Maria mentioned the deal in her latest newsletter. She also mentioned that her sale will start at the end of the month, but will only be 25% off...so the Educents deal is better if they have what you want.

I was adopted in the 60s back when adoptions were closed. I found my birth parents after the birth of my third child. It was a difficult process to go through...as my birth State does not make it easy for either party. I have wonderful parents, and have not shared with them that I sought out my birth parents. I think it's because I never had any desire to "replace" them; however, after reading how many unwed pregnant moms were treated in the 60s, I felt a need to reach out and let my birth mom know that I turned out O.K., etc. When I began the process, I was also given the choice to find my birth father, I said "fine"... but am surprised that he seems to be the one more interested in a relationship than my birth mom. Thing is, it's been a couple of years, but basically we email from time to time. Finding them was great, because it answered so many questions (for both of us). It turns out the info that the children's home gave my parents was completely wrong...as was the info they gave my birth parents about my adopted family. But I think we're all happy with our lives--and haven't really felt the need to go any further. I guess what I'm trying to say is that just because he did this, it doesn't mean that he doesn't love you or will want to replace you. It may be something he just needs to do, as part of becoming an adult.

OK, yes I know it's the Daily Mail, but still an interesting article.... sounds like some of the "Free" schools that opened here in the 70s. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2320080/Toronto-ALPHA-Alternative-School-pupils-pictured-40-years-later-turned-accountants.html " One of the trailblazers of alternative education methods was the Toronto ALPHA Alternative School that opened its doors in 1972. The acronym comes from 'A Lot of Parents Hoping for an Alternative', and they banished many of the traditional markings of school - insisting that their children not be given any homework, tests or grades. Instead, they were taught in individual or small group sessions, both with children their own age but also much older students."

They do have placement tests at http://saxonhomeschool.hmhco.com/en/resources/result.htm?title=Placement I'll give it to DD and see what happens. :)

The idea of giving her pretests is a good one. I think the assessments are a separate purchase, but I could do that. As an FYI, there are two versions of Saxon's 3. The "regular" one and a different one called Saxon 3 Intermediate. You might want to investigate that for your DD.

My kids were in PS in NY for two years. Honestly, I think in many of the grades, US History counts as talking about MLK Jr. and Rosa Parks during Black History Month.... talking about Colombus, President's Day (George and Abe stuff), Thanksgiving, etc. I think if you focus on US History as a year-long study once or twice during K-8th, then your set...but as for the rest, it seemed to be more holiday-based.

I really loved the Oak Meadow Kindy book. The stories in it...some of them were just so well done...that all of my kids request them again. Donna (at Christopherus) has a great Kindy book as well. Much more affordable. I liked her Kindy book better than Melissa's Kindy/1st grade stuff...but both are good. However, for the older grades, Melissa's stuff works better for me. It's more affordable and works better with my non-hard core/blended Waldorf philosophy. As for OM1st grade, it is very basic...the stories that relate to each letter, etc. BUT, you can use it at your child's level too. DD is already reading quite well, so we might do some dictation/narration using the stories... copy work using a line from the story...etc. The stories still, IMHO, nurture them. The crafts and science and all add to that. If you know the story about the two wolves we have fighting in us, well with me, it's two educational philosophies. :) Waldorf speaks to my soul.... especially for the early grades. I really don't think my kids need to master ancient history facts in 1st grade to ensure their future success. (Even if mummifying a chicken or apple is super fun. :)) I do believe that early grades should be more about nurturing, exploring, arts and crafts, etc. BUT, I also love the more academic focus. I wish I had taken more than a year of Latin. I love living books. I do think that Waldorf math, while kind of feel good, misses something. So...I kind of combine the two...and am peace with it now. I'll always be drawn to the more traditional WTM curriculum for the early years...but I'm really really trying to slow down (for the most part). We can still start our 4 year history cycles in 5th grade and be just fine.

