By the way- a bright mom- The baby in your photo (I am assuming your baby?) is ADORABLE!!

No problem. :) I think it is easy to add the "uh" sound with certain letters- one of them being the "R". You have to be very careful. I am not familiar with PR though.

You should never use "ruh" because you are adding a vowel sound. That is NOT the sound the letter "r" makes. Otherwise the word "rake" would be read as ruh ake. It is wrong. The letter r does not quite say "er" either, but I think I know what you are meaning. It is more like starting to say the word "ring" but stopping with the "r" sound. It does matter because it is one letter that makes one sound. The ruh version is wrong.

I didn't read what others wrote so sorry if this repeats. I have been Baptist all my life. Attended 5 different Baptist churches. They are all different. No they don't wear head coverings. Some prefer you to wear a skirt- most do not. They have no problem with you coming alone. They are all various sizes. The reason you will find so much variance is because of the fact that they are Independent. They don't answer to a board of any kind. I hope you find the church you feel comfortable with. :)

Perhaps you could just use the AAS phonics/spelling rule cards (or ones from another program) to really review the phonics and spelling rules with him. There are sites online too where you can find and print a list of the spelling rules. Maybe focus on one or two each week, really memorizing them and noting them in words he comes across. Something in flashcard form would be nice because you can always pull them out easily to review a few. Just a thought...

Thanks for the many science replies. I won't be commenting anymore, but will check back after a time to see if there are any more science suggestions. Thanks for your help everyone. I can always get such great advice from you all. :)

I started SOTW with my oldest two when they were in 3rd grade (I had just heard about it at that time). They both loved it right away. Last year my third was in first grade. It did not go well. We gave it up for the year. This year I picked it up again now that he is in second grade and he loves it. I guess maybe first grade is just too young to really enjoy it- especially Ancient. Maybe you could just read library books, etc. and try again next year??

Thanks for this info! I will check into it. I am so thankful for all the help. :)

Thank you for your input. I appreciate it. :)

Again, I did not ask or expect anyone to look up Mr. Wile's comments. I was simply expressing my disappointment with what I myself found. This is why I did not include a link to his blog in the first place. Maybe I should not have expressed my disappointment at all. I just thought I had found a science program I might continue using. Upon finding his blog I was a bit set back. I wondered if I was alone in noticing his attitude. Apparently there are many on both sides. I am not sure why we need to argue about it. I am more than happy to realize and accept we are all humans and we all differ. I always desire to keep my own belief, but agree to disagree graciously. If you would like me to put a link to several of the comments I can. But you will have to tell me how to link to specific comments. I only know how to link to a particular post.

Actually, Miss Sherry, you totally have missed the ENTIRE reason I started the post. I said from the very beginning it was because I was saddened by his rudeness and looking for SUGGESTIONS FOR SCIENCE texts. Sorry you tried to make it as if I am on a personal vendetta against him. AND I never asked anyone to read his comments. I simply said I was disappointed in some of them. THEN I asked for people to suggest a text to me. I am sorry that you misread what my beginning questions was about.

When I read his quote regarding this to my husband he was blown away. This was the point where he told me we will no longer be using Wile's books. How do you compare the Son of God dealing with wrong doers on one had- and your (Jay Wile's) "dealing" with those who disagree with his view on vaccinations (or any topic) on the other???

Thanks so much to those of you who gave me some ideas for science. I appreciate it! I have started looking into them.

Again, it is not about his stance on vaccinations.....

Again, I am NOT anti vaccine. My 4 children have been vaccinated.

Again, it is not about any of his articles. It is his unkind comments to others who (many times politely) disagreed with him.

I realize you may not have read all the posts under this topic. I am NOT anti vaccine- and I am not sure why you think I am referring to his vaccine article! I am not referring to any of his articles. I am referring to his COMMENTS to others comments who disagree with him. I read through several of the different articles comments. I USE his science and I liked the book. I found his blog and thought it was neat UNTIL I happened to read his comments. If you will take time to read through his mean comments on several of his articles you will see what I mean. I don't think you need to tell people things such as "since thinking is not one of your strong points...." etc. There are many comments by him like that. Disagreeing with someone & standing up for your point is wonderful. But we can disagree with people graciously.

Being intelligent and taking a stand for what you believe in are different than being arrogant. I have not been to a conference. I stated in my first post that I was referring to his attitude in his comments to others all over his blog.

It certainly wasn't my intent to bash him. I really don't think that is what I did. But if someone knows how and would like to delete the topic that would be fine with me. I have seen other texts, etc. discussed on here with honest opinions being used both good and negative. I didn't mean to do anything not acceptable. Sorry. I would point out though- he had no problem negatively discussing the new owner of Apologia on his blog without the new owner present...

I only wrote it on two because I thought perhaps I originally put it on the wrong one. If we can delete one that would be great. I don't know how to work these forums very well.

I have emailed him too- and he was very nice in his reply. I am talking about arrogance and rudeness when you do not agree with his position.

I don't think I will be reading anymore author blogs either! lol I will look into the link & info above. Thank you.

Thanks so much to everyone for the ideas. I will look into them. I am not opposed to secular texts. I want a rigorous text- just want to make sure it will be doable at home. Thanks again!

I do have General Science. It is not that I disagree with anything he has said- I am not anti-vaccine- and that is not even what got me frustrated. It was not a misunderstood tone. It was his telling everyone on his blog that all scientific studies were skewed except the ones he uses and believes. He says condescending things to those on his blog- even those who respectfully disagree with him. Basically, I think I know I will not continue to his his books. I may not know other others attitudes, etc., but once I find out a glaring fault- I guess I have to deal with it. Now I am just looking to find some good science texts to use.

You are right- it is hard to pick up a person's tone with just the written word. In this case, it is "I am right- everyone else is wrong". I know it is a mental thing with me. I just have a hard time using the books after reading his many comments on his blog.... I think I will use something else if I can find a really good program that is not too difficult to implement at home.