Gotcha...thanks everyone for schooling me. :-)

Okay thanks...so you need to have the technic sets for that motor set...

You have a lot of good ideas other people have already mentioned so I'll add a few ideas to the mix. I have a 6 yr. old as well and since we are done with school by lunch this is what we do in the afternoons. handicrafts (I teach in the beginning and then can do on own: weaving, sewing, woodworking, housework, painting, sculpting, etc.) getting outside and playing exploring/ nature hunts, scavenger hunts, (give them their own nature notebook and let them draw, write, paint whatever) playing/practicing an instrument audio books in the afternoon (my son loves to listen to them and can do it while working puzzles, playing legos, k'nex etc.) Maybe your child thrives on routine and a sort of schedule like mine so I just tell him he will do such and such for the times in the afternoon even though most of the time he is doing things by himself or with me just by working on my own things. :) HTH

I am wondering if there is an add on motor out there that one could use regular Legos and make things that move like robotic? Just curious we have this for K'nex and was curious if there is anything out there for Lego beside Mindstorms. Thanks so much looking for an idea for Christmas. :)

How do you use streaming video content in your educational efforts? Do you watch videos about homeschooling, parenting, skill development, or education? We don't use any screens for our educational day and I personally don't watch any videos on education however I do listen to podcasts on educational topics and will occasionally use you tube for music I am streaming for our fine arts part of our day. Do you use videos with your children as part of your lessons (not counting full online classes such as Well-Trained Mind Academy)? NO What are your favorite programs/channels/presenters for this type of content? Why? Don't use any except for streaming some music How long, on average, are these videos? And: For this content, do you use paid services (Hulu, Amazon Prime, Netflix, other [please describe]) or primarily free ones (YouTube, etc)? You Tube, Amazon Prime usually are not longer than 5-10 minutes.

Sounds like our boys would get along well. :) Here are my ideas that my son has loved and he is now 6. Citiblocs If you are crafty - great idea to make (we are doing this for our 6 yr. old for Christmas- DIY wooden blocks Lego Crazy Contraptions (for your 6 yr. old) Thames & kosmos remote control machines (6 yr. old) There are so many different kits for k'nex we have quite a few of those which you can expand on for normal kits.

Rhetoric1 he took when he was in 9th grade but was a strong writer and had taken logic. Most take in 10th or 11th. HTH. It was not a W&R course this came afterwards.

I used it in my early days of homeschooling and loved it! It’s perfect for those just starting out and/or likes checking the box. Similar to Memoria Press. I used for elementary ages from1st grade-5th. If you have any questions just ask. I’ve gone to CM but for those seeking neoclassical it’s great!

Sorry...not up on poll posting...thanks for your help hopefully all good now...😊 Thanks for all posts very interesting!!

Thanks for letting me know, hopefully the edited version is better hard to tell how to fix that. Let me know if I didn't fix it. Thanks!

That's great! I know many of us if you make over $100k as a family are out when it comes to financial help and so after school scholarships outside ones are the way to go. Thanks for the ideas....why did my son have to work for a cheap company. Ha!

I know that's a load off...congrats!

Thought it would be interesting to see and if one should focus on one type more than another. Feel free to list the type of scholarship awarded. Would help each of us out! :)

Outside scholarships I know are hard to come by...I think I'll take a poll and see how many people have received one...that would be interesting! :)

That's terrible! We are dealing with our own blow....we were told (and they put out on a webinar by the college) that they could stack their scholarships but now stating they will not allow it to go past full tuition so all we are getting is full tuition which is great but now what to do with the other $10k for room and board... :-( What a roller coaster ride! I feel ya and big hugs....I have heard through most schools you have til May to up your scores to boost merit. Maybe you should look at others. So sorry!

