I feel blessed today b/c yesterday I had a wonderful birthday. A friend from dd's basketball team (coach's daughter) invited dd over to swim. Well, when we got there her mom asked us all to stay. :D So, I had great adult conversation, got to take a dip in the beautiful pool, the kids all got along :001_huh: and when we got back home, dh had hotdogs and hamburgers already grilled, w/ corn on the cob and chips. So, yesterday was a great day. Today, I feel blessed that I have a great neighbor who just brought us homemade banana-nut muffins! Yum!

My .02? First, I don't think there is too major a difference btwn LA Spanish and Castilian. A bit of an accent difference and the pronunciation of some of the words are a bit different but not much. Personally, since I spent some time in Sevilla, Spain, I LOVE the Castillian accent! :D That's just me. As for Spanish vs. French? I chose Spanish only b/c I knew it. AND dd11 wanted to study it. There are probably a lot more Spanish speakers in the US today than French, but if you live close enough to Canada, perhaps French would be better? Not sure. We also have a bit Latin American contingent to our church so Spanish suits us better. And since I'm the primary teacher here...Spanish it is! Dh knows French, but he didn't complain when I chose Spanish. I like the Auralog Tell Me More b/c it was more cost effective...4 years of material and since I bought via the Buyer's Co-op...it was a better deal than RS. HTH

That's all you do! I waited for about 15 min. and got my cartridge back good as new. :D

I don't know who hasn't had to cut back in some area or another. We've had to cut back and then cut back some more. I still have curriculum to buy and might have to start asking relatives for help (ex/ my FIL who support us 100%). I hate to do that, but it's the last few pieces of this year's curriculum. As for the charter school...you will be fine! You are doing what is best at this time. We did a charter for 2 years and while I did not like the "hoops" either, I'd do it again if finances dictated it. K12 is an AWESOME curriculum! We didn't like the secular emphasis on History and Science, but what can you do? We supplemented it w/ some more Christian resources. Whatever works, right? Good luck!

Do you have a Walgreens nearby? They refill black cartridges for $10 and do a good job. Color for $15.

Where did you buy your strips and do they work just as well as the AAS ones? $5 is kind of expensive for magnetic strips from AAS but the site says they are specially made so they don't hold on quite as tight so dc can move the letters around better?

I just noticed the OP's daughter's age. 5yo is a bit young to have such an obcession w/ HM. My dd is 11yo and loves HM. We don't have cable so she doesn't watch the show anymore. She does like her CD's and we get them from the library frequently. But, yes, 5yo is young...sorry I missed the age before I asked my orig. question! :)

Why don't you like HM? Just curious. :D

Just to clarify...God's Design is in black and white. Apologia is in color.

Well, you all have just made my day! Thank you so much for all your well-wishes on my birthday! Wow...I'm so blessed to have so many good friends. Thank you. :D

If you don't do any science in first grade, he will not suffer, IMO. My first grader (last year) was not interested in joining us in any of our science studies. We got the basics done (barely!) and called it a day with him. This year, he will hopefully be more interested in our studies. Maybe. Your ideas is a good one. Get some library books out and do some experiments. Janice VanCLeave has a great series of books with experiments for each science discipline. Or, you could do Apol. Astron....slowly. I've heard it is geared toward 2nd grade - like 6th. You could also join the Apologia Science Yahoo group and ask there. Jeannie, herself, often chimes in w/ her .02! What better than to hear from the author herself! The Yahoo Group is called Elem_Apologia_Science.

My advice? If he knows a lot about habitats already...skip it. Or, just do selected lessons that interest him? We are doing ECC this year (have not started yet) and are also doing CKE Earth and Space. My kids did a little habitat study last year so we're only doing selected activities in ECC Science. You could get the One Small Square series of books. Those are neat. What we did last year was to have each dc choose a habitat and read all about it. THey then wrote a little report about each and made a diorama of sorts. It was fun. But, really, if he knows a lot about habitats...you could easily skip it.

Emily, we used GD for Life series this past year. We didn't finish all 3 books, but most of each. I think it was a bit dry. My kids liked it enough (well, a little!) but I did feel it was a bit dry. The pages are black and white. Not that it is a big deal, but thought I'd point that out. There were some experiments and activities, but not enough for my sciency kids. Also, I think GD would be over the heads of the younger kids (first graders). We have Apologia Zoo 1 and really like the looks of it. It is color (a plus) and written less like a text book than God's Design. That being said, GD is a good curriculum. If I had to choose btwn. Apologia and GD...I would probably choose Apol. Just my opinion.

God's Design, while a good and comprehensive curriculum, is very dry, IMO. For a first grader, I would definitely go with Apologia Elementary series. Big differences are: black/white text (GD) vs. color test (Apol.), entire year on one subject (Apol) vs. several subjects per year (GD). We did God's Design for Life last year (well, part of it). Each book, if I remember, was like a 20 wk study. I forget exactly how long, but not as long as Apologia. Another curriculum to try (if you don't want to spend one year on one subject) is the Christian Kids Explore series. Might be a bit over the head of a first grader. I would hold off, personally. Even Apologia might be over his head unless he is advanced. I, personally, would hold off until 2nd grader. I've heard the Astronomy series is the easier of the 5 that are out now.

