Hello from a former DFWer. Could you send me some Tex-Mex, please? :D

We've used Usborne's I Can Draw Animals, I Can Draw People, and What Shall I Draw. They're great for a 5yo.

One of the benefits of starting SOTW in 2nd grade for us was that all along the writing level was just right for my ds, meaning he's a bit behind. While many 4th graders I heard struggled with outlining in SOTW 4, it was not a big deal for my ds. Likewise, people talk about the amount of writing that HO 2 requires, but it has not been overwhelming for my ds. I attribute that to starting a year "late".

We started SOTW in 2nd grade. I wondered before we started SOTW 4 if I should skip it and start the 2nd rotation. I'm so glad we didn't. We have used History Odyssey this year to start our 2nd rotation. I haven't liked it nearly as much as SOTW. However, we will probably stick with it for logic stage. That will leave us 10th-12th grade for the 3rd rotation. Assuming that we continue to homeschool and want to do a 3rd rotation of world history, I plan to use History at our House, which does world history in 3 years. My high school transcript shows one year of American History, one semester of Law Am Soc (American government, I assume), and one semester of Pol Behav. :confused: Since I am unsure of college requirements for history and unsure of the necessity of a 3rd rotation of world history on top of college requirements, I reserve the right to change my mind. ;)

His congregation has about 75 people on a Sunday. May I rant? :rant: The older our son gets, the more complaints we get. I work part-time (from home) because my husband makes piddly-squat with no benefits. This year, in order to continue to receive health benefits, I had to increase my hours from 20 to 30hrs/wk. Since we want to have health benefits and we want to continue hs'ing, we determined that the best solution was for me to work more nights and weekends (in other words, I wouldn't be making it to church every Sunday). One couple told me that I should put ds in school so I could come to church on Sunday. I wanted to reply that the church ought to pay my husband a decent salary and give us benefits so that I don't have to underwrite his career. :cursing: When I told one lady that he would probably be taking cc classes at 15, she said that that would be good for his "social skills". Does she think I keep him in a closet now? We do co-op, PE, beach/pool parties, multiple sports. :confused: One dad says that our son lacks social skills (ds is friendly, energetic, & outgoing) due to being hs'ed because he doesn't always pay attention when told to stop some behavior. The problem is true (ds is not perfect in this regard), but neither is he a bully. When I talked to some other hs moms about this, they laughed and laughed, and told me about the social skills their children had witnessed when they were in school. Nowhere near what my son does. The same dad says that our son lacks respect for authority because he's homeschooled. This is probably true because his parents also have a lack of respect for authority. We are led by inner guidance, not outside authorities. Neither one of us thinks this is a bad thing. So, probably not due to homeschooling, but parental influence. Dh and I discussed the last remarks at length. This family is influential in the church. We agreed that perhaps ds is a bit unsavvy, but we also believe that he would be exposed to and pick up more negative social skills in school. Thus, influential dad doesn't get to dictate our lives. My son is in a Latin class with another boy who is his exact opposite (shy vs. outgoing, polite & quiet vs. loud & obnoxious, calm vs. energetic). Since my son has a lack of respect for authority, and her son is the polar opposite, I asked her what this dad would say if he met her son and knew he was hs'ed. She laughed and said that this dad would say her son is too shy and too quiet and it's because he's homeschooled. Since I'm ranting about these folks, let me tell you about the flip side. Our soloist is a 2nd grade teacher. She tells me all the time that I'm doing the right thing. :D There was a Times magazine article last year about pastor's wives. It said 80% of pastor's wives wish their husbands would choose another career. Okay. Time for me to get back to the curriculum board now...:auto: But, thanks for listening. I don't get to vent too often.

I don't have any experience with Extra Practice, but we've supplemented with Singapore's CWP for several years now. In fact, I just got help with the last problem in the last book - CWP 6. :D The Singapore Math forums come in handy every once in a while. I have found it to be a wonderful supplement to MUS. One great example is when MUS teaches area and perimeter. They have the kids do a number of area problems, then a number of perimeter problems. CWP would give them word problems with part of the information needed to find the area, then ask them to find something to do with the perimeter or vice versa. It really challenged my son to know the difference between the two, not just repeat similar calculations. It takes multiple steps to complete the CWP. My son calls them evil. :eek:

Hi Ginger, I have only completed Season 1 of AG. I fully intend to continue with it in 7th and 8th grade. Before I purchased it, I emailed a lady that I found through TWTM boards who said she had used it. We had an interesting email conversation in which she told me about how she used it with two different children. If you email me, I will forward you our conversation. She ended this way: It's a robust comprehensive program. I thought it was worth the money. My DD scored 99%ile on her SAT Written portion - I truly attribute that to AG. I don't know if you have posted this question on the high school boards. You may get a few more responses there. HTHs!

