Thanks Stacey. We have a lot of bad attitudes running rampant in our house right now and despite my best efforts to correct them...well...they persist. :glare: I think I need some help in this area and God led me to Pearables last night. Looked good, but I wanted some reviews. Thank you!

You are not crazy! You are a MOM. I agree with all the PPs...take a week-long break. Get some fresh air. Get your house back in shape so you don't feel defeated when you look at it or overwhelmed with all you have to do. Have a "cleaning" party! Play some music, dance, sing, clean...and then eat cupcakes! :001_smile: Mary Poppins had something when she said that in every job to be done there is an element of FUN...find the fun and the job's a GAME! My kids roll their eyes when I start with that. Oh well...I try! :grouphug: to you b/c we all feel or have felt like this before. And yes, I think you should probably do some thinking about priorities...perhaps you really do have too much on your plate? I know when I start feeling like this...I know I am taking on too much. It's a red flag. Dealing with depression, I have to be very, very careful about this b/c for me, this can quickly send me in a downward spiral to the PIT.

Jane, guesthollow.com does have a nice schedule for American History and I believe is designed to be used with 3rd/4th gr? I used a portion of it this year with my 3rd grader. It schedules a lot of books and uses some of the History Pockets. Best thing? It's FREE! Another option is Beautiful Feet, which my neighbor used this year with her girls (3rd, 1st and PreK). They really enjoyed it. I was going to borrow it from her if I hadn't decided on HOD for next year! That also looks at American History using lots of great books and activities. HTH.

That's kind of what I figured about the Home Ec. series. I'm more interested in the Resp. for boys series since we have so many boys. :)

I'm looking at the series for boys and girls and the Home Ec. books for girls. Has anyone used these? Any reviews? Thanks!

I have been thinking about this a lot recently. Budgeting our time is just as important as budgeting our finances. A schedule that is too full can lead to stress and depression (ask me how I know). I won't talk about one that is too empty b/c we all homeschool here and probably don't even know what it is like to have too much "free" time. ;) For me, I must budget my time spent on the computer. It is my diversion when I am overwhelmed or putting off a less-desirable task. When I am depressed, I can sit at the computer for hours...doing absolutely nothing. Then there is outside activities. We limit ours to church (Sunday and Wednesday evening), sports (one each for each child each year or we will go nuts) and small group/bible study. Other things come up, but those are our scheduled events, if you will. I am beginning to wonder if I should help my children budget their time spent away from home with friends. We also budget our TV/video game time. I think it is biblical to budget our time (be a good steward of our time). I'm not always good at that. But I am trying! I hope others will chime in. This is a good topic!

Thanks for all the advice and instructions! I'm excited to start. The rag quilt sounds like fun. I do love hand sewing...not that I really make anything of value. I just sew things back together when seams rip or what-have-you. Not sure we have a quilting shop nearby, but perhaps JoAnns would have quilting classes? I'll check it out!

Phonics Road moves very quickly. I wouldn't do it with a 4yo...even a bright one. My dd4 is also very bright and can even write very well for her age. However, I plan to wait until she is 6 to start PR with her, as is suggested by Mrs. Beers. You could always do ETC with him and read and start a handwriting program if you wanted, but I would wait on PR. Just my .02.

I can't believe I am even asking this question. I don't sew. I don't even own a sewing machine. :001_huh: But, I've been feeling recently like I want to learn and quilting has always appealed to me. It is something dd13 and I can do together and we can teach dd4. Could somebody explain the basics to me? What do I need? How do I go about learning? I can use a needle and thread...just don't own a machine. I am looking for one on Craigslist. DD13 really enjoyed the sewing portion of her Home Ec. type class at ps this past year. I would really appreciate and ideas, suggestions, advice, instruction, websites, etc. Thanks so much!

