I'll be praying for your mom, the test, the results, for you guys. It's my privilege. Thanks for inviting us to walk alongside....

Super Easy. TONS o' homeschoolers here in Middle Tennessee. I also use an umbrella school and there is absolutely no interference, only support if I want it. Come on, we'd love to have you and yours, Martha!!

Here.

Tara--Since it's not my intention to hijack....would you please pm me some of your favorite books that you and your girls have enjoyed as mentioned above? TIA!

I am also interested!! Thanks in advance.

Ok, Ladies, You are all marvelous and very encouraging and helpful. Guess I needed that. I am coming away from this thread: Leaning towards starting "over" (if you only knew how little we've done, you'd laugh out loud at that statement). I own the first 3 years of TOG. I probably have the most books purchased and ready for year 1. My husband, I think, would like to start at the beginning and I'm feeling more and more inclined that it's the best thing to do for OUR family and circumstances. That said, I'm also feeling encouraged that starting at Year 3 is not bad and my kids will learn no matter where we start so I can relax about this. Love the suggestions to re-read WTM section and to plan to do minimums at first. This is great wisdom for our current circumstances. SIGH. Truly grateful that you guys took the time to share your thoughts. Very appreciative of the sisterhood I felt reading them. Have a great day, All!

Praying, Heather.

Thank you for all of the wonderful replies. I appreciate everyone taking the time to vote and respond. A couple of clarifications.... When I say we've hardly done history, I LITERALLY mean that we've hardly done it in two years. The reason is that I have done a really poor job of time management (working, schooling, housekeeping, being wife, mom, friend, etc.), so I've been making sure I hit the majors (learning to read, phonics for the youngest and math/spelling/reading for the olders). These I've done very regularly, but everything else has been hit or miss....or in the case of history.....miss, miss, miss. We have paid for TOG. We own it, so I will be using it. I am hoping to be very organized so that we CAN get to this and do it and enjoy it. My husband is HELPING me teach. I'll be making sure the reading is done, activities are done and he'll be doing the discussions and capturing their imaginations. He's fine to use TOG and will prep with the materials as we go along. I WAS in the "pick up where you already are" party for a long time. Over the last few days, I've been convicted (not sure if that is the right word--but I was pretty adamant before about staying on track and now I'm thinking starting over makes sense). Just not sure. Anyone else want to weigh in? Thanks, All!

Ok, confession and question time. Confession: I should be on TOG Year 3 beginning in August. I purchased TOG two years ago and should have done Ancients, then Middle Ages.....but in reality, history has really not happened on ANY kind of consistent basis at my house. Background: I work 30 hours a week out of my home and I can no longer ignore the fact that I am in desperate need of a time-management overhaul. My girls will be 7th, 5th and 2nd this year. I am in the process of doing a lot of planning and hope to have a schedule to work from, with lots of organization behind it, so that I can be diligent to get school done well while also managing to get my work done AND be a better wife and mom etc. Question: With the above in mind, I have asked my husband to help with history because he loves it, understands it and it's not work for him. I am trying to decide whether to go back and start all over with Ancients (sadly, I won't be repeating much) OR to just jump in where we "should" be (TOG Year 3) on the schedule. My goal was to have the schedule be that my oldest would be scheduled so that she gets the full 4-year cycle of history in High School. If we stay on track the schedule would "work" for her but not for my younger two. My middle's high school schedule would be (TOG 3, 4, 1, 2) and my youngest's high school schedule would be (TOG 2, 3, 4, 1). Not sure how to think about it. (No matter what we do, two of them will have a "weird" history schedule.) One added caveat is that my two best homeschooling friends are on the same history schedule as I am--meaning that they will be starting Year 3 (of a different curriculum) this year. My original planning idea was to stay on schedule with them so we had the opportunity to do group activities if/when we wanted to. For example, we planned to go to Williamsburg in February for their homeschool days next year which is perfectly timed with the curriculum. So, what would YOU do in my shoes? Thanks in advance for your votes and input. I'm headed out for most of the day. Will check back later.

So glad you are seeing the doc. Hope it's sooner than later. Praying all the details get worked out so you can get in there and get seen. Update us when you can.

So sorry for your family's loss, Susan. It is a privilege to pray for your family. I pray that His presence is a palpable comfort to all of you.

Heather, I'm am THRILLED that your Princess is officially yours now on paper. We all know she was "yours" a long time ago. Give her hugs and kisses and "welcome to your forever homes" from all of us WTMers! WOO HOO!!! I still remember back to reading your posts out loud to my hubby and both of us crying when the grandma had said no. I was gutted for you. And then the fabulous news that she had changed her mind. SIGH. Anyway, thrilled. I'm thrilled, I tell you! Love each other well.

