I live about 45 minutes from Gatlinburg and we take advantage of this all the time. It's a great discount!

Yes the ones through the gardens. And then from time to time they do special events. We haven't personally gone to any of them so I'm not sure exactly what they offer, but several families in our homeschool group have participated. I was wrong. It's not a homeschool orchestra. It's a band. Here is the website http://home.kcyb.org/ However, there is a knoxville youth orchestra and their website is http://www.knoxvillesymphony.com/youth-orchestra/ If you want to see more of what kind of resources are in the Knoxville area, here is a helpful website to get you started http://www.tennkidsclub.org/

We also live near Knoxville. We are actually almost halfway between Knoxville & Sevierville/Pigeon Forge in a small town called Seymour. We love it hear because is an easy 30 minute drive to Knoxville and all that the city offers, but also only about 30 minutes (or less depending on where we are going) to Sevierville & the mountains for hiking and other outdoor stuff. We have a local homeschool co-op that we love but there are numerous co-ops in the Knoxville area, as well as homeschool classes at UT, the Knoxville Zoo, the Gatlinburg Aquarium, and many other locations if desired. There is a homeschool orchestra in Knoxville too I think.

Week 1 I read Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers & The Fiddler by Beverly Lewis Up next for Week 2, The Bridesmaid by Beverly Lewis.

I tried this last year or the year before and didn't make it very far. Got a kindle fire for Christmas and have read several books over the past week so I think it might be more doable this year. I'm excited to give it a try and see what I can get done!

I also have had really bad cramps and heavy periods ever since high school. I recently switched doctors and mentioned my cramps not really expecting anything since most doctors have kind of blown it off in the past. The doctor asked what i was taking for pain and I said Advil or Tylenol. He said do not take those, take something specifically for cramps. He recommended Midol. I tried that the next month and the difference was amazing. I still have bad cramps at times and the Midol doesn't always help, but it is much better than the Tylenol or Advil. There is also a Midol PM that I take at night and it helps me to sleep better and not have as much cramping at night. Anyway, I don't think my situation is as severe as yours, but it might help a little.

Our homeschool group went on a field trip to the Heritage Center in Townsend last year and it was a lot of fun. Here's the website - http://gsmheritagecenter.org/ They showed a video about the history of the area, we got to explore different cabins and barns from the time period. We love Cades Cove too, but unlike Cades Cove, the cabins at the Heritage Center were furnished so you could really get a feel for how little they had and how they lived. Also, this may have just been part of the field trip, but you can ask if they do demonstrations on certain days. Our kids got to try their hand at churning butter, playing with toys from the time period, etc. It was a lot of fun and my son still talks about it. It wasn't very expensive either.

I keep the questions separate from my instructor's guide. When we start a new book, I pull out the questions for that book and use them as my bookmark. That way, I always have them with the book and don't forget about them.

I clean by rooms also because that is the easiest way to split the work in my house. We are out of the house for various things 2 days a week so that only leaves me 3 days to clean. I do our kitchen, living/dining room, and hallways on Tuesdays. This includes cleaning the kitchen counters, dusting, and since they all have hardwood floors sweeping & mopping if needed. I do the bedrooms on Wednesdays. This includes dusting and vacuuming (they are all carpeted). Then on Thursdays I do the bathrooms and sweep and mop them if needed. So I do rooms, but because of the types of rooms I'm not really dragging out the same cleaning stuff everyday.

We used Hooked on Phonics because I had it before we started HOD. It worked great!

I have one child and we use HOD. We love it! I was a new homeschooler and wanted something planned out for me. I also enjoying planning and have thought several times about doing my own thing. I never have though because we love HOD so much and we would both miss it if we didn't use it. And, I would be worried that I wouldn't include everything he needed. So, I used HOD and know that all my bases are covered. And, since HOD doesn't take that much time with only one (LHFHG takes us about 1 hour & 15 minutes most days), I have plenty of extra time to make library trips, find unit studies, etc to add on things that peak his interest.

