All the books in the world vanishing :)

I 2nd Cathy Duffy's book. It has good info at the front of the book about your and your childs learning style. This book also helped me pick out what I thought would work before buying alot of different programs. After I got a grip on that I read The Well Trained Mind again. In fact I still read TWTM a couple of times a year. If you are a computer type person you could try a free software called homeschool tracker. It has really helped me stay on track. If you are a paper person donnayoung.org has lots of printables to help you get your plan together. The people on the board are so helpful, and full of wonderful advise on reviews of different products. HTH, Kim

Nava Atlas cookbooks. She does use some fake meat in some of her dishes, which for us is ok. I checked out 2 books of hers from the library, and don't know if I can give them back! My current favorites are Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet and Vegetarian Family Cookbook. She also has a website and a blog here: http://vegkitchen.com/ HTH, Kim

I have not made a long term comitment, but I will standby no public school. The public schools in my area are bad(learning wise). I can say though that my ds and myself are loving homeschooling esp now since we have worked out most of the rough patches. :)

Like elegantlion my ds thrives on structure. When I first started homeschooling I was an open the book kind of person, but my ds hated it. I had to create a plan. I let him pick what subject he wants to do first, and that is about as much wiggle room as I get from him. I used to write my plans out, but found myself changing and moving things around, so I started using homeshcool tracker software. I really like using the software better than paper.

I love this book also! It really help me figure out my ds learning style, and what would be a good fit for our homeschooling style. She also has a website that I go to and look at when I hear about somehthing new.

I swiched to RightStart this year with my ds5. It is a bit pricey, but I think it is well worth the money. Here is the link if you are intrested: www.alabacus.com They have a placement test on the website. HTH, Kim

I tried taking time off last year, and it doesn't work for our family. We school 4 days a week and we take a week off here and there when we need a break. I have a lighter school planned with lots of outdoor activities. I look forward to "summer" school b/c it is just the basics no frills with lots of outdoor time.

It is not a LA program, but it does have grammer and living books. Here is the website www.fiarhq.com . You can get a better understanding of what it is like from a free FIAR like site www.homeschoolshare.com . A lot of people I know that use it just pull out a sentence for copywork. HTH, Kim

Which volume were you looking for? If it was volume 4 it is out of print, but they are releasing digital segments on their website. All of the others are still in print.

I have one ds5(soon to be 6) and dd2. History SOTW V.2 Science R.E.A.L. Earth and Space Phonics ETC Books Handwriting HWOT grade 1 Math Finish RightStart Level B Nature Study Green Hour Challenge FIAR/HSS What ever books my ds picks This thread really got me thinking on what we are doing for next year. Now I am way ahead of my normally unplanned schedule. :D

art. LOL! as a couple of people pointed out I meant a art program that goes with history. Is there such a thing? This would be for a ds6. I thought it might be easier to incoperate art with history since he loves history so much. Do you have any suggestions or links? TIA, Kim

Thanks Lorna! I found one that I like. Thanks Elile! I really like these book reports. I have the site saved in my favorites and will use them when ds gets a little older.

I am intrested in this also!

younger children to rate books, and write a coupld of sentences. Do you have any suggestions or links? TIA, Kim

I have easily planned all my other subjects except for science. I have been doing research and looking at threads, but I am still having problems deciding. I have a problem spending $200 on a kit when I don't know how we would do with it. On the other hand, I don't do well with the gathering supplies either.

I just ordered Pianamals based on another group recommendation. I should get it in the mail, but you can look at samples at their website.

I keep looking at REAL science, but have yet to take the plunge. We currently so some science, but don't have anything formal. My ds5 soon to be 6 doesn't really like crafts, but does like to color. He gets frustrated with experiments that take a lot of time to put together. What are your thoughts and/or suggestions? TIA, Kim

I thought my ds would like the color pictures also, but he prefers ETC. We are currently in book 2 and he is still loving ETC.

We are following a 3 day schedule for SOTW V1, and so far we have been able to do a chapter a week. I read a post where they keep to the schedule, but she lets them check out library books 2 chapters back and 2 chapters forward. I started doing that, and it has worked well for us. If they go back they are adding on to what they have learned, and if they go forward then they will have some basic layers when they get to that point. This also helps when we get to chapters that don't really have many go alongs.

I would say I am eclectic in my approach as well. Our school has some of this, a little of that and what ever else I feel like adding. I found that a lot of things my ds liked like ETC and SOTW were also used by TWTM. I like this board for ideas, and reviews.

I personally like FIAR. I also use a website www.homeschoolshare.com it is structured like FIAR, but it has a lot of additional books. My ds5 chooses a book he is intrested in, and I pick and choose what we do in the week. I have a math program I really like so I usually skip the math stuff, and add more of this or that. I usually take the time to pick out additional go along books, music or art for the week. A book we did recently is Nico's Octopus. We talked about Greece, Greek mythology, greek food, greek music, and how the buildings in the book differ from ours, plurals, the prefix -oct, octopus anatomy and life cycle all in one week. It sounds like a lot, but most of what we do with FIAR type stuff is done with a book reading in about 30 min. It teaches my ds to take time to look at a book, and think about what the author and illustrator put into the book. The website I mentioned is free, so you could always try it out and see what you think before purchasing FIAR. HTH, Kim