Sorry, but that just made me :lol:! Probably b/c I will likely face this next week when my younger 5 start school. :glare:

Congrats! We finished our first day as well...my 2 high schoolers anyway. I start them a week ahead of the others. Smoother transition for me.:001_smile: All in all...it was a pretty GOOD day.

Thanks, Donna. I am hoping AAH will work since I have absolutely NO MORE $ in my homeschool budget, lol! Some things just HAVE to work. ;)

We are using AAH this year for 6th, 4th and 2nd ("tweaking" for the younger ones). I've looked over the lessons and it looks ok to me. My kids don't really like history so we'll see how it goes. I am scheduling "extra"...more living-type books and requiring a lot less for the younger ones. If I had just ONE middle schooler or all middle schoolers, I might have chosen Notgrass. We'll see how it goes...I'm hoping for a better experience than the PPs. :)

For the lessons? Really? Sound as in somebody reading the text or sound like background music?

:grouphug: It's funny but I see those pictures, see my friends sad comments about the first day (esp. with a Ker) and hear about the tears (from Mom!) and can't help but thinking, "but it doesn't have to be that way!". I look at my dear, sweet little 4yo (my baby, sniff, sniff) and just KNOW I couldn't send him off in the big yellow bus even for 1/2 a day! You will get used to it and many homeschoolers implement first day back to homeschool "traditions". Some go out to breakfast, some wait until the first day of the ps and go out to Chuck E Cheese or some kid place b/c all the other kids are now in school, etc. We used to do pictures and such but now...it's all I can do to just get started, lol! I put a sticker on the calendar marking our first day...there...tradition! :D

There is background MUSIC when you are navigating the CD but there is NO SOUND during the lessons. When you click on each lesson in the table of contents and go to the page for the lesson there isn't any sound. :confused: I'm not upset about it...my kids will read the lessons off the computer. I, too, thought there would be an audio of the lesson.

Just got ours installed and nope...no sound. :glare: Ah well...

Yes. :iagree: My MIL and I got off to a rocky start (think trying to convince dh to call off the wedding 2 weeks before it took place). I was never good enough. Then I got pregnant a month after we got married. :001_huh: Well, my MIL wagged her finger in my face and said, "How DARE you do this to me! You PROMISED me you would wait to have children until my son finished his PhD! How DARE you do this!". Yup. Our relationship was doomed from then on. :glare: Through the years, I have tried to be nice (play nice). It always backfires. So, now, I take her for who she is. I love her b/c she gave birth to my dh. I pray for her b/c it's the right thing to do. But I limit contact and communication. We see her once a year around Christmas. It's her yearly, "check on the kids, chat with dear son" visit. We meet at a Chuck E. Cheese restaurant halfway between here and her house. She stays for an hour and a half. It's all I can stomach. It wears me out. I've told dh next year I don't want to go. He doesn't mind. So...I guess I didn't answer your questions. I'm apparently not a good DIL and never was. But I'm over it now, honestly. I just don't care. And dh is finally coming around to the fact that his mother is "flawed", lol. :D

Yippee! Thanks Heather. $1/month for one kid is doable right now so maybe I'll give it a go! :D

Small hijack: If you use Scholaric, can you tell me if I start out using it for just one student (to get the feel for it as my trial is over), would it be fairly easy to add another student and copy the lessons (if said students are doing the same thing like for history and science)? Thanks...feel free to PM me if you don't want to really "hijack" this thread! :D

See my post in your other thread but I do think Confessions of a Homeschooler's US Geography might be just what you are looking for :)

Have you looked at Confessions of a Homeschooler's US Geography? Each state is taught in historical context...so geography AND history are going hand in hand. Sounds perfect for what you are looking for and right age level, too!

My friend, Maggie, at Bright Ideas Press just posted this on her FB page a few days ago. I thought it might encourage you. When I was deep in the pit of depression (yes, it can be a chronic illness, lol) the guilt I felt at not being able to really "engage" with my kids, go out, have fun, etc. was often worse than the depression itself. Anyway, :grouphug: and I hope this post encourages you: http://brightideaspress.com/2012/08/homeschooling-when-mama-has-a-chronic-illness/

In his room, on his shelf, in the laundry room, dining room table, under a pile of books you had out to plan, on top of the microwave (it's where I leave everything, lol)...? I know the feeling...hope you find it!

Not sure if you would like secular or don't mind Christian but All American History was written for a co-op. http://www.brightideaspress.com.

