If you are talking about Beyond Little Hearts (which is after LHFHG and focuses on Amer. Hist), I can only speak from what I've seen of samples and heard from others. BLHFHG is a gentler program. If you are doing this for 2nd and K (assuming the Ker joins in occasionally), I might choose the BLHFHG over MFW Adv. Then again...I do like MFW and was looking forward to doing Adv. at some point but always had older kids in the cycle already! Both are good programs from what I see and hear. Personally, I like the way BHFHG is laid out in the TM. Seems easier to use. And like I said...looks gentler. Just my 2 cents.

I used to worry until my oldest 3 went back to ps. Now, no worries! I hear what they do each day and for these ages...you are fine. And, as a pp said...it's like comparing apples to oranges. Just got an email newsletter from Bravewriter about putting the "home" back in homeschool. Good read and a good reminder of what we are doing and WHY. Not all about academics...especially at that age. So much more about training hearts. Sadly, I didn't get that reminder soon enough :( My goal from here on out is to concentrate on attitudes, heart issues, training my kids to keep a home, respect one another and us, etc. Of course, we keep up with academics. But, homeschooling is so much more.

Did I just write this? Seriously, I could have written it. My kids do not like school. Ds8 fights me and has ever since we started formally schooling him. Ds6 takes his cue from ds8 and does not like school either. He will do it more willingly and with a better attitude, but really doesn't like it. Dd4 is the only one who likes school. She ASKS to do school, begs for more when her "work" is over and is a joy to teach. I homeschool the boys b/c the alternative for them is not a good choice. I try to make the work fun, but sometimes it just isn't. I've tried switching curriculum, taking unit study breaks, reading aloud more, changing the location of school (library, outside on nice days, McDonalds, etc.). Fact is...my kids just don't like school! My older kids go to ps and they don't really "like" it either. They just go b/c it is what they have to do. I feel for you and hope you get some good advice from the wisdom on this board. There certainly is a lot of it!

My almost 7yo ds was and is the same way. His favorite part of every store is the vacuum aisle! He goes right for it even today! He always loved to help vacuum as a toddler and it is still his favorite chore. Now, my ds19mos. loves to vacuum, too. In fact, he gets VERY frustrated when we won't let him vacuum. Too funny.

Again, thanks. I do try and focus on the positives...like I am getting much more accomplished with my 8, 6 and 4yo and spending quality time with my toddler. My ps kids are finally beginning to believe that they are smart...not just cause Mom says so, lol! Dd has made some good friends...and self esteem has really improved. Ds10 was terrified he couldn't do 4th grade at ps b/c it would be "too hard". Well, he is realizing it is not hard, but rather easy and boring at times! We covered a lot of what he is learning at home last year. Ds11 is flourishing academically and is more confident in his math abilities....even with EM. Blech. So, there are positives. And I am involved and so is dh. It is hard to let go. I'm thinking that my job with my little ones should be to get them through elementary school (past the EM junk!) and super-ready for middle school. That means that ds8 has one more year at home b/c they start middle school in 5th grade here. Thanks again...and for those of you who have followed my drama on the general board...thanks for your support and encouragement. It means a lot!

Thanks everyone. Just indulging in a pity party today I guess. Feels like my only friends are "invisible" (that is what my dh calls you all...my invisible friends, lol) these days. Sorry for my indulgence...pity party over now.

It was necessary to send them back. That is for sure. But we hoped it would be temporary. But they love it. They have good grades...all honor roll. I hate the curriculum. They are not being challenged. There is so much I want to do with them at home. They are talking about next year already. Dd enters high school and it is all she talks about. I feel like I've "lost" my 3 oldest kids. There are some positives. A few. But, for the most part, I feel like I am just giving in. Perhaps this is best and I am just imagining that I could do better. Fact is...it is still chaos in my home and my kids don't get along and I'm still fighting depression and chronic fatigue. Not a good environment for any child. I simply need to face facts. I'm not cut out for long-term homeschooling. I hear stories of moms who struggle with disease, fatigue, depression, etc. and still manage to homeschool their kids and do it successfully. Perhaps that isn't God's plan for me. But, I just can't accept that my kids are in "the system" and that we are at their mercy. Just venting, I guess. Thanks for listening.

