Math- Saxon 3 (wish she were doing 5/4, but she's my struggler) Logic- Building Thinking Skills 1 (second half) Writing- Classically Cursive, Pre-Scripts, Put It in Writing (teaches letter writing) Phonics/Spelling- The Logic of English Latin- Latin's Not So Tough 3 and VP supplements/game or activity books Greek- Hey, Andrew 3/CAP supplements Oral Reading- McGuffey First Reader (actually already finished this) Literature- VP 3rd grade lit and guides (running behind at the moment) Memory Work- AWANA, CC Foundations, First Catechism, IEW Poetry Level 2 History- VP SP OT/AE w/ lit Science- Nature Friend Magazine, CLP Nature Reader 3 God's World News Magazine Bible- Genesis-Joshua (hoping for SP version) Family Devotional- What We Believe, hymns, prayer, manners, Daily Bible reading extras: drawing class, Suzuki violin, piano, hopefully tennis and golf and swimming lessons in our neighborhood next year when CC is over: Apologia Botany, Artistic Pursuits 1, finish SOTW 1 and some of 2

I think it could be done in the summer. It doesn't seem that intensive....... That being said I've heard of several students in one Challenge class doing Omnibus on top of Challenge.......That's what I'm hoping to do :-) Some people say their kid's Challenge homework only takes 3-4 hours a day. Others say 8-10. It totally depends on the tutor and the individual student from what I hear.

I found that the method of teaching with the abacus was what I loved; not necessarily the program. If I was going to spend that much time teaching I wanted it to be a very thorough program and I didn't feel Right Start was. I am not a game loving person so that only got done when they said to do it. So our way of still using the abacus and getting a thorough math program is to teach Saxon during the school year and to use Activities for the AL Abacus during the summer. We do one or two math activities from it per day and then some math fact drill. The book is only $20 if I remember correctly and each child's workbook for this is $25, but it lasts them from PreK-4th grade I would say. It doesn't teach the geometry concepts but I would say most if not all of those are covered in Saxon. If my child is struggling with something in Saxon or needs a different way to learn it I can just pull out the abacus and show them that way. In a way it is adding the visual piece to what they are learning in Saxon so that they can see something is true and not just know it b/c I told them in the lesson. I'm hoping it will reinforce what they've already learned or in some cases perhaps introduce something in a new way. I think with my fourth child who will start preK with me in the fall I may work in the summer to introduce things with the abacus and then reinforce them in the school year with Saxon and see if that makes any difference. All I know is the abacus makes a lot of sense to me but my kids are thriving with Saxon and tested one grade level ahead of the book they are on. I can teach each one in 25 minutes or less (doesn't count their independent work) and that's all the time I have! I found this to be a cheap and easy way to have my cake and eat it too!

Ok, I don't have a kid in Challenge yet but my best friend does. If you want to add history to it you could just have them do one of the Memoria Press guides either by themselves, online, or offline (where they just get a syllabus and take quizzes and tests online which are then graded and sent to you....pretty cheap). I would evaluate what it is worth to you to have someone on call that can help your child with the upper level subjects when you can't (either b/c you are focused on your other children or you are confused as well). The community part of it is a big deal and there are just some things that are best done in a group, either online or in person. I love that with Challenge you are still in charge. So you can either overrule/omit assignments as you wish or add to them. You can add in as much as you want to at home and they also have summers to work on other things. Some parents struggle just to get accomplished what is assigned and others add all kinds of things to it. It is totally up to you. But for me the benefits far outweigh the money and probably if you weigh the cost of that to most any other program with a tutor in an hour by hour comparison you would come out ahead. I think the moms who tutor there work hard for their money and most of them do an excellent job from what I hear and have experienced. A lot of them wouldn't do it if it wasn't a way for them to afford the tuition for their own kids....... HTH!

