For the first two, I wanted to know so I could decorate the baby's room accordingly. With my 3rd, I thought I would let it be a surprise (since I had both boy and girl bedding), but then I had to know which room to put the baby bed into! Also, my dd's room was bigger, and so, if #3 had been a boy, I would have had the older two trade rooms (which would have meant repainting).... So, I guess I'm too much of a planner to let it be a surprise!

It seems like it would be a good idea to use this leftover meat loaf in some vegetable soup, but would it be? :confused:

I like it too and have used it off and on for a few years now. I am currently using it to print out daily assignment sheets for my dc (printing a week's worth on Sundays). I don't have state reporting requirements, and so when the dc were younger, I would sometimes question whether I needed to use it (when I was keeping the number of lessons we needed to do in each subject in my head). However, I am finding HST beneficial at this point and intend to continue using it. At the time I purchased it, I also compared it to Homeschool Chronicles (which I think is no longer around) and to Edu-Track. I really thought I would prefer Edu-Track from my reading online and because I assumed it would be better because it was more expensive. Surprisingly, though, I preferred the free version of HST! (I upgraded to the Deluxe version in part because I felt guilty for benefiting so much from the free version, but I do enjoy the extra Deluxe features.) BTW, as the others have said, the customer service has been very good! HTH!

Thanks, everyone!

Where have these little guys been all my life? :D We loved these sauted and look forward to trying the other recipes posted! (I'm making them again for dinner tonight! :D )

Thanks, Jenny! I'm trying this right now! Anyone else? (We have quite a few!)

My ds brought some home from his Junior Master Gardner class, and I have no idea what to do with them! They are cute little things, but I'm not even sure if I've ever tasted them. So, how do you prepare Brussels sprout?? (See I don't even know how to spell it! I was able to edit it here, but not in my title.)

Check out L'Bri. It's aloe-based. I like it because most of the products seem more "natural," but I'm not sure about some of their newer products.

Do universities accept Latin and Koine Greek for their foreign language entry requirements? Or, should we plan to fit in a couple of years of a modern language too?

I think it will be fine to go with CtG next year without doing Adventures. MFW created Adventures to be used with the oldest child in the family between their 1st grade program and ECC -- all younger children join in the history cycle at wherever the family is when they finish 1st grade. (So, lots of dc don't do Adventures at all.) Plus, your dc will have the more thorough American history with years 3 & 4.

Good for you, Julie! I have a friend using Excel for budgeting and another friend who uses cash envelopes. Both are very happy with their systems! When my friend who uses cash gets paid, she writes out all the bills and then withdraws the rest of the cash from the bank! Then she allocates it all to envelopes for different categories and divides them between her and her husband the way they've agreed. This would drive me nuts, but I can definitely see the appeal -- no record keeping once the cash has been divided into envelopes and a definite end to spending when the cash is gone!

We're big Dave Ramsey fans here too, and we use Mvelopes for budgeting. I've tried Excel and wanted something more automated. With Mvelopes, I've set up a standard (but editable) allocation for each pay check (two per month), and so it's quick to allocate dh's paycheck to the right budget categories/"envelopes" each time. (He is paid bi-weekly -- and so 2 months a year have a 3rd paycheck, but it handles this well too.) The leftover $$ in each category carries forward from month to month. The program downloads our transactions from the bank, which makes it easy to actually use the budget we've created (which was a big problem for me in the past). We replaced our Quicken with Mvelopes and feel we spend less time managing our money while doing a better job! Anyway, let me know if anyone would like more details. :) It's working so well for us that it's hard not to mention it when the subject of budgeting comes up.

I'm sorry, Kari! I'll pray too! My dd broke her arm just above her elbow when she was 9 and had to have pins put in. I thought you'd like to know that the first 2-3 days at home were tough (painful to move, etc.), but then it was better (not "all better," but better). During this time, I had her sit on the couch and watch videos -- they really helped take her mind off of it!

SM has always been our main program too -- love it! I add extra practice when/if needed for memorizing math facts & tables (wrap-ups, flash cards, software, worksheets, whatever seems most effective. :) ).

I've used both. With my oldest dd, we used FLL1&2 and then R&S3 for 3rd. We have R&S4, but dd was dreading using it (after being fine with it for 3rd). We've used Growing with Grammar for 4th & now 5th because there is less handwriting with the workbook. Many people do R&S orally, but we did it just as written, which meant that dd wrote about a page and a half on notebook paper for each exercise. I think it was beneficial for her, but I know my ds would hate it! With my 2nd ds, we used FLL1&2 and are now in FLL3. I like all that FLL3 includes and the lessons are short with much less handwriting. We sit together for most or all of the lesson, discussing it. For some lessons, there are some practice exercises at the end that I have him do independently. The blank lines for diagramming are included in the FLL3 workbook. (With R&S, dd used a ruler and drew her own on the notebook paper. I can see advantages to both ways.) FLL is both gentle and strong. Yes, it's scripted, but I don't use the scripting. It's open and go and a quick glance over the lesson gives me what I need to teach it. Once you get past FLL1, there is much less repetition. I agree that there was quite a bit of repetition on common vs. proper nouns, but I think they were just trying to be gentle for a 1st grader. I just skipped lessons that seemed too repetitive.

