This concerns me too. I was thinking of possibly switching from BkSk back to BF...because BkSk is almost too many books for us right now. But, if we would jump in now and follow the new sequence starting at 7th grade Ancient, then when we do 10th grade Ancient it looks like half the books are repeats from the 7th grade Ancient history. That's odd. I don't know why it wouldn't be completely different books. For Medieval...the 8th grade pack has a lot of books. Unlike the Senior level Ancient which added more books, the 11th grade Medieval has less books...but almost all of them are repeats from 8th grade Medieval. Hmm...now I'm disappointed again. The only way that really makes sense at this point would be for us to wait and maybe do the 4 high school levels...then we wouldn't repeat the Ancient and Medieval (but I like the middle grade Medieval books better).

I have always found the sequence guide to BF to be confusing (and maybe it's just me): Primary K-3rd Grade Early American History (K-3rd grade) Teaching Character/Primary (K-3rd grade) History of the Horse (3nd-6th grade) History of Science (3rd-6th grade) Geography through Literature (3rd-7th grades) 4th Grade Early American History (Primary or Intermediate) Ancient History/Intermediate (4th-8th grade) History of the Horse (3nd-6th grade) History of Science (3rd-6th grade) Geography through Literature (3rd-7th grade) History of Classical Music (4th-8th grade) History of California (4th-6th grade) Semester program Teaching Character Through Literature/Intermediate (4th-6th grade) The History of Western Expansion (4th-7th grade) Semester program 5th-6th Grade Early American History Intermediate (5th-6th grade) Modern American & World (5th-8th grade) Ancient History/Intermediate (4th-8th grade) Medieval History (5th-8th grade) History of the Horse (3nd-6th grade) History of Science (3rd-6th grade) Geography through Literature (3rd-7th grade) History of Classical Music (4th-8th grade) History of California (4th-6th grade) Semester program Teaching Character Through Literature/Intermediate (4th-6th grade) The History of Western Expansion (4th-7th grade) Semester program Junior High 7th-8th Grade Modern American & World (5th-8th grade) Early American and World History (7th-9th grade) Ancient History Jr. High (4th-8th grade) Medieval History (5th-8th grade) History of Classical Music (4th-8th grade) The History of Western Expansion (4th-7th grade) Semester program Senior High 9th-12th Grade Early American and World History (7th-9th grade) Ancient History (9th-12th grade) Medieval History Sr. High (10th-12th grade) Modern U.S. and World History (11th-12th grade I've tried taking this sequence and figuring out a plan...what we'd use for each grade. I was always unsure if I had it right. Well, I don't know when they re-did their Get Started page (maybe it's not even new, but I've never seen this grade list before). Check out the new sequence now: A recommended Study Sequence for grades 1-12 Grades 1-2 Early American History Primary + Teaching Character Primary Grade 3 History of Science + Teaching Character Intermediate Grade 4 Use either History of California + Western Expansion or History of the Horse + Teaching Character Intermediate (if not used in Grade 3) Grade 5 Early American Intermediate + Geography Through Literature Grade 6 Modern American & World Grade 7 Ancient History Intermediate Grade 8 Medieval History Intermediate + History of Classical Music Grade 9 Early American and World Grade 10 Ancient History Senior High Grade 11 Medieval History Senior High Grade 12 Modern U.S. and World History for Senior High This is EXACTLY what I've hoped they would have done years ago...just make it plain and simple and tell me what to use for each grade (and yes, I know...you can tweak things and use something differently...but the other sequence made me think too hard :lol: ). Anyway....just thought maybe this would be new, and helpful, to someone else too. BTW, the new video is nice too.

We are using Real Science 4 Kids, the Focus On middle school books. I have them all, so my plan is to cycle through them a chapter at a time. That way it's not one topic at a time....but kind of like her new Building Blocks series. ETA: I should also say that this plan of mine will continue through 8th grade too.

