My family has lived in Huntsville for 15 yrs, and my husband graduated from UAH (computer engineering). I also worked at Hudson Alpha Institute for Biotechnology (lots of biotech collabs with UAH), so if you have any questions, let me know!

We are using K...crazy that you are doing 5 lessons a day, LOL! :) I have heard in previous McRuffy LA discussions that the later years focus a lot more on spelling than phonics. But I can't speak from experience. Hopefully someone else will chime in!

I like http://www.dltk-bible.com/ for Bible activities and crafts. :)

I have friends whose kids do really well with MODG. I just think Berquist is in the "better late than early" camp, so she isn't heavy in history and grammar until 2-3rd grade. I don't think you can go wrong with MODG or WTM.:)

I'm guessing this isn't a Catholic co-op, but Making Music Praying Twice is supposed to be a lot like Kindermusik, but with Liturgical songs added to the mix. I have heard that it works really well in a co-op setting.

I have no idea. I think a couple of weeks? Heck, the pupa might be dead. Hard to tell since they are dormant. LOL, love it! It is definitely a neat project. We had a heat wave the week it was shipped, so the company suspects that's why they died. (They were transported from California to Alabama.) They apparently don't even ship them in the summer. I will try to clean out some of the mold and hope for the best. :tongue_smilie:

We have one, and we received our larvae a few weeks ago. Most died en route (b/c of heat maybe?), so I called and they said that I could get more in September when it cools down. At this point, I only have 2 in the pupa stage (dormant). So, for my son's sake, I really want them to survive. :tongue_smilie: My question is, is it normal for mold to start growing on the bits of food that came with them? I'm assuming it's fine, but I wanted to make sure I didn't need to clean it all out and search for some aphids instead. TIA!

I think at one point, you could get free DE if you ordered an Academy of Science for Kids kit, but now I see that they no longer offer it. Bummer! http://www.academyofscienceforkids.com/ (the notice is mentioned at the bottom of the page)

I love Catholic Icing too! What a fantastic site.

Let me know how you like it! I've always been intrigued by the program, but I hesitated b/c I think I prefer a narrative like SOTW.

How about trying Faith and Life Online? It looks great!

Good to know about the manipulatives - I didn't realize you could buy them separately. And yeah, any geometric shapes would do, for sure.

I think all are necessary. The workbook is just a part of the curriculum, so the TM is important, IMO. I guess you can substitute other manipulatives, but it's nice to have the geometric shapes and such for the puzzles in the workbook. The resource pack has things in it like a number line that is used a lot, pattern cards, etc. But I think the pack comes with the TM, am I wrong? Do they sell those separately? One thing I was disappointed in is that it doesn't come with a geoboard, just a laminated sheet with a picture of it. The child is supposed to use a dry erase marker to copy the images from the book. He says in the TM that it's b/c it can be distracting to some kids, but for my son, he is way more motivated with the actual geoboard. It's an easy fix, though. :) Oh, and I am referring to McRuffy K, which is the only one we have. HTH!

I saw your posts a few weeks ago, which is when I started drooling. Thanks a lot. :tongue_smilie: I have some progressive phonics books printed out too. Good idea! Have fun this week, LOL.

I think it's wonderful that your daughter is able to balance media and free reading/drawing/etc. In my house, I suspect that the tv would be on all.the.time if I let them watch it whenever they wanted to. Maybe that will change once my son is reading fluently? I *love* to read, and I pray he will enjoy it too. Amen to that! A new Y just opened up in my town, and I think it is fantastic! So worth the monthly membership. What does your son do when he's there with his friends? Ours has a teen room with a pool table, ping pong, and such. But I just love that there is always access to a gym for pickup games, swimming pool, etc. It is really the ideal resource for homeschoolers, IMO.