It is either eat what I fix or go hungry. My ds will usually eat what ever he is not picky. If it is something he doesn't like he will just eat around it. My dd on the other hand has missed quite a few meals b/c she will not eat what is in front of her. She is funny about it though. I can tell when she doesn't like it b/c she will say it is the best meal she has ever had. Then she won't eat it. :tongue_smilie:

This is what I have planned out for 4th grade so far: Math-RS D History-STOW 3 and 4 (will be doing 3 over the summer) Spelling- AAS (not sure what level we will be on) Vocabulary-Wordly Wise 4 and Dynamic Literacy (kid loves words) Grammer-FLL 4 Writing-WWE 3 (looking at IEW) Latin-LFC A Logic-not sure Geography-homemade us state study with literature included Science-Mr. Q Physics co-op Art-Meet the Masters --maybe--HWOT-4th grade cursive PE-Fencing 3 times a week and in summer intensive swimming practice to get diving certified next year Electives I have found that he might like or he has asked to do: Greek Code Cracker (may teach as co-op class) The Brain-McHenry (will teach as co-op class) Carbon Chemistry (summer) It seems like a lot but we school year around and space it out. We average about 3-4 hours a day. I also spend about 2 hours with my dd in K. Most of that is her never ending love of crafts.

The grass is rarely greener on the other side. I know I have been there and done that at least 4 times now :) If you would like to add some more science to your lives you could try homeschool science adventures. Everything is included and it structured for multiple ages. Many different kits to choose from.

I just started using WW K a couple of weeks ago for my ds5. She usually does 2 weeks worth of work in one sitting. I am pretty sure she will slow down once she gets to a harder section. I think it is a really good program although I could do with out the large concept cards. I do like the vocabulary cards. I use WW 3 for my ds. I just started this year. He likes the different stories that are in the workbook. We just read a snippet from Misty out of WW. We watched the movie and then my ds asked for the book.

If your dh knew you were following a book or scope would that help? FE TWTM or Core Knowledge. Maybe making some long term plans and the reason behind it. For example child 1 will be in algebra in this grade so we need to have these things done by this grade. If you haven't already setting up a schedule for the year for the kids. That way he knows you are on track with the goals your family has set. Will he sit down with you and look over the books you already have while you explain why you think these are the best choices? Would including him in some of the things the kids do help? FE in STOW 1 making a monks feast and having the kids tell what they have been reading about. Or asking him to help out with a subject he would like to do? Downloading a SWB lecture for him to listen to?

Went to website to look at free sample. This is exactly what I have been looking for. :drool: :001_wub: Thanks for the heads up. If you purchase it let us know how you like it.

We participate in a science fair, but there is no competition. Everyone that is there gets a certificate. My dd5 did penguins and my ds8 did The Periodic Table based on Ellen McHenry curriculum and Fizz, Bang, Bubble and Flash chemistry book. He also had an edible periodic table that everyone enjoyed.

My ds who is almost 9 was like this until a couple of months ago. I found HOP Master Reader at the 1/2 Price Bookstore. He loved the program because he could do some of his school work on the computer. Once he played the "games" then he would have to get a card out and read it. The cards start easy and get harder. At the end of the level they read a chapter book. For the first level we took it slow. He always had to read the card to me, and the first book I only required a couple of pages at a time. A couple of months ago he finished the last level. Then he went out and bought 6 lengthy chapter books. Now he reads every night before bedtime on his own.

I started and ran a FIAR co-op for 2 1/2 years. I started it on my own and then posted the co-op class in a local yahoo group for homeschoolers. At the time I didn't know any other homeschoolers and didn't really know what to expect. My mission statement was to find like minded families to learn together.I offered a no obligation class to anyone that wanted to see what it was like. I made it clear when they signed up that I expected them to be there every time for that session. The classes were every other week for 2 hours at a time. I advised anyone that signed up that teaching a class was optional, but staying for the class was not. A lot of the parents were nervous about teaching a 2 hour class, but once they got used to the class it was easy and most of the parents did end up teaching. I set up a yahoo group coordinate the class. The teachers would post what supplies they needed for class. We would all pitch in if it was something that was not a normal household item (we disected a sheeps eye for BYFIAR Hellen Keller). When the younger kids got older we added a second BYFIAR and FIAR for the younger siblings. That was harder to manage 2 classes and a rotation of teachers. Things I learned about having a co-op were always provide some kind of food if possible. Make the activities short to move the class along. Our co-op kids rarely spent more than 20 min on anything. If possible set up the tables and chairs before class to make sure you are the center of attention. Most of the families that stayed with the co-op class still get together for a science co-op now. We still talk fondly of our FIAR co-op and so do the kids. If you have any questions you can PM me!

just about all PHP FLL WWE RightStart FIAR (used for a total of 4years so far) STOW Mr. Q Science (on Chemistry this year but I have already bought next year) RSO (we are finishing up the last one that is out) I have scheduled all Ellen Mchenry stuff into the years we will use them AAS I curriculum jumped in the begining and again last year. We came back to to same stuff. I will modify for my 2nd child because she is a different kind of learner.

I have a child that doesn't like to write for any reason. The most I can ever get out of him is 1 or 2 sentences every couple of days. He also hates writing and hands on projects. I modify what ever we use. For math we use RightStart. He will do some of those worksheets. I also use Timez Attack and Math Blaster as a supplement. We used FLL 1 and 2 orally. He didn't write down anything for that book. We are now on FLL 3 and it comes with a workbook. Instead of writing the words to diagram the sentences I have him underline different parts of the sentence in colored pencils. He then has to mark with the same color where it goes in the diagram. The one exception for writing is WWE. He does have to write with that program. I found he likes the workbook pages better than regular paper. I think it has to do with the art work on some of the pages. We just started All About Spelling and I am not sure how I will modify it yet. I have used magnet tiles, plastic tiles, playdough, and chalkboard in his earlier years to various degrees of sucess. If we did encounter a worksheet he would tell me the answers and I would write it down. Sometimes I would have him spell it out while I wrote it.