We live about 20 minutes away from Pigeon Forge so I'll give you our opinion on everything... Biltmore estates - this is pretty cool but is going to be a 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive so you may want to stay closer to town and do more things Cades cove - we LOVE Cades cove! You can drive the loop and just stop at the various churches and homesteads, or there are a couple of hiking trails off the loop if you like that sort of thing. The Abram's Falls trail is fairly easy Gem mining - never done it Dixie stampede - one of our favorites. The food is good but it is a little expensive. You might be able to get discount tickets through wherever you are staying Laurel falls hike - easy hike, great for kids, waterfall is pretty Clingman's dome - short but steep hike, my son did it but needed lots of rests, it was very cold even in the summer because of the elevation Cherokee village - haven't been there in years so can't really tell you what it's like now Old mill restaurant - yummy food! definitely try to eat there Miniature golf {hillbilly, Davy Crockett, professor Hacker's, Ripley's (three)} - we do the Ripley's golf courses and they are fun, there are multiple courses at each one so plenty of variety Wonder works (magic show $40 extra) - I haven't been to wonderworks, but my parents took my son (6 years old) and he loved it. It's been several months and he asks me almost every day if he can go back The chimneys hike - haven't done this one because we have a 6 year old and everyone has told us that it is too hard for little kids. Not sure the ages of your kids, but you could always talk to someone at the visitor's center and they can give you more info on what the trail is like Apple barn restaurant - another yummy place to eat! Parrot mt. and gardens - haven't been Roaring fork motor nature trail - this is similar to Cades Cove in that you drive a loop and there are homesteads and trails off of it. We have done it and it was fun but we like Cades Cove better if you have to pick only one Smoky Mt knifeworks Sevierville, Tn. - fun place to go and just wander around, it's basically just a bunch of different vendors that sell knives and hunting type stuff Old mill village - this is just little shops and things around the old mill. DH and I like to walk around every once and awhile. May not be much fun for the kiddos though Cirque de chine - haven't been Star tracks (go carts) - not sure which track this is. We usually go to The Track. It's in Pigeon Forge and has several go cart tracks, bumper boats, mini golf and couple other things Speed zone fun park (go carts) - not sure Ripley's moving theater - very jerky and not very long for the amount you pay Nascar speedpark (go carts, golf, other rides) - fun especially if you have older kids, our youth group at church likes to go here. The go cart tracks are a lot more fun and more grown up (faster cars, tighter turns, etc) than some of the other places Amazing mirror maze (not Ripley's) w/circus golf (black light) - haven't done this one, the Ripley's one was fun and I'm sure it's pretty similar Hope that helps! We also love Dollywood if you get a chance to go. They are currently having their Festival of Nations and so they have several different shows representing different cultures. Our favorites were the DRUM show from Novia Scotia and the Argentina show (can't think of the name of it right now)

I didn't teach phonics with ETC but we do use it to supplement. Are you aware that there are teacher guides for ETC? They give some ideas for extra activities to reinforce the lessons.

I've used mvelopes for over 2 years now and absolutely love it! It is very easy to set up and use. If you have any specific questions, I will try to answer them.

I agree with either calling HOD or going to the HOD boards and asking. Carrie (the author) and her sister are both active on the boards and can assist you. I would lean towards putting her in Bigger though with extensions if you feel she needs more. Especially if you aren't coming from a CM background, Bigger would give her a chance to work on some of the skills like dictation, narration, etc that she may not be familiar with. There was just a post about this on the HOD boards if you happen to be a member over there. But basically, they read the extension books and then have different ways of showing what they learned - oral narration, written narration, and one other one that I can't remember right off hand. They also complete the regular activities assigned in Preparing.

DS is an only and we are doing Kindergarten this year. My blog is http://cherish-each-moment.blogspot.com We also did PreK last year and you can find those posts on my blog also.

We use Mvelopes too and it is awesome. I love it!

I am excited about this challenge. I went through my shelves last night and found 46 books that I bought months (maybe years?) ago and have never read so I decided my challenge to myself will be to actually read these books, plus a few more I can come up with. Right now I'm reading the Bible through in a year in chronological order. Not sure if that counts as one book or more than one but it will take all year to finish it anyway. I'm also reading the Lord of the Rings trilogy for my first 3 books. I started Sunday and am about 1/4 of the way through The Fellowship of the Ring. Looking forward to this!

Sounds fun! I'm in!

Thank you all for your help! Yes, he's K this year. I already have HOD for this year but I'm thinking about switching to something else for 1st grade and have started researching already. I tend to research things to death, my husband would say :001_smile: I am not planning on starting till 1st grade, but thought if he would need the blue level to fill in gaps I could go ahead and get it and work on those sections this year and just skip the phonics so he would be ready for red in the fall. But it looks like it's OK to just go straight to red when he's ready.

Has anyone used LLATL? I'm looking at this for my DS but even after looking at the samples I'm unsure of what level he would need. He has completed Hooked on Phonics K-2nd grade and is reading Level 1 and 2 readers from the library. But, we've done no LA instruction. I looked at the samples and scope of sequence and I think he's past the blue level in terms of reading ability, but some of the other skills covered we've never gone over (ex. grammar skills like punctuation & parts of speech, research & study skills such as using a dictionary, encyclopedia, etc) Are those covered again in the red level or would i need to start with blue and just ignore the phonics part to fill in the gaps?

I am thinking of switching to SOTW next year. I've been looking at samples of both SOTW and the activity guide online and am trying to wrap my brain around how it would be scheduled. How does SOTW look in your house? Do you do the maps, activities, and extra reading from the activity guide also and if so how do you schedule it? Do you do one chapter a week? Thanks!

Another vote for HOD!

We are using LHFHG this year with a couple of other things added in. I try to alternate types of activities. DS would rebel if I made him sit and do all the writing at one time so I separate those. This is the order we use and we are usually done in 1 1/2 -2 hours if that. Rhymes in Motion Reading About History Handwriting - we are using ARFH but we do it everyday and not how it is scheduled in the guide Bible Study ETC & Hooked on Phonics - if you are using HOD suggestions I guess you could add those here Math AWANA - we just practice our verse for the week Fine Motor Skills - We also do these everyday and not according to the schedule. I also added in the other books in the series from Rod & Staff. We do about 2 pages a day Storytime Rotating Box - I save this one for last so if it's a messy art project or a fun dramatic play we don't have to stop and get back to other things.

The one I've looked at is Blurb http://www.blurb.com