Yes I saw the one along the wall! I love that too. I need something like that but I don't want built in since I'm not sure if we will need this room for something else in the future or change to a different room for homeschool (we have options). The room we currently use is quite big, but I seem to be lacking in creativity to solve the distraction issues.

Ok, if you could design your ultimate homeschool room (or already have!) please share! I need to redesign mine because some of the kids have outgrown the little low table and are tired of the 2 year old coloring on their books. They spend too much time looking at each other's assignments and staring off into space! I currently have 4 children: 2, 5, 7, and 10. The 10 year old is HIGHLY distractible and needs to be separated somehow. Will be adding another one late this year that will probably be a toddler too. I need ideas! Show me what you love! I have a designated homeschool room and a decent budget to redesign it. The room is fairly large. Thanks in advance! And if this has been discussed recently, please just link me to it! I didn't find it on the search function.

This is my second year using HOD, for my 8 year old, who is now in Bigger. I'm having a baby next week but it's only my 4th :) so I can relate some. We are also considering using MFW ECC next year, though for the content not so much a change - my daughter LOVES learning about other cultures and will often read about how other countries live just for fun. Anyways, we tweak Bigger A LOT. She has difficulty transitioning (always has) so we minimize it and do longer lessons. Eg: Bible - we do about 2 times per week. Combine day 1 and 2 discussions, write her verse and character trait in her notebook on the first day, do the day 4 and 5 reading on a different day. History - Read day 1 and 2 on Monday, day 3 and 4 on Wed, then note booking/timeline on Friday. Sometimes we skip the activities if they don't have enough educational value for the time it takes. Science - not a fan of theirs so we do twice a week, and the AIG the rest of the time. Poetry - only once a week, to discuss meaning and whatever technique it is teaching. Storytime- about three times a week. We combine narration with whatever else it's teaching. Anyways, the point is I feel this takes less time and still accomplishes the important stuff without taking as much time. So tweak to meet your needs! Don't let it own you :)

I'm having my 4th little one on Tuesday... My others are 3, 5, and 8. So I had my last one when my oldest was early K, and we were new to homeschooling so not too intense. When did you get back to school after a new baby? My newest little one will be 4 weeks premature so may need a little more attention. Also it will be my 4th c-section. Tentatively, I figure definitely two weeks off, two weeks at half speed, then maybe full speed if all is well. What do you think? How long did it take you to get back to normal? I don't want to set myself up for failure but also know how hard it is to get back into the swing of things if off for too long!

Just wanted to say I am also teaching a 3rd grader with a K listening in and am looking for something different. We have done quite a few in the series actually, been using it for over 2 years, and I find the retention is extremely poor. The quickie paragraph for the younger ages is TOO short, while the rest of the text isn't long either and jumps into words and concepts not covered. When people say Apologia is wordy that makes me want to get it because AIG isn't wordy enough! I am planning on doing the Astronomy one and getting the junior notebooking pages for each. My younger likes to feel part of it and my older could probably do the regular notebooking pages but probably would have more fun with the junior since her brother will be doing them. And really my goal is to love learning and remember what you learned - not happening with AIG. Good luck!!

My 7yo dd read the entire Harry Potter series in a month (and I wasn't happy about it - I would never have given her that first book if I knew how much she would get into it). I don't have any suggestions but I wanted to say thank you to all those great suggestions, especially the pp who took the time to write out all those books. I copied and pasted into a handy reading list :) Thanks!

Thanks for the suggestions! He does know most of his letters but he's not real solid yet. He is enjoying the LHTH so far but since we just started, he does not have much of an attention span!! He frequently wanders away! I think that will get better with time... On the upside my other son, only 2, started joining in and acting out the finger plays with us! I didn't think he would take an interest in it so that part has been really fun! So we are just a week into it, and I recommend it, but am looking into the R&S workbooks because he loves having some seatwork like his big sis :001_smile:

Thank you for the recommendations, I will definitely bookmark them all!

Great thread! So fun to see what everyone else is up to :) Here is what I am thinking we'll do: Preparing Hearts for His Glory BJU English 3 BJU Math 3 AAS 3 (if we finish 2 by then) Rosetta Stone - once we get into the groove of the new curriculum Art - tag along with little bro's FIAR studies and do the art with them Music - maybe BJU, we still have to try out the grade 2 program we bought months ago! PE - soccer, dancing, swimming, or whatever she happens to choose at the time!

I just got Heart of Dakota's Little Hands to Heaven and it could be used with that age (it's Christian so if you're not, you won't want it!).

BJU math is very colorful and super easy to use for newbies. It is the fourth program we've tried and the first that has been a hit.

Thank you for the suggestions! I actually didn't teach preschool with my first - she went to one since I never planned on homeschooling. Ha!! Turns out I was wrong!

Hmm I have both 2nd grade rod and staff as well as BJU and I found the rod and staff to need me a whole lot less. I could have her read the info and do the work if I was busy. With BJU, I need to read the lesson for the most part. We did 4 out of 6 of the units with Rod and Staff 2 last year and I felt she had a lot of gaps in her writing and she disliked it so we moved onto BJU English 2 without finishing it. She had retained a lot of the rod and staff, which was encouraging, but really enjoys the BJU worksheets. Her writing has improved, though to be fair the last two units of R and S focus a lot on writing.

Thanks! Any more?

We enjoy all the BJU curriculum we use (listed in siggy) but I'm going the other route and thinking about trying a new approach (HOD) to get away from being so textbooky. However, if it doesn't work, I know what does!