9 for our neighborhood school. Most of the schools in town are 8 or 9. I too question the criteria as our amazing core knowledge elementary school with a wait list to get in and with students winning all kinds of academic contests is rated lower than our more ordinary neighborhood school.

It depends on who makes them. I bought a Demarle muffin pan and the perforated metal sheet to go with it from a home show several years ago. It is wonderful--no need for Pam, muffins release easily, and the clean-up is easy. No weird odor or taste. My mil once got me Kitchenaid bread pans. Horrible odor, very "chemicalish". The Demarle representative said that is due to additives in their silicone. She said that if you can bend the pan and see white, you don't want to get it. The real silicone is natural stuff--same as sand. Same as parchment paper. That's what I remember of the spiel anyway. I've been pleased with my purchase.

My dd is 5th grade. There is certainly work that she does on her own. Some of it is completely on her own, some of it I will do a short explanation first. But having her work completely independently is not an educational goal for me. I want to be helping to shape her mind, contributing another view point, pushing her in a direction she may not go herself. I used to teach math. I don't think it would be ideal for her to just get all of her information from the book on her own; I believe that I can make a valuable difference in how she connects the information. I have always appreciated good teachers, through my college years. While being able to learn from a book or DVD course is great, I don't think it is better than learning from people (good teachers, and I think I am one) or learning from a combination of books and people.

I use both MCT and R&S. It's not too much for us (at least the way we do it). R&S is great for basic grammar skills--I wouldn't want to drop it. MCT adds a love for the English language and using it well that you don't really find in R&S. I see MCT as more of a writing program for us. Even the poetry and vocabulary are geared toward making you a better writer.

A free option sounds great. I do believe that Home School in the Woods has an option to print the even pages, then you flip those over and print the odds on the back. I do not have duplex printing, so I must have done that--can't really remember! Something they could answer for you if you need to know for sure.

I guess it's going to depend on how tight the budget is. You know, you *could* just draw a line down the middle of the page! So here is what tipped it for me (and I do have enough of a home school budget to buy things that just make my life easier): 1. Biggest advantage is that it includes the Suggested Placement Guide which helps us know where to put the figures. It might be obvious to some folks, but when it is an event that spans many years, it can be tricky to figure out where to put the thing! 2. As with all of her products, the pages are very nice looking. I wanted the girls to do nice timeline books that they could use as a reference in high school or even college. 3. I was comparing the CD to buying her printed pages, not to making my own. When you factor in two kids, and the youngest may start over with fresh pages on her next cycle, the CD is definitely cheaper than buying them already printed. 4. And I could choose vertical pages, which I wanted. Fits on the shelf better. 5. Didn't think I would use the maps (have a different program for mapwork), but it worked perfectly to pull up her ancient Greece map when we needed one for a project. And it is so lovely that I'm pretty sure we'll use other maps in the future. It comes with 18 maps, so not sure it would have everything anyone could need for map study, but then again it might. 6. Also, she has already figured out what timeline spacing to use. An Ancient History page might cover 500 years, while later on a page will only cover 100 or 50 years. Saves you a little work if you are making your own pages. Anyway, I would never put this in the "must have" category, but I would put it in the "nice to have" category. Completely depends on what kind of budget you have.

We use Horizons with Singapore. Horizons has many different types of problems in any given lesson--great for review and exposure to some topics you don't see in Singapore (eg Roman numerals). I much prefer Singapore for teaching concepts, but I feel like we're keeping skills sharp and are preparing for standardized testing by adding in Horizons. Starting in 5th grade we also add in some Life of Fred. I know others combine Singapore with Miquon.

You know, I've bought several things from them at various times, and I don't remember ever seeing a sale. Here's how I saved a little on the timeline stuff: I got the whole set of timeline figures on CD and the Record of Time printable timeline on CD. I was toying with the idea of getting their binders and I had them in my cart for awhile. When I decided to print my own pages (I can print vertical pages from the CD which I prefer) and just bought my own binders, I took the binders out of my shopping cart and the shipping charges went way down. And regular binders from the store, even the nice D ring ones, are cheaper too. If you have multiple kids who will do binder timelines, it is definitely cheaper to just print your own pages--as many as you need. So all of that was more than $100 last year I think, but I don't need to buy any timeline stuff ever again. The Record of Time CD also has 18 maps on it which could be enough, depending on how you like to do mapwork. We used the Ancient Greece one--it's beautiful. Like everything else Amy Pak does, the materials are all beautiful and everything works perfectly and easily. They always ship quickly and have good customer service too.

We read it, and actually finished it, so it couldn't have been too bad! I would agree that it's not the most exciting story, but we did understand the historical context better (Jerusalem as part of the Persian empire).

:iagree: If she won't like any math program, go with the one YOU like best. But do it every day. Don't write off her math ability in third grade. It just closes doors for her. Someday she may realize that there are more job opportunities in this world for the math literate and she may want to be in that category. You can make this happen for her. When my kids were younger we used to be able to school 4 days/week. The first subject where we noticed that just wasn't enough was math. Math has been 5 days a week since my oldest was in 2nd or 3rd grade. If that is a given, she will figure out sooner or later that it's just part of life; no sense throwing a fit or tantrum about it.

