Awesome! Thank you!

I have both. Purchased R&S 7 forgetting somebody had "gifted" me Abeka Grammar and Comp III (9th grade). I looked through it and it looks good...has diagramming, writing instruction, etc. Could anyone compare this to R&S English 7 for me? Ds14 will be in 9th grade and has completed R&S 6. Besides Abeka being a workbook and R&S being a textbook...any other similarities/differences? Thanks. I'd like opinions even from those who have only used 1 or the other.

Yes, I know the 2 are not the same. ;) My husband stopped eating meat (except fish) about 5 mos. ago due to some health issues. He said he has never felt better. I recently watched the documentary Forks Over Knives and have felt convicted to try a more whole foods/plant based diet. I have not gone 100% vegan yet but have decided to join my husband in not eating meat except fish. Problem is, I don't have a CLUE what to cook anymore! Can anyone help me or at least point me to a website that can? Oh, and if you are a vegetarian or vegan but your children do not want to follow in your footsteps...do you cook meat for them? Or do you make them conform to your new dietary standards? Just curious.

For the last several years, I have used curriculum that had everything already planned for me. MFW and HOD mainly. This year, I took a break from HOD for my younger ones and decided to use AAH. Ds12 will still use HOD (and ds11 will also use selected parts of that program as well...all of it would be too overwhelming for him). My oldest 2 (9th and 11th) are using MFW US1 together. Why am I so overwhelmed? I've never had to actually PLAN anything for so many years now! Now I have to schedule AAH and the readings that we will do to coorespond to it, plan science (interest led this year for the youngest), plan our read-alouds, etc. You get the picture. Plus I will have a 4yo using MFW K and my 2 high school students to keep up with. US1 will be challenging for my 9th grader (it was designed for 11th and 12th but I want to keep them on the same period in History right now so I'm going to "tweak" it a bit for my ds14). Any advice for me? Any planners that made your life easier? We are doing a 6 week on/1 week off school year so I am only planning 6 weeks at a time and using that 1 week off to plan the next 6 weeks. HOD made it so easy for me. I'm just not used to going it "alone". This is mainly just a little "vent", but if anyone has any advice to help me feel less frazzled I would be much appreciative. Thanks!

The one read by the author. Love it. Didn't miss music or voiced characters, etc. Hands down our favorite.

Natasha, I'm liking your posts! As a Christian, I find it deplorable that another group can call itself Christian in its values (FRC) when it is actively promoting the killing of another human being b/c of sexual orientation...actively promoting sin (b/c most of us agree, Christian or not, that murder is sin). But let us take this a step further. God looks at all sin equally..murder, lying, adultery, drunkennes, covetousness, etc. It's all the same to him. Sin is sin. As Christians, can we in good conscience promote/encourage/support ANY sin? I don't think so! The Bible tells us to admonish/rebuke/correct our brothers and sisters who are caught in sin. Not JUDGE them (for that is God's job) but to CORRECT them. This is a very loving act if done correctly as it will cause that person to repent of the sin, which leads to forgiveness and salvation! Correction is often not comfortable or pleasant! In fact, it often just plain HURTS. But just bc said correction hurts, doesn't mean it is hateful! We admonish or correct our children all the time b/c we love them! Once we become enslaved to or entangled in sin, it isn't easy to free ourselves without God's help. It can be near impossible. And it is often excruciating to let go of a sin that brings you such pleasure or has become a habit. The enemy counts on it. Homosexuality is no different. Adultery is no different. Addiction is no different. And this has nothing to do with CFA. I am speaking to Christians here. If you are not a Christian, this obviously will not apply to you. It is simply what I believe to be true.

:iagree: And THIS is the REAL issue. It's not about gay rights or gay marriage or gay anything. I supported CFA today b/c I support free speech and freedom of religion. Period.