Bumpity bump bump.

Thanks for replies! Anyone else have suggestions? I'm headed to a curriculum fair in a couple of weeks and plan to check out some options.

For those of you whose children have taken the SATs and have done well on the math portion....would you please tell me a) if you consider your child a "mathy" child (do they LOVE math or does math click easily for them?) or not and b) which math program did you use for high school? I currently use MUS and will likely switch programs after Zeta. I'm trying to decide which programs to add to my short list. Thanks!

Have a friend who is a very health conscious person. She pays close attention to and restricts what goes in and on her body. She has just found out that she has Lyme disease after not being "right" for several years. She is a VERY, VERY active person, but right now is completely wiped out by the treatments. I'd like to take her family (husband and 2 teens) some healthy foods. She can't do wheat or pasta and generally prefers very healthy options. I'm a southern girl and, as such, tend to cook in a more "southern" style. Do you have easy/healthy/delicious salads, entrees, sides that lend themselves to being prepared in advance and dropped off at her house? She's a homeschooler, too, so I promise to give credit back to you wonderful ladies for your suggestions! Please advise. Thanks!

Oops! Sorry!! Meant to start a new post. Perhaps I should go to bed instead!!!

Sounds beautiful!!! Thanks!

I bought two maps (one US and one world) that are about 36" x 50" (guessing). I've had them for about 6 months and guess where they are? On my dining room table! (We eat in the breakfast room.) I would love to hang them and have visions of how to do it, but haven't. Please share in words and/or photos how YOU display maps at your house. TIA!

Sarah, Thanks for this. When I checked out the site I realized that I already have one of the books! http://www.amazon.com/Sugar-Addicts-Total-Recovery-Program/dp/034544132X How embarrassing is that! Guess I know what I will be reading tonight!

Thank you to all of you who have shared a bit of what has worked for you. I am usually a "cold turkey" gal. I can just say no to something and not look back. I don't think I can and I know I don't want to completely cut out sweets. I DO want to have a proper/healthy/on occasion relationship with sweets. I definitely have the carb thing going on, too. I had not connected the two. UGH. I need some accountability (my hubby and kids can't be that for me). I have a couple of options of people near me who might be willing to be that for me. I am drawn to the idea of "if I want it, I have to make it" thing. I will need to add the "from scratch" phrase to that, to make it more effective.:D Or maybe I could do the cold turkey thing for a while and then re-introduce only home made things. Hmmmmm. Thanks for the links and suggestions. I'll check those out! Meanwhile, I'll try to ignore the M & Ms that are calling me from the cabinet.

I think I am addicted to sugar. I start thinking about treats during the morning hours and then count the hours/minutes through the day to eating treats at night. Ice cream, M & Ms, oreos are some of my weaknesses. My family's nutrition is affected by my addiction to sweets. I buy chips, crackers, cookies, we make brownies a lot, popsicles, ice cream etc. I also love Root Beer. (I stopped drinking caffeinated drinks because they affected my heart rhythm.) I do drink a ton of water and we do make fairly balanced, southern style meals. It's the snacks and treats and desserts that are the main problem. Anyway, I need to make a change and just the thought of cutting out sweets makes me feel a little panicky. Have any of you moved from indulging a sweet tooth/addiction to providing a much healthier food lifestyle? Did you cut back slowly? Did you quit cold turkey? Particularly would appreciate advice from previously sugar-addicted folks who have moved to a healthy lifestyle, but I'm open to thoughts from anyone willing to respond. Thanks, Ladies! Off to search for some new, healthy entrees to put into rotation.

Ahhh. Ok, thanks!

I posted previously that two of my homeschool family friends will be using MFW Exploration to 1850 next year while I'll be using TOG Year 3 Redesigned. You guys referred me to the MFW website to get a list of the week by week scope and sequence. Thank you. Now, I am interested in getting a copy of the book basket list to compare to the TOG booklist. We hope to schedule at least monthly opportunities to do some work together as families. My friends are not purchasing their MFW stuff until a convention later this summer. I'm planning now. Is anyone here willing to pm me the book lists for the year? (I realize there are a lot of books in the book basket list, but surely there is someone who is organizationally over the top and has made some sort of database that they could copy me on.) I would be very grateful for any help. Thanks, All!

My heart is full. THANK YOU for praying for my friend. She is super fun and funny, always has a story to tell, loves the Lord with all of her heart, has worked the past weeks here in Nashville tirelessly serving those whose homes were destroyed, plays a mean game of canasta (ask me how I know!) and would give her left arm to you if you needed it. I am grateful for your prayers for her. Have a great week.