Math: Saxon 2 (wish he were in Saxon 3 next year, though) Logic: Building Thinking Skills 1 (first half) Writing: Pre-Scripts and Classically Cursive 1 and 2, Logic of English Cursive Latin: Latin's Not So Tough 2 or Song School Latin 2 (when it comes out) Greek: Hey Andrew Teach Me Some Greek 2 Phonics/Spelling and Grammar: The Logic of English Essentials Literature: VP 2nd grade lit and guides Oral Reading: McGuffey Pictorial Primer Science: CLP Nature Reader 2, Nature Friend Magazine History/Current Events: VP Self-paced history OT/AE, God's World New Mag. Memory Work: CC Foundations, IEW Poetry, First Catechism, AWANA, Character First Bible: VP Genesis-Joshua (hoping for self-paced version) Family Devotions: What We Believe Vol. 1 Who Is God? classics as a family such as Little Britches series, Little House Series, Narnia, and missionary biographies and poetry During the summer: Apologia Science, SOTW, Artistic Pursuits, Activities for the AL Abacus, Five Minute Facts by Susan C. Anthony, possibly Ray's Arithmetic, Latin and Greek games from Classical Academic Press, LOE assessment review lessons, CC lapbook from wisdomandrighteousness.com

That book is so cool! Thanks for sharing! I also don't know about systematic (though that book does look systematic to me) but I know of a few great nature resources. 1.Patterns of Nature by Rod and Staff- 2nd grade workbook 2. Christian Liberty Press Nature Readers K-5 3. Nature Friend Magazine (encourages kids to take photos and do drawings and write poetry about nature and submit them to the magazine for publication) 4. Memoria Press Science- one on astronomy, one for trees(think this one isn't out yet), one for insects, one on the history of medicine, and one for birds 5. Logos Press Science Hope that help!

I vote for teaching handwriting with WRTR in manuscript (a-z) and then starting LOE, incorporating their cursive method when you think it is the right time. I think LOE is very thorough and OnTrack just seemed confusing to me. I can't wait to start LOE in the fall......

Thanks, ladies. I printed out the list so that I could look at it and type up my own relevant list. I am trying to decide what is more important.....schoolwork or being more organized before we leave. In the past I would have definitely chosen being organized but now that my kids are older I'm less likely to shrug off school. I wanted the peace of mind of knowing that we finished the year and whatever we get accomplished this summer is great. (Though I at least want to finish our Science curriculum). I'm thinking I'll also sign them up for self-paced history to work on while I'm busy with packing stuff. We are going to have a moving truck take our stuff down but we have a friend who said he'd be willing to pack us up for less money than the moving company and I know he'd do a great job. I was thinking about getting a POD thing to start putting stuff in as I go through it. Have you ever done that? Did it help? Thanks!

We are moving in early June to NC from VA. We are supposed to sign papers on a house this week that is about the same size as ours (so we don't have to get rid of much unless we want to). Can you give me a list of things to do and about how far ahead of time so I can plan out how to do this move as smoothly as possible? I'm also trying to crank out the rest of our school year before we move which is roughly 37 lessons in Math and less in others, so our school days should get shorter and shorter...... Thanks!

