Exercises in English are actually supplementary materials to Voyages in English. THey aren't meant to be full curriculum.

LOL.....I have had to play referee with my kids that are also incredibly bored and are driving eachother crazy, too! ;) I was so bored earlier that I gave the dog a bath! My 9 yod is reading over my shoulder and said "mom, that was pretty sad!" We are always so busy and I am a constant multi-tasker. I do think it is wonderful that my kids aren't addicted to tv....they got bored after watching tv for a couple of hours and then turned it off. :) (though I think I would have preferred the tv on over the feet fights they decided to have!)

Jennefer, When we made dietary changes, I remember reading that many experienced dramatic results within a couple of weeks and others had minor behavior changes that took months to appear. We were apparently in the last group or in the no change anyway group b/c we gave up after a few months with no change. The 2 most dramatic changes we have seen have been eliminating electronic stimulation (takes about 3 weeks to see results.....there was huge behavioral changes) and now, enrolling him in school. I personally haven't seen him since he started school, but have talked to him everyday. He sounds totally different and happy. Dh says it is almost like seeing a different person b/c he is so much calmer and content. Hope you find something that helps. (((hugs))) :)

If it needs to be done in 4 hrs, you can do it on high. My only concern with chuck is that it might be tough. Do you have cooking wine? If you throw some wine in there, it will act as a tenderizer. V-8 will work. So will peperocinis, etc. Anything that is acidic will help. :) Chuck cooked on low for 8 hrs turns out better.

but it is really driving me totally crazy!! The movers have moved just about everything out of the house. We have one room that still has a couple of pieces of furniture left in it. They are currently out in my dh's workshop packing up his tools. I absolutely cannot remember a time when I didn't need to do laundry, cook, clean, or do SOMETHING. I mean, I can only sit in front of the computer for so long without going bonkers. (No offense to you wonderfully entertaining women! :D) Golly, I will not complain of being overwhelmed with stuff I need to do ever again. I much prefer having a zillion things I need to be doing over having absolutely nothing to do. :)

My older kids do diagram. I don't think it is necessary with younger kids. Most of their writing isn't that complicated anyway. ;)

Rhonda, I can totally relate. I have been very lethargic about everything in our life for over a yr. Life has been like a snowball and I have felt like I have been the target. (I hate being cold....cold and wet is even worse!! ;)) I am feeling immense relief and have energy for school b/c 15 yos will be going to school. Looking over the yr, the lethargy definitely stemmed from being so overwhelmed that I couldn't function----I was on pure survival mode. Is it possible for you to take a mini-retreat, maybe just an afternoon, and in total quiet, reflect on what is causing you the most stress or the least satisfaction if it isn't stress related? Maybe simply shaking up your school days for a couple of weeks and do unschooling type studies. Find something you are passionate about learning and let your school days revolve around an incredibly indepth, fun unit. Let the kids compile research books, read, do projects (if you like them!), etc and add in math. I can't school like that long term, but every once and a while the break in daily routine rejuvenates me and makes me also **want** my old routine again. Wish you could come over for some hot tea and chocolate. :)

I had to choose #8 b/c I am definitely passionate about chocolate. :) When I started homeschooling, it was b/c I was passionate about my children. I really didn't have a passion about specific subjects at that point in my life. During college, I loved psychology (which is a good thing since I was double majoring in psy and ed.;) ) I excelled academically across the board, but I didn't really "like" it. I really love theology. (not one of your choices) I have kids that are passionate about math, so I make sure that I *make* myself equally passionate about it. Overall, I love literature and history the most when it comes to school subjects. I think I enjoy them the most, not b/c I love the reading,etc, but b/c I love the conversations that we have b/c of them. I thoroughly enjoy listening to how my kids process the info they have been given. Sometimes it is funny b/c they go off the deep-end of what it really means, sometimes I am totally**wowed** by their insight.

Janice, There should be a little "poll" box for you to check before you post and then after you post your message, a poll screen should appear. But, beyond that......my true passion for study is theology. I love studying Church history, early Church Father writings, and understanding Catholic theology. :)

Hi Darcy, I don't use anything with my kids now except for me directly teaching them from copywork and their writing. With my older kids (when I wasn't confident in my own grammar abilities ;) ) I used Voyages in English. Voyages gave me a solid grammar understanding, but learning grammar in exercises like that really didn't teach my kids equally well. My kids that have been taught grammar in the context of writing have a much better understanding of grammar and are better writers. Looking at my kids and performance educationally.....when I know the material and I teach it vs using a textbook to teach, there is no comparison in the outcomes. I am becoming more and more convinced that the teacher is vastly more important than the materials.

Hotels might discount a little. My dh and ds are living in a hotel for 2 1/2 weeks in Richmond. I think the rate they got is still $100/night (once you add it the taxes). KOAs usually have camping cabins that are fairly reasonable. Some even have air conditioning. The KOA in Williamsburg is really nice. We have stayed there in our travel trailer before. HTH

LOL!!! Janice, you are hilarious. :) Yep....don't sweat the small stuff. I much prefer to simply talk about literature informally when they are younger. We have great conversations and my kids still manage to achieve critical thinking. ;)

K-6 Horizons MUS alg/geo combo for pre-alg/pre-geo Foerster for alg 1 and 2 Chalkdust geometry (I have also used Jacobs geo, but I think I have decided that I prefer the Larson text) dual enrollment for pre-cal up. This plan has worked well for our family. My kids all have solid math skills.:)

I don't worry about it until even later, usually 8th grade. This yr is my youngest time around.....my 6th grader is doing LL from LOTR with my 8th grader. Personally, I don't think if really matters one way or another. My POV is that I don't teach analytical writing until late middle school b/c it requires maturation in not only analyzing, but formulating independent ideas all combined with strong writing skills. Literary analysis doesn't take much time to conquer, so I dont' see any reason to belabor it. Sometimes some things simply come up in our conversations, but it isn't something I specifically intend to focus on or teach prior to middle school.

