So, I know that Beast Academy 3D is supposed to be out any minute. I was just wondering what your plans are for next year? (I have my doubts that they'll have 4 ready in time.) We've had great success with Math Mammoth in the past, but I don't know if it's going to appeal to DS as much after Beast. Do I go to Singapore 4A? ???

My kids all enjoyed Brite Music's curriculum. It's song/story based--and seemed to really resonate with them. It's been a year or two and they still remember a lot of the songs/lessons. (Note to self: Time to revisit :)) You can buy just one unit to start...or get the whole bunch. We started with Obedience/Land of Obey. There's a little chart you can get as well. http://www.britemusic.com/standin-tall-set-downloadable Note: The company was founded by LDS/Mormon folks, but as a non-Mormon, I never found anything that I took issue with. The curriculum was secular as far as I could tell. (Or one could say that having good values goes beyond religious affiliation. :))

You mentioned Hebrew awhile back. "Handwriting Without Tears" hasHebrew writing books, which might be of interest. We've really enjoyed Michel Thomas (far more than Rosetta) for learning conversational languages...but they don't offer Hebrew. However, this might be a good reference http://www.nbn.org.il/aliyahpedia/ulpan-a-learning-hebrew/hebrew-learning/1322-childrens-hebrew-learning-resources-.html I agree with the iPads (or even consider one or two Kindle Tablets), laptop, printer, etc. That could easily eat up most of your money, but would probably give you the most bang long-term. Of course, buy some extra toner as well. I'd also look into a trampoline or something for getting out their energy. Scooters, bikes, etc. PE for homeschoolers.

I would definitely cover sewing on a button. If they are in scouts, sewing on a patch? Maybe hemming pants? My boys really loved the sewing lessons they got at a Montessori-inspired camp. They sewed a pair of moccasins as well as a case for pencils.

For your 3rd grader on up, Teaching Textbooks might be just the thing. I've known many people rave about it for their kids who were behind in math or math phobic...plus it's entirely self-directed, so that frees you up. You can try to "bundle" the 6th and 8th grader and 1st and 3rd grader as much as you can which can be done with Sonlight as well as a host of other unit-type studies. By having an individual math...and perhaps individual reading/writing based on level.... you should be O.K.

We're looking at a Waldorf-inspired curriculum (self created). So, 1st grade focuses on fairy tales; 2nd grade Native American tales, Saints and Heroes, Trickster tales; 3rd grade Old Testament/Creation Stories and practical life (shelters, food, clothing), 4th grade is Norse myths, etc. There's a big part of me that wants to do SOTW type stuff at this age, but there's still so much time to cover that--but I feel that the time to really enjoy fables and such is more limited. I'm not traditional Waldorf in that while I may do those as blocks, I don't forego math for a month or two either. We do daily math, daily foreign language, etc. I also really like the concept of letting a child sleep on a story... so I'll often tell a story at bedtime on Monday.

DD can read very well, but we're still doing the Oak Meadow Kindy stories. They really are wonderful stories... great crafts...etc. The stories are just very healing...and there's very much a Waldorf theory that you don't rush things as far as the stories go. We just read and do other things on our own more at her level. Not sure if we'll go to Oak Meadow First Grade or not. Right now, I've sort of cobbled together a Waldorf-inspired Third Grade for my eldest...and I'm enjoying mixing traditional with not-so-traditional Waldorf elements. :) I found my Oak Meadow Kindy used, which helps. A lot harder to give it a try when it's full price.

I think I did read it around 10-11, but would have probably gotten more out of it had I waited until 12-14. "Number the Stars" is excellent and is a Newberry award winner. Honestly, though, you really need to know your child. In third grade, I had a classmate whose father had been in one of the camps as a child and survived. He came in... showed us his tattoo...and talked about it a bit. I don't think he gave us much details--but probably told us that his Mom and Dad died (but not how). I didn't fully get how amazing his story was for many years, however I am grateful that he came in and shared. I think if I were to read either, I'd want to revisit them at a later date. There's also a story called "The Grand Mosque of Paris" about how Muslims rescued some Jews during the Holocaust. With the way the politics are today, I think it is important to point out stories like that for kids of all faiths (or no faith for that matter).