I often cant form the words to pray when my heart aches. I ask a trusted friend to pray with me. I will pray for you. Knowing people are praying helps but hearing someone pray for me is often much more helpful. Do u have someone irl who can pray with u? Id be happy to if u want to pm me. :grouphug:

That is extremely helpful, Ruth. I have saved your posts to a file so I can look back at my leisure. I'm feeling a little better about this.

I am a mess, aren't I, Ruth? :lol: Seriously, I don't make a lot of sense. I know. Some background: We have always used a specific program for Science...and I typically would get "bored" with it. So would the kids. I have an entire bookshelf of books on different science topics that we never use b/c it isn't in the curriculum. Make sense? I get too bogged down with "following the plan" that it's tough to stray. So, I thought that this year we would just pick and choose different topics, read some books, do some experiments (kids like those), etc. Then, the thought of having to "plan" another subject was just overwhelming me. Yes, here is the dilemma. I don't want to have to plan, but don't like being tied to a curriculum either. :glare: What is my goal? I honestly don't know. We are NOT a "sciency" sort of family. None of my kids really "love" science. But we need to do it. As for Apologia...I just love the books. Even if we don't use them all year...we do like the books. It's just another reference, if you will. Mr. Q...I haven't downloaded the lessons plans, but did look at them. It is a possibility. I think I have narrowed our focus to Life Science this year. Chemistry next. So...there it is, lol. There is also a part of me that doesn't think I can "do" it, kwim? Like I'm afraid to think outside the "box". Make sense? I can't see me leading my kids in choosing a science fair project of their own to research, conduct and present. Copying experiment's that have already been done has always been more my speed. Anyway, I would love for science to be more "fun". For it to be a subject that we look forward to instead of one that we just have to do. I also want to have the freedom to go off on little bunny trails w/in a certain topic and just sort of "camp" there for however long it holds our interest. I never felt I could do that with a curriculum b/c we would get off schedule! Hope I've made "some" sense!

Praying for you my good friend! In Jesus' name! Update us, please, Jane, when you can. :grouphug:

Ruth, I have truly enjoyed all your posts about science. It gets ME excited! I just don't know that I have it in me to do it this way, lol! :lol: Trying to break out of the "curriculum" mold is tough. I like having it all laid out for me. Do this, do that, then do this. ;) I'm trying though. Your posts help. I've at least narrowed our study down to life science. I'm borrowing a friend's Apologia Flying Creatures book, purchasing Botany and will take a look at Mr. Qs free life science lesson plans. We're incorporating nature study so life science fits this very well. I love the Apologia books, but I'm just not sure I can stomach an entire year of ONE subject. Flying Creatures might be the exception since there is such a wide variety..birds, insects, bats, etc. Botany? Plants and trees. That's a lot of plants. LOL. Thanks for all the tips!

Thanks everyone. I asked dd6 what she wanted to study for science this year. Her eyes got real big and she said, (with a cute little "evil" sort of tone to her voice) "EXPLOSIONS!". Nice. She wants to blow things up. I'm moving toward using an already laid out curriculum. I just can't even fathom planning yet another subject. But, any other ideas are welcome. Thanks!

Have you checked out the Hands and Hearts History kits? I'm thinking about using the Early American History Kit for my kids. http://www.handsandhearts.com.

For elementary? I have a PreK, 2nd, and 4th grader (I already have curriculum for the older ones) and I just don't want to be tied down to a curriculum. But, I'm a bit nervous about "winging it". I need some type of plan to keep me on track. We have The Nature Connection for Nature Study and I am looking forward to using that. I have CKE Earth and Space but we tried that last year and it just wasn't our cup of tea. If you do interest led science, how do you do it? Do you plan out your year, wing it, combo of both, lol? I really need some help so I am :bigear: Thanks!

I'm using AAH1 with my 6th, 4th and 2nd graders this year. As it is written more for a 5th-8th grade age group, my 4th and 2nd graders will obviously not be doing all the work. The TM has some good suggestions for the younger grades, but I was wondering if anyone here has had any experience using AAH with younger kids? I can't afford to get AAH Jr. My plan is to have my younger 2 listen in when I read the lesson to ds11, listen to the read-alouds I have scheduled, do some copywork/drawing using Draw and Write Through History (when appropriate to the time period), crafts using the Hands and Hearts Early American History kit, and read some age-appropriate books related to topics we are studying. I have a History Pockets kit in there somewhere and possibly a lapbook or 2. Any other suggestions? I don't want to overwhelm them. Ds9 will get American History again in high school and dd6 will get it again in middle and high. For her, this is just a "sampling" (she also used HOD Beyond last year with ds9...focus was mostly on the Colonial Period so we won't go in depth again this year).