I, too, struggle with depression even though I am on anti-depressants and take vitamins, Vit. D, fish oil supplements and TRY to get exercise. When I am depressed, schoolwork doesn't get done as well as on other days and sometimes all we get to is an educational DVD and read-aloud. I had to put my 3 oldest in ps this year to get a handle on my depression. I'm better than I was, but still struggle. First, you must cut yourself some slack. Beating yourself up makes it worse. Second, simplify as much as you can with school and housework. I've done some serious decluttering and toy purging so there is less for me to do each day. Make sure dh understands that this is an illness...not something you are making up (not saying that he doesn't...just wanted to point that out). Try to find an open and go curriculum for ALL subjects and combine as much as possible. We stumbled onto HOD and I truly believe it is going to be the answer to prayer for us. Open-and-go, I can combine "some" of my kids (we'll be doing 2 guides), rich in Bible (and not just in an academic sense, but in a more relationship way as well), included History, science, read-alouds, some dictation at older levels, poetry, art, music, etc. Just add math and LA and DITHOR for older levels. Other curriculums are like this, too (not sure about Biblioplan). Look at MFW as well. I will be praying for you b/c I know how hard it is. For me, depression seems to be that "thorn" that Paul was talking about and I often repeat the scripture about His grace being sufficient for me and His power being made perfect in my weakness. It's not easy, but we can do it with His strength. :grouphug:

:grouphug: That is so hard. Experiencing loss is so difficult, but at such a young age. Difficult situation all around. I will be praying for a healthy pregnancy and for peace for all of you. 17 is young to be a Mom but God will give all of you the strength and the courage to face this. Thankfully, your dd has a good role model...YOU!

We have tried so many things around here. I wonder if this would work? I'm tired of hearing..."it's not my job!". I have thought about Zones and assigning "teams" for each zone. Then I wondered if we need more structure. Not sure. Thanks for posting...gives me some food for thought!

What has helped me is remembering that the curriculum is just one tool in your teacher toolbox. It isn't the "end all be all" of teaching or of learning, kwim? I've been through countless programs, books, curricula, etc. over the past 5 years. Read the WTM cover to cover...several times. Still keep it around for reference when I am tempted to buy the next great thing out there. And there will always be. And I come here for advice, realizing that in the end...the program that fits one family perfectly might not fit mine at all. AND all my kids are different in terms of learning styles so while one curriculum works well for one child it might bomb with the next. Makes it hard...but never dull! :) Then there is what fits ME best as the teacher. The best curriculum out there will NOT get done around here if it requires too much prep time from me or too much teacher time from me. I have found that I prefer open and go and programs like MFW or HOD which has the schedule all laid out for me. It takes time to find that perfect "fit". I have also come to realize that that program that fit perfectly one year, might not fit well the next due to life changes (new baby, moving, death in family, etc.). So, I always keep note of those that have worked or those that intrigue me. And, last but not least, I pray about it...a lot. I used to buy on impulse but now I take the time to pray and research before buying. Has saved me a lot of $. Oh, and once you do find a good fit...don't fix what aint broke! Trust me.

My 2 oldest children wanted to go back to ps this past year. That was really difficult to stomach for me. It hit me in that sensitive, "this means you are a failure as a homschooling mother" spot and it took some time before I was able to move past that. But, I did. Dh was the one who said that it might be a good idea for them to give it a try. He also said it would be good for our ds10 to go to ps for a year as well (he had never been to ps...just a private PreK program when he was 4). :001_huh: So, off they went to ps this year. We prayed a lot and still do. Lots of negative influences, not the best education, lots more to watch out for, etc. They all did very well academically and socially. It gave them the opportunity to see how "the other half live" and compare. Dd13 was in 8th grade and decided she did NOT want to continue with ps for high school. Not for her. Ds12 loved school...loved being with all his peers. But, he too, decided to come back home next year. Then ds10 said that he would rather come back home as well. :) They enjoyed the experience and grew from it in many positive ways (and some negative) and were able to see that the grass isn't always greener on the other side. It's tough, for sure. Good luck navigating this decision with your dd.

