Look how far Tim Tebow has come! :)

LOVE the picture post!!!!

We're doing Sonlight's Core 530 Brit Lit - so this is the link to what he is reading: http://www.sonlight.com/530-00.html I think I will have my dd use Lightning Lit's Brit Lit for 12th grade - it's less reading, but more literature analysis and writing.

During high school, when we switched from BJUP to Sonlight. Rosetta Stone is pricey too. And used Teaching Textbooks.... I try to buy a really gently used set of books for the kids, and re-use it for child #2. When Child #2 is finished, I am usually able to re-sell those sets of books for what I paid for them.... as long as they were bought "gently used." If I had to buy curriculum brand new, I lose half its value when I re-sell them. However, Teaching Textbooks math books hold their value -- new, they are $185 for high school. Used, they sell for about $150.

There have been a few times where MIL or mom has said that they were going to pick up xxx workbook, and I'll say, "great idea. While your'e there, would you look for books on the solar system? I'm having a hard time finding any good one's around here".... and steer them in the direction of what we need or want. LOL They just want to help. I think it's sweet. (as long as they don't cross that line. LOL) This is excellent advice!! :)

Sympathy hugs to you :grouphug:... my husband has not been able to get health insurance for the last 10 years b/c of his weight.... I hold my breath and pray for him every day at work, that nothing happens requiring major medical attention. We would be financially wiped out.

I randomly googled one of our local public school's "supply list" from a 7th and 8th grade math teacher... this is what she asked for,for JUST ONE CLASS: "Supply List- Mrs. Cook In addition to the basic supply list that was sent in the newsletter, these are additional items that are needed for my class. · Flash drive- this will be used for several classes · Black and white marble composition notebook · Spiral notebook · Calculator (optional)- just a basic scientific calculator is fine. DOES NOT NEED TO BE A GRAPHING CALCULATOR!!!!! WISH LIST: If you can help out by sending any of these items, I would greatly appreciate it! o Dry erase markers o Tissue o Hand sanitizer o Clorox wipes o Index cards o Colored computer paper o White computer paper" Here's the county-wide list, per the Greenville County School website: "A list of recommended school supplies for students in Greenville County Schools is listed below. For a complete list of items needed for your child, contact your child’s school" Elementary Spiral notebooks Folders with pockets Assignment pad Crayons Number 2 pencils and erasers Pencil box Glue sticks or glue Ruler Safety scissors Packs of facial tissue Anti-bacterial waterless soap Book bag Middle Three-ring binders Folders with pockets Assignment pad Spiral notebooks Notebook paper Graph paper Number 2 pencils and erasers Glue sticks or glue Washable markers Ruler Packs of facial tissue Ink pens Compass Calculator Book bag High Three-ring binders Folders with pockets Assignment pad Spiral notebooks Perforated composition book Notebook paper Graph paper Number 2 pencils and erasers Colored pencils Glue sticks or glue Washable markers Ruler Packs of facial tissue Ink pens Compass and protractor Calculator Book bag

Pictures! We wanna see pictures!

History: Beautiful Feet and Sonlight Math: Teaching Textbooks and Life of Fred, Horizons when they were younger Science: Apologia Lit: Sonlight Art: Abeka (when they were little) and God & The History of Art Typing: Mavis Beacon Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone

Thank you so much for uplifting her in prayer! I really appreciate it! Ya'll are the BEST! :grouphug:

We own all of her CD's and LOVE them! Here's the link to the rest of her timelines on CD: http://homeschoolinthewoods.com/HTTA/timeline.htm

Agreeing with this .... if you mail her the camera back, it's one less thing she can dangle over your head in the future. I'm sorry you are having such a time with your MIL! :grouphug:

Wow, that's a steal of a deal! Sounds like a fun project!

sweet! :D

Wow! That's the first schoolroom in a home I've seen with a chalk board! Sweet!!!:)

If I had the money and the time, I would do it in a heartbeat! PLEASE post before and after pictures, if you decide to go through with the projects! We would LOVE to see it!

ooooh -weee! That's some spectacular photography! Wish we weren't 5 hours away!

This is all excellent advice. Please know that you aren't going through this trial alone... we are honored to uplift you and your husband and children in prayer. I'm so sorry! :grouphug:

This is a subject near and dear to my heart. I come from a family of educators - I was the only one out of my parents and 3 siblings that chose to NOT go into the field of education. My father taught at the seminary level for 40+ years, my mom was an elementary ed teacher until she started her family, my sister #1 was an elementary ed major and taught at a private Christian school, sister #2 was an elementary ed major and taught at a private Christian school, tutored missionary families in foreign countries, and now works at a Christian college in Florida. My brother just got his doctorate in higher education from Penn State last month. He also works at a Christian college in Florida as director of research statistics. When I started my adventure almost 12 years ago, my sister #2 had just started homeschooling her daughter, who was a year older than my son. She encouraged me and gave me advice along the way. My parents were also encouraging. My mother-in-law used to live in Sweden, where she and her husband were missionaries for many years. It is now outlawed, but she had never really heard of homeschooling before. Her first year living in the States was in our home, and the first day of school she was observing me and said "So, why is homeschooling supposed to be better than regular school?!" I remember having one of those "Aw, nuts!" moments in my head...:D it's not easy homeschooling very young children and trying to keep one's mother-in-law from having a negative picture of homeschooling! Ah, there were many days when my wiggly children would be doing spelling or reading, and my daughter would fall right out of her chair onto the floor... there were rants and raves and "Mommy I can't learn math!" moments right in front of her ... I didn't really know what she thought, she just observed and didn't say anything. Both sets of parents understood that homeschooling was a workable, excellent alternative to public/private school when they saw high scores on the kids Stanford Achievement tests, when the grandparents could carry on intelligent conversations with my kids, when they observed polite, respectful, instant obedience behavior from them. Now that I have 2 teenagery children, both sets of grandparents are extremely proud of having homeschooled grandchildren. There is plenty of time for sports, acting in plays, having part-time jobs, helping grandparents, going on summer mission trips, all while keeping up good grades. My 2 siblings that work for a college have both told me that homeschooling students do excellent work in college and are a joy to teach. My advice would be, if your mom asks "what can I do to help you?" regarding homeschooling, include her in some of your homeschooling purchases or organization projects -- you could take her on a trip to Costo, Sam's Club, or a favorite large bookstore and pick out certain books that you would like to use in your school. It might be a young child's dictionary, or atlas, or fresh packs of pencils and crayons and handwriting paper, but I would think your mom would be glad to help you with that. You know your children best, but she may be able to offer suggestions to help your schooling go smoothly. Send her samples of her grandchildren's school work and art work so she feels included. When she sees the results over time, she should "prepared to be amazed". ;) Enjoy the journey!

My hubby and I honeymooned on Chincoteague Island in August - yep, it was hot, humid and mosquitoey, but still wild and wonderful. We loved the slower pace of life on the island. The National Wildlife Refuse is lovely - bring a camera so you can get pictures of the ponies or bird life. http://www.chincoteague.com is a great resource. Have a great vacation!

Since they were 9 or 10, I would show them the results and we talked about when they meant.

I told my kids when they were younger that if keeping a secret could hurt someone, or not keeping a secret could hurt someone, it was something they needed to tell myself or my husband about. It was a grown-up situation for grown-ups to handle.

I started off using BJUP curriculum with my kids in K - 7th or 8th grade, but every year, they wanted to read more books than the BJUP history or science or reading texts gave them. I ordered a free Sonlight catalog, and stalked my local library for coordinating literature books that went alongside their year of learning. After 2 or 3 years of this, I finally bit the bullet and switched to Sonlight, which we love. When I first started my homeschool journey, I was HOPING that my kids would like the BJUP Homesat materials - my sister, who has a degree in education, has used it with her daughters from K through 12th grade. She gave me a sample video, and I sat my kids down in front of it, hoping they would LOVE to learn this way, so it would free up more time for me to do household work and my medical transcription .... they both hated it. They both begged to do Sonlight, even though they knew that school would "take longer" each day due to the amount of reading. Fast forward 3 years, they both are glad we switched to the literature method of learning. They do great on Stanford Achievement tests and enjoy school (well, except for math!) :) I guess the bottom line is, follow Yeat's advice when he said "Education is not the filling of a bucket, but the lighting of a fire." If your child is getting to the point where he is frustrated/bored/not learning, find a solid program, or a mixture of ideas, that encourages his love of learning.

Excellent questions! We use Sonlight for high school like this: for my dd: 9th grade Sonlight Core 7 One Year World History 10th grade Winter Promise Quest for the Ancient World (b/c Sonlight doesn't have a high school level Ancient World program) 11th grade Sonlight Core 100 US History 12th grade will be Sonlight 530 Brit Lit Plus Notgrass US Govt/Economics for my ds: 9th grade Beautiful Feet Medieval, Renaissance and Reformation History 10th grade Sonlight Core 100 US History 11th grade Sonlight Core 300 20th Century World History 12th grade Sonlight 530 Brit Lit, plus Notgrass US Govt/Economics I switched to Sonlight after using BJUP books for K-8th grade with them. The BJUP books had plenty of literary analysis, almost to the point that it was "sucking the love out of reading." Which was why I switched to Sonlight in the first place! However, after looking at samples of Lightning Lit this summer, I REALLY like their literary analysis method. I'd like to study it further to see if I can incorporate their ideas into some Sonlight stuff. Sonlight's guide books have plenty of questions in the history portion, but not much in the way of literary analysis. I look forward to reading other suggestions from posters.

Yes, my son and I used both the Thinking Toolbox and the Fallacy Detective books for a 1/2 high school credit. We called it Introduction to Logic on his transcript.