Five in a Row here too! I'm looking forward to using it again with my youngest!

We're currently finishing up Psalm 23 and will go to Psalm 1 next. Psalm 100 and the Beatitudes are some others I didn't see mentioned. I love having a Bible passage going all the time! I think they are easier to review and retain than lots of individual verses.

At this point this seems to work best for us: ~ Start together with Bible, memory work, history, & foreign language ~ Teach 3rd grader math, grammar, writing, and cursive while 5th grader does work she can do alone (GWG, piano practice, extra practice math, spelling page, Latin assignment from co-op, etc.) ~ Switch kids -- teach 5th grader math & writing while 3rd grader completes his assignments and practices instruments. ~ After lunch -- do "together" subjects like science, art, geography, etc., depending on the day. (And, yes, I am sometimes still teaching after lunch, which makes our school day go longer.:rolleyes: ) My 2 yo joins us in the morning (listening to the olders recite verses and our history read aloud); then plays/"reads"/draws while I teach (with some interruptions, but they're usually quick); and then she naps in the afternoon. HTH! I tried switching after each subject -- like math with one then the other, but it didn't seem to be as efficient as teaching everything to one, then to the other. The key was to make sure the other child has school work to do while I'm teaching the other. I have used a timer sometimes, and it has helped to keep us focused and moving. When I do this, I can almost always finish teaching 3Rs by lunch.

Thanks, Beth. I've been thinking a lot more about high school and long-range plans since we talked last (and you mentioned some of yours)! In this case, one of the main things I need to decide is whether I'm going to try to learn two classical languages, or if I'll stick with Greek and outsource Latin. I hope to have a chance to email you soon. :) Kimber, thanks for starting this thread! I'm reading all the posts with interest as well!

I thought a lot about this when my oldest was K age. She was reading at a 2nd grade level at 4, which made it more difficult for me to decide. I ended up calling her the grade she'd be in ps, and I've been happy with that decision. I'm glad we'll have the extra year with her in the end! (She'll graduate at 18.) Thinking about whether or not I could guarantee that she'd be ahead of her age-mates in every subject every year helped. Calling her the grade she'd be in ps, while letting her progress at her pace, has taken that pressure off. (I also tend to have her learn something more deeply rather than moving to the next level faster, if that makes sense.)

Beth, good to see you! :) Will you remind me why you decided on Wheelock's over Henle or other choices like Latin in the Christian Trivium? Will you be teaching a beginning Wheelock's class in the fall? B is taking LCII at co-op this year.

I'm using The Story of the Ancient World by Miller/Guerber with my 5th & 3rd graders, and it's going well! Occasionally I'll stop briefly to make sure they understand a word, but not very often.

Thanks, Mindy and Lisa! Your posts are very helpful! I'm trying to learn all I can about TOG before taking the leap, but, more and more, I'm feeling it's the way to go for us. Thanks again!

Thanks, Mindy! Do you feel that it's been difficult to manage your homeschool while using TOG? How much time do you spend planning and implementing it?

I posted a history question when the board first moved (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=316) and I'm still thinking and praying about the options. I realized that I'll be teaching the 4-year history cycle 4 more times with the ages of my kids, which has me reconsidering TOG. If I decide to use TOG for high school, should I go ahead and start it now/fall with my oldest dc being 5th/6th grade? Here are some things that are drawing me to TOG: teacher notes to help me as I help my dc to make connections and think about history and literature, Biblical worldview helps, philosophy component for high school, help with literature analysis, and their method of teaching dc to plan their own schedules (which could surely be adapted to other curriculum). I was one of those straight-A students who went to college on scholarship but was never really challenged to THINK! I don't want that for my dc, but I don't feel qualified to lead them into thinking, analyzing, and making connections in history and literature. (BTW, my degree is in accounting.) Would TOG be the best option for someone like me? One thing that concerns me about Omnibus is that I'm not sure about the theology -- I'm not sure I'm Reformed enough. I went to the TOG author's church's website and really liked it. What concerns me about Biblioplan or TQ for high school is possibly not having enough teacher help for discussions. After reading about TOG last year and then starting up again recently -- plus listening to the TOG CD again, I love the philosophy, but I'm still worried about it taking over and taking up too much time. I do feel more willing to give history more time, though, after seeing how history and lit. discussions could be used in teaching my dc to THINK, etc. I'm feeling up for the challenge of learning to use TOG, but how time-consuming is it once you get going?