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purduemeche

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Everything posted by purduemeche

  1. We have eleven kids and the oldest is twelve...not saying this to brag, but to encourage you that it is possible!!! Some principles: 1. Mom and dad need alone time at night. This may not seem relevant, but IT IS. The pair in charge need to have a strong relationship and be on the same page, especially with lots of young ones who could take over the house. 2. Establish a stopping time for moms' break in the afternoon. For us it is 2-4 pm, no exceptions. This is critical recharge time. 3. Combine when possible. We do this with many subjects and many children to save time. 4. Cut out the frills. Focus on the basics only: math, Latin, Language Arts, reading, writing. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  2. Bring her home. There will always be stuff, and sometimes very serious stuff, to deal with. But it will always be better to have your children with you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  3. I would suggest adding Latin and a writing program. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  4. We may be moving to Virginia in the near future...can any of you already there explain the options for legally homeschooling there? I checked out the HSLDA site and it appears there are a few options, but there wasn't much detail. Is there an option that minimizes government intrusion and/or mandatory evaluations? Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  5. We are not familiar with all their subjects, but certainly the Latin sequence is excellent. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  6. Up to our kids? Kidz Bop. Ugh. Up to us? Find any list of the Top 100 best classical pieces of all time, etc., and we play that as much as possible. YouTube has some great concert videos of all these pieces. Any of the Leonard Bernstein recordings for kids are fantastic (Britten's Young Person's Guide to the Orchestra, Peter and the Wolf, etc.).
  7. Are you looking for full versions? Depending on the age of your kid(s), the Charles and Mary Lamb "Tales from Shakespeare" are great. We got our copy on Audible and burned them to CD. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  8. Ditto on the slideout keyboard...the LG is the latest we had from Verizon and it worked fine. You are wise to NOT get data for this phone.
  9. We are sold out on Saxon. I agree that it is dry and not as strong as other programs on the conceptual, but I think the conceptual aspect is way overblown in importance with lower level math. It is much more important that kids learn the facts. The spiral on Saxon is excellent and our kids have a much better handle on their math facts than with Math U See (which we have dropped).
  10. Johnny Tremain Henry Huggins audio collection Star Wars The Jungle Book Eagle of the Ninth Wanderings of Odysseus Black Ships before Troy (can you tell we are Sutcliffe fans?)
  11. To us the essentials include the books but not the CD's nor DVD's. Math is really a subject where your personal oversight and coaching are hard to replace.
  12. We are also fans of chesskid and Solitaire Chess. If you're willing to pick up some curriculum, the Championship Chess material is excellent. Based on where you are, you may be able to start in Book 2 (Chess Openings). Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  13. Based on the vision we have for our children when they are eighteen, we can do it better. 1. Pious (proper respect for God and man) 2. Wise (thorough mastery of the liberal arts) 3. Virtuous (practiced in knowing what to do)
  14. We use their Latin programs (up through First Form so far). Yes, they are dry. But, kids need to learn to learn from dry material, so it doesn't bother us.
  15. We have seven in school, so naturally have some of the same needs. We moved away from Sonlight as it became impossible to manage. We chose Tapestry of Grace based on the recommendation of a friend, not necessarily based on research vs. MFW. TOG can meet your needs to box-check, but just be warned it will take a few months to figure out the system. This is called the "Tapestry fog." The biggest part of working through the fog is realizing that you cannot do it all. You need to pick from the smorgasbord based on your family's strengths. For example, we do not do any crafts, but all of the read-alouds. We do not read any of the missionary books (TOG is heavy on this), but focus heavily on the Scripture readings in Year 1. Our favorite aspect is the great books focus in HS and the excellent discussion guides provided to facilitate this. For science we use Apologia, but to be honest this is a LOW priority for us. We do enjoy everyone on the same subject matter, just like TOG. Our actual practice looks much more like Charlotte Mason with some Apologia sprinkled in when time allows. Which isn't often. With our oldest entering 7th grade this year, he moves on to his own science set with Apologia. This will require added diligence on his part.
  16. One important point is that all rock dating begins with assumpions: 1. How much of the material was there to begin with (each dating method looks for a certain material and then makes assumptions about how much used to be there, generally based on other assumptions about the "age" of the rock around it) 2. The half life/radioactive decay rate has always been constant. There is no way to know this. These are frankly pretty big assumptions, so YE and OE both have little leg to stand on to claim truth here. Remember, we all have the same evidence...the difference comes in how the evidence is interpreted. Another important distinction is to clarify how carbon dating is used. Based on the half life of C14, it should all disappear within 10,000 years. Because of this, carbon dating only works in organic materials (trees, bones). Carbon dating is not traditionally used for dating rocks and minerals. This article is a pretty good summary of the YE view.
  17. We have been. It is excellent! I would caution that it would not be worth if you ONLY have small children. Age eight and up can really appreciate it best. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
  18. Spiderwyck (or Spyderwick?) is another good series at that level.
  19. Yes - tests are needed. Just remember they aren't a way for him to gauge his intelligence, rather for you to find gaps in proficiency. The overall grade for the course should consist of much, much more.
  20. The Jim Weiss recordings of the G.A. Henty books in this time frame are perfect. For the Temple, The Cat of Bubastes,etc.. The Roman Mysteries series by Caroline Lawrence are all on Audible. Our kids love them. http://www.romanmysteries.com/
  21. We combine everyone on the same subject matter with Apologia. We have 7 in school from K-6, so doing them separate would be...difficult. Our oldest, entering 7th, will begin his own Apologia middle school science class next year. We are relying on much of this being independent, and then rest will stay together.
  22. We researched a bit and have decided on Art of Argument with CAP.
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