I cannot speak for Biblioplan having never used it (but I did consider it!). I have used MFW and MOH and it is difficult to compare b/c the 2 programs are like apples and oranges. MFW is so much more than just history whereas the focus of MOH is simply that...history. I enjoyed MOH very much. Bite-sized lessons, fun hands-on activities for all age levels, simple to use (open and go for the most part) and biblical. Was there enough bible? Well, it is focused on History being God's story so there was a lot of bible esp. in MOH1 (the only one we have used). But, MFW has Bible separate from the history portion...at least in the programs that we used (K, 1st and ECC). Having used MFW, you know that it includes science, bible, history, art, music, etc. and is very nicely laid out for you. If you wanted a break from MFW for a while, MOH is a good choice. I love most of the curriculum offered at Bright Ideas Press (CKE series for Science meshes nicely with MOH, btw). And, there are a ton of great devotionals, bible studies, etc. out there to use for Bible depending on the ages of your dc. For me, I wanted a program that had everything scheduled for me. That is why I went from MOH to MFW and now to HOD. I love all 3 programs. It really just depends on what you need for whatever season of life or homeschooling you are in. Does that makes sense? For us, HOD is fitting what we need for next year. MFW could fill that need in the next year or perhaps MOH combined with a CKE series and our own Bible. Who knows? So glad to know that there are such awesome, biblically sound programs out there for those of us who want that. :)

Bud, Not Buddy is a favorite here. The reader does such a tremendous job. Charlotte's Web read by E.B. White is another good one. And, my kids loved the BFG by Roald Dahl (forget who read it, but it was a female).

Chris, thank you! Somebody else actually offered the same so I don't need it now. I just need the student book now. But, thanks so much!

Book A is a bit different from the K book. Book A is like the other levels and is set up with short, daily lessons. Each day the child practices a letter and a word or two from the short scripture verses that they study each week. There are 5 lessons for each week and Day 5 has the child copy the entire scripture on the Border sheets. We really like ARFH.

Thank you! I do speak Spanish (not fluent) but would prefer having the CDs for her to listen to as well. I think I am going to give this a go along with Tell Me More...just to have the supplemental grammar. Dd would place into Level 2, I'm sure.

I have Auralog's Tell Me More Spanish program to use with dd13 next year. She had Spanish 1 this year in ps and did very well. TMM is an immersion program. I am thinking I would like to supplement with a grammar focused program like SYRWTL Spanish. Has anyone used this? She would probably be in Level 2 after completing Span. 1 this year. Thanks!

Dd13 will be using it next year for 9th. I have some of the books so far, but not the lesson plans. I've heard lots of rave reviews of the program and I love what I see so far. Can't wait to get the rest of the program. Check out the MFW message board for some reviews...I posted a question not too long ago about AHL and got a few good responses. I also got a great PM from another board member here who is using it this year with her 15yo dd. I can PM you her review if you like. I think I saved it!

That is correct...I am the one who cannot stand any of the programs we have used so far. I would like to try IEW besides just the theme-based lessons, but am afraid to spend that much $ for the TWSS and risk not liking it, kwim? I could find it used, I suppose. But, still, I'm looking at at least $80 or so.

My dd13 asked to come home as well. She went back to ps this past year for a "trial" and b/c she missed her friends. Well, it turns out she just didn't enjoy the social aspect as much as she thought. The girls were too "petty" she said. I'm thrilled, b/c we can give her a better education here at home. It was ridiculous what was or wasn't being taught at her school. Books assigned were on 6th gr. reading level, they put her in Pre-Alg. even though she already finished that last year, and basically had a "cake-walk" of a year. Not to mention all the negative influences there. :glare: I'm thrilled for you and your dd. :001_smile:

Thanks Laura. For my 9th grader, I really hope to have her work through Book 1 in a year, assigning 1 credit for this. She is also doing Spanish so I might have to play this by ear. As for ds12, my 7th grader, we can be a bit more relaxed. Having had no prior foreign language experience, I hope he can get through 1/2 the book by 8th grade and finish it by 9th. This seems doable, yes?

Thanks all. I kinda figured this would be a good place to start but just needed the confirmation!