My 5th grader is using Sonlight's Science 5. She is enjoying it and learning a lot. What I like about it: she can do it mostly on her own; it has worksheets (matching, fill in the blank, etc. -- she hadn't had much experience with these types of activities) so she can't just skim through the reading without having to think about what she's reading; she has to write explanatory/descriptive paragraphs using specific scientific terminology.

Women read the prayers of the people in our church. Our deacon (female) used to read the prayers of the people, but now a lay person (usually female) fills the role. Our church also has two female priests. At the church I previously attended, I sometimes read the prayers of the people, and I was also a lay eucharistic minister (communion server). So I guess I would have to say I think it's just fine that women serve as prayer readers. :D

CGOW might not be the best choice for a 10yo to read, as Hillyer occasionally uses terminology/descriptions of people/races/etc. that many would consider unacceptable. I don't have any other geography suggestions. I bought CGOW hoping it would be a good read-aloud, but I had to edit on the fly so often that I gave it up after a couple of chapters.

Thank you! I'll order one copy, and will plan to use the worksheets as well.

Is Greek Alphabet Code Cracker consumable, or is it designed so that several children can share it and write their answers on separate paper?

We are using this together with SOTW 1. I didn't try to line up time periods or topics; I just read one chapter each day.

Did you end up staying with HO, or did you switch to something else?

Next year I will have 3rd & 6th grade dc, and will be using SOTW 2 + the activity guide. This should be quite sufficient for my 3rd grader, but is it "enough" for a 6th grader? I plan to have her read some historical fiction, biographies, etc. pulling books from Sonlight 6 and WTM reading lists, and reading the Kingfisher pages indicated in the AG. She'll do mapwork too. Do I need to buy some other kind of textbook, or buy the Sonlight 6 IG for the schedule/comprehension questions/helps, or ??? I tried History Odyssey Ancients level 2 this year; she thoroughly dislikes it (too dry, I think, and too much emphasis on the KF with not enough "real" reading).

Thanks for the review -- we should be to chapter 20 by next week and I was looking at that recipe, trying to figure out what to sub for the brandy. I have a bottle of almond extract so will sub as you suggested.

Do you have a swim shop anywhere nearby? Or a sporting goods store? Online, there is Swim Outlet -- http://www.swimoutlet.com

The Usborne Science Activities book and the DVD have the same number of experiments. Generally, the instructor guide schedules a double-page spread of the Usborne book on experiment day; this spread includes multiple experiments (usually 2-4). You can do all, some, or none -- your choice. The DVD shows all of the experiments. My preference is to read the Usborne book and do the experiment, then watch the DVD. There are times we just watch the DVD though (there was a moldy bread experiment -- in Science K, I think -- and my child refused to do this one "in person"). The instructor guide gives you a list of necessary supplies for each experiment, as the supply kits don't have every single thing you'll need for all of the experiments. You'll need to supply a few household items. If you don't have the instructor guide, I think it would be easiest to refer to the Usborne book to round up your supplies, rather than trying to pause the DVD. For me, it would be a pain to start watching an experiment and then find out I need a 2 liter bottle, or an empty can, when the recycling truck picked up five minutes ago... and then having to scan through the DVD to find another experiment that requires, say, ice cubes, which I do have on hand. I don't recall any of the other books from Science 1 having experiments, just Usborne Science Activities.

Lots of Stablemates here too. They are affordable and don't take up too much space.

Wow, thanks for sharing your decluttering rule! I am going to try this to try to rid our house of some of our excess stuff.

I have 2 rules for my dc's church clothes: Clothes must be clean. Clothes must be in good repair -- this includes socks, because my youngest wants to wear heel-less socks with sandals. :rolleyes: I haven't had to address the modesty issue yet. Our church is pretty casual; adults (including me) and kids wear jeans, and a lot of kids wear shorts in the summer.

My kids vote for you to continue reading it aloud. It was a favorite read-aloud here.

