We do not do the narrations. I know my two oldest are understanding and retaining just from listening and doing the color/map pages because they enjoy retelling the story to their dad at dinner. Definitely return the love of history and stop the narrations :)

I love capris and so does my 5 year old :D We wear them all summer long!

I hear this one a lot..not that they come right out and say it in those words, but along the lines of "I just couldn't handle being around my kids all day. They drive me crazy enough during the summer". :confused:

I have been reading every single spelling thread for the last few days, but I am still undecided on what to do. My son is in 2nd grade and while he does not excell at spelling, he does do well at it. We started with Spelling Workout, but it feels like he isn't actually learning any thing from it. The rules just go in one ear and out the other. I was considering either Spelling Power or Rod and Staff spelling. I am not familiar with either, they are just the two I seem to keep coming back to. I worry that Spelling Power will take up too much of my time since I typically get my son to do his SWO book while I am doing math with my 1st grader. But I like that we would not be wasting our time on words he knows. With R&S, I like the workbook he could do on his own, but I wonder if it is too much like SWO? Suggestions or your own opinion of either of these programs? Thank you!

That is quite neat. I visited the church 9 years ago while touring England. Beautiful church in a REALLY beautiful setting.

Ok, thank you for the response, I'm not so great at patience either. :)

I was on Rainbow Resource trying to find this, and all it says is "coming soon". I clicked on the link provided by "jplain", but it wouldn't allow me to actually purchase. Is the bargain section not actually up and running yet?

We are trying HWOT for the first time this year and it is a huge hit with all three, so that gets my vote!

EXCITING!!!! This definitely counts... We are expecting #5 in July (4th boy). Our daughter is a little disappointed to once again, not get her much desired sister ;) But I know once he is here, she will be head over heels in love with him.

I also live in the same town as this doctor, and shortly after the email started spreading so rapidly, others in our medical community went to the newspaper and they put out a response to this doctor, basically debunking all that he said. Their main suggestion was to keep out of public areas (most especially restaurants, parks, and movie theaters) and wash your hands, and not to panic. Our city buildings, schools, parks, etc have been closed so every one was doing their best to keep people home!

Our oldest did not learn until he was well past 6, the coordination was just not there for him, and he tried so hard for a long time. It just clicked one day. Our second oldest is 5 and one day he got on the bike and he took off. No training required. It's definitely a skill!! We did try the Balance Buddy bar (bought it for $15 at the same store we got the bike from) for our oldest and it helped a lot (we did not have to lean over and hold on to his seat, easy to let go without him knowing) and our neighbors' are borrowing it now for their 6 year old and loving it. It was worth the cheap price to us, especially knowing we might use it again down the road.

Just another thank you..your words of encouragement have helped tremendously today as I consider curriculum for next year.

Thank you both so much! That does help and I can see I need to read up more on WWE, because I think it would tie in with what I am trying to accomplish here :)

sorry, I DO KNOW how to spell, and it should have read "Language Arts..." silly me.

My DS (7 and 1st grade) is reading really well, he is about to finish up book 6 of Explode the Code, he also does handwriting, reading alone and out loud, and Growing with Grammar. For next year I am considering dropping ETC and moving into spelling since his reading skills are far superior to his spelling skills. We have SWO B already, and will continue with GWG and handwriting. Should I add in a writing program? Any suggestions?

Also not a fan of the prerecorded messages...my mom has it and I CAN'T STAND getting her answering machine. I feel like I am leaving a message to a stranger. My son did our message when he was 5..we did it over and over again until it was clear and precise "Hi, you have reached the **** House, and we can't come to the phone, so let us call you back!" We mostly get family and friends calling, or even a few receptionists who have called about appointments have said it brought a smile to their face. I have no problem with children doing the message :)

I posted some thing very similar to this a month or so ago. FLL was not going well with my 7 year old son, so we switched to GWG and he LOVES it! Some times he does two or three pages a day because "it's fun, mom"...wow.

It is working well with both my sons, I am not sure if my daughter will enjoy it as she is more the "colorful workbook type"...but time will tell since she is not yet 4. My sons actually catch on and do their worksheets on their own. We used Abeka previously and I don't know what it was, but they just didn't get it and I had to go over things....and over....and over...until we switched programs :) I used Saxon myself in middle school and high school so perhaps it is easier for ME since it seems so familiar, and my children can sense I am more confident teaching with Saxon. Either way, just very glad to have a math program that works!

Thank you all....I had looked into R&S, but it seems like a lot of writing for my son (writing not being his favorite activity!) Growing with Grammar is new to me, but after looking into it, I think this might be a good fit for him. Thanks again so much...

Can you tell me what you switched to? My son did FLL1 in K last year and we are finishing up section 2 this year. I can't say it's been a big hit, so I was thinking to try some thing different next year, but can't find a program I really like, or can view enough of it online to actually want to purchase. I'm not sure what his learning style is exactly :) He's done very well with Saxon math and ETC for reading/phonics, but those are the only two subjects we have found a solid resource for. Thank you!

That is great! I would love to meet her...

OH. ME. Ooops. Thank you for educating me :)

I was, for my entire life. I have an older brother and my mom began homeschooling him in his 1st grade year (I was 4). After sitting and listening to her teach him, I learned to read, and asked to be taught, too. We had a wonderful homeschool experience, I pray my children have the same!

We have not had any trouble understanding them. Of course, after being able to read along with the words at first and knowing the songs by heart now :), I find it even easier to understand them.

Voted! She did great!