Each lesson in the newer books (Alpha, Beta, Gamma, Delta series) has 3 lesson pages and 3 systematic review pages. My ds does 1 lesson page and 1 review page a day.

I asked the same question after we finished the first 10 weeks. All the answers I received said 'no'. We did them, but we will not continue them. We're adding literature and typing this year, so the more we can streamline, the better.

Right! We are just finishing up our review after season 1. We have about 4 review sheets we will never do. :001_smile: Yes, they just gave a few extra. I'd rather have a few extra than have to make up a few of my own if my child needed extra practice. I love AG. I hope you enjoy it, too.

We do MUS 3x per week. Ds does one lesson page and one review page usually. On the 3rd day, we skip the last review and do the test instead. He also does 3 of Singapore's Challenging Word Problems 3x a week (same day as MUS). He doesn't have to do MUS and Singapore back-to-back, however, though sometimes he chooses to. No, we've done 2 pages per day for years. Yes. I even skip concepts on the review. Like having to write out a large number using exponential notation. At one point, I told ds he didn't have to do that again. Or doing the various checks. Or writing out his 2,5,10 skip counts. As long as he has demonstrated solid understanding and retention, I don't require the busy work.

Thanks, Regena. I've requested these from the library to check them out.

I have an only child and he's great at distracting himself :D Actually, I have to admit that he's been 100% better this year - 6th grade.

We just finished HO Ancients 2 yesterday. You can see my review in this thread: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29243&highlight=history+odyssey I loved using SOTW for grammar stage. It spoiled me.

:iagree: As much as I dislike KHE, I do not have the time/energy/interest to pull history together myself. I'll probably wind up using it again (actually ds doesn't complain about HO, only the History Pockets). At least now I have a few other things to check out. I appreciate all the suggestions.

Thanks. I'm requesting them through ILL to check them out.

Unfortunately, part of what I disliked was the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. I'm not much of a magazine reader because the short articles are soon forgotten. Maybe it's the way my brain is wired. I feel the same way about KHE. Retention is a problem.

You can see my review here: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29243&highlight=history+odyssey

We just finished History Odyssey Ancients 2 yesterday. I don't know that I want to use HO again next year. But, as far as I know, the only secular alternative to HO for logic stage is History At Our House. This isn't going to work for us because they are starting Ancients at the junior high level next year, and I don't want to repeat Ancients. Not to mention that I'm not really ready for the expense or for outsourcing. Are there any other alternatives?

We just completed HO Ancients 2 yesterday. Here's my review: I chose HO because it's the only secular history program I know of for logic age. We completed HO Ancients 2 for 6th grade. I have mixed feelings about the curriculum. Pros: • History is all planned out • A large amount of history is presented • Outlining is learned and practiced • Map work and timeline work is helpful • Can be done independently • HO is secular Cons: • KHE is DULL (reading snippets of information and picture captions) • No review/discussion questions to assess comprehension and/or retention • Little supplemental reading • Required literature is rarely discussed, only read • History Pockets involve too much time for knowledge gained • Expensive if you buy package • Too much freedom for an unmotivated student to do a mediocre job • This is picky, but the study guide in the 3 ring binder format is completely falling apart because of all the flipping back and forth that has to be done. We have to keep those little, sticky o-reinforcements right in the binder because the pages are constantly being ripped out. 20/20 Hindsight: • Buy only the study guide (maps included) and timeline • Do not buy the supplemental books – get them from the library, substitute from the library, or buy used • Do not buy the History Pockets unless the child likes cut & paste & color • Add Life in the Ancient World by Bart Winer To be completely honest, I am not sure if part of my disappointment has to do with the fact that we used SOTW for 4 years and loved it. It's a hard act to follow, imo. I have not yet decided if we will continue with HO next year. The only alternative I have found is History at our House, an online program.

I considered it briefly, but having to watch the DVDs turned me off. I rarely sit and watch any TV, video, DVD. I was afraid that I would be left with great theory, but no practical instructions. If I wanted to review something I heard in the DVD, would I be able to find it in the 10? After several false starts with other writing curriculi, we have now settled into Write Shop with good success. It is extremely detailed, which is what I need. FWIW, we tend to be more math-oriented here.

:iagree: I lurked there for a while because we're starting Algebra next year, and I had to figure out what to use. Once I figured it out, though, I realized that I needed to stay away because my head was spinning with information overload. 3 of the homeschoolers we know are older than my ds. 4 are the same age as my ds. The vast majority are younger. I AM glad it's there because I'm gonna need it someday, just not yet :auto:

I lurk over there once in a while. It's scary!

Math-U-See SOTW + AG Analytical Grammar

Here are some posts from the old board: http://www.wtmboards.com/K8currJan292007/messages/2714.html http://www.wtmboards.com/K8currJan20/messages/569.html