I work 40hrs a week. Different hours every day in the evenings, weekends, and holidays. It also changes every 6 months. It allows me to homeschool during the day while my dh is at work. He works from home mostly, but is in and out during the day. There are days like today where I wish I didn't have to work esp holidays and every weekend (no option for getting it off). It is really hard and stressful, but I don't think I could imagine it any other way. If I won the lottery I would still work (not at my current job though). I would just hire a cook and a housekeeper! :tongue_smilie:

I am 1/2 way through C right now. My ds hates all the drawing so much I considered another program. I decided to cut the drawing and just do the other things. I have him doing MM right now instead of RS for the next couple of weeks. I also bought TT4 because he really likes working with the computer and I thought it would be good review. He thinks TT is fun and easy which is what I need after struggling with the drawing this year. I do plan on sticking with RS but I will supplement the rest of the program when I think it is needed. As far as subtraction my doesn't have a hard time with it at all because of the way addition was taught.

I love all things Ellen McHenry and so do my kids. My ds who is doing a chemistry co-op this year also wanted to do The Elements. He loved it so much he asked to do Carbon Chemistry next. This fall he asked if I could teach The Brain in our co-op. I also have Excavating English, but we haven't done it yet since he would be on the young side. The Botany and Cells will be out in time for our second rotation of science! :thumbup: We also went over Professor Pig's Magic Math just for fun.

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1 large secular co-op. Lots of activities and things to do. There is a very small yearly fee and we are not obligated to do any volunteering or teaching. I think the important thing with this co-op is that the people in charge(there are 5 positions) have 2 year terms. It is run very professionally and it keeps the drama down to almost nothing. When there is drama between kids or parents it is handled in a respectful manner. 1 small co-op. Just a few families that have gotten together for years for science. We only do this co-op during the school year calendar.

I have tried the forums. No luck so far. I will check out Amazon.:auto: Thanks! No luck lowest is $49.75. I have it on my wish list so I can see if it goes down.

I bought volume 1 used and used it in a co-op setting. The classes included crafts, drama, art history, music, and architecture. We did it 2 times a month over a 3 month period. Not enough time for everything in the book. It was hard to pick and choose what I wanted to include in the class. The kids really liked it. I loved that it was easy to teach. I would recommend this program to anyone that likes crafts.

I bought Wordly Wise K TM used. My dd loves it and is almost through. I really don't want to shell out money for a new TM for level 1. Can someone recommend something like Wordly Wise K and 1 that could be used instead? She loves workbooks, coloring and anything crafty in general. Thanks!

I bought Wish You Were Here after checking it out from the library a bunch of times. It is about a little girl that travels to all of the states with her grandmother one summer. It is a story format, but it also has lots of facts and a map for each state.

For those that rotate 2 math programs do you worry about grade level or being behind? Or does it all work out at the end of the year? What is the average time you spend on math daily? Didn't mean to hijack the thread! The answers are intresting and I am toying with the idea for next year.

I am not sure if they presented it this way in the book, but this is how my ds does it (we use RS currently in C). For the 9's and teens you take the first 2 digits and add them together to get the answer. 14-9=5 It took him awhile to understand that so he used to take the 14 and split it into 10 and 4. Then he would take 10-9 then add the number back in 10-9+4. For some reason that was easier for him to do. After he did that for awhile he got the add the 2 digits together. For 8's he still takes the 10-8+number to get the answer.

We school year around, but this summer I am going to go lite. We will work on the basics, what ever we are behind in and what ever my kids want to work on. I know math, reading, handwriting, interest led science, and history (we managed to get a year behind). I love the idea of doing a couple of hours in the morning and having the rest of the day free. We don't do very well if we get off schedule for even a day so I need to do something consistantly.

I like AAS but I also adapt it to my child. We do use the cards. Instead of using the tiles we spell orally. I do not have him write the words down. He does have to write the dictation down, but only on the white board not on paper. I use the discs and the tiles only when we are learning something new. Doing it this way takes about 15-20min at the most.