Through Wednesday, Heart Math is offering a free download on teaching kids to love. (Full title is something like 80 games and fun activities for raising balanced children in unbalanced times.) DS1 used to have issues with anger, and their Shift and Shine technique has really helped him a lot. http://www.heartmath.org/templates/ihm/downloads/pdf/e-books/teaching-children-to-love.pdf Ideas are grouped by ages...and start at age one and go up to 18/adults.

Thanks for the reminder about laws. Florida is actually pretty lax compared to NY where we used to live. You can do basically any standardized test administered by a teacher or a licensed teacher evaluation. (You can also chose to have your kid sit for the FCAT). A lot of the homeschooling groups will offer deals on these with membership. I would have until next February to comply as far as I can tell (one full year). FL even allows homeschooling kids to be awarded their Bright Futures scholarships, if they perform well enough on the ACT or SAT.

So, I forgot that I had bought a bunch of stuff at the Scholastic $1 sale last Spring. Found two great multiplication resources that DS really likes. One is multiplication fortune tellers/cootie catchers. DS1 and DS2 have been playing with these--and love them. Found it free online at http://cbolding.wikispaces.com/file/view/FunMathFlaps.pdf Found a free template on Guardian too for those who are interested http://teachers.guardian.co.uk/teacher-resources/6295/Multiplication-Fortune-Teller The other are multiplication and division riddles. You solve the problems which help you solve the riddle. http://www.amazon.com/Solve-Riddle-Math-Practice-Multiplication/dp/0545163269 I also found the Inspirational Quotes and Jokes & Riddles in Cursive. $4 curriculum. Mom win! :hurray:

Thank you all for your support. :)

DS1 is simply miserable in school. While I suppose I could let him suffer another 3 months (we're in Florida...so they get out in May), DH and I have decided to pull him. Would it be totally fine if I spent the rest of the year focusing on making sure his multiplication/division is down-pat... reading...doing some Form drawing/cursive work... and that's about it? We'd go to the zoo and focus on the outdoors for science... maybe engage in cheese making or other practical stuff. I'm thinking really low-key... two or so hours per day max. He's had bullying issues at school, and issues at home as well...so I think he just really needs some time to regroup. I'd love to buy Oak Meadow's Third Grade---but $200 for a syllabus for two months is a bit much. I have other Waldorf stuff that we've used on and off for after schooling which I can draw from if I need to.

Wow...lots of great ideas. Thanks :) I really liked the video...some aspects reminded me of HWT... others of Waldorf form drawing. :)

My third grader loved Math War Multiplication card game. I picked up on a kind of whim on Amazon, and it's proven very popular with him and his second grader brother. I let the second grader use the "cheat sheet" card--which has helped him to learn some of his times tables. Somehow, when i play, I seem to lose! We also use various card games from Right Start. Although not a card game, Sum Swamp is a great math game for addition, as well as learning odds/evens. Even my older kids like to play it with their little sister.

Thanks. He does prefer writing with pen/marker, but I want to encourage him to at least use pencil when doing math. I'll have to check out some softer leads--I didn't think of that. :) Maybe I can find some 3B or 4B leads for his pencil.

Some of my kids have done Saxon K-3. What I like about it is the repetition (which seems to work well for them) and the completeness. We've also used Right Start A-C, and various Math Mammoth things. I think for the money Math Mammoth cannot be beat. I've used it as a supplement for both my Saxon and my Right Start kids. In terms of just l-o-v-e, it would be Right Start. Fun and interesting... but I can't speak of higher than level C. It did seem a little expensive, though.