We did our own writing program last year when we used RtR. IEW Medieval Based Writing Lessons was used and since it wasn't our cup of tea, we used Jump In! instead. I didn't find it to be overkill or out of balance at all. Your dc will do plenty of writing with HOD upper guides...dictation, narrations, copywork, poetry, etc. HOD chose their writing programs, I believe, in order to give upper level students a broad foundation in writing. It is a mix of creative writing and more formal writing so that each year the focus is something different. Make sense? Using your own program woudn't interfere with the flow of the rest of the Guide at all, IMO.

Sadie. If we ever have another girl, she will be named Sadie. I just love the name. Or, Sophia/Sophie, Stacie, Selah, Saylor...

I will be drafting a letter this evening, stating the section of homeschool law which states that the superintendent is to oversee the portfolio and whether or not an appropriate education is taking place. I think our superintendent bit of more than he could chew and was "delegating". If the district gives me grief about it, I'm prepared to quickly join HSLDA and have an attorney contact them on our behalf. While said principal was very cordial, the tone of her voice was also very "condescending". My son is making adequate progress, an appropriate education is taking place and the most important piece to this is this: MY EVALUATOR SIGNED OFF ON OUR PORTFOLIOS!. She stands behind her evals and has even said to have the district contact her if we have any problems. I'm beyond ticked now. Thanks for all the :grouphug: and help though, everyone. :D

The principals of each school that my child WOULD be in evaluated the portfolios of all homeschoolers this year. This was the first year it was done b/c we have a new super. I wasn't sure the legality of it, but didn't fuss...until now. Having said principal call me (and she was very nice, btw) was just irksome. I didn't like having to "defend" the book choices of my 3rd grader. She said she checked the reading level of all the books he read and they were not "up to par" with where he should be ending the 3rd grade! :glare: I didn't want to make waves and have my name be "flagged" as being "difficult", but otoh...I'm not liking this. I will have to call my evaluator and look into the law a bit more. If you are in PA, do you know if anyone other than the administrator is allowed to evaluate the portfolios?

to tell me that she reviewed my portfolio and there were some "issues" she wanted to discuss and that the portfolio was "missing" certain requirements. :glare: Background: this is the FIRST year we have had to turn in our actual portfolios. All previous years our evaluator report was sufficient. Soooo...I'm thinking, "Here we go...". She said she needed to meet with me. I'm thinking, um, not gonna happen. So I politely ask what was indeed "missing" (as I am certain I included everything AND my evaluator signed off on my portfolio, etc.). She said there wasn't evidence of certain subjects. Well, I quoted the PA homeschool law to her about required subjects in elementary school and how we are not required to teach EACH subject EVERY year (she was referring to music, art, PE, civics). I explained how I DID include a description of what my son did for PE and music and all other subjects for which we did not complete "worksheets'. She said she must have missed it or it "fell out". Umm...no...it was in PAGE PROTECTORS! She then went on to express her concern about my son's reading level. Yes, we are WELL aware he is "behind". She went on ad nauseum about how reading is so important, blah, blah, blah like I didn't realize that or was somehow NOT teaching him to read. I tried to maintain some semblance of courtesy but found myself getting more and more angry by the minute. I had to email her my subject descriptions and am still just so ticked. Why? I don't know. I'm just so sick of being held to higher standards than the local ps. So sick of our local district trying to require more than the law requires and not liking this new policy of the principals looking over our stuff. Rant over. Thanks for listening.

:grouphug:I'm so sorry. Praying for peace and comfort. I wish I had an answer to your "why?" question. I'm so sorry for your loss. :grouphug:

Sorry...just have to :lol:. I saw the OPs question about whether you would use it again and thought to myself, "Somebody's asking Crystal if she'd use MFW again? HAH!" Anyway, back to the OP...we used AHL last year. Dd liked it...she loved the indepenence, the way the Guide was written to her and I loved how I could just sort of let her go and check in every now and again (we did more than just Friday check ins after I discovered that dd was falling a bit behind and "forgetting" assignments. :glare:). It is a solid program. I had planned to use it with my ds14 next year for 9th, but decided to go another route and revisit AHL with him in 11th. At that point, he will likely "share" it with his brother who will be in 9th. I'm looking forward to that actually. That's still 2 years away and people who know me know that I suffer from BPCD (Bipolar Curriculum Disorder). :tongue_smilie: So, we'll see what happens in 2 years. :D

Have you looked at MOH? You could combine all the kiddos using that. We combined most of the way through as well. However, once my dd got to high school level she actually wanted her OWN curriculum. So, we got MFW AHL and LOVED it.