My older dd did WT (WWE was not out then). My younger dd has been doing WWE 1 and will finish 2 this year. I tried a few weeks of WWE 3 with my older dd when some samples were up as the new book was coming out. I am giving my younger dd a choice as to which program she uses next year--I'm okay with either. She is familiar with WWE and can easily settle into its pattern. I personally am not crazy about the amount of dictation, or rather the length of the passages to dictate. I think it would be hard for me, and yet I think I was a decent writer back in my prime. I'm not convinced that it is a necessary skill, though I'm sure that those who go through it will become good writers. I just think that there are other ways to become a good writer. Dd is also thinking she doesn't want so much dictation, though she has been doing fine with it in level 2. WT has a larger volume of writing. There is a rough draft or final draft every week, and they will be many paragraphs long. It is more writing than WWE. This dd is fine with a larger quantity of writing (she likes to write her own books), and her vivid imagination will be a good fit for the creative details option in WT. WT also has more variety in the daily activities. It will reinforce the grammar lessons we will be doing elsewhere (R&S 3). Knowing the pros and cons of each program, my dd wants to do WT next year as the best fit for her.

Our primary program is Singapore but we do supplement with Horizons. We've got several years under our belts with this combo and it is working well for us. I would never use Horizons for our primary program for some reasons already mentioned. It does not really teach a conceptual understanding--example: teaching double digit addition as line 'em up and add with nothing about place value. It pushes some topics way too early in my opinion--second graders should not be solving equations with variables. But it does give us constant review and a broad selection of problems. Singapore doesn't really have that. And I did teach high school math for 4 years, so I have some grasp of what skills kids need to be acquiring and which can wait for a more opportune time. I cross things out from the Horizons lesson everyday, both to manage the overall workload and to eliminate problems I don't like (eg variables in 2nd grade).

If you don't mind Narnian geography you could read The Horse and His Boy.

Finished the first Kristin Lavransdatter book and enjoyed it very much--thanks for the rec found here! I'm sure I'll get to the other two, but I've got some others in line first. I'm currently reading one recommended by my dad, God's Middle Finger by Richard Grant. It's nonfiction about the lawless Sierra Madre from the point of view of a British journalist. From the Amazon page: From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. As he travels through Mexico's Sierra Madre, one of the largest drug-producing regions in the world, British journalist Grant (American Nomads) encounters a rugged landscape where the mythical old Mexico meets the challenges of the new. The birthplace of Pancho Villa and the Apaches' last refuge, the Sierra Madre has long been home to outlaws and eccentric characters that inspired a variety of American westerns. Into this legendary danger zone, with its exceptionally high murder rate, rides Grant—on horseback, though he has never ridden previously. Grant is the finest kind of travel narrator; though fully cognizant of the dangers and foolhardiness of his obsession with this land, he throws himself into crazy situations, such as a quest for buried gold treasure, a sampling of Mexican folk remedies, a terrifying Tarahumara Indian ritual when God gets into his annual drinking bout with the Devil, a little cocaine or blasting parakeet with local drug dealers, and lots and lots of drinking. He narrates these adventures with unflappable charm and humor, risking his life to the reader's benefit, shared fear and delight of discovery. Though eventually worn out by his physically and emotionally challenging journey, Grant still manages to produce a clear-eyed, empathetic account of this complex, fascinating place. I'm learning a lot, but probably would not have picked this out on my own. My dad lives in CA and said this helped him understand the drug wars and machismo a lot better. Next up: My hold for The Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet is now ready for me at the library. 2011 Reading List 11. Kristin Lavransdatter-I: The Wreath-Sigrid Undset 10. The Housekeeper and the Professor-Yoko Ogawa 9. A Lucky Child-Thomas Buergenthal 8. Three Cups of Tea-Greg Mortenson 7. Run-Ann Patchett 6. The Red Queen-Philippa Gregory 5. Agnes Grey-Anne Bronte 4. The Daughter of Time-Josephine Tey 3. Mythology-Edith Hamilton 2. Phantom Toll Booth-Norton Juster 1. Her Fearful Symmetry-Audrey Niffenegger

We did SWO our first couple of years and then switched to Rod and Staff which I prefer. The SWO activities are suited more to keeping a class full of kids busy rather than actually teaching more about the words. One that frustrated my dd (not a puzzle lover) was trying to unscramble a bunch of letters to make a list word. Ugh! The R&S activities are actually teaching useful information about the words and how the English language works. My kids do it independently with the exception of a test at the end of the week.

We checked out the first set from the library when we did a road trip to CA once. We all loved it--even dh who doesn't usually get to sit in on this stuff. Just wanted to mention the library as a possible source.

