forgive me b/c i forgot who's blog i saw this posted on, but i browsed LuLu and cannot locate any free vocabulary sheets? can someone point me in the right direction?

we have only used mindbenders but my ds loves them!

our CM style is pretty laid back, but here's what we do: we have two blocks of lesson time during our day, 9 am thru noon, then again from 2 to 3ish pm. we use apologia science which if you are not familiar is a mastery approach. last year we did a whole year of astronomy. this year we are doing a whole year of zoology "flying creatures." i run an astronomy club for our HS group that meets monthly at our home as well. the apologia texts have so many experiments and hands on activities. my ds is out at least once a week poking around in nature for an assignment, but even when he's just out playing, he's always stopping to study bugs and stuff that he has studied. we do not read poetry daily, though my ds enjoys writing it and given a choice of writing assignments he often chooses to write a poem. he takes part in a poetry workshop that meets twice monthly. productive free time - as much for my own sanity as for their intellectual development, each child is required a minimum of 60 minutes quite time each day. my 4yo uses this time to "read," my 9yo is often off in his room working on an invention (he has a sketch book full of them and has even designed a logo for his "company" lol) or he likes to build web pages in MSWord, etc. when it comes to art we do lots of arts and crafts, though we try to save them for fridays which is a free day at our house. i also encourage my oldest to participate in art classes offered thru our HS group or community.

i have read in many threads on this board about the planning involved w/ TOG but i just don't see it. can you please elaborate? granted, i just got mine in yesterday so i am still becoming familiar with it, and i only have one student at this point. but the lesson plans look really laid out, just select your student's level, do the basics, and choose a few extras. i see there is a bit of reading for the parent to do each week as well. i guess when i think of planning, i think of the days when i literally built my own unit studies from the ground up, now THAT my friends was planning! lol so, what sort of planning to you do w/ TOG, how long does it take, etc?

we belong to the Y and pay 58.00/mo. which includes free childcare and classes, plus we have access to indoor/outdoor pools, tennis courts, playground, nature trail, etc. we go all the time so it is money well spent!

i placed my order friday evening the the TOG bookshelf and paid for 2nd day UPS shipping which i thought would put my order here by today, tuesday, at the latest? am i wrong? i know UPS runs till 9 so maybe it will still come tonight. i'll be gone all day tomorrow but i will call to see if my order has shipped yet. just wondering if anyone else ordered express shipping and how long it took to arrive?

agreeing w/ lisa, that is what we do. i make a chart and hang it on the fridge (b/c it is visible to ds when he does lessons, since we do school at the dining table). honestly, i just last year learned the words divisor/divident, i couldn't remember which was which either, so this helped me as well!

i'm waiting on my tapestry order to come in on mon or tues. i order year 1 unit 2 ONLY to start with. how many sheet protectors do i need for just unit 2? are the pages printed front and back, or fronts only, so that you put two pages in each sheet protector?

i want to order TOG year 1 and i'm trying to figure out how much i need to order, aside from the 4 basic units. i do NOT want to spend my days chasing down books at the library. i'd rather just spend the money and have the books on hand. besides i will be reusing them with our other children later on so i don't mind the expense as much. what i'm wondering is, do you order all of the supplemental books, or do you pick and choose? the cost of the 4 units plus supplemental books, etc. was over 500.00. does that sound right? or would i be buying books that i don't need? now do you decide which ones to order? tia!

i have gently introduced the theory of evolution and prehistoric man with library books on the subject. i think in the elementary years the topic is easily introduced into your history study, while in upper middle/high school it can be explored more in depth as the student's knowledge of science grows. JMHO!

hi all, i'm elizabeth. dh and i have three boys and baby on the way. this is our 5th year homeschooling. my dh is active duty Marine Corps. we just love the military lifestyle and have totally embraced all that it has to offer! anyway, i read TWTM last summer and it just clicked for me. this is our first year implementing a "classical" curriculum. we are strongly considering a switch to TOG at this point.

we have a playstation 3, a gamecube, oldest ds has a nintendo DS (handheld), and middle ds has a leapster (handheld). the boys are not allowed to play the regular systems on weekdays at all, unless dad asks them to stay up a little late and play a game w/ him. he does that about once a week. they are allowed to use their handhelds from 8 - 9 p.m. when they are in their beds with just the reading lamp on, IF they finished their lessons and chores that day with no problems. we are pretty relaxed on the weekends and let them play off and on, i'd say they play 1-2 hours on saturday.

our balance has been found in having a 4 day school week, which does mean that we school year round, but it is worth it to me to have that built in day every week of flexibility. if we have nothing planned for the week we just take friday off. if we do have a field trip or other activity planned then we use our day off for that.

thx for the links! very helpful!

we are considering a switch to TOG *mid year* :eek: i see that the curriculum covers history, bible history, classical arts & music, literature, and writing. my question is regarding the writing component of the curriculum, can someone describe it for me? is it a complete program, covering both grammar and writing? would you describe the approach as gentle, rigorous, intense, advanced, laid back, etc.? we have been using BJU english for two years which has strengths and weaknesses i suppose... i guess what i'm saying in a long-winded way is that if the TOG writing component is strong then i am sold on the curriculum, but in looking at their online sample lessons i did not see an example of a writing worksheet or lesson, maybe i missed it. this will be our single biggest curriculum expense thus far b/c we are going to purchase the supplemental books that go w/ it as well, so i want to learn as much as i can about it before i order. thanks!