dd: 12 ds: 11 dd: 9.5 ds: 8 dd: 5 dd: 3 dd: 1 ??: due in Jan.

I have a 7yos and I can assure you that keeping a journal with complete thoughts would be impossible for him. He's bright but writing is just not his strongest point right now and I am not at all worried because he's only 7, and he's a boy - he'd prefer to be out climbing our tree than writing his thoughts down. :) We'll begin writing next year and use just the most simple things: cue words to make a sentence, etc. Nothing big. I'm sorry you were made to feel like a failure.

We've tried WS (we all hated it), The Paragraph Book series (absolutely loved it!), IEW (after Paragraph Book it was redundant, didn't get past first 6 lessons or so), poetry, and are now using Comprehensive Composition for outlining/paragraph writing. If anyone has a suggestion for a good writing course for middle school years I'd love hear it.

Arizona/Phoenix is a fabulous place to homeschool. I don't know about surrounding areas but Mesa has one of the best homeschool networks I've ever heard of. We are north of Phoenix now but miss the Mesa hs group very much! I think you will be pleased with the laws (none aside from submitting an affidavit of homeschooling) and the support groups.