ACK! I do mean Classical Conversations! sheesh. I wasn't thinking when I posted:) Thanks for the input. I have searched on the boards and there are so many who like (and LOVE) it that it has been hard finding much on the negative side. There is some. The cost seems like it is a huge block for some (including me as I would have four dk's to enroll). I have been homeschooling a LONG time and it seems like such a hugh change in what we "do". However, I sometimes think it would be nice for a little accountability for my middle boys. I think it would help them a great deal. I've also considered online courses for some accountability . . . I go to a Classical Conversations info night this week. I'll see . . .

I wouldn't assign this to my boys--I would get much rolling of the eyes! Way to much drama--they also would not really "get" Jo's dilema either. IMHO Little Men would be a much nicer choice as someone above said.

TIME managment! It is so easy to waste time if you don't HAVE to be somewhere. I'm still working on this one myself ;)

I would like to hear from some of you who either used Classical Connections and didn't like it or from those who decided against using it. What were your reasons for disliking it? I don't mean to sound like I'm encouraging a bashing! I don't want that-- I'm trying to decide if it would be a good fit for our family and it is hard to find much negative about it--and I've been looking! Does that mean you all love it? :D It is hard to decide when you only hear from those who love it. Any thoughtful "negatives" would be appreciated. Why didn't it work for you? Why did you decide not to use it? THANKS!

Hi, This is exactly what we did last year. I had originally planned to have my son do Zeta, THEN head into Teaching Textbooks. However, he really wanted to do math on the computer. It just seemed like it would be a good fit for him. He took the placement test and tested into the 7th grade. You are right, some of the subjects were not covered in Epsilon, but Teaching Textbooks really covered the subjects thouroughly. Yes, my son did have some trouble (mainly because he is not patient and hurried) but by slowing him down and helping go over some of the spots he did just fine. TT is really NOT an advanced, hurry, hurry kind of math program. Just a great, steady program. This summer I plan to have ds go over some Key To books on percents and decimals just to help lock in the concepts. He really loves TT and I plan on using it with him again next year. Hope this helps!

I'm a tweaker. I love to buy something out there and completely hack it up. I used to think it was because I lacked the confidence to build something on my own, now I just accept it as what it is . . .FUN!

I plan for 36 weeks here, but then get out the science kits, art supplies and all those other things that are hard to get to the rest of the school year.

I make a custard style ice cream and I have had my eggs NOT mix in before. bleck. I went and read my recipe before I made it today . .. The recipe has me heating the milk and sugar and in a SEPARATE bowl, whisk the eggs WELL. When the milk mixture is simmering (this recipe also calls for a little flour as a thickener) and gets thick, slowly add about one cup of this to the whisked eggs. Stir in quickly to prevent the eggs from cooking. After the cup of milk and eggs were well mixed, I added another cup for good measure THEN added this to the main cooking pot. Mix well. The ice cream was delicious and NO cooked egg pieces. Take it from me, eating chunks of frozen egg pieces is an experience I'll skip.

I also like Home Science Tools. I don't know if it is the cheapest, but they have a list of what the kit contains and you can buy separate items or buy the whole thing. Occasionally they will offer 10% discount when you get their email newsletter, but I don't think it was this time of year.

You walk 5-7 miles a day???? And sit-ups?? Gee, no wonder I can't get any weight off as I'm only walking two stinking miles. What a trooper! I guess I'm going to step up my action plan . . . ugh. Congrats to you!

Something that kept my sanity when my children were all young: QUIET time. It will take time to train them and that may not be fun:) Work around the naptimes of the younger children. This was a daily lifesaver for me. Even if I only got 30 minutes because the baby didn't go to sleep until later, it was nice. You can train your children to LEAVE you ALONE (!) in your room every day. My kids know if my door is shut, Mom needs time alone:) Another suggestion would be to schedule a time each week that is YOUR time. Make it the same time each week. This way you can have it to look forward to as well as make the separation time easier for your dc. So, perhaps every Tuesday evening you have from 6:00 until 8:00. EVERY week. Hire a sitter, get your mom to come over . . . Older children can help with the younger ones for a bit. Even just a daily 30 block of time where the little ones are watched over and you are shut away somewhere could help. Remember, whatever you decide to do, do it CONSISTENTLY. Even though my dc are not spaced as closely as yours, I know exactly what you mean. I sometimes just need some alone time.

Although I haven't sold anything on this board since the new rule about having 50 posts (though I sold things before this rule . . . maybe I'll eventually get 50 posts and start to sell again!), I do sell on other websites as well as Ebay. It is so much easier for you and the buyer to price it with the shipping costs built in. i.e. $20ppd Most send their books via "Media Mail" which has much cheaper rates. It does take longer, but it is much cheaper. Sometime someone wants it faster than Media Mail (which can be slow) and I will send it out another way, but they pay for the difference in price. I used to not do this, but for less than a dollar, I usually buy a confirmation number. This tells you when and if the package made it to its destination. If it is valuable, add insurance. Really, it is up to you how you want your payment. I've never gotton burnt over a bad check, but I've heard of some people who have, so that is the reason some only want Money Orders. You could accept personal checks, but allow time for it to clear before you send out the item. Just make sure the buyer knows that in advance. Honestly, the easiest way to receive a payment is to accept Paypal. It is secure and it is FAST. You have your money now, rather than later. Also, the buyer can have their item quicker as they are not waiting for the mail both sending and receiving. There is really no one "right" way to sell. You find something that you are comfortable with. Have fun selling!