Neat article from "The Atlantic" at http://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2013/05/how-to-raise-a-kid-thomas-jefferson-vs-abigail-adams-edition/275477/ "Upon first reading, it is immediately striking how remarkably frank eighteenth-century Americans were with their 11-year-olds. Beyond that similarity, these two individuals were clearly parenting their children in very different ways, and psychologists have spent the last twenty years studying and understanding the impact of these differences on the adults we eventually become....."

DD1 is going to be homeschooled next year for 1st grade. She's been at a charter school that uses Saxon for math. I was looking with her at the math book I was thinking of for next year--Math in Focus (Saxon's Singapore). Well, she was able to do all of the problems...even at the very end of the book. (Saxon has a preview where for 120 days, you can see the entire book/workbook online.) My thought is just to start her with 2nd grade, but I'm wondering if there are any disadvantages? Her eldest brother seems to get math quite easily...and to be honest, I was the same way. The negative was that I never really "knew" it. I could plug and chug...all the way through Calculus with ease... but as for understanding math, I'm just starting to now after having taught DS1.

We had Pimsleur Egyptian Arabic, but did not like it. Michel Thomas was much easier (and more practical) for my kids.

Just wondering what your plans are for the summer. We might start our math over the summer, but probably only three days/week vs. five. Was thinking of maybe a unit study on ???? What are you planning?

There's the readers/LA readers...and then the readers that go with the history bit. In the younger years, sometimes there's a disconnect if your DC is reading at a level which is above the recommended age ranges. You can find used IGs pretty easily on the various homeschool boards. You can also check on various Yahoo groups where sometimes people offer their own plans where they've rearranged things to be more cohesive....so rather than reading a chapter each day...or a few pages out of a book every few days...they're more lumped together. Sonlight will sell the Readers/LA bits separately: Readers (not always in sync if you are far above/below the core): http://www.sonlight.com/readers.html Read Alouds (will follow Core theme) : http://www.sonlight....ead-alouds.html Also, you can buy just the history bit (but if you want the IG, you need to purchase it separately): http://www.sonlight....-geography.html

That is such a good list. Thanks for sharing. I thought I had everything figured out for DS1 for next year... but... finances may be changing, which means I'm now considering Calvert through our local virtual school. The plans were... OM4 MM4 or Singapore 4 (hadn't decided yet) Some cursive program... we've used HWOT but DS1 likes the New American Cursive better Arabic (Egyptian...Michel Thomas (spoken)) Recorder (through OM) plus some informal composer studies Mom-created unit study on Rumi Norse Myths (Mary Pope Osborne) Possibly adding in some logic Possibly adding in a Latin/Greek vocab type course instead of spelling Possibly adding in a writing program (but need to see what's in OM, as I hear they do more writing in 4th grade) Then...along with his 3rd grade brother and 1st grade sister...either Sonlight History Core D (American History 1) or SWOT 1 + either the AG or History Odyssey He really wants to learn fencing...so I need to see if we have a local school.

Oh wow...I totally didn't know that. Interesting. :) Seems to be that they are becoming more and more involved in the state-run virtual companies.

Hi Everybody: I received an email from Calvert with a survey about their new high school program. They're launching 9th grade in 2014, I believe. Lots of questions on what you'd like to see, what you'd value... textbooks (paper), ebooks, stuff loaded on a tablet, etc. Figured you guys might have better input than I did, as we still have 4 years to go until H.S. https://us1.us.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_aadll9W7jzAkD89

Oooh thanks!