Well, I agree w/ what everyone else has said so far. I was pregnant this past year...baby born on May 11. My pregnancy was uneventful, but the last 6-8 wks were sheer h*ll for me. I couldn't concentrate on anything except having a baby. We dropped all "extra" subjects and just did the basics. I was amazed at what my kids learned in spite of not having those subjects (history, science, art, etc.). Yours are so young so even if you do "just the basics" all year they won't suffer. You could easily get school done by noon or 1pm (depending on when you start) and have the afternoon for ind. act. for the dc and a mandatory quiet time (read: NAP for Mom!). You can do it!

Do you mean Answers In Genesis? The God's Design series?

This is me...totally. I get so overwhelmed just thinking about certain tasks(mainly organizational tasks) that I just shut down. I can't even start b/c I don't know where or even how. :confused: I did tackle ds8/10's room today. They were a big help. We decluttered, trashed a lot of stuff, put stuff in give-away boxes, etc. Tomorrow we tackle their bookshelf which has lots of junk on it...but no books. :glare: I'm thinkin I might have to confiscate the bookshelf for our schoolroom and give them a smaller one. It's obvious they don't need all those shelves for books. :glare:

We get our cartridges refilled at Walgreens now. $10 for black and $15 for color. They will refill most standard cartridges. Every once in a while they will have a 1/2 off or 25% off coupon in their weekly flyer. If that happens to coincide to when you need a refill...it is a great price! They do a good job. We've saved quite a bit since doing this.

I have the same challenges w/ my ds5. He does NOT take correction very gracefully. He's been known to say things much like your ds6. It makes my blood boil. My only suggestion (b/c I'm so not qualified to give advice in the parenting dept.) would be to have your dh have a talk w/ him man to man. Something along the lines of "You will NOT talk to MY wife that way". Coming from you dh it might carry more weight. Around here, ds5 talks to dh that way as well and since you didn't want any "spanking advice", I won't tell you what dh does when ds5 starts mouthing off like that. :D I do believe there are other ways to handle this, but for my ds5...it is almost like he is "asking" for that swat across the bottom...then he calms down. I think you are doing the best thing right now, though...remaining calm and in control when he talks to you like that. Me? I tend to get so angry that I just yell or send the little blessing to his room...indefinitely! You are ahead of the game. We have gone as far as removing the privilege of speaking from a dc when they persist in talking nasty like that. Sort of like if you don't have something nice to say...don't speak at all?

Well, first of all...welcome to the board! I will try to answer some of your questions and give my .02. I'm not that familiar w/ TOG...just enough to know it intimidates me. :D This year is our first w/ MFW and we are using ECC and the K program w/ my ds5 and dd3 (she's just along for the ride). If you plan to do MFW and stick w/ it, the plan is laid out rather nicely and isn't too much different from the SWB's recommended history rotation (if you've read the WTM). Personally, and this is just my opinion, I wouldn't start CtG w/ a first grader. The MFW 1st grade program is such a wonderful program that I would start there. Then, MFW recommends Adventures, ECC and then the 4 yr. rotation of CtG, RtR, Exp1850 and 1850Mod. Adventures, too, is a neat program to introduce a youngster to American History. I'm bummed we won't ever do it, b/c my youngers will all just be "folded in" to the 4yr. rotation w/ my older children. I wouldn't skip ECC even if your dc has a good geography base. It is so much more than just geography. There is a missionary study for each country studies that really opens a child's eyes to God's work around the world. I love how MFW ties that all together. So, it's not just about learning where Africa is, but about how God is working in Africa as well, see? That's just my .02 and you'll get lots more opinions. We're all really good at that here. :D Your dc is young. If you really want to start w/ Ancients NOW, I would recommend MOH. We did that this past year and it was fun. I think it would be more appropriate for a 6yo than the recommended titles in MFW CtG (recommended for 3rd grade -8th). Good luck choosing! Many here love TOG.

:grouphug: Colleen. I'm so sorry you have to go through this. My prayers are with you and your dad.

This is perfect! Thanks for sharing.

It's not just 12yo boys. It's 7yo boys, 8yo boys, 10yo boys, etc. None of my boys (except the 5yo) bathe voluntarily. I'm lucky if I can get them to bathe once a week (Saturday so they'll be clean for Sunday church). Occasionally my 10yo will ask to take a shower (well, duh...please, by all means, take a shower!). The others...forget it. It's a boy thing.

To my ds's room, that is! This last week before we start back to school for real ( Aug. 4), I am, with the help of the kids :001_huh:, going to tackle a room a day and get it organized. :lol: I laugh b/c I always have such lofty plans and after about 1/2 day those lofty plans crash and burn. :glare: Well, keep me accountable. I'm going in to ds8/10's room today and will.get.it.organized. Tomorrow...the "spare" room that holds most of our books, supplies, the piano, baby toys, etc. Must.get.organized. Okay, that is all. Carry on. :D

Thank you for the updates. I've been praying so hard for this little girl and her family. God is AWESOME! What wonderful news that she is home and well. Thank you, God!