First a little history. We did half a year of CC when my oldest was 5 and quit b/c our schedule ended up being too full, I was pregnant and exhausted. At that time I thought I could do it better at home. So that was my plan. We were doing TOG at the time as well. And I never got around to doing the memory work at home as I planned. Fast forward several years and we did CC for the first full year this year. My third child is 5 (started the year at age 4 1/2) and he LOVED it. Now he may have gained more than a child who is the oldest and many of the moms in his class think he's way above everyone else but that's just b/c he has older siblings he competes with. But even my 3 year old has picked up quite a bit! I really think the CD in the car is key. The main reason why I think one should go ahead and jump in is for Mom. The accountability and fellowship is awesome for both Mom and child. I think it is motivating to make sure your child behaves properly and learns to respect his teacher and his friends, etc. I think Moms can learn so much by talking to other moms whether it be about curriculum choices, schedules, or whatever you have on your mind that week! I think the main value academically comes when they do it again later. But I think my son knows a lot more about history and science and Latin and geography than he would have otherwise. He can skip count up to 15 x 15 and someday that will come in really, really handy! I honestly think that the benefits far outweigh the weaknesses. I wish I had never left. My oldest would have benefited tremendously from CC had I left her in and kept her in. If you decide not to I'd still buy the cds and the guide and listen to it in the car. Buy Leigh Bortin's books and read them as well as others about classical education. I say jump in rigorously with the 3R's, add in CC for inspiration in other subjects and a ton of books and you can't go wrong! Too often I think we homeschool moms invest so much time on history and science that we sacrifice time on the 3R's when really if we just hit the 3R's hard and inspire and plant seeds in the other subjects it is a much better recipe for an excellent education! That's my "wisdom" after doing this for 6 years....

I'm probably going to spend less than 200 for my preschooler for next year but I already own some of the teacher's manuals and manipulatives and some things will be shared for the whole family which I am not counting (like our CC audios and resource cd and flashcards, etc). This also doesn't count any living books that I pick up at a convention and of course doesn't count her CC tuition or extracurricular activities. That will cover her math meeting book, her letter cards from LOE, some handwriting paper, TWRTR (which I'm using for the handwriting instructions), Building Thinking Skills Beginning, a geography fold out for CC, first catechism, Character First cards, two Bob Books preschool sets, Who Is God? coloring book, God's World News Magazine, and Pre-Scripts (copybooks CC is coming out with....though I'm guessing on the cost of this). This doesn't include things preschool hands-on activities that I find at conventions either that just help keep her busy or awesome educational videos. Some that I would HIGHLY recommend are the YWAM publishing missionary videos, the NEST videos, and LeapFrog videos. Spanish or French immersion videos are also great like Little Pim or WhistleFritz. Answers in Genesis and Vision Forum have some great ones too. I definitely agree with these moms about building a library. This will always bear fruit!! Memoria Press has a great Preschool Read aloud collection coming out before the fall!

I found this AWESOME free planner page at timberdoodle.com/schedule Within two hours (maybe even one....I lost track) I had plugged in all my oldest daughter's curriculum for next year in the annual planner and how many lessons, pages, or chapters per book and then it plugged it in automatically on the weekly sheet with checkboxes for her to check off how many times she did them that week or how many lessons/pages covered. I can type in the dates at the top each week and print it out or do it ahead of time or handwrite it in. I can block out the checkboxes if there are too many for some of the books (I think there are 7 available). I looked up the number of pages or lessons or chapters online for the books I don't already own and it was so easy! So at the beginning of the year I can just go through each workbook or binder and circle the bottoms of the page numbers where she should stop (as a helpful visual for her...can be done in pencil in case I need to change) and write in the day number on the ones that aren't already planned that way. So if she is to cover 8 pages a week I would circle the page number every 8 pages and write Day 1, Day 2, Day 3 etc. next to them. We're planning a 120 day school year for most of the books b/c we count 24 days of CC and about 20 additional days over break and some summer work too like art, history, and science, and review of the 3R's and Latin and Greek. I am hoping to do a 24 week school year to line up with CC, with a few of our curricula spilling into our winter break. We'll have a summer schedule too but this will be our main work for the year. I can put her weekly planner pages in a binder or I can put just one in a sheet protector that she can write on and wipe off if we want. I could even go through and pencil in somewhere next to each book how many lessons or days we've covered. For example, if I print out 24 copies of the weekly planner and put them in a binder I can write 5 next to Saxon on page 1 and 10 next to Saxon on page 2 so I know how many we've finished total for the year. If we get behind I can change this at the end of the week for how many we actually did do. Then I will know over break how many we need to catch up on before starting week 13. So when my daughter goes to do her work on Day 1 of school in August all she has to do is look at her week schedule and check the boxes as she goes. It wouldn't have specific page numbers but she will know how many lessons or pages to do because it tells her on the planner and there will be reminders at the bottoms of the pages of her books of where to stop. If I really want to I can type up a master planner for myself with specific page numbers but it probably isn't necessary. I just don't want it to be more complicated than it has to be.....I usually sabotage complicated plans within 2 weeks!

