I am trying to get things organized for when we start HSing in the summer. Here are my three options for where to HS: Dining Room: Right now this room is empty since we just moved and didn't have a dining room table. My mom has an old table we can use and put in there. It is nice because it is a separate room and I can see it from the kitchen (where I spend a lot of my time). It is a good sized room, but it doesn't have any doors on it and you can see it immediately when someone comes to the front door. In fact, it is the only part of the house you can see from the front door (other than a foyer and some stairs). There isn't room for a couch, but we could do read alouds in the living room. Kitchen: We have a nice breakfast nook area with our table. It would be nice to have them in the kitchen where I could keep a close eye on them when they are doing things on their own. Another incentive is that I would have to clean up our school stuff every day to use the table for dinner every night. I would also have to clean up the dishes before bed so it would be ready for the morning (this is a bad habit I have gotten into...leaving the dishes for morning). However, there is no place to hang artwork or maps since there are windows all around the breakfast nook. Also, if we are working on a long term project, it might be a pain to clean it up for every meal. Playroom/exercise room: This room is gigantic. There is plenty of room for everything we would need and two couches that we can do read alouds. We already store all of our art stuff and books in there so that would be at our fingertips. We also have a wall painted with chalkboard paint so we have somewhere I can teach if we need a chalkboard. It is also closed off from the rest of the house (and I could shut the door if someone came over). However, I wouldn't be able to see them as well from the kitchen (even with the door open). The biggest potential problem I see here is distraction since all of their toys are in this room. It might be better to have a separate school area and they can take their breaks in the playroom. Obviously I can change my mind if an area isn't working for us, but I thought I would ask input from all of you veterans out there! I would rather be organized and ready to go when we start!

I am using Beautiful Feet as a guide for early American. I am also going to get some other books from the library and amazon.com. I might also do some of the following (these were recommendations from other people on here): http://www.amazon.com/History-Pockets-Plymouth-Colony-Grades/dp/155799899X/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I21KLKAZYVM7Z6&colid=1W88TZDLYROED http://www.amazon.com/Colonial-Days-Discover-Projects-Activities/dp/0471161683/ref=wl_it_dp_o?ie=UTF8&coliid=I8QH51ID0J6LK&colid=1W88TZDLYROED I am also planning on using some of the "If You..." books and the "You Wouldn't Want to..." books that are relevant to the time period! HTH

I have heard rave reviews of NOEO Physics!

I pretty much have everything else figured out, but I just cannot decide on this one. :confused1: I have started using Little Stories for Little Folks and I love it, but I want to use that as a supplement. Here are some that I am considering. Please let me know more about them and why you like or dislike it! ETC, R&S, AAS (I have heard it is pretty good for phonics too), McRuffy, Memoria Press There are WAY too many options here. I don't mind workbooks for phonics, but I want something that is thorough and is fun to use. I don't want to have daily tears, but I want him to have a strong start in reading since so much of his future depends on reading well. I don't mind if it will take longer than a year to complete either. Thanks in advance!!!!!

I am completely with you on this. I am Catholic and a lot of the Christian textbooks are Protestant. I even have some issue with the Catholic ones. I was originally going to use an out of the box Catholic system (Seton) to homeschool because I really wanted to send the kids to Catholic school (we just don't one near us). Then I started looking at the samples online. Is it really necessary to have pictures of Jesus on the cross on a math page? It was just serious overkill (sorry to all of those I am offending here...). I am planning on doing cathechism 3-4 times a week and we will cover religious stuff there. I also have quite a few Catholic coloring books, art appreciation and music stuff. Other than that, I don't really see the need to have religious texts. I strongly believe that the world is 4.5 billion years old. I believe in evolution (I know, I know....where is the bolt of lightning). I believe that God created the universe. I believe that God set it in motion. I believe that God continues to mold the world as He sees fit. If you find a great history program let me know. I am planning on using REAL Science and McRuffy Math. As of right now, I am using more of a Charlotte Mason approach to history, but would probably like a more cogent program when my kids get a little older. The best thing about homeschooling is that you can design your own curriculum. I know that my kids will love and serve God, but they don't need to hear about God constantly in every subject!!! :001_smile:

Thanks for sharing. That is exactly what I have been looking for. I want to use Spanish in every day tasks, but don't know the language well enough to do that. I was going to try and become friends with someone at the mexican restaurant to see if they could teach me some things like that. THANKS! Gracias! :)

We just do a lot of ryhming games, especially at dinner or when we are in the car. "What rhymes with car?" Over and over and over and over and over until my DS FINALLY got the concept!

I am starting Spanish with my kids this summer. DS will be in kindergarten and DD will be in preschool. There is a nice book I found for Spanish phonics for K-1. Is it too early to start phonics in a foreign language. He is just now starting phonics in English, but is picking it up really quickly. Is it easier to teach kids to read in both languages from the start or will it just confuse them? A lot of the phonics are similar (especially in the 1st phonics book where it is mostly consonants).

I think Apologia would be fine for all three! You could just expect a little more of your oldest. If you want her to have her own curriculum, but have the younger two in the same subject, I would suggest NOEO. You can get physics 1 for the younger 2 and physics 2 for the older one. I have heard that physics is their best program.