Wow! Ya'll are famous now in Lorton! I'll have to tease Dana about it. So cool.

:grouphug: Yikes. You are taking on a lot. I agree wholeheartedly in pushing off the stuff that doesn't belong. Seems like the family needs to have a meeting and be made to realize how much you are already doing and how they need to step up. Boundaries...good book to read and have them read. You have such a generous heart, Joanne. Praying you can get some R&R very soon.

Just wanted to put in a plug for MOH. It is perfect for the ages you are teaching. I did MOH with younger kids and it was "okay", but my oldest got much more out of it. As is, MOH is plenty for History. However, as others have said, there are book lists and suggestions for "extras" should you want any. I tried to add too much...and ended up "losing" my kids. They were not big History fans anyway. Looking back, I would have just done the lessons and added in projects/extra books for only the topics of interest. I have looked at Preparing and comparing it to MOH is like comparing apples and oranges. it seems a little "light" for 7th grade, imo. It is, or course, a "boxed" curriculum while MOH is just History. I will tell you that I found MOH to go quite nicely with the Christian Kids Explore series for science...same sort of format (same publisher). As for Bible, there were verses to memorize in MOH and in CKE. Of course, you could add a devotional. Just throwing that option out to you. I like Preparing (from what I've seen anyway). But, probably more for the 4th grader than the 7th grader. HTH.

It is so comforting to hear stories like this one. Thanks for sharing!

You are not a whimp! I am honored to pray for you and will put you on my church's prayer list as well. I am so sorry you are going through this. I hate cancer!

God was speaking to my heart just tonight about adopting a child from Haiti...how can I find out more info. about this?

Don't have my dc schedules handy but you really can't use them anyway. I hear dd talk about how much "waste" time is included in each hour of teaching. I hear about how they only get to one or two problems in class b/c the teacher has to make sure EVERY student understands. So, kids like my dd who get it right away...are bored or do the weeks homework in class while the teacher is still teaching. She has science every day for 8th grade and I must say I LOVED her teacher until the "real" teacher came back from Iraq to "teach". He's a real winner. :glare: I used to worry about not getting enough done...until my older 3 went back to ps. Now I don't worry. I worry about THEM, not us. Crazy. As for Elementary...science and history are more "when we get to it". They cover a lot...but my son doesn't retain. Lots of projects (that is a plus) and hands on...which we never got to much so this is a good thing. Anyway, it's good to get an idea but don't try to compare b/c you can't compare apples and oranges!

Our Los Banos has a free curriculum. I think it is a one year overview. We like it so far. http://www.guesthollow.com

Oh Chris, I am soooo very glad to hear that! Prayer works. Glad you are doing better, too.

Thank you for posting this! Just got off the phone with customer service and had no problem placing my order for a 12 pk of fine point retractables and a white sharpie marker...all for a whopping total of $.51 and FREE shipping! :hurray: I'm psyched! Thank you for sharing the great deal!

Hey Jane. My dd4 loves Letter Factory, Letterpillar, the Kindergarten cartridge, Dora, Cars, Word Chasers, Mr. Pencil. She loves her brothers leapster so much that we got her one of her own (pink!) for Christmas along with the disner princess cartridge. She's gonna love it!

I could have written your post, cept i have 7 kids. Last year was the pits. I AM, however, clinically depressed. BUT, the fighting was not helping me. We had to do something and my dh and my therapist suggest putting all or some in school. Well, I KNEW that wouldn't solve all the problems, but I had to do something. I put my 3 oldest in ps. My 4 youngest are still at home. The year at home has been much smoother. I've been able to focus on my 8yo who was a real challenge and my 6yo who was not reading yet or interested in school at all. My attitude has been better. My oldest are adapting well to ps. My ds11 LOVES it and doesn't want to come home, although I've noticed a HUGE change in his attitude (for the worst) and so he might be coming home soon if he doesnt change. My dd12 likes school, though she says she would come home if I wanted her to. She could "take it or leave it"...meaning school. Ds10 said he doesn't like school, but is thriving. Sibling rivalry has not changed...it's just "shmooshed" into the few hours that they are together in the evening and weekends. Somehow that makes it worse. Attitudes about chores are worse b/c they say the already have "too much work to do". HAH! AND, I constantly have to keep on top of the teachers, homework, projects, lunches, etc. It's MORE work for me. So, it won't solve all the problems. I love Jean's advice. However, you must do what is right for YOU. Set an alarm for the 14yo...if he doesn't get up by x time to do school...privileges will be removed. KWIM? If he still won't obey...well...ps might be a better "fit". I will pray you come to a decision that gives you peace. There are adv. and disadv. to both choices. I'm not "thrilled" with the ps system, but it is "working" for us right now. Next year is another year...no decision is set in stone. But, i do agree with pp...character issues MUST be addressed. Ask me how I know.