Can anyone tell me the advantages of this over open and go workbooks with page numbers circled as to where they should stop and grading same day or next day? I'm also thinking about a checklist in a page protector w/ a blank for page numbers next to things that need it that can be wiped on and erased, checked, crossed off, or whatever and changed quickly daily? It could be put on a wall over the desk so I can see it at a glance and so can they? And we are all basically working on the same subjects at the same time or at the very least in the same order (if they get ahead of me working one on one with others) so this isn't even essential. I'm just trying to figure out if something like this would make my life more or less complicated in reality. I'm thinking more but at the same time it seems like such a neat idea....One reason this appeals to me is that it may feel less overwhelming to them to have a packet (whether bound or in a folder) to do for the day or week than a stack of workbooks but is that a big enough advantage to justify the set up time and cost? Not sure!

I was looking at the folder system from homeschool creations and I really like this kind of idea whether it is done in folders or binders but I'm not sure it would work for us. I think they would still have a lot of workbooks. For example, it would work fine for Saxon Math (at least in K-3) but for LOE I think they need to keep the workbook together as well as the cursive book because of the format. I guess it could work ok for Phonics Museum and Classically Cursive, but then you wouldn't have Classically Cursive to refer to later if they want to use it to help them memorize the catechism or the ten commandments or the books of the Bible or the attributes. I also may not want to split up their Pre-Scripts books but I dont' even know for sure what those will look like so I don't know. I'm also not sure I would want to break up Building Thinking Skills that way either but I don't know why....lol. Literature guides I'm not sure would be good to cut up either. Wouldn't I want to keep those together? And their Latin and Greek are already spiral bound workbooks. When my oldest starts IEW I'm definitely not going to want to cut up her theme-based book...... To some degree having almost everything in a workbook already bound sounds like a lot less paper to deal with. As it is right now I mostly have to file their math papers and a few random other things that they produce on lined paper when it is assigned in one of their workbooks. If I put their Saxon binders together differently next year and cut off the binding that will make that easier next year too instead of having to rip out the pages daily. So even though I LOVE this idea I'm not sure if it would really help anything. What if they lose a paper? I guess stapling them together is a good idea but then I may want to undo all that at the end of the year. Does anyone else struggle with going from bound workbooks to a binder system?

Ok, I LOVE that room!! I want it!! Thanks SO much for sharing!!

We're considering buying a house that is smaller and the schoolroom would have slanted ceilings. I'm trying to figure out how we would fit all of our stuff into it and how I would set it up. I'm thinking of painting one slanted ceiling with chalkboard paint. Is there a paint that works as a whiteboard or would I just hang a large whiteboard on the other slanted ceiling? If I put wall to wall bookshelves on the lower part of the wall how could they have individual space to work? I'd like to put a table in the middle for those times when we want to sit together. And I'd also like my wide but short blue comfy chair to work one on one. The room is about 21 x 12 if that helps.....And I think there is a window on the back wall. Also, it has a very small, narrow closet.....There is a walk in attic as well off of that room but it isn't finished and would obviously not be heated or cooled. Can one finish those kinds of rooms? I'd love to have extra space but not sure that is doable. Thanks for any help you can give!

