No, I have to admit I wimp out and buy them. I do try to get whole wheat, though, if that makes a difference.

Well, POOH. I was really hoping to save that money! But thanks for the info!

Thank you for this, Ruth!!! Looks like you and I think alike in a lot of ways.

Anyone? :confused:

We used base 10 blocks too, but anything will work, really. Especially real money -- dollars, dimes, and pennies -- if she already understands about that.

Formal writeups are part of high school lab sciences. I get that. But are they necessary for elementary/middle school? I'm using RS4K Chemistry level 1 next year with three kids ages 12, 9, and 8. Do I really need to mess with the lab book, or can we just work through the text itself? (I don't have my books yet, but I'm assuming they have lab directions in the main text. Let me know if I'm wrong on that!) Thanks, Crista

Are kids not allowed in church? Policies vary, so I don't want to assume. If they were allowed in church, they'd be in the pew with me. If they're not allowed in church, they'd be in the pew with me anyway. Nobody locks my kids up without an arrest warrant. If somebody complained about my kids in church, they'd be in the pew with me at another church.

If they're interested in things and discovering stuff on their own, I'd unschool or loosely school science and call it good. If they're not interested, then I'd push a bit. But as long as they're learning, I wouldn't worry about a formal curriculum until jr high when I'd start Apologia General.

Ds8 was well into second grade before his reading really "clicked." Until then he could sound stuff out but it was slow and painful and definitely not something he'd choose to do for fun. He's now at the end of his second grade year and you'd never know by watching -- he's reading chapter books for fun. So hang in there! You're not allowed to fret just yet.

We've used SL for four years now. All three of my kids listen to two cores now, but up until my youngest was 7yo we only did one. Right now we are doing A and D. I haven't done their LA for years, so no help there. (We used Sing, Spell, Read, & Write for phonics and Rod & Staff for grammar.) I'm very happy with SL. My kids love the read-alouds, it saves me time, and they're loving school. If they learn nothing else in grade school, they're learning that reading is fun and learning is not necessarily the dull, dry, dreary prospect that many of their friends think is has to be. We love the Sing the Word CDs in the Bible program. Dh was a pastor, so we have a lot of other resources for official study, but we also have every oneof the Sing the Words. We've even sung a couple of them as solos in church. As for choosing a core, I tend to buck the system a bit and shoot "lower" than the old 1-2-3 levels indicated. My eldest adds things in to suit her fancy so she's never bored, and frankly I think some of the material is just too stinkin' hard for the ages they indicate. Maybe my family's just dumb, I don't know, but I'd much rather they get everything out of a book they can than only understand half of something that's too advanced for them. If we don't get to core 530, we don't. We'll have well understood what we did read. As for buying the cores new vs used, I've done both. It's a real headache to piece together used books, but you can save money if it's tight. Otoh, if you buy a used core it's not uncommon to be missing books or even IG pages here and there, so you might have to piece anyway. I made sure to buy just enough new cores to be heritage (discounts, free shipping and free forum access for life!) but the rest I'll buy used simply because of the cash. I get frustrated when I pay new prices for books we don't use, so that's another reason I tend to buy used. Be careful about splitting up A/B and C/D. They're two-year sets, and if you jump in with B or D you might have to backtrack and fill in here and there just so the kids understand some references. If you want to do it all in one year, get core A+B or core C+D and you won't have to do that so much since it's designed to be a one-year condensed course. Science: I've used both Apologia and SL. My kids have done Apologia Botany and all three Zoologies and are quite tired of it, so I'm still debating about what to do next year. We've read a lot of the SL science books just as part of read-alouds, because they're such great books, so we won't go back and do that officially. We will take a couple years off from Apologia and do something more chemistry or physics related (I'm considering Real Science 4 Kids) and then go back and pick up Apologia Astronomy and/or Anatomy before my youngest hits General in 7th grade.

:grouphug: I'm so sorry you went through this, but I'm so THANKFUL HE'S SAFE!!! (Until he got home, that is... :) )

Here are the burritos I literally live on during busy hs weeks: Make Refried Beans without the Refry in your crock pot. Make taco seasoned hamburger. Mix the beans and meat together in whatever ratio you like. I prefer about 50/50, but you can do whatever. The reason I mix them is so that I don't end up with extra of one or the other. :-) Wrap this mixture and some cheese in a tortilla, hold it together in foil, freeze in a freezer bag. Warm in microwave. Yum!

Unfortunately, she didn't. I was happy to have the Louvre information!! Yes, it does, but I'm a bit hesitant to spend that kind of money unless someone specifically says they've seen it and it's definitely worth it. Do either of you actually have this book? I'll look into Sister Wendy. This is why I depend on other hs moms so much -- I know nothing about art and have never heard of her before. Thanks for the pointer!

