There is a listening program that I forget the name of that professional occupational therapists would know about. They use classical music that has loud and soft tones that really make your ears listen hard. It's supposed to stimulate brain activity. As an adult listening to it, it would drive me crazy and make my brain hurt. The child is supposed to listen to it with headphones to cancel out other noises. I liked it that it helped my son without me having to constantly stimulate him during that time. It's very hands off. Beth

Anyone do these with Tapestry of Grace? Beth

We are trying to get our hardwood floor possibilities into a lower cost. We are now looking at floors with a medium dark stain. If you scratch a stained floor, does the scratch show really clearly? I know all those dents and dings are "character", but I'm wondering if the scratch that's the natural wood color shows. Beth

I too have debated the SOTW and TOG thing for my youngest. I even went ahead and bought SOTW and the activity book. But as I went through my bookshelves for year 1, I realized I had almost all the books to make TOG a go for LG ( I like not having to mess with the library). I like all the Bible emphasis in year 1, so I may just go that direction. I have all four years of TOG because for a while they were considering going all digital and I really dislike reading long stuff like that on the computer. As my ds approaches dialectic, it is excellent preparation for "thinking". Some of those questions are HARD! He's going to really have to learn how to think rather that just spit out comprehension questions. One of them for example asks the child to compare and contrast Joshua and Moses. They then are asked to explain how they reflect Jesus and to give Bible verses to back it up. Needless to say, Mr. 6th grader is going to need help with the increase of brain power he's going to have to use. I also had trouble with WA. I had NO IDEA how to teach writing and it just wasn't enough hand holding for me. I like using IEW in those younger years, but for my ds#2, I may go back to WA because I know how to teach writing better and he's done three years of IEW now. I am roughly planning to use the IEW writing skills we've both learned and tweak the WA a bit to fit IEW units.

I bought it and returned it partially based on the jingles (they were wordy) and partially because of the CD. I had trouble just hearing some of the words as they were pronounced for spelling. They do have samples on their website and I very good return policy if you don't like the material. Beth

I've used it with two kids now. They learned to read and were able to read most of the early readers at the library when they were done. It's easy to teach and the lack of "frills" makes it a good program in my opinion. I finished it out with Dr. Suess to get those sight words down (such as "the" "and", those kind of words). I did have a two week trial with 100 easy lessons with dd. She's not ready to learn to read, but as I was going through it, I realized how well Alpha Phonics taught reading. Dd will go through it when she's ready. Beth

Just a caution with Singapore. You may want her to take the placement test. It may wind up that she places too low in the series just because of how different Singapore teaches. I think it would be hard to jump in at the end of Singapore because there is such a specific way it teaches how to do word problems and mental math. So, look at samples and do the placement test. Beth

We have this: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/10196431/ paired with some bins I found on Amazon. Each kid has their own box which holds all their school books. With one child, you could easily put everything you need in those bins. They have ones with 4 bins and some inserts with drawers. I have a bookshelf that has the books for the year and I just transfer the books they need for that week into their bins. It looks nice and doesn't scream homeschoolers live here. Beth

Here's an official answer to all the Saxon math books: http://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/newsletterpage-2010-all.php#0210 Beth

I'm looking for anyone who has a severely physically disabled child 10 and up. Please pm me. We've got some issues over here. Beth

I'm looking for anyone who has a severely physically disabled child 10 and up. Please pm me. We've got some issues over here. Beth

We need to replace our floors to make them more wheelchair friendly. We can "afford" hardwood and are considering it because we want something that will last as long as the house lasts. It will need to be durable and easy to fix since having a wheelchair in your home is like having a bike going through every day. We are open to laminate but its got to last us at least 30 years. We're here to stay. Beth

Even though my oldest ds is not really my oldest mentally, he also just turned 13. I feel old. I also feel like people take me more seriously because now I'm more "experienced" as a mom. Beth

I was told that 8/7 and Algebra 1/2 are almost the same and if a child did well in 8/7 they would move to Algebra, but if they were having trouble, Algebra 1/2 was a stepping stone to Algebra 1. My suggestion would be to talk to Art Reed (http://www.homeschoolwithsaxon.com/) or e-mail him. He's very knowledgeable with the program and is quick to answer. He helped me place my ds into algebra 1/2 appropriately. Saxon 8/7 has daily reinforcement of math facts (warm up exercises) and the pace seems a lot slower. Algebra 1/2 seems to have more "oomph" to it. There are no warm up exercises and the problems they give require decent math computation skills. If I were in your position, I would move onto algebra 1/2 to give him more time to work with the algebraic concepts. If it's any encouragement, the Classical Conversations program goes through 8/7 in 7th and Algebra 1/2 in 8th. But e-mail Art Reed, I think he'll be able to help you figure it out the best Beth

This is why I skip the K book and just start with 1st grade. Children use lowercase letters much more than upper case. Beth