I finally got OM Kindy used a year and a half ago, and used it with DD. I had been lusting over it through two other kids, but never bought it. I had used Sonlight (not sure which one it was...Exploring God's World?) with DS1.. and Right Start A as well. The stories were just wonderful, and all of the kids loved them. I also used Reading Eggs, which she adored. (Oh and we also used HWT. I have all the stuff...so that's why I use it. There are things I like and don't like about the program.) Honestly, I'm planning to do something similar for DS3 when he's ready. Not sure if we'll do Right Start A again or Miquon... or ??? But basically, lots of reading, lots of art, lots of fun. :)

Lots of Chik-fil-as in FL. Always crowded during the summer time and on rainy days (because of the always great, clean play area.) :)

I don't know how your kids' Arabic is, but all of my kids really loved the Sinbad program. The songs, the story line..whole thing. Really well done. I don't think it works if they actually know Arabic, but for my kids...it was awesome. (DH is Egyptian...I speak zero Arabic except for food and numbers). http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Arabian+Sinbad+channel&oq=arabian+sinbad&gs_l=youtube.1.1.35i39l2j0l5.468.2049.0.4004.14.12.0.0.0.0.294.1713.4j5j3.12.0...0.0...1ac.1.11.youtube.q_2zTugxsG0

Was at cub scouts talking about plans for next year, and I mentioned that we were going to homeschool next year. I've been kind of leaning towards Oak Meadow, with a separate math program, and some supplementation. My son's friend's Mom said that they had used Calvert through our virtual school and l-o-v-e-d it. I remember looking at Calvert years ago when DS1 was about to enter kindy...and I just thought it looked..well...boring. I do like Calvert Script though (their form of handwriting which combines basically printed capital letters with cursive lower case letters.) Where we lived before, the local virtual school basically replaced most of the Calvert stuff with crappy Scott Foresman type textbooks. (Apologies if you love them.) It really was public school at home. BUT...where we live now actually uses the entire Calvert program including Calvert Script in first grade (for DD) and the "Math in Focus" Singapore math program from Saxon. (I have math envy over that...but it's just way too expensive to consider for me.) I also like a "Child's History of the World" which DS1 would use in 4th. The thing is...I will be homeschooling three kids along with trying to distract a very curious 3 year old. :) Can a highly scripted program like Calvert work for us? How on earth would I schedule three kids? (Seemed more possible with OM since it's so gentle and since I planned to combine DS1 and DS2 as much as possible.) I like the fact that it's still pretty much off-line. They have online supplements, but it's not a 100% online curriculum which would require us to buy more computers. I love the fact that it's free....especially as money could be tight next year. (Although i think I can cobble together the OM and math for under $1000...using a bunch of what we already have.) I love the fact that this local school district actually does a lot of activities, field trips for the kids. I hate hate hate the fact that the kids have to take the FCAT (Florida standardized test...starts in 3rd grade)... although I could choose not to teach to the test and just see how it goes. WWYD? (Granted I think I could drop out and do "regular" homeschooling if it proved to be evil...but I would lose out on buying some OM stuff during the happy 20% off sale going on right now.)

From what I've heard, it's so complete that you can skip a year in between. So do it for 1st and 3rd...but do something else like daily grammar for 2nd. As for the CD, the songs are key...but...if you go to youtube... and search on Shurley grammar...or Shurley noun...shurley verb... lots of videos will come up.

For me, I'd focus on some math, reading, and handwriting every day. 30-40 minutes minutes for math and reading (tops)...and then 15 minutes for handwriting. So.... we're talking 1 hour 15 minutes tops for the dailies. Do that in the morning...then allow for play, time outside, whatever. Then a few times per week in the afternoon, add in art, music, science, history--whatever you think your DD would be interested in. Maybe another hour. 2 to 2-1/2 hours. Plenty. Really. :)

Have you thought of using one of those "Daily Math Practice" books? I'm pretty sure they have them for "normal" problems as well as story problems. http://www.amazon.com/Daily-Math-Practice-Grade-4/dp/1557997446/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1367426796&sr=8-3&keywords=daily+math+practice

I used it for DS1 as a supplement. He adores math with all of his heart and soul and oved it. i'm thinking of using it for DS2 next year as a stand alone...but I am wavering on that. I may use it with Math Mammoth or some other math program.

It was this weird homeschool karate kit? I don't know that it's actually evil or anything, but my kids were not interested. Strangely, they began real karate lessons the next year and really liked them.