I am doing my happy dance now.... :w00t: :party: We just heard yesterday that my son got the merit scholarship at Liberty (his first choice) and with the other scholarships that stack he is almost at a full ride just about $1000 short. (only awarded tuition free) We are so ecstatic and praising God for giving him the ability for him to succeed as well as for providing his old Ma direction in guiding his education. I couldn't have done it with out the Holy Spirit's direction and for the hive and the wonderful advice many of you ladies have shared through the years. I am so grateful and now we are able to enjoy his senior year before my melt down of him leaving home. :( Ha! For others who are waiting I am sending a group hug and sympathizing how stressful it can be! Hang in there....for his other schools in the scholarships that were awarded automatic like Louisiana Tech and UAH, they sent a letter to us about 3-4 wks after we had received confirmation of acceptance so hopefully you all's will come soon. LU first deadline was Nov. 1 and we were sweating bullets trying to get it in on time and so thankful we did..... they only offer 58 merit scholarships (and luckily they include commended-finalist in the same category) each year and so getting it in early I know helped. Good luck to you all!! Update....they are now only going to give him full tuition not allowing him to stack the other scholarships as stated there is some type of "clause" that no one knows about but they only allow exceptions for athletes and being a national merit finalist. :-( We were so bummed so now trying to find scholarship for room and board or going to try to up scores and go to another school. My son is so depressed what a roller coaster ride for sure....senior year is SO stressful!!!

Awesome...thanks everyone!

Thanks so much will send one to you!

So we are waiting to here about what scholarships my son will be getting. His first choice is Liberty and honestly as grads from there we are rooting for it... :-P but if scholarships don't pan out we are looking at University of Alabama in Huntsville. I am asking to see if anyone has students who attend there and is willing to talk with me a few minutes about their experience so far. I would greatly appreciate it! PM me and I'll give you my info. Thanks so much for any help and insight in advance!!!

Classic book suggestions when my son was that age that we read over and over: Angus Lost – Flack * Curious George Books – Rey * Three Billy Goats Gruff ** Lois Lenski books all of them!!! Now its Fall, Now Its Winter, Cowboy Small, Policeman Small, etc.. Tiki tiki Tembo ** Guess How Much I Love You Peter Rabbit & others Ask Mr. Bear Flack Blueberries for Sal & others McCloskey Poems and Prayers for the Very Young Alexander -favorite poem book When We Were Very Young & Now We are Six A.A. Milne The Gingerbread Boy – Galdone ** A Very First Book of Fairy Tales - Hoffman Sorry copy and pasted from my website. :) Not sure about songs though we just listened to hymns, regular, folk songs, and typical children's songs.

We just finished all of our applications in September yeah! Now we are working on the scholarship angle. He got accepted everywhere he applied but is mostly looking at what school will give him the most money. ;) Acceptances: University of Alabama (Huntsville) (2nd choice if the merit doesn't pan out at LU at least tuition free) Liberty University (1st choice if gets merit/honors scholarship and close to a full ride...fingers crossed!) Louisiana Tech Virginia Tech (still haven't heard on this one but not too worried) (3rd due to cost) Congrats to all others...isn't it great to know we made it! :hurray:

This is what we read our kindergarten year in regards to read alouds. His favorites I'll star. :) Flat Stanley · Little House in the Big Woods · Bears on Hemlock Mountain · Peter Rabbit, Benjamin Bunny, Tom Kitten, Johnny Town Mouse · Boxcar Children #1 & 2 **** Ivy and Bean & others***** Betsy Tacy*** Twig*** B is for Betsy George and the Marvelous Medicine ******* The Chocolate Touch****** Velveteen Rabbit Matilda · James and the Giant Peach · Lion Witch and the Wardrobe · Penderwicks- Spring ****** Penderwicks- Garden Street********* Penderwicks - Pt. Mouette ******** Little House and the Long Winter******* The Water Horse ******** Five Little Peppers and How they Grew********* My Side of the Mountain********** Heidi Enormous Crocodile - Dahl Fairy Tales - Anderson Now We are Six - Milne When We Were Very Young - Milne Tales from Odyssey -(6 volumes) Osborne********** Along Came a Dog Homer Price Pippi Longstocking******** George's Marvelous Medicine By Roald Dahl*********** Fantastic Mr. Fox********* Five Children and It******* Charlotte's Web********** Mary Poppins My Friend Flicka ******** Half Magic By Edward Eager Nate the Great and the Phony Clue Mcbroom's Wonderful One-acre Farm ​Some other ideas: ​Farmer Boy****** ​The Trumpet and the Swan******* ​Sarah Plain and Tall & her series******* HTH :) Sorry the coloring is off copied and paste off my blog to keep me straight on what my kids are reading and doing with school. Welcome to browse my reading lists or what we did in Kindergarten see under my signature.