If this helps me get ONE more thing done every day it will be worth it!!!!! Thanks for passing this along:)

I used SOTW 1, Kingfisher and MOH History with my boys this past year. I will say that my 8th grade ds DID need more. I kept books on the shelf, both fiction and non-fiction for him to read. These could be books you already own or library books. Some were easier books, but I also required him to read some difficult books as well. (The Odyssey, Gilgamesh etc) Also, since he is more in the logic stage, I felt he needed more "why" rather than the "what". So for us, that meant a lot of discussion. "Why did Alexander want to conquer? Why couldn't he just stay home and have a nice life? " "Why did Julius Caesar cross the Rubicon? And why did the people let him get away with it? "Why did our country's forefathers use so many of the political structures of Greece and Rome?" etc. These discussions were pretty informal. I wish you well!

I've often thought it would be great for someone to start up a WTM site . . . "to purchase WTM year 2, click here" BUT Rosie (above poster) is right . . . it would take out all the fun . . . and we STILL would be tweaking it anyway!!

I like my biscuits with BUTTER, but . . . I sometimes get crumbly biscuits (whether I use butter or oil) when I do not knead quite enough. You are talking about biscuits vs. yeast rolls, right? I know you are warned against over-kneading biscuits as it developes the gluten and makes them tough, but I sometimes take this warning too far and not knead them enough. EVERY time I've done this, they are crumbly. If you are talking about yeast rolls, I would consider that you may be using too much flour. I'm still working on making a great whole wheat biscuit, but alas! They are never quite as good. Hope you find the answer.

I have used R&S 3 for a couple of children, and there isn't much writing practice. However, I wonder how much writing is really necessary at this age? (rhetorical question!) I have supplemented with Writing Strands, which is very gentle, but find that if I frustrate my sons with too much writing at a young age, they struggle to "like" writing for quite a while. Of course, some dc are different and love to write. If you don't add any writing at this age, they won't be harmed. They can start in next year. In fact, in my experience, you will be able to avoid some tears:)

I am going to used the Beautiful Feet Guide for Medieval History with my 9th ds. We just happen to be at Medieval History in our family this year and ds does well with BF guides--very specific day to day assignments. My four year plan for him will be 9th--BF Medieval 10th--Early Modern History 11th--Modern History 12th--back to Ancients again or a gov't course I know it is not quite a typical high school, but I've done similar schedules with my older children and I've never had any negative comments from college admissions or anything. Of course, they haven't applied to Yale or anything. You may want to check to see if your state has any required history/civics courses.

Here is a link to Home Training tools: http://www.hometrainingtools.com/product_categories/45/products/2471-chemistry-science-kit This kit sells for $42. This is what I've done with two kids who have taken this course. Unfortunately, High School does seem to cost more. Or perhaps it is because they need more than just reading some library books . . . which is easier to do in the younger years.

I say burn the catalogs and stay off the forums!!! It is way too easy to want to do it all! I used MFW with a ds and plan to use it again with my youngest this year. It doesn't have that "wow" factor. It really doesn't. However, my son liked it. He does not like surprises on school days and prefers to know what is coming. Since I've never used Phonics Museum, I do not know what kind of day you'd have doing this. Perhaps someone else will pipe up and tell you. I vote for saving your money and buying some nice books for your shelf . . . maybe even a set of the Phonics Museum readers? Believe me, I've spent so much money on the new and exciting, it's embarrassing. I wish I would have spent all that extra cash on great literature and reference books for our shelves. Something we would use again and again. God bless your decisions:)

My question is, if our daughters don't go to college (at home or away) What are they going to do with themselves? I ask this because right now, I have quite a few aquaintances who will NOT let their daughters go to college and frankly the girls have nothing to do but cook, clean, sew, watch younger siblings and pine away for a husband. Also, to be honest most are quite lazy. I am preparing my daughter for college as in college she will learn so many great skills she'll need for life. Think about it. Sure she'll learn some literature and science, but she'll also learn how to manage her time (won't that come in handy when she has three or four young children?), how to handle pressure without a lot of sleep (never enough sleep with babies!), money management skills (how grateful her husband will be for that one), how to serve fellow students (sounds like a SAHM to me!) not to mention some great education that will give her the confidence and knowledge to be able to school her own children. What a great topic. Since I have a 17dd it has been discussed quite frequently in our home. Next topic: should we send them away to school or have them live at home and commute . . .!

You know, you could just do the HS recommendations in WTM. There are resources, book lists and etc. You could go through history starting at the beginning. Work your way through the Literature suggestions, Latin curricula, Logic and etc. I wish I had the foresight to do what you are doing. I have learned along with my children, but would have been greatly helped by having gone through all of history, including literature once on my own.

My favorites-- Apologia Science Video Text Algebra

Another vote for the looseleaf here!! I used the looseleaf last year with our Ancients and LOVED it. The looseleaf was tons easier to use. I am so disappointed to see that I won't be able to buy one for Middle Ages next year. blah. I'll go to Kinko's and have mine cut.

I have used both of these and our family much preferred Rainbow over General Science. We are much more hands on (like your family, perhaps?). BUT, I used it for two boys ages 9 and 12. The 9 year old did not get all the concepts unless I sat right there, but the 12 year old was fine(though I do remember parts of it were harder for him . . .so I'm thinking a 7th/8th grader could easily grasp the concepts as well as do it on his own) Also, we actually did both years in one year. If I recall, we took longer than a 36 week school year, but we still did it. I only say this because when we did only two lessons/week, it didn't seem like we did much at all. My boys really enjoyed it. They did a lot of experiments and all the supplies were right there. It is just not as "academic" as General Science, but that is fine with me.