Hmmm... wow, I'd sure like to know exactly what they'll include in the new science 5 -- could be I'd like it better, but maybe not.

Thanks, everyone, for your reviews and help. I will definitely leave out "Dry Bones". I think "The History of Medicine" might work okay, and will lead to some discussions here; besides, I found a cheap used copy. Now I can order the books I need, and get science penciled into the big blank spot on our schedule. :)

Honestly, I personally don't mind the excerpts that you shared. I guess I am just being uber-cautious at the moment because dh and I just had a big, unpleasant... ah... "discussion"; he was livid about the dc being taught anything from a creationist viewpoint. So, he might take exception to that book. He wants any religious teaching to be kept separate from history and science... particularly science. Bible story time is okay, if it's just that -- compartmentalized by itself. I know you can take most/all of the religious content out of Sonlight. I think they provide some great materials, so I'm trying to figure out if/how our family can use those materials.

Did you find "The History of Medicine" to be acceptable (I see that you are a secular family)? It is hard to tell if it's going to be okay for our family, based on the Amazon reviews. Dh doesn't want us to use anything creationist/young earth based. Our library doesn't have the book so I don't have any way to preview it.

We haven't studied the human body yet. In looking for curriculum, I saw that Sonlight Science 5 covers it, along with some other topics. And I already have a few of the books. Since money is tighter this year, I don't want to buy before asking questions. If you've used Sonlight Science 5: Are there any books you felt could be left out (seems like there are sometimes a few "extra" books in any package that end up being unused or unnecessary)? Are there any books that are used for only a few weeks and could be borrowed from the library instead of being purchased? Are there any books that are clearly creationist/young earth? And I'd like to hear about how Science 5 worked for you -- did you like it? Did your dc like it? Thanks!

Dh says that in ye olden days (or in formal grammer such as Rod & Staff): I/we shall you/he/she/it/they will means "I am going to..." or "They are going to..." I/we will you/he/she/it/they shall has more of a sense that "I am determined to..." or giving an order/command "You will...." Dh also is of the opinion that R&S supplies more grammar than anyone really needs (though our dc are still using it!) and that saying "will" instead of "shall" is just fine, because otherwise we'd sound funny. :D

Our mailman does this, as does the UPS man. Our neighbors recently got married and it was quite amusing to see their door mat perched atop stacks of huge boxes from Pottery Barn and Macy's just about every day.

Besides the WTM boards, I've bought and sold on Vegsource and on some email groups where buying/selling is permitted. My experience with the one local homeschool group sale I went to was that the buyers walked away unless the prices were very low... $3 or under for just about anything.

This is our weekly schedule for LC 1: Mon. --- Watch DVD lesson; Ludere Latine word search puzzle. Tue. --- Vocab & grammar drill sheets (from TM); workbook ex. A&B; LL parse strings; listen & recite w/CD; flashcards. Wed. --- Vocab & grammar drill sheets; workbook ex. C&D; LL half of crossword (not the derivative crossword -- we skip that one); listen & recite w/CD; flashcards. Thur. --- Vocab & grammar drill sheets; workbook E; LL other half of crossword; listen & recite w/CD; flashcards. Fri. --- Quiz; sometimes translation worksheet from Memoria Press' website (there's a free download of worksheets someone made up; they're on the LC 1 ordering page). It looks like a lot when I write it out, but it doesn't take my dd very long to do the daily work -- maybe 15 or 20 minutes, except on Mondays, when the DVD requires a half hour or so. I fast forward through all of the concepts she knows very well at the first part of the DVD lesson, to cut down on the time. I think it's the daily recitiation/drill that helps with memorization.

Try this link: http://web.archive.org/web/20060503171545/http://www.plymouthschools.com/Science/DiscoveringTogether/index.htm And here is the "wayback machine" list of search results for the site you gave. Some of the dates work, some don't. http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.plymouthschools.com/Science/DiscoveringTogether/index.htm