We like the Usborne for 1st grade. I remember my dd as a pretty new reader latching right on to that book...I have pictures of her reading it first thing in the morning in her pajamas just for fun reading. We're using Kingfisher now in logic stage (found it cheap at Costco) and we may start using the DK Definitive History (found it cheap at Borders).

Not available unless you buy it. You can get some idea by looking at all of the available sample pages at their website. Some of the books are also used in Sonlight or VP. I think Biblioplan does a better job with books for younger kids. Biblioplan's K-2 readers are all picture books and I've always enjoyed their picks. I know it can be frustrating to not have their list, but it is the heart of their program. Biblioplan is primarily a book list and reading schedule, whereas Sonlight and TOG have a lot of other content too. And Biblioplan is a lot cheaper than those.

Hoping to start soon and be finished by July. I will spread it out over several months. There are some subjects that I will have to do some research and make a decision, while other subjects are just use the next book of the program we already like. Science and Latin are the big question marks for next year. Regarding sales, whoever posted about Song School Latin, join CAP's facebook page. They are trying to increase their number of fans right now and if they reach their goal they will be posting a discount code for their facebook fans to use in early March--I think 25% off.

A sore throat is typically my first symptom for any viral illness. So yes, if your body is fighting off a virus, you can feel run down, tired, etc. etc. Give in and go to bed. Drink lots of fluids. Don't feel guilty for skipping exercise and other forms of exertion.

This example illustrates one reason to use multiple curricula sources for teaching. Different programs have different strengths, and frankly there is no one perfect curriculum out there for any subject. Perhaps writing instruction freaks us out a bit more than other subjects, but I can tell you that there are problems with other subjects too. As a former math teacher, I can look at a particular math lesson and say that our elementary book doesn't have something quite right. But since we use materials from 3 different sources, problems in one particular book are probably handled better/differently in another. And as the teacher, I help bring my kids through contradictory information or different approaches to a given topic. This is not unlike how a good teacher teaches in a school. Where I taught, we definitely had a main textbook for each course, but we had shelves of other books and sources that we could consult to make our teaching more complete. MCT writing has some really good stuff in it. His approach is so much clearer to me than other writing programs. I love that my kids are getting to essays and academic writing before high school. There are other courses that seem indirect, or such a long confusing road, to get to the basics of how to write school papers. I love Paragraph Town. I'm looking forward to Essay Voyage. I really think that one discussion with my dds while working on a paper with long quotes will quickly address this problem. If you have enjoyed MCT materials or looked forward to using them, I would not let this derail your plans. We could take any writing program out there and list out several undesirable traits or problems with it. There is no perfect program.

I like the spelling a lot because the exercises are not just games or time-fillers like other workbook programs, but are actually worthwhile exercises that teach you about the English language. I do like using it a year ahead, so we start with the 2nd grade book (the first one) in first grade. I don't think the spelling is repetitive--new words every week, except for a review lesson every 6 weeks. Grammar topics repeat on a yearly basis. I don't think there is repetition within a given year. You will study nouns, then verbs, etc., etc. You don't keep repeating early topics over and over. There are review questions I guess--we tend to skip them. You do study mostly the same topics year after year, but the material goes deeper each year. I have not seen the math books so I can't compare, but I don't think of the grammar books as being repetitive.

I would go with a current version. I know that they updated the DVDs a couple of years ago for A and B, and I think the new version is better. I have heard that there were a lot of errors in the book when it first came out. Those have been corrected, but I'm not sure if a 2005 edition would have those errors or not. For me, I would rather go with the updated version. We have enjoyed using LfC products.

:iagree: I do appreciate the heads up, and as we move forward with MCT, I will point this out as an error to my dds. But we get too much good out of MCT to ditch it. I have learned so much just using Paragraph Town this year. I tend to use more than one program for most subjects to have different approaches and to benefit from their different strengths. For us, handling this topic incorrectly (and I do agree that it is incorrect to always or even usually indent after a long quote), does not disqualify it for use in our home. Again, I really appreciate having the heads up though so that I can address it when we hit that point. Thank you.

I read The Housekeeper and the Professor in one or two days. Loved it! That could become a book club pick for me when it's my turn. I am now reading the first book in the Kristin Lavransdatter trilogy and I'm enjoying that too, though it's not quite as fast a read. My grandmother immigrated from Norway when she was 3, so I'm very interested to see a little of how my ancestors may have lived. Both of these books I read about here...I enjoy this thread and seem to be placing more books on hold at the library every week. Keep 'em coming! 2011 Reading List 10. The Housekeeper and the Professor-Yoko Ogawa 9. A Lucky Child-Thomas Buergenthal 8. Three Cups of Tea-Greg Mortenson 7. Run-Ann Patchett 6. The Red Queen-Philippa Gregory 5. Agnes Grey-Anne Bronte 4. The Daughter of Time-Josephine Tey 3. Mythology-Edith Hamilton 2. Phantom Toll Booth-Norton Juster 1. Her Fearful Symmetry-Audrey Niffenegger