Thanks so much! We are moving through the BF Guide at my leisurely pace over the summer so I think I will take a break at some point and try the TOG online sample. (http://www.tapestryofgrace.com/sample/newworld/start.htm) I definitely need a program that can be reused and spans multiple age groups. I plan to keep my younger ones together curriculum-wise for History & Science. It's my oldest one that throws me for a loop! Its not as easy to keep a upcoming 9th grader together with a 1st/2nd grader. (I have an 8 year span between my first 2 children) MOH *can* do this, but I definitely need more help from the teacher's end for the upper levels. Up to this point MOH has just been primarily a spine or reader for my oldest one. With all my good intentions, I never seemed to get around to planning it all out the way I would like to (timeline, activities, mapping, etc...). :blush: She has really enjoyed reading them though! Maybe the sample will give me confidence to "take the plunge."

I am right there with you!!! I am so intrigued by this but it seems like a HUGE learning curve. So is TOG best for upper elementary and over?? We are using the BF Early American primary guide for my 1st grader and he seems to like it a lot. (Along with with a bunch of library books/dvds) We have MOH 1-3 also. How do these compare??

Not sure about the specific legalities in your state but my son has a Dec. birthday. We started him at 4 almost 5 in October (due to a move) with just basics - math and phonics. We were using Horizons K math and P.Pathways. Due to his age we just sort of moved along slowly adding add'l things along the way. We school year round, with a lighter summer schedule so that provided a little extra time and consistency. (which has proved good for him esp. in the math area!) He seemed to do well b/c I wasn't particularly pressured to get a whole comprehensive program done. And he moved fairly easily into 1st grade material. My older daughter is the opposite because she was in a private school for K-3. With a Nov birthday we had to stick to the Sept cutoff in our state. She will be 15 this Nov entering 9th gr. With all that said, it seems as though your son's readiness is the biggest factor! I am planning to start each of mine on a case-by-case basis.:001_smile:

:iagree: And maybe Popular Mechanics for kids DVDs Drive thru History-suited for older ones (We find lots of great DVDs at our library.) For CDs SOTW on CD if you haven't read thru them Twin Sister Productions Beethoven's Wig series

this is awesome! we are just getting ready to study jamestown and hopefully visit next month. thanks for sharing :o)

Just as I suspected! I am probably the problem :D I have really liked Horizons so far too! He brightens up when go "beyond the worksheet" and pull out legos to explain something or walk around the table to discuss perimeters. I'm just not all that creative - maybe I should just get the TM for the lesson ideas?? It is encouraging to know that some of the concepts aren't supposed to be *mastered* necessarily. Sue - thanks for the reminder about Cathy Duffy's learning styles. I'm reserving the book from the library now!

I am experiencing this math thing for the first time with my 1st grader and I have been searching the board for pro's/con's of the different methods. My 14yo, who began HSing in 4th grade, is not so mathy and has used Saxon (tears), Abeka (not as bad for her) and LOF (yay she is liking math!). I am now finding myself drawn to a more conceptual sort of program esp for my younger ones but I honestly can't afford a lot of trial and error. This is our situation...I am working through the Horizons 1st grade book with my son who seems to be a mathy sort of kid. (we did the K book also) He has learned so much and done pretty well so far. The problem I am beginning to see is that he seems really reliant on the number line for addition/subtraction. He also doesn't have some of the more difficult skip-counting down. He can do 2, 5, and 10, but not 3, 4, 6, etc. Is this the sort of thing that just has to be memorized??? Does a more conceptual program help in these areas? I don't use a TG, could that be the problem? Oh, and as of now math is a very "ugh" subject that is very "let's just get the workbook page done." I just feel like it could be so much more interesting for him!! (and pleasant for me ;)) I am so confused especially with all the supplementing of curriculum. Horizons seems to be ok for him in general, but I have no idea what I would supplement with? Or even switch to altogether. Horizons, Singapore, Math Mammoth, Right Start, combo, agggggghhhh.....what to do?????

May be a little *elementary* but I came across this for my 14 yo who wants to learn guitar. I find sometimes I learn better from things for younger kids b/c they really assume you know nothing...which is the category I usually fall in. :o) http://www.amazon.com/eMedia-EG12095-My-Guitar/dp/B000V7RIJ8/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&s=software&qid=1273617104&sr=1-10

Have you considered the Life of Fred series? My daughter is "not a math person" but she really enjoys this series. http://www.stanleyschmidt.com/FredGauss/index2.html

We were going to use this for 8th. I have it but haven't really had much time to look closely at it. :blushing: http://www.amazon.com/Skills-Literary-Analysis-Encouraging-Thoughtful/dp/0805458964

Thanks for the encouragement! I think my 8th grader will love it so I may plan to have my 1st grader listen while I read aloud. We will definitely use resources from the library for each of them. They can work on the timeline together (the older can lead - nice bonding time ;)) And do individual activities at grade level. I really do think my younger will pick up a fair amount of "exposure" this way. As bosket2 mentioned, I don't want to have them doing to different History era's & my oldest really needs US History.

:iagree: This is almost exactly what we did with our son. Tried Horizons Phonics but he wasn't ready for all the writing. I had a friend recommend having the spine cut off the PP book and have it spiral bound just to make it easier to work on one page at a time without the other page being a distraction. He used the Leap Frog movie to learn the letter sounds from about age 3+. When we began PP he had those down so we went straight to blends. He liked the Train Game (it didn't hurt that he was really into trains at the time!) I had copies of the pages (18 & 253) laminated at the same time we had the spiral binding done and it all cost about ummm...$5 or so at the local office supply store. That was the only game we used though. Taking one page at a time seemed to really give him confidence!

Thanks for your reply! I was happy to find out that our library owns this USkids series! Looks like a really good resource to use with both levels. I know it will be a challenge but I really want to bring them together on as many subjects as I can.

We are getting ready to go through the Trail Guide to World Geog. I'm using it for just the "trails" and maybe the literature portion at the end (for fun!). Using with my 8th grader and 1st grader...

Thanks so much for your reply! Despite our 5 years of homeschooling (and trying just about everything out there) I am still not very familiar with Sonlight. I don't know why...my oldest loves "living" books, so it would seem like a natural fit. I'll have to take a closer look!

Hello, I'm new on this site and thought this would be the perfect place to ask for advice on a good (budget-friendly) US History spine for my 8th grader that I can also use for my 1st grader. I've only come up with All American History. Has anyone else used this? How did it work for you? Pros/Cons? Thanks so much!