You might want to look into Biblioplan Year 4. It schedules SOTW 4 along with many other spines, and it adds literature, Bible, geography, video and craft ideas, etc. It is for all grades/ages. There is also a newly formed facebook group for it that is fairly active. :-)

Is there a link to the consise edition of Hakim's books that is being talked about. I have a book that might be it, but I'm not sure. Also, to the op, have you looked at biblioplan? It uses Hakim's books as one of the spine options, but has other options such as their companion book that are from a Christian perspective. They are scheduled together, so you would get the best of both worlds. We are trying for the first time staying in August with year 4.

I have had the hardest time finding science for my daughter for next year. She struggled with Apologia General Science this year. The best test grade she had was a high D, mostly F's. She didn't finish it. I am wanting to do earth and space science next year. I've already bought 2 programs for her and researched many others. One was the Earth Science daybook which I did not like at all. The other is BJU Earth and Space science (3rd edition). I'm afraid that one will be far too difficult. I will be using the Christian Kids Earth Science book for my 4th grade son next year, and I'm wondering if anyone has ideas on beefing that up to be age appropriate for her. I know I could give her extra reading, but I'd like her to have more challenging projects/experiments as well as something I can easily grade. Please tell me you have suggestions. I'm at a loss and feeling so very frustrated.

I've bought many audible books, and my son loved listening to them all. Until about 7 months ago. The he listened to the Ramona series, and he hasn't listened to anything else since! You can get the whole series with one credit. He loves the narrator. Unfortunately, she has not narrated anything else. He has literally listened to them nightly for more than 6 months.

I have a little boy who is a year and a half old as well, so I totally feel your pain. I made some pinterest boards where I saved ideas that he could do fairly independently at certain ages. It wasn't easy finding things for someone who puts everything in their mouth! I had to hand type these links for some reason, so hopefully they will work. The best idea I've used though is to have 5 "school boxes"- one for each day of the week. These only come out during school and are filled with random toys and books. They keep his attention for about 30 minutes. And then there is always Sesame Street. :-) www.pinterest.com/mccumbersmom/age-12-18-months-busy-ideas/ www.pinterest.com/mccumbersmom/age-18-24-months-busy-ideas/ www.pinterest.com/mccumbersmom/age-2-busy-ideas/

I just wanted to mention Biblioplan (www.biblioplan.net) because the discussion guide that they have available is one of the reasons I bought it to try next year. There is no way I can keep up with the reading my daughter needs to do for school, but the family discussion guide should enable me to have quality discussions anyway. And I can use it with both my 3rd grader and 7th grader.. Tapestry of Grace has something similar also, but that was a lot more confusing to me.

I saw the message below on a different forum, and I'm wondering if anyone can give me information about 7th grade math, literature, or writing. I'm especially interested in how long the video lessons are and how engaging the teachers are. I did watch the samples, but I'd love to hear from people who have used it. From now until December 19, 2013, 5 p.m. ET, you can try a Distance Learning Online (video only) subject kit for only $99*! Just call Customer Service at 1.800.845.5731 and request the $99 DLO Subject Special. You can also contact a local HomeWorks consultant. There is no limit to the number of subjects you can purchase. Hurry! This is the last chance to gain access for the current term. Orders placed after January 31, 2014, will be for the new term which does not begin until June 1, 2014. Your child will have until December 31, 2014, to complete his or her course. About Distance Learning Online Distance Learning Online is homeschooling made easy. When you enroll your child in BJU Press DLO, he can learn anytime, anywhere. All he needs is a computer and a high-speed internet connection, and he is ready to go. The student login allows access to high-quality video content for each course, online assessments, progress-tracking features, and more. You as a parent can also log in to keep track of your child’s progress, view his grades, and access teacher materials. *Does not include K4 or K5. Does not include textbooks. Also, note that some editions may not be available for Distance Learning Online. Please consult with a Customer Service Representative or a HomeWorks consultant to assess whether your edition of the textbook is compatible with the available Distance Learning Online course.

I've been following this thread and fooling around a bit with the onenote program on my computer (that I didn't even know I had!). Now I'm wondering if there is a good way to share any lesson plans we may make using onenote with the homeschool community. No need to reinvent the wheel if it's already done- especially for popular programs. Any thoughts on this?

Oddly enough, I have heard of this- from my 7 year old, homeschooled son. I have to assume that he heard it from the kids in the neighborhood.