I went to an "elite" college prep school, where 100% of graduates go onto 4-year colleges. I have to say that our college advisor was horrible, as far as I was concerned. His only concern was keeping up our reputation in getting into either real "Ivys" or the State Ivy (where close to 50% of the class went). I ended up pursuing a good school out East mainly because it was one of two who had the major I was interested in. I also was pursued with scholarships by Tulane and Colgate because of some really good standardized test scores--but these were dismissed by the college counselor. Later in my academic career, I had the opportunity to do some post-bac work at a few small liberal arts colleges. Having done so, I realized what a better fit they, or one of the Seven Sisters, would have been for me. I easily could have gotten in as well. There was much more of a professor/student relationship, rather than being pawned off on TAs. Much easier to get good, real recommendations for grad school too. In looking back, the counselor had attended the State Ivy (Univ. of Michigan)... most of the kids went to Michigan... and if we were going to go small liberal arts colleges, we went to one of the Michigan-based ones. If kids went out of state, it was usually only to go to an Ivy. My advice would be to not limit yourself to geography or what you might want for your kids. Start thinking about where they might fit in--but don't eliminate anything right off. Expand your horizons. If most people in your area have attended only a handful of colleges--try to find out about others outside. See if there are summer programs that they can attend as well at various universities. See if any schools have co-op programs as well. It's a great way to get a degree and work experience at the same time. You totally graduate ahead of the pack. Good luck. :)

So it seems like since Kindergarten, my eldest son has hated writing. He has never held a pencil "correctly"--in spite of various grips and tricks we've tried. We've tried Handwriting Without Tears and GD--he dislikes them both. When he does write, it's like there's no pressure whatsoever. His writing is extremely light, to the point of being difficult to read. Using a mechanical pencil helps a little--but that's about it. We're about to begin cursive now, and I was wondering if anybody had any ideas as to what might help. It's important to me that he can write legibly in cursive and print. I think it's a life skill one needs. But it's so frustrating for him. Help!

My kids' charter school used both Envision Math and Saxon. (They had math twice/day). While I liked certain things about it, neither my sons or I were a real fan of Envision. IMHO while Envision might be OK for bricks-and-morter, if you're thinking about homeschooling, there are lots of better choices out there. Right Start, Real Singapore Math, CLE, Math-U-See, Math Mammoth, Miquon, Etc. :)

My boys attended a Montessori school's summer camp last year, where they were introduced to weaving and sewing. They loved both. For weaving, they used a cardboard loom. For sewing, they made their own moccasins. I'd also recommend finger knitting as a good start.

I'm always looking for fun ways to help teach multiplication to my kids. I found this guys' videos online--and they are really cool. He also has some free and low-cost apps---but IMHO, everything you need is here. I was excellent in math...getting As all the way through calculus and statistics. Still, I realize in retrospect that I was good at "plug and chug" but I never really "got" math until I started teaching it to my kids. :) Here is his Tic Tac Toe trick for 3s, 6s, and 9s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D2p5eC19za0 Here's his trick for the 7s http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v6oJ5rw9mys He has lots more on his youtube channel. There's also a video using a normal phone which teaches you the 7s and 3s.

Right Start math and card games. Oak Meadow Kindy...all of the kids have enjoyed the stories and crafts. Not a curriculum, but the Aliens vs. Presidents, Stack the States, and Stack the Countries ipad apps have been very popular here too!

Honestly, for a Kindergartner, I don't think you need to do history. For me, kindy is very low-key. We do math (Right Start Level A has always been a favorite). We use Handwriting without Tears. We read lots of books (Sonlight lists plus others). This year, we're doing fairy tales/stories from Oak Meadow Kindy and the whole family is loving it. If you don't actually like reading SOTW, see if you can find the audio book at your library. Have you looked at CLE? One nice thing is that it's very affordable, and you can start by just buying one of the workbooks for about $4.00.

Also, check in your community for resources for learning English. The local masjid/mosque or Coptic church might have free classes. Community centers also often have free ESL classes. Personally, I'm not a fan of Rosetta Stone. I think it is overpriced and can be difficult to learn from.