I have a well used copy of Exploring Creation with General Science. I pulled it out to use with my last student and cannot find the access code for book extra pages. It is 1st ed. but I thought I had this before. Does anyone know?

I scrub mine out with a scouring pad (just the rough type - no soap) and hot water. If I need a bit more cleaning power, I add salt. Then I put it on my stove top and heat it till dry and get a bit of lard from a small tub I bought for this purpose and give it a wipe for a thin coat.

If anything we did was consistent or equitable it sure would be a lot easier to figure out! I usually drive that car a tiny bit but dd has been draining the tank and ds varies drastically. We live in a large metropolitan area that spans several counties and 3 states. If we stay in our little city it is no big deal but a lot of activities can take them on 40 mile trips. UGH! I think we are going to have to just do a log no matter how much of a pain I think it will be. Oh well, we have 4 more drivers coming up through the ranks so I should have it down by the time they all move on their own. :thumbup:

Yes, Rosie, that is a good idea! My only problem is now I would have to go to the gas station more :lol: I think I'll mull this over though for sure. Perhaps I could keep up my 1 tank/month to keep myself from having to fuel so frequently. Thank you.

OK, I don't think I've been clear enough. The only thing I can think of is keeping a log book and calculating trip length and mpg. I was wondering if anyone had any clever ideas that were not as cumbersome. I'm always thinking there is just one option only to discover someone has come up with some fabulous idea. I especially find that homeschool moms can be VERY ingenious and original. Also, it a typical day, I might take the car out a couple of times and so will each of the teens for differing lengths of trips. My trips are negligible compared to theirs. The distance we drive is no where near being equal or consistent. We had decided that we (parents) would put one tank in/month and let them just take care of the rest but it seems they always think the other is getting away without putting in the fair amount.

I've been paying for it but they (especially one of them) NEED to "Get it" and understand the $$$ coming out of their pocket. Besides, we are out of chores/time (benefit/curse of having a bunch of kiddos)

We purchased a 3rd car so I wouldn't have to drive my gas guzzling 8 passenger van when I wasn't in need of all of those seats. It also would be the car the children used when they got their licenses. Now we have two teen drivers and myself driving this vehicle. Anyone have a good way of deciding how the gas costs are split? I realize we could just record mileage and figure the mpg cost but I foresee problems - "I forgot", "She didn't record all of her time" and lots of other excuses I haven't even thought of. Ooo, thought of another, they go on a 40 mile trip and do an errand for me on the way. I know one of mine would count that as my trip. Mostly my problem with this method is just the keeping up with it... Does anyone have a clever idea they have come up with that is easy to keep up with? TIA

Well...I had decided to go ahead and use LoF as my dd's math curriculum until at least Christmas. I have an older daughter that bogged down on math about the same age and I gave her an easy semester of LoF before starting her on Saxon. For her it worked...Alas, the current daughter doesn't even get Fred so so much for her 'break'. She is starting back on Saxon and we will just take it as slow as we need to. Thank you for all of your replies!

Thank you everyone! Great input and it spoke to just what I suspected. I think we will use it to give her a break for a bit (that is how we used them with another daughter and she seemed more content afterwards). I've seen so many folks get a mental block about math and if they weren't so wrapped up in the, "I hate math, I'm so bad at math" thoughts they could actually do the work. I'm trying to head that off for my daughter. We can make changes next semester or next school year and she still has time to be on track. Thanks again!

My daughter that is going into 6th grade has never been a big fan of math. She has begged me to do anything but Saxon this year. I had some LoF books that I used to kick-start another child and she looked at them and really wants to do them (starting with Fractions). Will she really get a good math education using on LoF? If so, anybody know how many books I should aim for her to do for her 6th grade year? TIA

Rats, but thanks.

My son will be doing Saxon 5/4 this upcoming school year. Trying to plot our course and wondering if we can just skip the Investigations or are they really helpful...

FUN! Bookmarked those for sure. Thanks!

Have been homeschooling for YEARS but am just discovering sites like Quizlet. At the moment I am looking for timeline figures and practice Factor - Label problems (with answers!) and began thinking, "I bet there are some FABULOUS sites I'm not aware of." Don't limit yourself to just the aforementioned areas and help this low-info mama out --- GO!

I haven't read much into either book but, from what I have seen, "ALBH" is an easier read. But I like "APHUS" a lot too. I went with the latter because of the recommendation from Hillsdale and because I could find some help with lessons online. I'm getting the Patriot's Reader (not sure if that is actual title) in the mail soon and hope that is helpful too.

I wish I could, Handmaiden. I have even tried emailing Bennett. No response. Someone contact him please!!! We are now going with 'A Patriot's History of the United States' plus original documents because of input I received from Hillsdale College. I found a little help with lesson plans and tests here - http://www.patriotshistoryusa.com/teaching-materials/ I sure do wish I could use Roadmap though as it seems that it would have lots of great resources with a lot less thinking/work from me.

Yes, it looks like it is AOK (which is the root of my problem) but you can't actually get it. Called customer service and was told "This is the wrong number. You need to call..." 5 separate times. After lots of transfers I finally got a voice mail. Nice lady called back immediately to tell me HMH no longer is selling this product. :crying:

I am/was planning on using these books for my US History this year. Since I was just going to purchase an online subscription to the RoadMap I have put planning this part of our school year off til recently. Now I have found that RoadMap no longer exists - YIKES! I have looked and looked all over the web for lesson plans and assistance and have been able to find none. Can anyone HELP?!

When you say you have them do both, what exactly do you mean? One for a school year and then the other the next year, or pick and chose throughout one school year, or something else. Saxon 2 was VERY easy for my son so on one hand I am thinking Intermediate. But then with this year going so well and EASY I don't want to frustrate him with hitting him with something too challenging which makes me think perhaps Math 3 would be better. But then do we just have to face the big change into more difficult the next year???

Do both versions cover the same information?

My son was in a one day tutoring program and they did Saxon Math 2. It was a piece of cake for him. For his 3rd grade year should I do Math 3 or Intermediate 3 if we stay with Saxon? What are the differences?

I have used FLL with my children until this year when I put them in a one-day tutoring class that used Shurley English. My son will be in 3rd and my daughter will be in 5th. The son seems to have a natural ability and Grammar has come very easily to him. My daughter seems to have more difficulty. Grammar has always been worse than a foreign language to me. I was hoping I could just start them both next school year with Level 4. I'm wondering if this will work. I have both programs but since this subject is difficult for me it is hard for me to judge. Is there needed information my son will miss if he goes from Shurley English 2, skips FLL level 3, and begins FLL level 4? TIA

Thanks. Good info! Someone else told me that TT is a good course but it is best to stay with it all the way through. She explained that the reason people will think one curriculum is lacking is because they switched around so concepts got missed just because the order they were placed within the different curriculums.

My children used Teaching Textbooks for a homeschool program this year. I had heard negative things about this curriculum but we went with it anyway for other reasons. The children (pre-alg. and alg.) have really liked it. We won't be going back to this class but I am wanting to continue with TT since I have already spent the $ for algebra and I hear their geometry is good. Math comes easily to me but I have no idea of what to look for in a program. Will Teaching Textbooks properly prepare my children for the future? Especially since one of them appears to be interesting in some sort of engineering field (He did the same pre-algebra as what Chalkdust does but did not like it). TIA

FYI...Got him Littles book from the library. He complained MIGHTILY. Later that day he asked if the library had more of those books. In a very uninterested way I answered that they did - I've learned not to dampen his enthusiasm with my own ;) Next day he told me, "I LOVE this book! It is sooo good!" heehee Thanks!