They give you a list of books (no curriculum) and how to implement the books, page numbers, and how to go about it. I'm not sure how much you know about CM but I would recommend listening to their podcasts on how to teach certain areas. For "Language Arts" they will tell you what to use for grammar, how to go about teaching writing (mostly narrations at that age), copy work/ dictation and that is mostly what is consisted Language Arts. Also will give you a list of books to read that coincide with what your time period studying and a bunch of other free family reads. HTH

Yes, I am. It has worked perfectly for us, granted I have cut all coops out of our day and so we only go to a nature day once a month and we usually shoot for a field trip once a month and sometimes they have friends over but the rest of their activities are on occasional nights as to not interrupt our day. Best thing I have ever done, it makes the days so nice- no stress and able to complete all school work with time to breathe, unwind and to dive into other interests.

I feel for you and with so many options and many being great but just not exactly what you are looking for. I have used both TOG and VP & Omnibus. They are both great programs however I struggled with them for several reasons. TOG- was in my opinion too hard to implement and it just seemed like too much information and hard to plan. I wanted something more open and go and where I only needed to "pre-read" my kids work not plan it too. This way I was on the same page with them and we were able to have such great discussions and connections. VP/Omnibus - was just too much to finish and I totally burnt my kids out by trying to do everything. I also felt it just wasn't complete for an overall idea of the time period just bits and pieces even though I did enjoy most of the book choices. I also didn't like the idea of the textbook telling them what they should have gotten out of the book and what to think I want them to figure it out for themselves or to glean what they can from where they are. I finally found a curriculum that was complete, not too overwhelming, very easy to implement and is laid out beautifully. I also love that you study a time period and you can do it with all of your kids. The books are different depending on their age but there are overlaps and we all get to have great discussions. In case you want to check it out you can find it here...The Alveary it is a CM curriculum but to me that is classical depending on how you define it. My preference is for us to be able to study the same topics, but at different levels according to their developmental level, which TOG does. I understand this and that is why the Alveary worked great for us. (I am not associated with them I was just so excited when I found this because it was exactly what I had been looking for.) :) Questions: 1. Does anyone have any insight on the lesson plans for TOG? Is TOG difficult to implement? Do they give specific instructions regarding the daily lessons? (Yes, I've looked at the samples, and that's why I'm concerned). I can see that they let you divide the weekly reading as you wish. I probably won't do that. I will just use their weekly sample layout. However, I don't want to have to flip to this page for this kid, another page for another kid...yikes! Also, do you have to read all the teacher notes and remember what it says for every kid for the whole week and comment as things arise? Do you all have any tips? I had bought this and was trying to make sense of it but it was just too much prep for me. I don't find it very open and go of course it has been a few years since I have had it so it might have changed since then. ? 2. I can see that the reading lists are very different with regard to reading original texts (VP) and I'm not sure, maybe books about the person (TOG). It seems, after reading previous threads, that people feel pretty good about the content and knowledge their kids gain with TOG. I guess I just don't have experience with this age or material yet to have a good opinion. Has anyone gone through either of these programs that can weigh in? I will say, it looks impressive to have read the books on the VP list, but it's not about that-I certainly know! The book list in Omnibus is good and we liked the books but it was just so overwhelming and not much time to process them before moving on. I can tell you that my kids don't remember much of the books they read those couple years of doing Omnibus whereas when we picked fewer books and really poured over them for a longer amount of time they have really stuck with them. Therefore we read very broad and even though we could be reading about 15 different books at one time we read them throughout the year and therefore will remember them longer. That is what worked best for my kiddos. I would rather have good conversations and where the books really form their character and move their soul and become part of them then just checking the box to get them done. 3. If we use TOG, I do not intend to use the writing portion. We've used IEW for a few years now, and I do like this program. Is it a big deal if we don't use the writing part? I certainly don't mind assigning writing work based on the reading material on occasion, but I want to be able to use the IEW format of my choice. Thoughts? I think you could use IEW with any program without much trouble. 4. Is there any data on graduates of each program? I don't think you can go wrong with either program I would focus more on how to learn and let the books speak for themselves. They will be fine. :) 5. My kids are REALLY missing their friends from CC, and I know it's important for dialectic and rhetoric levels to have discussion. Can I even do this with just our family discussions? Have you tried the online classes? Is there any peer discussion? I haven't tried TOG online but we did do VP online and just felt it to be too much there is some discussion but I felt that it just wasn't worth the time and the money. We have discussions among our family and that I feel is sufficient. You can always get the kids to start up a club to discuss books they are reading if they really want to talk with other kids their own age...lots of other ideas then a class. Hope this has helped you some. Let me know if you have any other specific questions or if you would like to chat PM me and I can go into more detail of about the different curricula that we have used.