Wonderful! Thank you!

I hated High school, and I dropped out..a few years later I aced my GED went to community colleged, got an AA then went on and eventually got an MS in Geology...never thought I'd even be a SAHM, let alone a homeschooling SAHM!

I have a dd7 and a ds5 (will be 8 and 6 by the time we start). Do I only get one 3-d map book, or do I buy one for each child? And on thatsame idea, are there things that I should have 2 of? Thank you! This program looks like fun! jenny

We have only been off dial up and o DSL since this Tuesday...I thought something was wrong! I was silently cursing....now, I too need to get up and continue learning with the kids!

Old Errol Flynn movies...we just finished reading all about Richard the Lion Hearted and of course, Robin Hood, so I popped in Errol Flynn's "The adventures of Robin Hood". Any excuse for me to watch an old errol Flynn movie! I can't wait until we study pirates in more depth!:D Then it will be "Captain Blood" ( Blood is his surname) and "against all Flags" , then again when we do the wild west there are more too, I think we also own "They dies with their boots on". I also have the Schoolhouse Rock DVD, but most of that was actually after I was a kid...dating myself here!:)

Actually Churning butter sounds fun! :) I'm just a mess with stuff like paper mache! Thank you for the input, it is sounding more and more llike a match for our family.:)

A few people suggested I look into Winterpromise for Am. History for what will be my dd8 and ds6 (plus the ds2 hanging around). It looks interesting, albeit a bit pricey if one is to buy everything including the LA programs for both kids. I just have a few questions from those who may have used this program. The activities and crafts, how extensive are they? Put it this way, my kids love crafts and I dread them! Are they fairly complicated or easy??? The other question was how would this program do for a Catholic? From what I have seen, I love the books selections...we would be going with the Non Native American package. Mostly, because it is cheaper, and we will also be doing a light version of SOTW 3, so it will end up with more work than we have been used to. Thank you

Last year was my first season watching...but I forget most of the names this year! If Micheal Johns is the Aussie than he is my favorite of the guys....last night my kids(7 and 5) were awake for watching the eclipse so I watched the show in between sword fights and pillow fights and squabbling!:( I'll have to reserve judgemnet until next week!

My youngest is 21 months, and so far we do most of our work while he naps. Also, for us, later in the afternoon is better than mornings. In the mornings I cannot read aloud. he climbs in my lap and forces the book shut! I try to have my oldest doing her math while the little one is in his high chair. Basically, our school day is pretty choppy. The oldest isn't reading on her own yet, the middle one is almost 6 and really only does history and math with us....projects are mostly out right now! I know it does get easier...we have had to relax and do things when we have the chance...Listening to History in the car, trying to do anything he cannot be around while he is napping...meanwhile, praying that his nap is long enough! It is a challenge....on the whole it already is better than 3 months ago...but not much...my other 2 ate crayons and play dough until they were almost 4! Good thing I make the play dough:D. It really does get better though....

As soon as the puppy stops ripping them I will be back to skirts! I also like the long skirts and dresses....too many Marion Zimmer Bradley "Darkover" books! In the winter time I love wearing a long skirt with long underwear or leggings underneath!

Thanks for the help. I think the Science aspect is not a for us. I have a feeling that I just feel panicky right now because we aren't really following any set curriculum in science. This year we have been doing Astronomy. We have so many science books around here and dvds(plus the telescope), and I realize that dd and ds already know so much through me just telling them or reading to them. I think I just want the work of planning the lessons to go away!;) Next year I was planning on starting chemistry with them and although I have 4 years of college chemistry floating around my head I cannot think of how to put it together....yet. My kids LOVE science and are not put off by a challenge. I have to remember that they don't need to know how to draw the molecular structure of benzene...yet!:D as for History, we have already gone through SOTW 1 and 2. I've looked over SLs core 3 history package and it looks very good. Both kids love being read to, our best part of the day is my reading to them. So it sounds just like more of what we do now, but with all the books (or most of them) already available. I've ordered SLs catalog so I will devour that when it gets here. Thank you again! Jenny

I'm thinking of using Sonlight History next year, Core 3 for a 3rd grader and a 1st grader who has been doing history right along with his big sister all along. I've never used Sonlight. We've been doing SOTW. My plan is to do SL and supplement with SOTW. Any successes or opinions? I'm also thinking of using their general science core. My DH and I are very math and science oriented (he is an engineer and I was a geologist before I became a SAHM). For some reason my science experience has not translated into a solid science curriculum for my dc. I dread thinking up experiments, and I seem extremely unorganized. Would Sonlight be a good fit? Thanks in advance for any advice. Jenny

We use Singapore exclusively. However, my dd got a bit bored until I split the workbooks up into sections and now I have her do a lesson from the beginning of the book and then one from the middle. So everyday she gets some addition or subtraction and then something "fun":) like multiplication or geometry etc... okay, we all love math here!:D

Monadnock region of NH. I grew up in Mass, DH grew up in Maine. We have family all over New England!

We have 2 cards. One is used only online and one is used everywhere else. We pay for everything with them and we do pay them off in full every month. We have never paid any interest or fees. jenny

We use a pillow by a company called "Nature's Rest". They make latex mattresses and pillows. I have had my pillow for 5 years now and it is still as "fluffy" as ever. These pillows are kind of pricey but also have a 5 year warranty. Mine is soft, but just reshapes itself whenever I get up. I love it! I also have their mattress and would recommend them to anybody! I had a down pillow before this one. Those I love too, but they have to be fluffed daily! Jenny

Zoombinis Mountain Adventure and Zoombinis Logical Journey. great math games for kids from as little as 3 years old to at least 12. Heck, I find myself playing it sometimes! My 5 year old DS and my 7 year old DD just LOVE them! The 7 year old also still uses Clifford's Reading too, and Reader Rabbit. Reader rabbit has some for younger kids too. jenny

We do school all over the house too. DH made the formal living room into a library for me a few years ago and that is where I keep most of the books, and most of our school supplies. In theory, everything gets put away sometime before dinner! We read aloud in the Sunroom, do math on the dining room table. That is also where crafts and science projects are done. Computer work in the home office. Our basement is unfinished and sometimes REALLY wet! My kids ride bikes down there in the winter too! What I would really like, is an eat-in kitchen or at least a pennisula or kitchen island where the kids could do their math or writing while I prepare lunch or at least wash dishes! I have threatened to get a chainsaw and saw down the dining room wall, but it is a load bearing wall, so that isn't going to happen (yet)!

I'll be too excited and nervous to actually eat! :eek: I tend to pace the floor during play off games! But, I think I'll put out nachos for the rest of my family! Go Pats! Jenny