I guess it boils down to what the purpose is for teaching grammar. I don't teach my younger kids grammar so that they can diagram or parse. I teach them grammar in context of writing in order to improve writing skills. I wouldn't want to wait until 6th grade to have discussions about active verbs vs passive verbs, adding adj/advs, etc. Perhaps I approach writing in an unusual way, but I have no idea how you really teach one without teaching the other. :) My young kids have no problems learning grammar quickly. I'm not sure why I wouldn't.

3rd and 4th are my favority cores. I love the idea of 5th as well. I don't like their reliance on encyclopedias for the 5th, though, and have used the library instead.

May I respectfully disagree about the Seton recommendation? Seton is as far from a literature approach to education as you can get. Seton is "school in a box." Every subject is taught independently and in isolation. I had the same problem with Sonlight. I own every core through 5. I stopped purchasing from them at that point b/c the slant becomes decidedly more Protestant in the 6th grade core (at least k-5 and core 6 is what they were called yrs ago when I purchased them. I believe they are the same, simply renamed) John was incredibly open back when I was ordering them. I had issues with many of the selections (Torches of Joy specifically comes to mind). He did address the issues, but fundamentally it got to the point where the perspectives were irreconcilable for long term continuance b/c Luther is not a hero in my POV. ;) I wish I had a simple suggestion for you. MODG does have some similarities. RC History I believe has put one together (I haven't used it, but I remember reading something about it.) There is a TOG Catholic group, but after reviewing TOG selections this summer, I decided not to use yr 2 b/c it is hard to deal with many of the same Protestant issues. I have been putting together my own materials for the last 8 yrs for a literature based approach. I use Designing Your Own Classical Curriculum and sources like Let the Authors Speak. If you want a highly academic program that is classical in nature, try looking at Angelicum Academy. I also like Regina Coeli but am only familiar with the high school level classes.

My answer is also that 8th grade is a good time. We are really enjoying LL from LOTR. I have spent way more time on the units than intended, so we have covered the Illiad, etc. I don't regret spending the yr on LOTR at all. The study covers so much more than the books. They learn about linguistics, influences of ballads, etc, development of writing, etc.

Since I have no pots or pans or dishes, I bought a frozen lasagna that can cook in the oven and will eat off disposable plates with plastic forks. :)

LOL!!! Unfortunately I can give you reviews on lots of French curricula! I currently own Breaking the Barrier (is high school), French Prep, First Start French, and we use RS online. RS helps my kids "ear," but overall the approach has been ineffective in teaching the kids French. French Prep is wonderful, but as someone who knows zero French, I quickly got lost. First Start French moves the slowest of them all. We are now going with First Start until it gets ahead of where we stopped in FP. I will add FP back in to lag behind FSF (b/c I was having a terrible time figuring out the pronounciation in FP. I own both CDs that accompany the program. I guess I am French impaired.) :o

I also take into consideration who all is stressed. Is it just me or are the kids stressed as well? If it is simply me, we plod along at a pace I can cope with. If the kids are stressed as well, we stop. We have only managed 5 days of school since Christmas vacation. We will probably manage approx 5 more half days before we move into our house on Feb 6. It will probably take 2-3 weeks after that before I can even start thinking about full school days again. Initially I was stressing out about how far behind we are getting. Then I decided it simply isn't worth worrying about. It is beyond my control and we worked extremely hard the first 1/2 of the yr. The conditions are not currently suited for productive learning. The kids are just as overwhelmed as I am. If the outcome is going to be subpar b/c of their mental distractions, then I would rather go with the flow and make it up in the future. We normally take huge summer breaks. This summer I guess we will be doing 1/4 to 1/2 days the majority of the time. Not my preferred choice, but sometimes life simply is what it is and you make the best of it. :)

I really regret our not meeting too. I had really hoped that we would have a WTMers meet-up this yr. I would still like to meet you sometime. :) If you guys are every studying the Civil War and plan on trips to VA, let me know!

I had typed a long reply and my movers disconnected my internet connection and when I reconnected it, my reply was lost. Here is a brief summation of what I had originally typed...... Early Christians, mostly Jews, actually celebrated 2 different ways on 2 different days. They celebrated the "Liturgy of the Word" on the Sabbath as they always had and then celebrated the "Breaking of the Bread" (as Christ commanded when He said "Do this in remembrance of Me.") or in modern Catholic terminology, the "Liturgy of the Eucharist," on the Lord's Day (Sunday, the day of His Resurrection and victory over death) Over a very short period of time (I think by 60AD) the 2 liturgies were being celebrated as a single day of worship. Catholic Masses mirror that merging. The first 1/2 of the service is the Liturgy of the Word or scripture readings and a homily (1 OT reading, followed by a Psalm, followed by a NT reading, followed by a Gospel reading). The 2nd 1/2 of the service is the Liturgy of the Eucharist (the Last Supper/Breaking of the Bread). I skimmed this link and it seems to give an accurate assessment of what I have learned over the yrs. http://www.catholic.com/thisrock/1999/9902fea1.asp For more understanding of the celebration of the Eucharist, try http://webpages.marshall.edu/~trimbol3/4thcup4.htm HTH

My "favorite list" that stands the test of time (used with repeated children with repeated success) is relatively short. In our 14 1/2 yrs, I would say it is limited to Sing Spell Read Write Horizons Math Foerster alg Landmark series for history

I'm so sorry for what you both are going through. Would you mind sharing your dh's first name? I would like to add him to my prayer list, but Pster's dh seems too impersonal for such a serious prayer request. ((Hugs)) to you. Prayering for stength for you as well.