When I want to read reviews, I usually check all of these places: Homeschool Reviews (they have a couple reviews for Heart, but not Art) Rainbow Resource (often has customer reviews of products, but not always) CBD usually has reviews (they don't seem to have reviews for Heart or Art though) Cathy Duffy Reviews (anyone else been around long enough to remember when her reviews were in books and you had to buy the book...internet wasn't the thing back then. :lol: ) Amazon Youtube And I also just google the title, such as: Mapping the World by Art Reviews. Often there's a blog post or something. HTH

I also agree. I read a lot of reviews for both and would definitely choose Art over Heart. I actually have Mapping the World by Art...somewhere. Our school bought it for my son, but he ended up not using it. Now I want it for my daughter...but I can't even find it. Leave it to me to lose something like. How that's possible...I have no idea. :rolleyes: ETA: I just checked the prices. Art is cheaper than the sale price of Heart, so that's an added bonus. You can go HERE and see a couple of video samples.

I have tried, and failed, many many spelling programs over the years. I don't know why it has to be so hard! I like AAS, but it was too time consuming for us. LOE...oh, my...personally I think it was overkill (no offense to LOE lovers!). Recently we started Spelling You See, and I really like it (I ordered from CBD). This year I'm trowing in a little Spelling Made Easy. I also have Delightful Dictation with Spelling that I really like too. I think I'll work a little through that this coming year also. Sounds like spelling for us is going to me a mix of a few things. Sorry that I'm not much of a help, but maybe this gives you a few more ideas to kick around (which probably just made you decision harder). :tongue_smilie:

If you have a Wii, you could try Just Dance Kids. My dd is 12 and loves all the JD games. A trampoline is fun. Simple yard games are fun, like Ladderball, Rollors, a floor ladder, some cones and a soccer ball, etc. They may not provide a huge amount of exercise, but it's getting outside and doing something. P.S...the above things, including 2 weeks of summer swimming lessons and bike rides occasionally, are pretty much the extent of physical exercise that my dd gets.

Thanks for that information. Hmmm...they don't seem to say what the sequence is, like the old KCP website did. They have them listed as Fractions, Geometry, Decimals, Percents, Measurement, Metric, and Algebra. Buuut...I don't think that's the actual sequence. Wouldn't Geometry be later in the series?? I'm getting confused and a little frustrated that I can't find what I want to find out about it. ETA...maybe this is it. This is really the samples of each...they don't really say this is the sequence, but it's listed in the sequence that I thought they would be in.

I just found Key To on my shelf. I'm embarrassed to say...I completely forgot I had it. I really want to use this...so I'm trying to figure out how I want to use this series. I don't have the entire set. I have all books for Fractions (including tests), Decimals (including tests), Percents (including tests), and Measurement (no tests...I don't think there are any). Who knows where the answer keys are (and I know I need those!). I've looked high and low online to find the recommended sequence...I know at one time is was listed on the site for the company; Key Curriculum Press. Now I can't even find a website for them. My original plan was to go through book 1 of each, one after the other (Fractions 1, then Decimals 1, etc). When it was time to cycle back through to Fractions 2, I'd give the Test for Fractions 1 as a little refresher. I thought that was a keen idea. Maybe I'll still do that. But I just read the description for Key To at Rainbow Resource and it sounds like she gave her kids book 1 of all of them at the same time and the kids could choose which book to work through each day. When they finished book 1 of whatever topic they just replaced it with book 2. This sounds like a neat idea too. I almost think I like that idea better. I think my daughter would love to choose each day. And do I understand this correctly that after we'd finish these 4 topics then we'd go on to Algebra and then Geometry? Would you cycle through those too or do one completely before the other? And what about Metric Measurement? Where does that fit in? Please tell me how you've used this series. Is there any blog post about this? I'm finding little information other than just descriptions at sites that are selling it. Thanks! ETA: and I know you don't have to cycle through them...you can do all Fractions then do all Decimals, etc. But I want some variety and I don't want her to completely forget one topic after not using it for a long time. Hope that makes sense.