This morning we are having another snow day so we were doing a little bit of pre-K at home. I got out our Little Stories for Little Folks book for the first time. They have strips you cut out with phenomes (I guess that is what they are called) and other strips of consonants. So...there were ad, an and at today. Then we moved the strips of consanants and DS4 was able to sound out words. He was so excited about it that he didn't want to quit doing it. It was like a light bulb went off in his head and he realized that there was a trick to learning how to read. He was so proud and can't wait until Daddy comes home for lunch to show him his new words. He has been learning "sight words" in pre-K this year and it is driving me crazy because he won't even try to read a word that he doesn't know from school. Now he is all excited about it. This is exactly why I want to homeschool (other than the fact that God led me to this decision). I was so nervous about teaching my kids to read. It seemed so daunting to someone with no formal training. But this is what homeschooling is all about...seeing that light go on and your child excited about learning! I love it!

Does anyone know of any good nutrition books? I don't want a book about a specific diet. I would just like a general overview of nutrition. Which foods contain which vitamins, what each vitamin and mineral does for your body, etc. I have been trying to have us all live a healthier lifestyle, but would really like to have more of this information so we can all learn together!

He is almost 5. We are just doing pre-K at home on snow days to try and get an idea of how things will work when we start kindergarten in July. He is just practicing writing numbers and letters and coloring pictures! Nothing major!!!! :001_smile:

The great thing about HSing is that we can tailor the curriculum to each of our children. Some kids just might not NEED Latin and Logic to live a full life. I plan to teach both to my kids, but we all need to assess the situation when we get there. Whatever you teach your child is the right thing for him and your family. Don't doubt yourself!

What did you use for Chinese history? I am very interested in spending a fair amount of time on that. I went to China in 2003 for three weeks and fell in love with the history (of course I had already been reading about it for years). I think it is such an important country for us to study, especially since they keep buying up our bonds!!! ;)

:iagree: I love this! I really think this might be more along the lines of what I am looking at doing. I also think two years for ancient history is more reasonable. There is a lot of ancient history. Thanks for weighing in!

I completely agree that it is better than PS and the "survey" that they do! I know that my social studies (especially in the early grades) were just ridiculous!!!! I just want my kids to be able to delve into things they find interesting and I am worried about not having time to do it all. I guess we could do each level of SOTW over a year and half or something and do the second half of the second year on whatever we want. I don't know. I definitely want to cover all periods of history and I am fully aware that we can't cover everything!

It is so great that your husband is supportive of you. If God has called you to HS, He will not give you too great of a challenge. And if that means sending in reinforcements...GREAT! My mom has Rheumatoid Arthritis so I know how hard it can be to deal with a chronic illness day in and day out. I will keep you in my prayers!

I am excited to look this over at the HSing convention we are going to in March. Maybe I will be convinced! It seems like it works really well for a lot of people. How much in depth does it go or are there just short blurbs on most civilizations?

I am just starting HSing this summer so this is a tentative schedule: 8-9: Get everyone up, dressed and fed (including the baby), except on Tues and Thurs when we have to leave to bring DD3 to preschool and have to leave at 8am 9-10:30: Math, Phonics, Handwriting, Religion (about 15-30 min) each with DS5 11-12: Pick up my DD3 from preschool on Tues and Thurs 12-2: Playtime/lunch 2-4 (while DD3 and baby nap): History, Science, Art, Music (different stuff on different days) Wed: No set school (except maybe math games). I plan to do nature study on Wed morning every week and also use this day for field trips to the science center, museums, or anything else where we want to avoid weekend crowds! That is the plan for now. Of course, we will still do lots of reading in the evenings. DS5 has karate twice a week too. Things will get a lot more hectic as the kids get older, but I am hoping that we have a really good system in place by then!!!!!!!!

I am not loving the 4 year rotation. I do love that you hit the same area a few times to let the kids have a greater understanding of that time period. I just think that to cover such a large period of time in one year doesn't sound feasible to me. It seems more like the overview approach I was dreading in the PS system. It sounds like most people follow this trend (or the 6 year plan under CM). I am definitely doing early American (on my own with living books inspired by beautiful feet) for kindergarten. After that, I am undecided. I was thinking that it would be really nice to spend a year on South America and Central America (mayans, incans, aztecs, etc), spend a year on Asia, spend a year on Africa (including Egypt), etc. I didn't know if any of you follow a different plan for history. I would absolutely love to hear about it if you do! Or you can try to convince me to use the WTM or CM plan. Have at it. I am looking for info one way or the other!

I don't mean to pry, but is your health something that is temporary or is this a chronic situation? If it is temporary, I would just focus on the main subjects with the nanny and save the art, music, etc until you are feeling better (or do those on days when you can handle it). Instead of hiring her to HS your kids, maybe you could hire her to take care of all the household responsibilities (cooking, cleaning, taking care of the kids) and you could focus on the teaching. Most of that can be done from the couch or the bed anyway (especially read alouds). But...like I said...I am not sure what your situation is exactly. I do know that I will be praying for you and your family. God bless and I hope it all resolves itself!

I definitely think you could do it for cheaper. I just thought it was a great idea! I think the supply list is for a whole classroom to do it anyway.

I am not doing ancient history until next year, but I thought this art project was awesome! http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/making-elemental-drawing-materials/

I really shouldn't have posted this. I just spent almost $200 at www.discountschoolsupply.com and over $100 at www.dickblick.com I am really excited to get my art supplies though! This should keep my kids busy for MONTHS!

What is AG?