If you find out, LMK LOL. I procrastinated on the last group buy and am wishing I didn't!

How much do you pay for your DC's ballet lessons? I believe it was $250 for the semester for one class a week. How long are the lessons? How many lessons per week? Depends on the level. Tiny Tots, Pre ballet, and levels 1a, are 60 minute classes, 1 class a week required. Levels 1b, 2a and up are 1.5 hours per class. Level 2b is required 2 classes per week. The committment grows as they get older. Level 2a is usually 8-10 year olds. Is there an annual registration fee or something similar? How much is it? No Who teaches the early levels (say about 10 yo and younger) - older students or a trained adult? All trained adults. Sometimes in the younger classes there will be an older mature student to demonstrate, but definitely not to teach. What do you pay for costumes (or costume fees)? Do you keep the costumes? When you participate in a show like Nutcracker or Midsummers Nights Dream, you pay a production fee which covers costuming. I think it was $50. For the Spring Showcase, which is a recital we don't pay a production fee. We don not get to keep any costumes.

They don't have a teachers guide, but the do have a pretty well laid out schedule for each core, including how often to work the puzzles and play the games.

I decided we needed a change this upcoming school year too. I'm not buying the full kits, but I'm going to be switching my 5th and 8th graders to 50-70% of their program. I'm excited, I love the hands on games and puzzles and how they actually suggest how often kids door play them.

How old is he?

We have 3 library cards, all 3 have fines on them right now :tongue_smilie:, one is up to $30 eek!

:bigear: I was wondering the same thing, lots of good info, thanks!

I was wondering if anyone had gone the military to pay for college route. DH and I have always felt like military service would be a good way for our children to be able to "afford" to go to college.

I had crazy chest pain and shortness of breath a few years back. Turned out to be panic attacks. :001_huh: Stress can bring them on. Since then, when things get super stressful it occasionally happens again.

A friend suggested the Daddy= divide Mommy= multiply Sister= subtract Brother= bring down Rover= repeat or remainder trick to us, and it worked like a charm.

Bob Jones science is amazing, pricey but totally worth it.

Awesome! Thanks

Bribery all the way, LOL. I mean yah, we talk about it, bring stuff to do, distract, have drs talk to him in kid terms etc... But honestly time and bribery, lots of bribery. I've spent a small fortune in Legos just to get through nasty medical procedures. :grouphug:

Oh those questions are awesome, thanks!

A good friend of mine is comsidering homeschooling next year. She's definitely not the homeschooler type (is there a type?? LOL) and wants something like K12. What questions should she be asking before she signs them up with a virtual school?

Bummer, I didn't realize you have to print the packets now! AnointedHsMom if you decide to go the Abeka route, make sure you preview some of the classes. I had thought about switching several years ago, but after watching some of the classes we decided to stay with BJU. Abeka's classes were a video camera in the back of a classroom. They weren't engaging at all. I though my kids would really miss the games, puppets, funny little skits etc..

I think everything comes printed (or at least it used to) in the printed Mom's minutes, so you just have to grab the proper packet and give the child the extra worksheet they need. There really aren't that many of them. In Spelling class they are usually used for games. I think Math had more of them for practice and such.

The printing class? I never used the Handwriting classes until cursive, so I don't know about the printing classes. One of my younger kids was dying to learn cursive, and I had a newborn and no time to teach him. So I let him watch the cursive class. He loved it! It was all about clocks and such.

A gf of mine switched her 10th grader to Connctions in the beginning of this year. She said it was a little tough to get used to, but it's working well for them. She and her son clash a bit, and she wanted something more independent. Also, he's super bright, so he can take AP classes and such. The only thing she said she didn't like was that they are on the computer *a lot*, too much in her opinion.

This was my dd. She needed glasses and VT!

I use some Bob Jones classes. I acutally really like them, though I probably wouldn't ever have my kids do all of their school work with the DVD or online. I haven't used any of the K classes, though I was once on a yahoo group were a lot of moms used the K. Bob Jones K is a long class, and a lot of prep for mom. I love the spelling and English classes for elementary school. The classes are only 15 minutes long, and they are very engaging. Handwriting is also a 15 minute class. We've done some of the math too. It's a very solid program, and I liked it. The 30 minute class was long though, I only did it the years I was really struggling and needed the extra help. My older kids did the Jr high science classes. They are very very challenging. One of my boys did the 7 and 8 grade English classes. They skipped around in the book a lot, but they do English in 1 semester so you can do literature the other semester.

I loved the elementary books (except botany, ugh!) The middle school science is so dry and boring, it's been torture to get throught this year with it.

I've used BJU dvd's for science. The 7th grade class is extremely challenging, but excellent. I remember reading on an old HomeSat yahoo group (back when we recorded the classes off the satelite), that even Mrs. Vick said the 7th grade class was tough. One of the moms on the message board met Mrs. Vick and Mrs. Vick told the mom that if her son was struggling, to let him take the tests open book. That made all of us breathe a sigh of relief, LOL. So I let my son do the tests open book, and it was much better for him. :D He learned a lot, it was a great year.

When I felt like my kids needed to become more fluent in cursive, I started requiring them to do English in cursive. They fussed about it in the beginning, but soon were writing quickly and neatly in cursive.

I have no idea. I'm not on the Sonlight forums anymore. Someone posted this list on another thread What was eliminated- History and Geography Eastern Hemisphere Explorer Eric Liddell Gandhi Genghis Khan and the Mongol Horde A Glorious Age in Africa India: The Culture India: The People The Mongols Torches of Joy Exploring Planet Earth Faces: Australia through Time Ships, Sailors and the Sea Read-Alouds Island of the Blue Dolphins The Wolves of Willoughby Chase Seabird Tales of a Korean Grandmother Readers Aladdin and Other Favorite Arabian Nights Stories Beat the Story-Drum, Pum-Pum The Incredible Journey Louis Braille Mission to Cathay Rascal The Rat Catcher’s Son What was moved from one place to another- Mary Slessor: Forward into Calabar (Moved from History to Read-Alouds) Teresa of Calcutta (Moved to History to Read-Alouds) The House of Sixty Fathers (Moved from Read-Aloud to Reader) The Hobbit (Moved from Read-Aloud to Reader) Call It Courage was moved from readers to read-alouds What was added- A Long Walk to Water I Rode a Horse of Milk White Jade Where the Mountain Meets the Moon Best-Loved Folktales of the World Breaking Stalin’s Nose Habibi Listening for Lions Rickshaw Girl The Sherlock Files 1: The 100-Year-Old Secret