I asked her and she said she thought it was The Deserted Library. I looked it up on Amazon and sure enough, that's the one (book 21). Part of a review said this: * An intruder breaks into the home that these four children are staying alone while they are sleeping. They wake to find an upholstered chair "ripped to shreds" with a knife. "'To think an intruder was in the house while we were sleeping!' She shivered, hating to think how near a stranger had been." * While Jessie is out filling the water pitcher in the evening "...a cloth bag was thrown over hear head, blotting out sight and air. Her arms were pinned to her side." "She struggled for breath and air." "'Do you understand me?' the prowler growled menacingly." * The intruder had been in the library the children were working to clean up. Phases like " stabbed the bigger books with his scissors or a knife!" "...to slash these books." My daughter wanted to clarify that she wasn't scared reading this book...it just didn't appeal to her. She likes the writing and the mysteries of the first 19 books so much better. She didn't get too far after book 19 because she just didn't like it anymore. ETA: I just finished reading the rest of what this reviewer said...and I had to chuckle. This is pretty much exactly what my daughter also just told me like 5 minutes ago....she said that something that really started to annoy here was that they always mentioned about when they were in the boxcar ("remember when we lived in the boxcar and ___"). She said that got so annoying. The reviewer quoted above said pretty much the same thing: "In addition, since the Ms. Warner penned books, the author always makes it a point to remind the reader that the parents of these children died, they are orphans, they lived alone in a boxcar because they didn't want their grandfather, who they thought was mean, to find them. Ms. Warner didn't feel the need to remind her readers of this and focused on the fun of finding adventure and solving mysteries."

She's also read some that look like this:

So I guess she didn't read the "original" then. It's this:

She's read all of the original, and quite a few after book 19. But, she doesn't like those very much. She adores the original 1 - 19. There is one book, not in the original, that she still talks about (and not favorably). One of the girls (I can't remember who she said) was standing by a water pump and someone came up from behind her and threw a bag over her head and attempted to kidnap her. She told me the original writer would never have written something so scary. That was a turning point for her and that's about when she stopped reading the ones not written by GCW. ETA: and, I guess to be more accurate, I would say she's a Boxcar Children Book 1 expert. She could probably recite the whole story by heart.

The only one you should read in order would be book 1, so that you know what's going on. The rest can be read in any order. Of course, as you get along in the series they get older. My 12 year old daughter and I think the best Boxcar Children books are books 1 -19 that were written by the original writer. You may find the books change after that, because they had different authors. Even though they say Gertrude Chandler Warner, they are not. My daughter would consider herself a Boxcar Children expert (LOL), she's read book 1 probably 10 times. She definitely noticed a change in writing later on in the series, after book 19.

It's nothing earth shattering :lol: . Basically one day Winston, 1 day Fix It...or however we wanted to do it that week. Usually it turned into 2 days of Winston...1 day the entire worksheet of Winston (a worksheet has the sentences for an entire week) and another day the entire worksheet of the Winston supplemental workbook, with 2 or 3 days of Fix It. It's been a crazy year for me, so we haven't been overly consistent. This coming year I plan on sticking with Fix it and doing a little Easy Grammar along with it (maybe 1 page from each every day, not sure yet). Not that you need something in addition to Fix It...I just like it that way. ETA: And of course, as I showed on my blog post, we used the Winston cards with the Fix It sentences on the magnetic board (this was in place of just writing above each word N, V, etc). You don't have to do that (and it's a little more work to make the WG cards magnetic). And, also in regards to the WG cards, we didn't use them for every single WG sentence...just the first one, and then she got to pick a couple on the worksheet to use the cards with (for her to show me that she was getting it). Hope this isn't confusing.