I'm really excited to downsize actually after house hunting in Wilmington, NC this weekend. We are currently in a 3850 sq. ft. house in Northern VA with 6 kids ages 10 and under and probably more in the future. I really like our house here but for financial reasons and based on the selection of houses where we want to move we'll probably be in something 2300-3000 sq. ft. I think with a smart layout, new furniture that has lots of storage, and some well thought out built ins we could definitely make it work and be comfortable. A biggie for me is a fenced in backyard and screened porch which gives the kids a place to go no matter the weather (unless it is too cold which isn't very long in NC). We will miss having a rec room where they can go "be somewhere else" but if they can just go outside we'll be good I think. Also, we'll have to declutter which I'm happy about. Forced decluttering is always best (most thorough). Also, I think I will like that there will be less to clean! The main thing I care about is being able to keep all of our books and school supplies. As long as we can do that I'm ok with smaller.......We'll just cover our walls with bookshelves!

LOE is intended to cover all one would need for the main phonograms from what I understand. It does not cover the advanced phonograms but she is planning to write a word roots program to follow up LOE Essentials. She recommends English from the Roots Up in the mean time as well as following up with any spelling lists we deem appropriate, using LOE phonograms, markings, and rules to analyze them. Essentials can be used with kids as young as 5 up to an adult by adjusting the pacing and taking out the grammar lessons for the young ones. She is writing a grade level program as well but one doesn't need to do both. They are like two separate tracks. Also, the graded levels will incorporate reading comprehension and use real books as readers but many of us homeschoolers already use something else for reading comprehension. I use Veritas Press Literature guides. I have not used my LOE yet b/c I just got it very recently and plan to start it in the fall. I like it because I can use it with my three oldest together even though they are at different levels. I like that it has the workbook already laid out. I like that it incorporates very thorough grammar which will prep them wonderfully for CC's Essentials in 4th-6th grade. I like that the words they'll be using in their grammar program are words they've worked with instead of words that are above or below their reading and spelling level. I love that it has dictation of sentences and phrases (which I have found to be enormously helpful for retention and application of the phonograms and spelling rules for my struggling learner and was something she never got with SWR). I love that it has a spelling journal and ideas like the spelling cards to really help it stick. I love that it is open and go and all laid out for me. I have used SWR for 1 1/2 years. I've read through TWRTR. I own TATRAS and another book called Taking the Mystery Out of Spelling and Reading which is also a Spalding based method. I've used AAS 1-3 (and am currently using 2 and 3). I loved AAS but had to add in the grammar and was thinking that it would eventually get to be too much for me to have several levels of AAS and AAR going on all at once. I also didn't like that the key cards weren't sticking the way the SWR spelling rule cards were b/c they were more like fill in the blank answers instead of full sentences. I like that I can just use LOE and work with everyone together for an hour a day and get through it in a year. If they don't get it all they can cycle back through it the next year. When they do get it and just need lists to keep working on I'll probably just use Spelling Plus or TWRTR lists to continue to work on analyzing words and I will teach them all the advanced phonograms if the word roots program isn't out yet. I'm already doing Latin and Greek at home so I don't think they'll NEED that. As far as handwriting goes I believe that TWRTR's manuscript method is best for starters. After that I want them learning cursive as quickly as possible and I am fine with them learning D'Nealian too (though not necessarily as a bridge to cursive and although I'd like them to learn how to do D'Nealian I will never require them to write that way unless it is for making pretty copywork. I would not require it ever for composition or dictation.) So I'm going to start my fourth child on TWRTR's manuscript in the fall and possibly remediate my third one this summer but he may be resentful of me reteaching manuscript to him. It may be a battle I don't want to fight..... Hunter....have you seen LOE's brand new cursive workbook? How does it compare in your mind to the way TWRTR teaches cursive or Cursive First's method? Thanks for all your insight!!

