Too funny! Thanks for the laughs....keep them coming!

Thanks for making me laugh this morning!

I agree. We tried the CT books and didn't like them. My 7th grade son LOVES Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox. He often reads ahead.

Hi, We have used it for two years now and love it! Every time we go to the store, we save at least 40%. We have two lists: Publix (grocery store) and Walgreens. When we first started, Walgreens was free...now you have to pay for it. Walgreens has a lot of really good deals on the grocery game list. The whole idea behind it is stockpiling...buying items when they are at their lowest price...so that you are never pay full price for things. We buy all kinds of things...personal care products, grocery items, paper products, make-up, frozen items, laundry products, cleaning products. I will say, that if you are very organic or make all your own food, then it may not be worth it. With 3 boys, we have found it very worthwhile! We only buy meat from Sam's now and we use a local produce stand for our produce...the rest is off the list. We use it weekly. Now our monthly budget for food, including a monthly eating out dinner, is $450....for a family of 5 (3 boys...15, 13, 10). If you sign up, please use my e-mail as a referral! (weaveit@tampabay.rr.com) You can earn free weeks if you refer people. You have to be disciplined to do it. It's worth the $300 a month we are saving! If you have any questions, e-mail me or pm me! Good luck! Amy

Hi, Your schedule looks very good. I can't see anything that you've left off! My 7th grader LOVED Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox this year! My plans for my 5th and 8th grade boys are: 5th grader: Math: Singapore 5A/5B, Challenging Word Problems Grammar/writing/spelling: IEW American History theme lessons, Simply Spelling Literature: Teaching the Classics with analysis of SL 7 readers Latin: Finish Latin Prep I and start Latin Prep II History: SL 7 (with brother) Science: SL Science 4 Reading: SL 7 readers and read-alouds Music: Violin, BF's Classical Music Greek: Elementary Greek I Logic: Mind Benders Bible: Community Bible Study- Wisdom of Solomon and the Pastoral Letters Extra: Webelos II, basketball 8th grader: Math: Jacob's Geometry Grammar/writing/spelling: AG, IEW Am. History, Simply Spelling Literature: Teaching the Classics with analysis of readers Latin: Latin in the Christian Trivium II History: SL 7 Science: Apologia Physical Science Reading: SL 7 readers and read-alouds Music: Piano, guitar, BF's Classical Music Greek: Elementary Greek I Logic: Traditional Logic Scouts: Life Scout working on Eagle, youth praise band, youth choir I do feel better too, when I write things out. It helps me process everything. Now I just need to figure out what to do with my 10th grader next year.......

Glad to have you back! It sounds like you have been extremely busy with kids and the fostering system. I hope everything works out for all the kiddos. You have a very caring heart! I don't have any advice for structured curriculums...we use a little bit of everything! I think I am going to use SL Core 7 with my 5th and 8th grader next year. Hopefully my oldest will be taking some classes at the community college. I keep my sanity by using Homeschool Tracker plus....I try to enter the lessons plans before school starts, but I usually have some that I enter as I go. It really helps me stay on track. I print out the assignment sheets weekly for each child and that helps them know what is expected of them. Just take a deep breath, your children are learning more life lessons about compassion and loving their neighbors right now. They will learn reading, writing, and arithmetic before they are adults! Good luck!

I had someone at Staples last year cut the binding off of my SOTW 2 AG...he did a great job. I then put it in a 3-ring binder. (I will be selling it in a month or so if anyone is interested! It's in great shape!) I don't think you'll have a problem getting the binding off.

I haven't tried any others, but my 7th grade son is using General Science this year. He has really enjoyed it and has worked independently (mostly) all year. He is studying the human body right now and is fascinated (and he said he didn't want to study the human body!). He didn't really like the section on "rocks"...but that is because "rocks" don't interest him. (He likes to know how things work...loved the mechanical/physics part and now the human body.) My younger son has done all the elementary science books by Apologia except Botany. He has really enjoyed and learned a lot from them. My oldest is doing Apologia Biology and is doing well. We are doing dissections now...my favorite part! His friends that are in an honors biology class at ps are not as far as we are in biology...and they don't like their class. I realize that I didn't really answer your question as far as other curriculums...but we are pleased at where we are. I hope you get some more answers!

We did PL for 3 grade...it was gentle (more of a vocabulary program). We got halfway through LC (in 4th grade) and hated it. We are now a third of the way through Latin Prep I and love it!

Hi, I have a 7th grade ds this year and your schedule looks similar to ours. Here's what we did...and survived! (My son is an over-achiever and things come pretty easy to him) He did most of it independently and it didn't take him too long. I ended up adding some things at the end because he was getting through too early! Bible: CBS once a week - The Divided Kingdom - Loved it! Math: Jacobs Algebra Language Arts: Did the grammar part of R&S 7, IEW's Medieval Writing lessons, Vocabulary Cartoons II, just added IEW's Fix-It! and Simply Spelling Logic: Fallacy Detective and Thinking Toolbox (He LOVED these! He read ahead in both books!) History: SOTW 2 with Biblioplan (combined with younger brother) Literature: living history books coordinated with Biblioplan Science: Apologia General Science Latin: Latin in the Christian Trivium II Greek: will be starting Greek Alph. soon and then Elem Greek I Band: at Christian school piano lessons, Boy Scout (Senior Patrol leader, will start working on Eagle project soon) A lot depends on their personality. Mine really loves to learn...although he probably wouldn't admit to it! Good luck!