My 13yo niece just returned from a school trip to Paris (I know -- PARIS?!?). I talked to her dad (my brother) today and he said she was incredibly impressed by the Louvre. He thinks art may very well be in her future. Her birthday was last week. Yes, I'm late, but it's a bit of a tradition... ;) I was thinking about getting her a nice art appreciation book, but art is definitely not my thing and I don't want to get her anything... ahem... inappropriate... for a teenage girl. Suggestions? Thanks!

I'm not sure about my paternal grandparents. He died when my father was young and I have no idea if grandma got any sort of financial support from that. She did have seven kids to raise, so she had to have something serious from somewhere..... My maternal grandparents lived mostly off grandpa's minister's salary. Later, grandma got a part-time job, but it was very part-time. My mother remembers being sent to the store to buy one egg as a child, so in any case, it was far from easy. My parents both worked.

Thanks for the suggestions, everyone! I'm going to have to do some serious reading before deciding, but I'm confident something will fit. Thanks!

SL is one of those programs that if it fits, it fits well and is worth every penny. If it doesn't fit, you will be very unhappy with the cost. The good thing about it is that they do have a guarantee and will refund your money if you ask for it. (18 weeks from order, I think? It's on the website called the "love to learn guarantee.) I have bought SL cores new, used, and pieced together from multiple sources. Yes, buying new costs a lot -- but having everything in the package was worth it for us (when we had the money). My hardest years were the ones that I had to use piecemeal materials without the IG.

I've done several years of Apologia elementary with my three kids (ages 12, 9, 8). My 12yo is moving on to Apologia General Science next year, but will still sit in on the youngers' class, I'm sure. Anyway, the kids are getting tired of the Apologia format and creatures in general. I've thought about going back to Botany, but.... hmmmm.... We use SL, and I would happily use their science program, but I've pieced together some of their science stuff just for fun in the past so they've already read quite a few of the SL elementary science books. Are there any other lit-based science programs you like? Thanks! ETA: Non-lit programs would be fine, too... we just tend to shy away from textbooks here. :-)

We loved SL for younger years. I didn't find them until my oldest was 7, and I so wish we had. We've stuck with their general format, with some serious adjustments, since then. My kids still go back and re-read some of the younger books. The only main gripe I had about SL in younger years was Usborne. I'm definitely not an Usborne fan, but I suffered through some of their books because I liked the entire program and didn't want to have to piece at that point. I've become more liberal in my edits since then. :-) Before we found SL, we used FIAR so it was a natural progression. We loved FIAR too. In between we tried Abeka because so many people use it locally, but it just didn't work for us at all.

It didn't work for us (I prefer a lit based program) but Abeka is very popular in my local co-op. Extremely popular.

This is me, too. Looking at my teeth, I am astounded my folks didn't do anything about them. It had to have been the cost -- I just can't believe they wouldn't have left me like this for any other reason. But now, I'm married with children and there are so many other things we need.... I just don't see my teeth ever being straight before I hit the pearly gates.

You'll think I'm weird for this.... Armageddon. Every time. The part where the girl's dad tells her he's not coming home, right before he blows up the asteroid. The actress looks just a little too much like dd for me to get through that.

I'm a planning junkie. Even though I know what I'm using for next year, I still enjoy reading what others are doing and gathering options. Occasionally I find a gem I didn't know existed. When I'm tired of that, I plan for the next year. I always buy my main items a year or two in advance so I can wait for good deals. I need a hobby. Other than planning hs. :001_smile:

Love these! Loved the whole post, actually. Thank you so much!

Dd was making everyone around her crazy with her energy. Still does, actually. She's on adhd meds, but that's only part of it. For her, yes, we talked to a ped who gave us a survey to fill out to see if she was on the adhd scale. She scored so obviously troublesome that we decided to try meds. He did do an EKG, if I'm remembering my alphabet soup correctly, to make sure there wasn't anything else obviously wrong physically. We've also tried counselling (did us no good whatsoever) and Play Attention (a neuro-feedback video "game" that helps train them to focus the mind -- again, didn't do a lot of good for her, mainly because she's physically unable to sit still that long). So it was either meds or a swim in a cement kimono.... we chose to try the meds. :-) Two other things that we have found are vital to her. She is utterly dependent on physical activity, so if she's not at her karate class at *least* every other day, it shows in her behavior. She just has to have that energy burn to function. The other thing is that she is extremely sensitive to sugar, so we seriously limit that. I can always tell when she has a stash of something just by the tone of her voice or the way she walks. That helps a lot too. But without the meds, life would still be a lot harder.