I've made all my decisions and we finally have some money coming in so this coming week I'm signing them up for self-paced and ordering a few things for summer from VP. Then after we get paid again mid month I'm going to order the rest of their summer stuff. I've already printed out my shopping carts! At the end of the month there is a curriculum fair and hopefully I can pick up a lot of things there to save on shipping. In July I pay their CC tuition and will buy whatever is still needed for the fall. I just hope I have enough left over for things like videos from NEST (LOVED the OT collection I bought last summer) and YWAM (about missionaries) and Vision Forum as well as history books from Veritas Press. I've probably spent less than $300 since November ($170 of which was recent for LOE) and it's been killing me! I'm sooo excited to get new stuff. I have a ton of stuff to sell and I found out there is a place within two hours of me that I can drive to and consign most of it at one time so I'm hoping to do that soon and make some money back from previous years. Oh, and today I ordered my CC guide and a set of the new timeline cards and saved $40 so I'll be so excited to receive those before the end of this month as well!! Woo hoo!

I wish CC would hurry up and release these! I'm so anxious to see them and see how they fit in the grand scheme of our year next year. We're definitely going to use them but I want to see how much is covered in terms of handwriting or if it is just copywork, what fonts, what subjects covered, etc. I'd love to see a page for each subject including one for Scripture, one for the science experiment, one for fine arts, and one to plan out their presentation. I'd love to see a cursive font, a WRTR or ZB font and a D'Nealian font. I'd love to see them do 4 different levels (Abecedarians, Apprentice, Journeyman, and Masters) with appropriate activities for each. I'd love to see this divided into one book per semester so it wouldn't be too big or overwhelming. And I'd love to see it bound at the top to make it easier to use. I think this is such a fabulous idea and I can't wait to see what they come up with! I think it will really, really help reinforce the memory work. I saw a sample of an English grammar one and an American History one. Both were in cursive. They were great but I'd love them to do all the subjects! I also wonder what they're going to put up for literature. I know they're going to put the Bob Books up but I don't know what else. And finally, I'd love to see them sell LOE. I think it is a great program to use before Essentials....Funny how they are both called Essentials. Does anyone have anything to share regarding Pre-Scripts release date or content?

I am so glad this was brought up. I am thinking through all of this now. With my oldest I started teaching her how to write manuscript letters at 4 1/2 and we just used a write on wipe-off thing with simple stroke instructions. We didn't even get all the way through the letters before I started her on Cursive First. It took us almost all year to learn her letters that way so we didn't get much learning to read done, but she is also my special needs child so maybe that had something to do with it. Overall I liked the method but it did take A LOT of time. My second child couldn't even make a curve with his hand when he was 4 so I worked with him all throughout preschool and kindergarten just getting his hand to be able to make the basic strokes. I forget the name of the program I used. I did some of the large motor activities from HWOT with both of them but didn't teach them that method of writing. With him I used mostly tracing workbooks from Rod and Staff and Memoria Press after that. He is 7 and I haven't taught him cursive yet. I also used the Phonics Museum with him and tried to teach him the letters with D'Nealian and it was a disaster so I backed up and did the regular manuscript and he did much better. Now he is learning D'Nealian b/c I think it is a pretty lettering but when I dictate sentences to him he is allowed to use whichever of the fonts he prefers as long as it is neat and correctly spaced. He usually chooses the traditional manuscript font. My third child was trying to teach himself to write the letters really early so I did the R&S preschool workbooks with him this year. His handwriting is pretty good. We are going to start LOE this summer (just doing the a-z phonograms and intro work so he can work with his siblings next year) and I was debating whether or not to teach him cursive now that he knows manuscript. I think what I've decided is that I'll do one letter per week handwriting with my whole crew next year. I'll review the strokes for TWRTR manuscript, D'Nealian, and LOE's cursive and allow those who know to review and those who don't to learn and when they get it they get it. I want to work on the habit of 'perfect execution" of only a few letters instead of tons of the same letter over and over I think. My fourth child is going to start the a-z phonograms in the fall. I will get to start fresh with her. I'm planning to teach her manuscript first the Spalding way and see how that goes. In K she can start D'Nealian with The Phonics Museum workbook (which I use only to reinforce the Spalding method and phonological awareness as well as reading comprehension with the primers....I don't use the lessons) and then she can move into cursive as she is ready by watching me teach it to the olders and giving her the salt box and the sandpaper letters. I like D'Nealian b/c of how pretty it is but I definitely think it is not appropriate as a beginning writing style and while I like the idea of moving into cursive as soon as possible I agree that cursive isn't necessarily best taught first. We'll see how my guinea pig number 4 goes next year!

