My son got a very good foundation in math with Chalk Dust. Chalk Dust Pre-calculus prepared him for college Calculus 1 and 2, which he took his senior year of high school at the university. He is now a math major (senior) and teaches lab classes at the university. Time truly flies by.

I just purchased a used IG for Sonlight Core G (World History Part 1 for 6th Grade) for a friend who is just beginning her homeschool journey. I also purchased the SOTW that goes with it, and she is going to use her library for the readers and read aloud. I did not have a Kingfisher Encyclopedia to give her, but I did give her my Usbourne Encyclopedia of the Ancient World. Would anyone be willing to share any schedule they may have put together using the Usbourne book with Sonlight Core G? I know when I was homeschooling my kids I found all sorts of schedules that were a mashup of Veritas and TOG and other combinations. I was hoping that something already existed that I could send her. She is pretty overwhelmed right now and would appreciate any help I could send her way. Thank you in advance for any help you can provide. My kids are in college and my days of being in the loop regarding this sort of thing are behind me:).

I would welcome any opinions/experiences someone could give me on Write from the Heart's online writing classes. Thanks so much! Amanda

Wow, it sounds like you got a lot of great advice on how to organize and set up the lessons. I use a method similar to some of those listed, so I won't address that. I would like to say, however, that I have found that no matter what type of schedule I use, things never stay on track if I don't do a few simple things to help me actually follow through with my plan. When I do these things consistently, we are able to work the plan I have put into place and we have stress-free days of learning. Here are the things that have helped me: Have the children's work written out in some way, so they know what is expected. I also indicate by color on their sheet what they can do independently and what they need to do with me. This way, they can get started working on their assignments if I am working with someone else. Get up before the kids and prepare myself. I take a look at their assignment sheets and see what they need from me in order to have a successful day. (Do they need their VP tests laid out?--things like this) I also check to see who will need my help in which subject, so I can budget my time. When making the weekly schedule, I try to make sure that I arrange things so that I don't spread myself too thin on any given day. DO NOT answer the phone. This is a big one for me. I am on leadership of our HS co-op and get lots of calls. When I answer the phone, I always talk longer than I should and the kids get off track. They have unfinished work at the end of the day, because I was not available to go over things with them in a timely manner. Keep outside activities that happen before 3:00 p.m. to a minimum. This is another big one for us. There was a time I was overly involved in "enrichment opportunities" outside our home way too many time each week. These were great, worthwhile experiences, but they happened to often. Now I am better at picking and choosing, saying no when I feel they would put too much stress on our lives. The three-hour Friday morning 4-H sewing class that lasted 8 weeks had to be passed by, for example. Limit email time--*see phone:) In a nut shell, when I focus on the school day and do not allow outside forces to worm their way in, we do much better. I am not crabby. The stress is reduced. The learning is fun. When we do this, we stay on track and have time to do those truly exciting things that come up. (Both my kids and I got parts in The Best Christmas Pageant Ever that was produced by our local children's theater. The schedule was intense for a time, but when the opportunity came up, we were able to say "yes" because we had said "no" to other things along the way.) I hope this helps. Mandy

Have you looked at Jump-In. Here is a link to their website where you can see a sample chapter, however, you can purchase it cheaper at Rainbow Resources. Jump In Rainbow Resource/Jump In page Amanda

Thanks so much... Amanda

I am selling my All About Spelling levels 1-3 and would like to know if someone has a list of all the materials that are included with each level. I want to make sure I include all of these items with the sets I sell, so the buyer can pick and go with the program. Amanda

I'm sorry. I misunderstood. Maybe you might find the answer faster on the high school board, though I know many here have high schoolers. I wish I had the answer for you, Mandy

Thanks for the link! Mandy

Here is the email to subscribe: VP_Elementary-subscribe@yahoogroups.com Mandy

It sounds like I might be in the minority, but we have always had good luck with Kenmore appliances. Mandy

I don't know if this is the case or not, but I know when I update our co-ops website, I have to rebuild the site and re-upload. During this process, our website is down and cannot be accessed. Perhaps they are making some necessary updates. Mandy

Melissa, Thanks for the information. That is good to know. I will take another look. Mandy

A friend of mine highly recommended Raising a Modern Day Knight. Mandy

I prefer the movies of the 1940's and 50's over ones of today, and have since I was a child. I love Jimmy Stewart and Cary Grant! Hitchcock is great. My favorite? There are too many! Mandy

So far I have been watching the gray hairs come in one by one. I don't plan on coloring. Mandy

Thanks for the input! Mandy

We must be strange here. We like the Landmark book. We read it as an extra reading even though we aren't using Sonlight this year. Mandy

If it were possible, I would move. Mandy

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I keep all my special ornaments in the boxes in which they came. For some reason, I can't bring myself to get rid of the Keepsake boxes.

My kids both love Webkinz. Mandy

Thanks so much for sharing these! Mandy

I will look into that one. Thanks for the reply. Mandy

Personally, I did phonics, Hooked on Phonics actually, and spelling. We used, and still use, AAS. It is a great program and supports the concepts learned in HOP well. Also, after some initial cutting out of cards/tiles at the beginning of a grade level, there is no planning required in AAS. Mandy