We did this and it was a nice unit. We did it around the holidays when we had a lighter schedule and it was enjoyable. You can probably get the guide on Ebay and the books are usually in the library. I got mine on Ebay and re-sold them there too. It was definately a curriculum I'd recommend.:thumbup:

This is one of the reasons we hs year round. While we have a very planned out schedule, I like that we don't feel we need to finish by the beginning of summer or any other end time. I like to finish our curriculum unless there is a reason we do not like it or it doesn't work for us. If we like it and begin it then the rule is we finish before moving to the next level.

Sonlight didn't work for us. I tried it a couple of times and both times I was underwhelmed. We tried science and history and I found that neither lived up to my particular expectations. I am used to putting together our own studies and I guess their plan just didn't really mesh with what I wanted to see in the programs. I have heard a lot of good things about Sonlight from others and how well it works for them so I think it is a program you have to just try and see if it fits for your family.

I used it a couple of years ago for our then 3rd and 4th graders. It is a well-written and very engaging text and the Calvert supplemental activities and worktext are just right for that age or possibly a little younger. With the activity book you have the option to tailor to younger or older learning ranges. I great added bonus would be the CHOW interactive cd to go along with the book. It has short animations of the events in the chapters and online games and quizzes. My children loved the disk. We would pop it in after we did the reading and workbook activities. We all loved Calvert's CHOW! :thumbup1:

I just ordered it yesterday for our govt study this summer and fall. Other than what is on the website, I don't know much. I've ordered from Calvert before and have been very happy with their courses so I hope this will be the same. I'll post when I get the package to let others know what exactly comes with the program and how it is set up.

Nice! That is a lot like what I do. We are planned through next summer 2009!

For about the last 5 mos I've been doing our sched in Publisher. I have each general subj area listed and on Sat of every week I fill it in with the specifics. Some things like math only require changing a page or lesson number so once you get the working model, updating can be done pretty quickly. We print each childs weekly schedule and refer to it daily to make sure everything is done.

We school year-round. For summer we're doing a 6 week Presidential Election Lapbook study and then we are going to begin Calvert Schools Civics course. We're keeping up with our math and language arts as usual. Science will be reading the Science Explorers daily and history is a daily reading from The Story of Mankind by Van Loon. Both history, civics and science are supplemented daily with Unitedstreaming videos. We're also doing a Cultures and 2D Art class via Florida Virtual. There is also driver training for two weeks for the teen and a Florida Virtual Computing for Careers and College course. We also have swim team and martial arts and the library summer reading program. It is going to be a VERY full summer! :)

We have a supply of construction paper and a tub of markers, crayons and colored pencils handy. We have multiple scissors and tapes so nobody is waiting on them. I buy supplies in bulk at Sam's Club. As for the ink, we use refill cartridges and buy the ink online. I have made plenty of my own lapbooks so I really appreciate and like the convenience of using pre-designed ones from Knowledgeboxcentral and Handsofachild. I use regular file folders that I get in bulk at Sam's. Sometimes you can recycle old folders too.

My 10 yr old is taking keyboarding via FLVS (Florida Virtual School) for free because we live in Florida. The program she is using is Thompson Learning-MicroType Pro. It is a really great program.

We had both for awhile but I like Unitedstreaming better because it has the teacher guides and worksheets.

You should check out the Colonial Willamsburg website. They have homeschool days with substantial savings about 2x a year. We just went this fall. It was a lot of fun. The kids are encouraged to dress in colonial clothing and I made costumes for my girls. The boys aren't so much into this. It is a little girl thing mostly. Fall was nice because we got to see some of the change of season. I would plan on staying a couple of days to see it all. We stayed in Frederick, MD at a hotel (it was ok but not anything I'd recommend) and we also toured the Gettysburg Civil War sites and made a couple of trips into DC. We were coming up from FL so we toured the Biltmore Mansion on the way back down. I'm not sure of places on the way from Indiana though.

First off, it is just wrong to send a kid to school in a shirt that is so expensive that you'd have a fit if it gets marked up and $50 is way to much to make you pay. I'd offer half and give her another $25 worth of advice...keep the expensive shirts in the closet for special occasions. ;)

We're using the Spanish program and I search for videos for what we are studying in history and science. The kids are enjoying the Math Mansion series and they like the Animated Hero Classics. Pendamonium is an entertaining series on grammar.

We're extremely organized. I plan curriculum a year and a half in advance-then break it up into weekly spreadsheets and then those are used to make the weekly schedule. Everything is logged on the computer and all the completed work is filed. My plans and schedules keep me sane and I never second guess if we are doing or accomplishing enough. :D

Spelling Power :)

Artistic Pursuits! :) We also like the book 'Discovering Great Artists' :)

We did during the pet food scare. We're using Pedigree canned now with ONE. When I cooked, I would buy muscle meat (no ground meat), Hearts, and liver. I put a combo of meat in the crockpot with some sweet potato, green beans, and some oils that I got at the pet store. I would cook off of it then pulverize it all together in the processor. Then we measured out 3/4 cups in individual ziplocks and froze them. It would make about 22 days worth of meals. It was a lot of work but worth it at the time.

We loved Saxon 2 & 3 and tried 5/4 but didn't relate to it. We switched to A Beka and love it.

I have cats and our vet has always told us to watch them closely if their noses and eyes are runny. If they stop eating or drinking or the symptoms get bad we take them right into the vet. Cats can go down fast if they get sick.

Definately not rude! :)