This was also my dilemma except that I also wanted to keep all the CC recommendations too and of course it was too much. Since CC has become front and center this year I wanted to only choose that which would fit for us around that. I chose to make the books and resources produced by VP the priority rather than everything they sell. That includes mainly The Phonics Museum, Legends and Leagues, their history and Bible and the literature guides. There is a lot of overlap in VP and CC so here is what we are using from VP or plan to use soon: Math- Saxon Handwriting: Phonics Museum grades K-1 and Classically Cursive grades 2-3 Composition: IEW (4th-6th in Essentials) Literature: VP with guides Latin: extras from Classical Academic Press (the main company VP recommends for Latin) after they finish their other program....same with Greek History: VP Self-paced with literature Bible: hoping VP will come out with self-paced version Geography: Legends and Leagues in K or 1st Living Books from all subjects Other things we add in from CC: The Logic of English (not specifically recommended by CC but based off of The Writing Road to Reading which CC recommends) Essentials of the English Language (4th-6th....this has many similarities to Shirley) Latin's Not So Tough Hey Andrew, Teach Me Some Greek (not recommended by CC but same company as their chosen Latin program in lower grades) Story of the World (in summer) Pre-Scripts (when it comes out) Bob Books (soon to be added to their website) Other things we add in not from either: Building Thinking Skills (VP recommends some other things from this company) Character First Linguistic Development Through Poetry Memorization (IEW) First Catechism (Leigh does say catechize your kids) Apologia Science (VP and CC recommend in higher grades) AWANA Nature Friend Magazine God's World News McGuffey Readers What We Believe Artistic Pursuits Activities for the AL Abacus (K-3 in summer) Five Minute Math Facts (written by the same lady who wrote Spelling Plus recommended by CC) I think VP's history and Bible fit better with CC cycles stretched to 6 years by adding A Child's History of the World with A Child's Story Bible. I also feel that their literature guides are more fun. My daughter likes VP's much better than the one she did from MP. I think MP's Famous Men and living book suggestions and geography books, etc. will definitely be worth owning no matter which way you go. They are great selections and resources. I LOVE the simplicity of their guides and all their curricula but it just seemed to me that VP was a better fit for us with CC and so that is the way we are going to go. Also, I've heard sooo many positive comments about self-paced history that I know we will love it too. The kids will be able to do that independently and that will take something off my shoulders. Don't know if that helped at all but I can completely sympathize with you. Deciding between them was agonizing for me! But with 6 kids there comes a time to be realistic!

I've struggled with this for a long time only b/c I want to do all of them and there are 2 more coming out and I was worried there was no way to do that. And then I was trying to complicate it too much by adding other things when it is plenty on its own. And I think I want to do it in the spring/summer after our other main curricula is done. We do Classical Conversations and so I finally figured out how to make it work with a 3 year cycle. So we will be rotating through them together not in the order of difficulty and we will just adjust it with the notebooking journals. Cycle 1- Botany Cycle 2- Zoology 3 Cycle 3- Physics/Chemistry (coming out soon I think) Cycle 1- Geology/Earth Science (coming 2014) Cycle 2- Astronomy Cycle 3- Anatomy Challenge A- Zoo 1 and Zoo 2 Challenge B- General Science They are going to put classification information in all the Zoology books soon so it won't end up mattering which one you do first....

There are no samples online and I'm trying to figure out how they schedule it. Is there a page for every chapter in every book? Any other helpful info? Thanks!

We want to do it just like you are doing (all in one day, probably no projects or extra readings but all the AG pages). How long does this take? Thanks!