Congratulations! Hoping this is me soon...

"I'm sexy and I know it" from the M&Ms commercial. First time I heard my 4yo sing it I went ballistic and demanded to know where he heard that song! Dh said from the M&M commercial and I about lost it. An M&M commercial? Really? You couldn't have picked a better song than THAT? :glare:

An older child will certainly get more out of it, but if you remember what the PP said about not doing everything, you should be ok. Do the "fun" stuff. Forget about all the worksheets and do some maps, color flags, cook a meal from the country studies, read some good supplemental children's books, the missionary stories, etc. Since you already have it...just make the most of it. :)

How about All American History? The main text is designed for 5th - 8th graders but certainly not over the head of a 3rd grader (we are using this with 6th, 4th and 2nd this year). There is also a AAH Jr. supplement you can purchase and download. There are 2 volumes but you could spend less time on each lesson and complete 2 in 1 year. My plan for my younger students is to summarize each lesson in my own words (after reading it), do a read aloud or 2 for each unit, add in some fun projects (our library has a ton of American History type project books) and do some copywork related to each unit. You can look at samples at http://www.brightideaspress.com. There is also a FREE curriculum at http://www.guesthollow.com designed for a 3rd grader (I think). You can choose to do as much or as little from the list. HTH.

Desperately. But I'm turning 40 in 10 days. It might not happen and I'm still trying to come to terms with that. It's hard.

Just say NO to Mountain Dew! Mountain Dew, along with many other popular citrus flavored sodas (orange sodas especially) contains a chemical called BVO (Bromated Vegetable Oil) which is a FLAME RETARDANT! It is used to keep the flavor syrup and the other liquids "mixed". As for other sodas which do not contain this nasty chemical, we do not buy soda. My children will sometimes buy it with their allowance, but that is limited as well. As I write we are again revising our soda intake rule. We are phasing out. The sugar addiction of some of my children is over the top. Too much ugar can wreak havoc on a child's brain. For some children (and adults) sugar sensitivity can cause all sorts of mood problems, focus problems, behavior problems, health issues, etc. Anyway, just thought I'd give the heads up about the BVO in Mt. Dew in case you didn't know. :D

HOD Rev to Rev. I've been on the fence about spending the $ but finally took the plunge. I chose convenience over cost...and I'm glad I did. I'm also excited about planning AAH with my youngers. Overwhelmed at the moment, but excited. And, I'm excited to start MFW US1 with my dd15 and ds14. It's not really meant for 9th graders so I'm a bit nervous how ds14 will do with it but I'm excited to have my high schoolers on the same topic and using the same books. Interested to see if any great discussions will ensue. AND, I'm excited to start doing some "real" school with my ds4 who is super-anxious to do "real" school. :D

What's worse is "Preparing to Be His Helpmeet" for young girls. Had a neighbor give a copy to my daughter (behind my back, KNOWING I disliked and disagreed with the Pearls). Out of curiosity, I read it...and almost threw up. No WAY will MY child read all about how it's her fault if her husband becomes abusive. I'm thrilled to hear a positive story come from reading their material (any marriage saved is a victory for the Kingdom)...just don't think it is the "norm". We need to pray for the Pearls.

I saw a set on CBD and another at Home Science Tools. The one at HST is less expensive but gets better reviews. Can anyone tell me which is better (or if it is the same!). Thanks!

MFW has a FABULOUS Ancient History and Literature program for 9th graders. :D