We just started Wordly Wise 3000 and Word Roots Beginning. I think Wordly Wise is a little easy for my child, but he doesn't always know all the different defininations that a word may have. It only takes him a few min a day. He also likes Word Roots Beginning. He loved learning that an astronaut is a star sailor. It makes him think differently about words. Next year I will get the software instead of the books to add some fun to the program.

Placed my order last week! Trying not to stalk any mail delivery people :001_smile:

I always recommend livingmath.net for anyone looking for something extra in math. I use RightStart with one child and Singapore with the other. We also read math books that are recommended on this math website. Our current favorites are Penrose the Mathmatical Cat books.

My ds is a lot like Mandy in TN's ds. We have at least 5 meltdowns a day. It is not so much the work, but the thought of doing work that leads to meltdowns. Once he gets going he is ok. He does go to his room when he gets upset on his own now, and he comes down when he is calmer. I sit down with him 2-3 times before the new school year and go over expectations and curriculum. I let him pick the curriculum but it has to be with in my rules. For example when it is time to move on to the next level math I have 3 different programs samples and have him look at it. He picks the one he likes out of those 3. This makes him feel that he has a say in the kind of curriculum he does. He gets to pick all of his outside classes. Since all of our required work is done at home anything else he learns is gravy. He also has to have all of his work completed the night before any outside activites or he doesn't go. Workboxes worked really well for us when I had the time to set them up. He works best when he can "see" the end in sight. He got to work at his own pace not one I set for him. I just had a meeting a couple of weeks ago. I went over every subject he was behind in. I asked him what he was going to do to get caught up. He surprised me with suggesting a block schedule, and doing school one day on a weekend. With the exception of a few subjects he needs to do everyday I helped him set up a schedule. We have a lot less issues these days. We are down to just 1 or 2 meltdowns about when we are going to eat lunch. :tongue_smilie:

I would consider myself a natural reader. My dd 5 is the same way. She just started sounding out words before I sat down to teacher her reading. My ds on the other hand struggled and struggled. Then about 2 months ago something clicked, and he went from step 4 reading books to a 6th grade reading level. I was amazed and so was he!

I second either of these. My ds does a science co-op with Classic Science. They have done some really cool experiments in that class. It is going to be hard to top any science class after this one. We have been using his curriculum in our co-op for 3 years now. The kids love it! http://www.eequalsmcq.com/CHEM%20Chapter%20Download.htm At home my ds just finished Fizz, Bubble and Flash. It is a great supplement to reinforce the periodic table. We also just completed Ellen McHenry's Elements curriculum. My ds loved it so much he said he wanted to do more of her science. So we will start her Carbon Chemistry in a couple of weeks. It doesn't seem like we do a lot of science until I wrote it all down :tongue_smilie:

My ds 8 didn't like to color. He will color at most 1 picture per week if pressured. He also hates to draw. For our nature study we would do walks around the neighborhood. There are plenty of things to find in the city. When we got to something that he wanted to know more about I would help him take a picture (then a couple myself). If we saw something and forgot the camera I would have him take a picture in his mind. He would have to describe it back to me and we would look for a picture on the internet. If it was something we found on the ground we took it home and added it to the page of our notebook. He still loves to take pictures. When he got his Nintendo DS this year he spent more time taking pictures than on the games :lol:

What age range are you looking for? I have used Children Around the World for fun crafts and coloring page for younger kids. I have also combined it with Galloping the Globe. I am currently doing this for my 1st grader. Depending on the age of your children you might consider using Trail Guide to World Geography. I could never find exactly what I was looking for so I made up a formula so it was easy to create my own with materials I already have.

Toss Your Cookies (my dd fav) Dweebies (my dh fav) Sleeping Queens (played the most in our house) Loot (my ds fav) Zeus on the Loose (my fav) Ones we didn't care for are Pounce Slamwich Chomp

I just started doing block days this week. Things we do daily-reading, math practice, and vocabulary. I block day everything else. It is working well for us. My ds gets into the mindset of doing something, and it is easy to multiple lessons. We just got done with our math block today. We did a total of 4 lessons in RightStart, and I read 2 selections out of Penrose the Mathematical Cat. I make sure that the math practice has any concepts we went over the previous week as well as math facts.

My 8 yo ds loves almost any book listed in WWE. He shot up in his reading so fast he missed a lot of the easier chapter books. So he will read multiple books at the same time. I have a book basket with different books I have found on sale that I think he might like.

Try the older books in Homeschool Share. http://www.homeschoolshare.com You might find some books you are looking for. I don't know how many they have for ancients, but they have a good selection of Middle Ages. HTH

We love Gamewright games (card games) in our house. I gave all the kids in the family Gamewright games. They were a hit with all the kids. Our favorites: Too Many Monkeys Dweebies Sleeping Queens (created by a 6 year old girl) Toss Your Cookies Zeus on the Loose Forbidden Island Loot http://www.gamewright.com/gamewright/index.php?section=games

Fraggle Rock Dinosaur Train The Secret of the Cave 5 Children and It Shaun the Sheep (our favorite) Up Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs The Secret of the Kells