Don't try to correlate TOG with CC memory work. I'll give you an example. In Cycle 2, the memory work spans from 800 AD to 1994. In order to have enough units of TOG to fit into the CC memory work cycle, you would have to own 3 full years of TOG and find the matching weeks. Cycle 1 spans from creation to 1822 - 3 full years of TOG. Cycle 3 spans from 1492 - 2001 - 2 1/2 years of TOG. It's easier to start with TOG and add in CC memory work, but then you can't really be in a community. If you really want to do TOG and CC, the best advice I have is to just enjoy your community and enjoy TOG but don't expect them to match up. Beth

Here is an example: I am co-coordinating CC history sentences with my TOG year 1. I will wind up using 10 out of the 24. I am also combining CC science facts with Apologia Astronomy. I will wind up using sentences from cycle 1 and cycle 2 during the program. I think trying to co-ordinate the two is impossible if you use CC as the base. If you use TOG as the base, it's easier, but you will wind up using sentences from 2-3 cycles to fit into one TOG year. CC goes through history in a MUCH different way than your 4 year cycle. If you just want to join CC for the community and accountability, I found that I spent 20 minutes a day on the memory work and my kids learned it well enough to compete in games. Just don't plan that CC and TOG will match up. You'll give them pegs on the wall so to speak, but you won't have time to explain all those pegs if you also plan to complete a TOG program. Beth

I'll answer my own question - here's my take on Essentials. I think it would compliment TOG - assuming you're on TOG year 1 next year. It gives parents a solid grammar program (assuming you have a good tutor - a bad one would make the whole program only more confusing) and IEW writing which next year is the ancients. It meets in the afternoons which gives you the morning to complete other studies. As far as Foundations, I found a 4 day week very doable for my pre-K and 1st grader. For my 6th grader, he really needed quite a bit extra to make it a full program (science, history readings, Latin program). The 4 day work week was not enough time to really devote to learning what he needed at that level. CC foundations was not enough. I can't imagine adding a foundations/essentials course to the dialectic TOG level without something not being done as well. We will be continuing with CC memory work as it relates to our TOG studies next year. Just for background - we've done 2 years with TOG followed by a year with CC. We are going back to TOG. We won't be joining a CC community. Beth

I'm learning Latin along with my ds with First Form Latin (I have the complete set). It has some great built in review and no fluff. I really like how it teaches Latin. For example, today we had a worksheet using the subject, a verb, and a direct object. There were 12 or so sentences with the same 3 words used in different ways - using plurals, using the two nouns in the direct or subject place, mixing all of that up so that you could really understand what you were doing. It's pure Latin - no Roman history, no little antidotes about a Roman family, pure Latin. I plan to continue with it next year. Beth

I know this has been discussed in various places and formats, but what is your opinion on using both of these programs at the same time. This would involve joining a Classical Conversations group while doing TOG at the same time. would it be too much for 1. Grammar stage students? 2. Dialectic students? Is there anything you have to not do in either program? Do they complement each other or compete with each other? Beth

Homeschool moms as a group tend to be very independent. You have to be to go against the public school flow. I have led some great groups of moms, but there is that aspect that makes you feel like you're herding cats. Beth

Personally, I don't think films like Indoctrination do much good for the general Christian public. It helps homeschool parents feel like they're doing the right thing and sweeps guilt on those who have no choice but public school (ie there are no affordable Christian schools within miles and miles of their homes). Until the church starts offering a real choice - free Christian schools, I don't think much can be done in the larger population. If you can't homeschool or can't afford a Christian school (assuming one is even close), there really is no true "school choice". Beth

There's a great children's museum in St. Paul which is a hop skip and jump away: http://www.mcm.org/ There is also a great park in Bloomington (where the mall is) that's free(?) called chutes and ladders here: http://www.threeriversparks.org/parks/hyland-lake-park.aspx There are a ton of tunnels to climb through and large slides. If it's raining there is this indoor park ($5 or so a kid): http://www.edinboroughpark.com/content/facilities/edinborough_park/adventure_peak/index.htm - it has a huge climbing area, a jump/bounce blow up thing, a pool, and a large gym with scooters and basketballs to play with. Beth

Shirley English? It has you parsing sentences all the time so eventually you would have to get the parts of speech. I've never used it, but there's a definite rhythm to it. Beth

I've noticed the whole "adoption" theme with a lot of fairy tales. I don't stop reading them, but have you noticed how the birth mom was always pretty, sweet, and wonderful, while the step-mother is always mean and horrible? I found myself getting caught up with Tangled also because the woman who was not Rapunzel's real mother was horrible and her birth mom was pretty, sweet, and wonderful (and still alive). Dd didn't at all see that, but I had to alter my speech a bit with that whole thing! Dd has never known another mommy nor does she really understand that there was another mommy right now. All she knows is that, as she puts it, "was in China crying - I want a Mommy, I want a Mommy!" Beth