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I am not sure these are in the age range you are looking for but we like DK biographies series. These might be a little young but Mike Venezia has some artists and composer series books.

I use the Scholastic Book Wizard to find the reading levels of books. They also have a book alike to find other books on the same reading level.

We are doing a chemistry science in a co-op setting, but my 3rd grader wanted to do The Elements on our own. He loved it so much he asked me to get Carbon Chemistry when we were done with The Elements. I didn't have him do all the experiments or games and we worked on the worksheets together. Content wise I think it would be fine for a 3rd grader esp one that likes science.

I randomly choose books that I have stashed in the book basket. We do WWE so if there is part of a story that sparks his interest I will pick that up. If he asks me about something or someone I usually get a book on that subject. He heard about Harry Houdini somewhere and asked if I had a book on it. Sometimes I pick up a book I know he will like, but will not read on his own. What ever book I choose for him to read I google the name of the book and actives or lesson plans. I can usually come up with some activity that would be fun for him on his own.

Thanks to the OP for asking this question. I was getting things organized for next year and I wondered the same thing. I scheduled 45 min for next year, but I may bump it up to 1hr. Right now it varies depending on how long the lesson is and how well my ds get the concepts. But the average is about 30-45 min a day not including the practice pages which are done on his own time. I was really worried for awhile because we are behind a grade level in math. Then I realized that I would rather be behind in math and make sure my ds got it than rush through and have to redo something later. As long as we are making progress I am ok with what ever level we are on.

I assign a certain number of pages to be read each day. The book is usually finished by the end of the week. Depending on the book I have him do an activity at the end of the book. This week he drew a picture of his favorite part of the book. I have him add the title, author, and date to the top and a rating of how he liked the book at the bottom. We usually have a discussion on the book, but he is not required to write anything down. This week he is reading a DK biography on Harry Houdini. At the end I am going to have him make a poster of himself as a magician. He will make up a magician's name and figure out what death defying act he will do. The most important thing I have him do is read to me a couple times a week out of the book. That way I know if he is skipping words or not understanding something.

I let my kids decide from parent approved materials. I let them know in advance that there are required subjects, but they have options within those subjects. I set up a meeting with them about 4 times a year. I get their books out let them know how they are doing (ahead or behind) and make any needed adjustments to their schedule.Unless it is a really bad fit for one of my kids (happened once) they stick with that curriculum until it is over for that book/year. That is also the time we pick any new electives and add them to our schedule or put them on a list to be done. My ds just chose Carbon Chemistry (on top of current science curriculum), and my dd chose to learn about ballet from A Child's Introduction to Ballet that she found at the bookstore. My ds and I were just talking about switching math programs. He is in RightStart level C and he doesn't like the drawing part of the program. I showed him Teaching Textbooks and he worked on some online samples. I told him how it was different from RS based on the samples and reviews I read online. After the samples and listening to the differences he decided to stay with RS even though he doesn't like the drawing aspect. I was pretty certain if he had a choice (esp one that uses the computer) to change he would. My ds and I go around and around about having to do school. He doesn't like it at all, but if I give him the option to choose it is easier on both of us.

We are 5 weeks away from finishing Mr.Q's Classic Science. My ds is on the young end of a science co-op that is using this curriculum. They have learned a lot about chemistry and they have done some really cool experiments. I also supplimented The Elements by Ellen McHenry, and Fizz, Bubble, and Flash book but it is NOT needed at all. My ds is a science loving kid!

I have been very impressed with this book The Indian Book (1980 Annual Childcraft) . It was recommended on the Guest Hollow website and it is wonderful. It is laid out to give general tribe info, how the children lived, craft or game, and a myth or legend specific to that tribe.

Thanks for the advice I will skip the drawing parts of the program for now. My ds loves the program and would like to continue it.

We are currently using RightStart level C. My ds has loved this curriculum until we hit the geometry sections. He doesn't really see the point of all the drawing and refuses to do it. I haven't really looked that far ahead. Can someone tell me if there is a reason for all the drawing at this stage? If I decide not to continue with RS what would be the best to use for the smallest amount of gap? Could I just use the next leve without the drawing?