I only use the IG for history, readers, and read alouds and it has been worth it to me. I paid $60 for it new, but you could probably find it for less on eBay. Sonlight prices usually increase every April when their new catalog comes out, so if you do want to purchase the IG new, now would be the time to do it.

We love SOTW so much, that my son chose to go through the entire series again for 5th-8th grade. We are using it in conjunction with Sonlight Cores 6 and 7 to beef it up. My younger son is on his first go-round, so I just use the activity guide with him. (I conveniently had my children four years apart before I ever heard of classical education) ;)

We have a smallish library system, and more and more I find I am having trouble checking out the history books I want, when i want them, because too many other families are using the same curriculum (SOTW) and are requesting the same books at the same time. Ditto for Sonlight. I went ahead and bought the Sonlight books we needed this year because we kept having to return books before we were finished with them, because someone else had them on hold. So, I find I am purchasing a lot of history and literature books, but I still get science books from the library.

Board games give us common ground with the relatives. Four generations can all play together and it really helps my kids interact with their great-grandparents. Some favorites for larger groups of all ages are Apples to Apples, Catch Phrase, and Pictionary. We also play cards.

My history loving ds10 is in a Living History 4-H club. He gets to hang out with kids who love American history as much as he does. we also participated in a geography co-op this year which both my boys have enjoyed. We took some classes at the zoo. And, ds10 will invite kids over to play a favorite board game (Risk) or computer game. The park districts and museums in our area also have programs specifically for homeschoolers. Those can be great places to meet kids with common interests.

Definitely Patricia Polacco.

There is a thread right now on the Accelerated Learner board about impulse control that might be of help to you. I would post a link to it, but I don't know how. :confused:

With my boys, nothing beats one-on-one time. My oldest is in 4-H, so we work on his projects together. My younger son loves sports and is always looking for someone to play baseball or hockey with him. Both will open up if they are traveling somewhere in the car with just me, or at bedtime. Also, let your child teach you something they enjoy, like how to play chess, or read their favorite book and talk about ti with them. Take time to enter their world.

You all are making me realize I really need to eat out more. :001_smile: All my favorite restaurants are places we have eaten at on vacation, and I don't remember the names. We had some great seafood in Seattle, and some wonderful Mexican food in Cancun. And I loved every restaurant at Disney World because they were amazingly knowledgeable about food allergies and had soy ice cream and rice milk on hand for my son.

Have lived in: Columbus, Coshocton, Oxford, Cincinnati, Middletown, Trenton, Lexington, and Newark, Ohio Raleigh, NC Albuquerque, NM Brazil Would love to move to Seattle or the Netherlands.

My ds10 is in an IEW co-op this year. For quite awhile it was akin to torture for him. Now as the year is ending, he finds that he is naturally including their stylistic techniques in his writing. I just recently stopped requiring him to include everything on the checklist for an assignment. Now that he has had a alot of practice with these stylistic tools, he is developing a sense of when they help his writing and when they are a hindrance. Sometimes adding in everything IEW requires would make his writing seem more forced and artificial - all style and no substance, if that makes sense. So, take the IEW tools and use them as benefits your child. My child is not a natural writer, and initially needed all of the hand-holding IEW provides.

Janice, thank you so much. This is just what I needed to hear right now. I am at a crossroads in my homeschooling. I have reached the point where I need to start teaching myself so I can continue to teach my kids, which is an intimidating prospect. Thank you for giving me the courage to move forward.

Jessie Wise is speaking at the Midwest Homeschool Convention this year. It is March 27-29 in Cincinnati Ohio. http://www.cincinnatihomeschoolconvention.com/

They moved the Indy convention to April this year.

You might like the history kits from Hands and Hearts. They include everything you need, which makes it easier to actually do some hands-on fun activities. :001_smile: http://www.handsandhearts.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=65

What software did you use to create your schedules? Excel?:001_huh:

The God's Design for the Physical World series has a volume on inventors and inventions called "Inventions and Technology". You can see the table of contents at: http://www.rdeducation.com/

Sometimes I am envious of those who are at higher levels than me - which is most everyone. I figure I'll get to be a queen bee eventually, maybe by the time my kids are in college....;)

I was so excited to see a homeschooling mom on Jeopardy. She did us proud! :hurray:

One of the best things that ever happened to me was living in a third world country for a year. I wish every American could have this experience. Most Americans just don't know how very blessed they are.:mad:

Our church even canceled services for tomorrow, as did many others in our area. I don't remember that ever happening before. And my parents can't fly home from vacation. Their flight into Columbus keeps getting canceled.

We also do "school lite" over the summer. My kids lose too much ground in math and phonics (ds6) if we drop those subjects for three months. This school year was so full, that I am considering also doing science this summer to free up our schedule next fall. Beyond that, we are so busy with sports, swim lessons, and 4-H that I don't think we could cover any more subjects and still have downtime.

Maybe you are thinking of the Record of Time book from History Through the Ages? http://www.homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/RecordofTime.htm

Quick tip - you mentioned possibly wanting to add in SOTW. Did you know this is available on cd? You can easily add it in to your week by listening to it in the car. :)

They should be able to read through the volumes of God's Design Science without you. They are written to follow the classical rotation, but you could purchase whichever volumes would be most interesting to your kids. www.rdeducation.com