I think the topics usually come out in January or February. But this is the first year they have offered more than one convention, so maybe they will come out earlier?

I have to second the recommendation for Analytical Grammar. My 8th grader struggled with grammar until we tried Analytical Grammar this year. The whole first season/year is spent learning the parts of speech, parsing sentences, and diagramming. My son says grammar makes sense for the first time ever. AG teaches you a step-by-step process for identifying the parts of speech for each word in the sentence.

My 4th grader is a couple of weeks into Spanish for Children A, and we are very happy with it. I studied French and Portuguese in school. You don't need to have any Spanish background yourself with this curriculum.

Can I just say, in defense of the Deans, that they only started the Midwest Homeschool convention four years ago, and they began in Cincinnati because that is where they live. To be able to add three additional conventions, after only four years, is a tremendous success in my book. I think they chose the locations they did to keep travel manageable for themselves and their staff. Given time, I am sure they would love to expand out west. I don't think there is any west-coast bias intended.

I am a faithful Midwest Homeschool convention attendee, and look forward to seeing you again in Cincinnati in 2011. I already have my hotel reservation. :D I don't know how much control you have over the session topics, but I prefer stand-alone sessions to a four-part series on medieval history. I would love to hear Susan speak about preparing homeschoolers for college.

I feel your pain. I have bronchitis too right now, and I have asthma, which is a bad combination. Yet I have some family members who can't understand why I can't peel myself off the couch and run the kids to soccer practice. :confused:

Ohio U does have an incredible Halloween party every year, but it also has a top-notch journalism school. My hubby is an alum, and he received an excellent education and has been very successful in his field.

My catalog says this is on sale right now, through August 30th, for $34.95.

The Ultimate Guide to Homeschooling Teens by Debra Bell. Very helpful for 6th grade on up.

You can still buy the student pages from Winter Promise, but only for some of the Time Travelers cd's. I think the set includes the pages for the first four cd's, but you should confirm that with WinterPromise. I copied the text below from their web site: Time Travelers Student Pack AC1-802 $59 This 200+ page student pack includes a set of most of the projects in the Time Travelers CDs, copied onto plain paper, acetate, cardstock or other papers. You can print these projects yourself directly from the CD, but this saves you a lot of time, effort and costly supplies. There are about 200 pages worth of activities, card stock models to make, games to assemble and play and more. You’ll need one per student.

:iagree: I heard Susan give this talk in person, and it was very helpful. She talks about the different levels of independence, and how your students will work more independently in some subjects than others.

Thanks for the heads up. I bought some of those cards a few weeks ago, but haven't opened them yet. You are talking about the Oxford Essentials brand, right? I paid more than 25 cents. :glare:

My two sons are 4 1/4 years apart, and I think the biggest factor in their close relationship is not gender, but the fact that we homeschool. They get to spend lots of time together, and they have to learn to get along if they want someone to play with. (They do have lots of friends, but none who live in our neighborhood that they could play with every day.) If we would have sent my oldest to school, he would have been gone all day by the time his little brother was old enough to be a playmate. So I really wouldn't worry about the age gap, or the gender of the baby. :001_smile:

Sounds like lactose intolerance. My oldest had the same thing when he was a baby, but outgrew it around age three. My younger son is allergic to milk and his symptoms were different as an infant. He was fussy, and gassy, and would get hives. He is still allergic to milk.

It looks like the first volume will be geared towards first graders. They mention a 12 volume series for grades 1-12.

Apparently, you are one of the many. :lol: I too need the accountability that structure provides. Thanks to everyone for giving me great ideas for organization in my homeschool. I'm really looking forward to this school year!

For anyone who still wants to purchase paper cd sleeves to attach to folders - Staples has a pack of 50 on sale for $3 this week. You need the coupon from their ad. And, if you are using the colored-paper-as-a-folder idea, their reams of colored paper are on sale for $4. The multipack has five colors, so 100 sheets of each color. Again, you need the coupon from their ad. :001_smile:

Our local schools start on Thursday, the 19th. :confused: We are starting on Monday, the 16th, because starting on a Thursday seems silly to me.

I know what you mean. I couldn't bring myself to rip apart the math and language arts workbooks, but I am creating a filing system for history and science, to organize all the extra stuff that we never seem to get to - lap books, Jim Weiss cds, etc.

We used the lapbook/notebook from Knowledge Box Central last year for General Science. It seemed to really help my son retain the information. I already have the lapbook for Physical Science, and plan to keep using them each year. Usually there is a 50% off sale once a year, and that is when I purchase from them.

Thanks for the tip! I only own three of the cds so far. I'll have to check out the other two on the website.

Here

I do have the packet from WinterPromise. :D I wouldn't do everything in the TT cds. We would pick and choose. Even at that, it does sound like 5 cds is too many. We won't be doing history 5 days a week. Thanks so much for the input.

Good to know. Thanks! Maybe I'll have my 8th grader do some TT with his younger brother.

We don't have any hired help, but if we did, I would hire a cook. I so hate to cook.