We are getting Bananagrams for Christmas as our family game. We always get outselves a new game each year. My dd12 also asked for Scene It! Disney so i just picked it up at Target for $10. We LOVE Blokus...now to check out Blokus 3-D!

And THAT is exactly how I have been feeling! Church just had a major renovation and it looks beautiful. We did need more classrooms and space as we were growing. However, again, this did not come from tithes...it came from an EXTRA fund. I don't see our church giving much to ANYONE or any organization from the general fund. Maybe that's how most churches operate. My dh suggested we sponsor more children from Compassion b/c we do believe in that cause. Or, that we tithe to a friend's church where we KNOW the money is being used to "feed the community" literally and spiritually. The church is far away from us, or we would go there. AND, the preaching is not "great" but the ministry is fantastic. Make sense?

I think this sums it up. Sin issues...I'm not sure there are blatant sin issues. Pastor is very controlling and that can lead to pride issues, but overall a very Godly man. We have been in prayer about leaving, but have not received a Word from the Lord to leave. Your last sentence really got me. If we had a family crisis, our church would be the last place we would go! We would go to friends. I don't trust our leadership to keep things confidential. And, as far as financial crisis go, the Pastor would ask for MORE offering instead of using the existing funds. Complicated, but it's happened before. Our congregation is very giving...but people are talking about how difficult it is sometimes. Anyway, thanks again for all the replies. Suppose dh and I have more praying to do.

I would feel comfortable giving our tithe directly to support our Youth ministry...that is one ministry of our church that I 100% support. Or to the music ministry which always gets the "last" of the finances. Erica...I agree this is the main issue. My problem...God isn't telling me to go elsewhere right now. And, w/out His prompting, I'm not leaving. I'm sick and tired of hearing about our Pastor's latest vacation to the beach or latest cruise or latest technical gadget or latest new car, etc. Don't get me wrong...he deserves a salary. Certainly. He provides a service to our congregation. But, it all just seems so "top heavy" to me, financially speaking. Perhaps I'm just bitter. Perhaps it's my own heart I must work on getting right with God. Thanks for the replies so far.

My ds11 is enjoying the Chris D'Lancey dragon series...The Fire Within, Icefire, etc. It is certainly fantasy. If you are conservative Christian, I'll warn you that there are some references to occult practices in IceFire (book 2) in the series (spells, potions, chants, etc....nothing like human sacrifice or anything). I almost didn't let ds11 read the series, but dh said he is old enough to know this is "fantasy" and nothing to play around with. Others might disagree. I almost did. But, dh insisted we let him read it.

I'm not asking about the biblical validity of tithing. I know it is Scriptural. So, I'm not here to debate it. My question is this: Must I tithe to my home church even if it makes me sick to do so? I just don't feel "good" about tithing to my home church. Neither does my dh. We have not been tithing for months for a variety of reasons but have felt convicted to start. Is it "okay" to tithe to a different church, cause, charity? I know some would consider this "overflow" or "offering" and not your tithe. But if you really don't feel good about tithing to your own church, wwyd? I don't want to get into the "then why are you attending" questions. We don't even know...except we love the youth ministry and I sing on the worship team (it's my sanity) and we have a bunch of good friends there. The preaching is so-so (at least it is biblical). But our church is just ALWAYS asking for money...for missionaries, for a family-in-need, for some cause the pastor feels drawn to, for trips, for whatever...every week is something different. Anyway, wwyd in my situation? Is it scriptural to tithe outside your home church? Thanks.