I just started using Library Elf. It is wonderful! It sends me e-mails reminding me when items are due or when my holds are ready. I think the website is http://www.libraryelf.com or you can just google it! I have a great library which I use a lot. It has saved me lots of money! I also LOVE being able to search the online catalog and select my books! I am even able to have them sent to the library branch that is only a couple of miles away. :)

Thanks for the information. I have the Abeka book and we are getting ready to do it in a couple of weeks. I am short on time right now, so the packet looks GREAT! I ordered it! Thanks for the heads up!

In Florida, you can get a photo id at the Driver's License place...it is only $3.00. My 10 yr and 13 yr old have them now.

We go to Community Bible Study. Our CBS has a homeschool program for grades 1-8 and they study the same thing we do, with their lessons being adjusted to their age level. My boys and I love being able to study and share the same thing. I don't know if they have one in your area, but I highly recommend checking it out. http://www.communitybiblestudy.org

I spent $78.93 for the 5 books (textbook, 2 workbooks, teacher's book for textbook, teacher's book for workbook) at http://www.horriblebooks.com. You could do it without the workbooks. The program is very good. My son likes it much better than LC I.

You would definitely need: Latin Prep student book (2nd edition) Latin Prep teacher's book (2nd edition) If you choose to use the workbooks (I like them for extra practice and reinforcement), then you would need: Student Workbook 1A (goes along with Ch 1-5) Student Workbook 1B (goes along with Ch 6-10) Teacher Answer for Workbook (includes answers for 1A and 1B) I ordered mine from Ray at http://www.horriblebooks.com. He has the Latin Prep I books on hand (and some others in the series)...otherwise he accumulates orders. He gives a 25% discount and charges $7.00 for shipping. (I did the math and he came out ahead when ordering all of these items. If you only need one or two, the book depository would be cheaper because they don't charge shipping) We just started in January and are really enjoying it. My youngest son is using it and is doing well. Good luck...I hope this helps!

I am doing SOTW 2 and IEW's Medieval Lessons this year with a 4th grader and 7th grader. This is our first year using IEW and I have been very pleased with the lessons. My boys aren't big fans of watching videos, so they didn't like the first set of SWI lessons. They did like the writing assignments in the Medieval plans...well, as much as any boys who would be rather be playing outside and building forts would! Of course, they wanted to write a lot more about King Arthur! The writing lessons build upon themselves. I didn't think they went too slow or had too much review. Writing is all about practice, practice, and more practice! I loved the vocabulary cards and having them incorporate the vocabulary into their writing. Proof that IEW's program works: last week I was having my son make corrections to a writing project he had completed about 2 months ago (so we could print off a nice clean copy and put it in a writing portfolio.) He re-read his paper and said..."yuck...I wrote that! I need to make a lot more changes!" At the time he wrote it, he was pleased with the paper. I am glad he is able to recognize his improvement! I think you will have a lot of fun with this time period with your son....my boys loved the knights, castles, swords, Robin Hood, etc. Good luck with your decision. Either way your son will do well!

Great news! :)

Congratulations, everyone! I had two boys taking it also...one took Intro and one took Latin I. The Intro one should be getting a ribbon/certificate (since they don't get medals!), the Latin I should be getting summa/gold medal....assuming I graded them correctly!!! Last year one took the Intro and got a ribbon/medal. I'm very pleased with the way Latin in the Christian Trivium is preparing them for these exams. I can't wait to get the official results! I'm glad that others are doing well with their Latin! Keep it up!

We pay $25 for a 30 minute lesson...you're getting a deal! Have fun.

We used the IEW Medieval plans this year...4th and 7th graders...and enjoyed it. Why don't you try one of the themed based lessons since you are familiar with the program?

Last year my son and I felt like we were Goldilocks and the Three Latin programs! :001_smile:He tried LC I and it was too easy, we tried Henle I (and it was too confusing...and I studied for 2 years!), and then we found Latin in the Christian Trivium and it was "just right"! I would recommend it for middle school and up. My older son is being homeschooled now (9th grade) and using it also. "Mary in Wa" (on these boards) is one of the authors and is very accessible and helpful. I really like Latin Prep I for my 11 year old. It is colorful, the translations are fun, and it's easy to understand. Laura in China runs a yahoo group and the author is available to answer questions. I think it's geared more for late elementary. (My son is in 4th and doing well with it.) I still think the Prima Latina would be great for your daughter next year. You can see how it works and then decide where to go from there. :001_smile:

Prima Latina is more "vocabulary" than learning the grammar. If your daughter likes the DVDs (my boys didn't!), then I would go ahead and start her next year. I think if you wait until 6th grade she would be bored with it. I had my 3rd grader do it last year and he did fine with it. He learned a lot of vocabulary and derivatives from it. He did over half of LC I this year, but didn't like just "memorizing" the charts and not applying them. We switched to Latin Prep I and he loved that he was immediately translating long passages. I tried LC I with my "logic" age 6th grade son last year and he didn't like it because it didn't give enough of the "why's" behind what they were learning (they would memorize the endings, but not tell why they were learning them or what they meant). (Update on him: He is now doing Latin in the Christian Trivium II and is doing great. I highly recommend that program...but that's not what you asked!) I understand that you would want to combine them, however, I think your daughter would be bored with them in 6th grade. I would do them separately. Good luck with your decision!

Books That Have Made History: Books That Can Change Your Life (J. Rufus Fears) is on sale now...until April 10th. I've been thinking about getting it.

My ds LOVES these! He took the SAT in January and was only 1/4 of the way through the book, but recognized at least 3 words on the test because of the cartoons.