I feel so completely lost right now. My daughter has struggled with math from the very beginning. I have done everything I know to do for her. Even to the point that I put her in public school for a year because I felt like I was failing her. She did no better there even with their 'best' math teacher. I've prayed. I've cried. I have restarted from the beginning. I've taken long breaks. I've done very short daily lessons. I've tried to pinpoint individual issues. I've tried program after program. We've worked on a topic (fractions) for months coming at it from all different ways hoping something would click. I just don't know what to do any more. I don't want her to feel stupid or incapable, but she does. She is beautiful and compassionate and wants very much to please, but when she is doing math she gets defensive and blaming and feels like she is a failure. If you know our family personally, you know that math has always been a source of contention for me and her. I don't want it to hurt our relationship. At the same time, I can't just completely let it go because it's a necessary part of life. She is almost 13 years old. If I had not made her repeat a grade again (because of math) she would be going into 8th grade. However her math abilities are closer to 4th or 5th grade. It's hard for me to be so open about this to the great big homeschooling community here, but I am desperate for some help. I feel like an utter failure at this. If I was able to remedy this by determination and hard work on my part, I would. But like I said, I've done everything I know to do. I feel empty and poured out. I love my baby girl passionately, and I want the best for her. Please share with me some great wisdom. :-)

I have one on order from the library. Thank you so much for the suggestion!

Thank you! These look good, especially the Bobbie Kalman books. I'm really looking for brief coverage. More of an overview for spending one day on each area.

I'm looking for a book on an upper elementary level of understanding about the different regions of native american tribes. I'd like there to be a 2-4 page spread of the northeast woodland tribes, southeast woodland tribes, plains, southwest, northwest, california, and the far north tribes. Does anyone know if such a book exists?

I bought this to use with my children next year. I love the look of it, and I love the notebooking approach to learning. However, I really wish it had some quizzes of some sort for my oldest- simply for ease of grading for me. Notebook pages are so hard to grade... She's getting older and I would like to give her grades next year. Has anyone already made up quizzes or worksheets to go along with this program? I'd really hate to spend the time doing it if it's already been done. Or, does anyone have any good ideas on how/what to grade in the absence of quizzes? Thanks!

I have a membership where I get one credit a month. I saw a few weeks ago where they had a bogo special. Would that work with the credit a month membership or only if ou purchase an extra credit?

I am planning on doing Noeo Chemistry 2 with both of my kiddos next year, and I was wanting to add in the Elements book by Ellen McHenry. It looks GREAT! I've heard that all the encyclopedia readings in Noeo might get boring for some children. Has anyone added this Elements book to Noeo before that might have a schedule or advice?

Is R and S science Rod and Staff? I am looking at NOEO science. I also like the looks of Elemental science, but I think Ilike NOEO more.

I would love to hear this as well!

Has anyone seen both the older and newer editions of the Primary Beautiful Feet Early American History Guides that can compare them for me? I know the new ones are printed in color, but are there any other differences?

I actually looked at Guesthollow just today. It looks very good, but a little overwhelming to me. I would need to delete a lot of things from it, whuch is more work than I'm looking for right now. I'm leaning toward the Beautiful Feet guide unless I find something I like better.

I am searching for an early American history program to use with my 3rd grade son for next year. I like things that are as open and go as possible. I am considering Elemental History's Adventures in America and Rea Burg's Early American History. I like to use quality books, but I want something planned out for me. Does anyone have any other ideas?

The old spiral edition of red does not use the readers from the newer editions at all. It does have some phonics instruction, but I also use Explode the Code. I'll type out part of what a sample week looks like just to give you an idea. Honestly, you can get these so cheap, it may be worth getting one just to see if it's what you're looking for. I think I paid $2 for mine. Lesson Eight Come over to my house. I live on a boat. I live in a city of houses that float. 1. Read the passage with your teacher. Copy these sentences from the model, or write them from dictation. Compare your copy to the model and make corrections. 2. a. There is a rule you have probably heard that helps you remember what certain letters say. Here is the rule: When two vowels go walking, the first one does the talking and says his long name. There are two words in this verse that use this rule. Can you find them? Please underline those two words. b. The letters oa go together to make the long o vowel sound. Remembering this- try to write these words or spell them aloud as your teacher says them: boat, coat, goat, moat, float, oats 3. a. One way we can put words in order is by alphabetical order. ...(more about abc order)... b. Take your list of oa words and put them in ABC order. Day 4 is about the hard and soft sounds of 'c' and having kids try to discover the rule for which sound it will make. Day 5 talks about the many places people live and asks the student to write a story of a few sentences that tells where they would live if they could live any where for a day. The very back of the book has pages to copy where the student can mark up the lesson or if there is a lesson with cards to cut out and such.

Bumping. :lurk5:

As far as needing the teacher book vs. the student book, I have to say that I prefer the old spiral bound books that were around before the student books even came out. Granted, I've only used the Red book this way and looked through the Purple one, but they seem MUCH more Ruth Beechick-like than the newer editions. Plus, you can find them super cheap! My son would have hated all the cutting and pasting busy work in the newer edition of the red book, but the old one is just what I was looking for. We alternate the Red book with WWE level 2 each week. On our Red book week, we do 2 weeks of work in one, normally. Just a completely different suggestion...

The very best/fun things that we have ever done in our homeschooling are the history kits from Hands and Hearts. http://www.handsnhearts.com/