My daughter, on her own, found Hoffman Academy and we will be starting it soon. I was planning on buying the units 1-6 materials within a few weeks. What is the 2.0 subscription that you are talking about?? I just briefly checked the site and didn't see anything about it. Somehow I missed this. Can you either link to it or explain? Thank you!

This year I got my daughter a reading log/journal so she can keep track herself. I searched high and low for the one I thought we'd like the best. We really do like it too. It has space for 100 books and she really enjoys the different things to fill out for each book...it's kind of like her own personal book reviews. I think it will be neat for her to keep and look back on too. I got it from Amazon. They have several different covers, the insides are all the same. It's a very nice quality journal and you can't beat the price. Reading Log. It's the first 5 that are by SmART Bookx. My daughter has the owls one and really wants to get their new Antique Books one. In fact, I just ordered the Antique Books one for a coworker along with some magnetic bookmarks as a going away present. She loves reading...I know she'll love this journal. When my oldest was younger she made a paper chain, each link with the title and author of a book she read. It got so long we hung it back and forth across the ceiling in our dining room. Of course, it wasn't something that you'd be able to keep...but it was just such a neat visual of how many books she read that year. That might be a fun idea, in addition to a journal that can be kept.

The only books I can remember reading when I was in school were The Boxcar Children series, Nancy Drew books, Little Woman, and my all time favorite...The Wolves of Willoughby Chase.

Thank you for telling me!! My daughter just started that one as her next reader. She read the first chapter or so when I noticed the back cover: "The day after Liyana got her first real kiss, her life changed forever. Not because of the kiss....." I mean, what on earth is going on here lately?? I don't have time to pre-read everything. But now I feel I'm either going to have to...or search for reviews...or ask here. Now I'm beginning to question these book choices. Up until this point there's never been this issue. I realize because we are advancing through a program...she's getting older....but goodness...she's still not at the age where I want these topics to be reading material...in a homeschool program no less! It's feeling like the days are gone when you can just hand your child the next school book to read and not have to think twice that it might be inappropriate. :sad:

Thank you to everyone for your comments...very helpful to me! This is exactly what I needed to know Bonnie. Thank you! This is what I kind of got the feeling the book would be about by reading some of the Amazon reviews. I was just baffled that this was a book included in BkSk 5. I'm definitely skipping it. And, I have no desire to even read it for myself. Thanks again!!

Nobody had an opinion on this book?? Well, I'm just going to skip it for now...maybe I'll try to read it myself first sometime.

We just started A Moment Comes by Jennifer Bradbury. I only read aloud two chapters so far. I've read some reviews online, but I am still uncertain what this book will bring. I would like to think that if it's a read-aloud for BookShark and Sonlight that it's "appropriate" for this age group. We have already read about cyanide (a father giving his daughter a wooden box with a little white pill inside and she's told she "should take it if her virtue was threatened"), and violence. I've read in reviews about flirting / teen romance, cigarettes, etc. I understand that there's going to be the violence with the fighting going on...but I'm really not interested in reading aloud (or, for that matter, having her read) stories with flirting and romance between people not a whole lot older than my daughter. How much does this book focus on such things? I'm just trying to decide if I should skip this one, or if it's worth reading. Thanks for any help.

I haven't tried these, but there's Groovy Lab in a Box, Genius Box, StemBox, Spangler Science Club, Kiwi Crate, Tinker Crate, Surprise Ride (not necessarily Science). I'm sure there's more.

If you want new you'll only find it directly from their website. I have found used ones on eBay and homeschoolclassifieds. Sometimes here.

We loved the K math. Not sure why we didn't stick with it (honestly, I can't for the life of me even remember what we did for math in 1st or why we switched from McRuffy). We liked the K phonics a lot, and tried the 1st grade phonics. There is a huge leap between K and 1st as far as spelling. You can see the spelling words in the samples. 1st was just too hard for my daughter at that time. We tried the K Science too. It's cute...but not much there. I thought the Science was too spendy for what you got. I really do like McRuffy though. It's cute and colorful...and I think it's very nice quality.