Water, chocolate soymilk that was a frozen bit (so it's still cold), and a protein bar or cashews.

The question is not which night, it's which flavor:D

Isn't that great. I love that.

It can be frustrating to only do the library. But, if your flexible it's not so bad. Our funds are really tight this year. So, I'm using only what I can get online through the library. I'm not sticking to their schedule though. I just like their booklist!

I'm guessing we "know" each other;) I don't think year 2 would be too low. The book selections are so rich! We did year 1 a while back and the boys were so engaged. I was actually amazed. We just did the whole schedule straight through and it was nice. I decided to go back to it this year. I'm doing books from AO2 to go along with listening to SOTW 2 on CD. Because of my oldest special needs it's just easier to keep them together at this point.

I would continue working, hire a homeschooled person (perhaps a young woman that doesn't want to enter school/work force yet) as a mother's helper, and buy a boxed curriculum maybe even some computer curriculum if I could afford that. I did this for a couple and it was actually quite nice for them. The boys loved the break with me. She has me on a set schedule so I didn't have to actually "mother" anyone. I wasn't trying to figure out what to do all the time. The boys and I just did the next thing in the schedule.

Thanks so much. It's uber helpful:D

I live in Seattle and we had to bump the heat up again. I have no doubt it's snowing over there. Our weather is so messed up this year.

Yes, we like it so much that we thought about connecting two together and living in them. I think it would be fun to have a sleeping one and a living one. It just feels so good inside of them.

I know it's the same as the book. But, I would like to know what chapters are on each CD. I can't buy curriculum yet, but I'm trying to come up with an outline.

Isn't that list awesome!!! I do have that all printed out. I was just looking through it and thinking how she lives on through that little list. My oldest is an Aspie and still needs a lot of direction. So, it's just easier for me to have one schedule for everyone. Whenever I waver too much I loose track of him.

I think this is what we will be doing. We have done so much better listening to the SOTW CD'S. We are going to continue on with that and add some AO 2 books as well as a library book basket for each SOTW chapter. We are loving the freedom of using History Scribe pages (just started this recently).

My 11 yo Aspie does not like to write or color pictures and he reads a lot. But, he has loved the SOTW on CD. In fact, our year has been much better since we backed off the AG and me reading the book aloud. Now we listen to the CD's when we have the opportunity. That makes it so we listen to them a few times. Then we can concentrate on the areas we enjoy more. I check out books on the topics covered in one CD and provide them. He picks what he likes and we go from there.

I'd like it to work on 10.3.9:D I would like it to make a chart that shows the progress in a book or curriculum. Where all the chapters read are colored in. I would like to be able to print out a page for me that describes plans in detail and a page for each child that gives them their to-do list for the day. I'd like little boxes to check off, too.

Now that sparked it for me. I see what's wrong....or so I think. It doesn't seem like variety to any of us really. I think it's because we just get bits and pieces here and there. Here is something about this, next week there is something about that...but never enough time to pick apart and watch the progress of a culture. By the time we jump around in it and get back to it again we seem to spend too much time trying to recall and pick up where we left off. All of you definitely gave me something to chew on.

I've been lurking at your log lately. It's wonderful. Do you stick to the AO schedule or just figure out which books you want for that term?

My 11 year... Keepers for us have been Italics Handwriting, Math U See, and SOTW on CD only. He reads really well so moving really close to the library has been good;) We have started Writing Strands and that seems to be good. He likes that there is a week break between lessons.

I would make sure I lived in a great place. We have moved around a lot. I fell for the homeschoolers live in the country (no offense) hook line and sinker. So, we spent a lot of time going to visit the city to do things. Now we live here and we can walk or ride the bus to all the places we like. When we are done we just go home, not prepare for a road trip. I would put savings aside just for curriculum purchase. Let that money grow in a good account or 3 year CD. If you continue that process you will always have cash to pay for your curriculum. You will have cash when you come across a used curriculum sale.

We were actually quite bored this year. Granted we were very busy. Granted my classes were challenging (I'm a Uni. Student). Granted my children belong to a homeschool program for many classes..... But, this was our first year to study one time period and we are so done. This quarter we have stop all SOTW workbook pages. We have listened to it all on CD and used History Scribe pages for extra books we have read. The boys (and me) cannot handle a new map every week. I want one map for one time period/topic. 4 or 5 maps a year really should be adequate. I'm not sure what to do. We just don't want that intense of a study:tongue_smilie: We love to read. We need "proof" for our program. Things like reading logs, notebook pages, writing, photographs, cookies to bribe our "teacher". Any thoughts? I love Ambleside Online Choices for reading. I like taking our topic (say Ancient Greece) and going through the library catalog and ordering whatever looks good. We live on the other side of the block from the library. Library books are no problem. I have a large wagon and strong little men to carry them:D My oldest is special needs (Aspergers) and my extremely hyper youngest is just going into K. We have 4 terms a year. What about covering one time period each term/quarter? Are we just all too difficult? Should I stop drinking too much coffee:lol: It's Seattle for goodness sake. I'm pretty sure I'll be adding a Book of Centuries/Timeline into our year this next year. Just so I can really start to see where we are at.

Of course:)

Does anyone have a link to a printable Newspaper template? My son wants to make a newspaper but he was hoping for a printable template.

I'm looking for a list of your favorite Astronomy related resources!

My oldest learned a lot at the age by his own choosing. I did keep a KONOS volume around to help when we got stuck. But, I really didn't need it. I just let him follow the sparks. I would take him through the History section of the library. I would check out a variety of books on History and Science subjects. He remembers a lot from those days.

You could go to Ambleside or Go through SOTW 3/4 removing what you have already studied with American History. I think just listening to the CD's and discussing them would be a fine introduction. It is a lot to handle, but no more so than what the Native American's went through at the hands of the Europeans. Doing it through SOTW 4 might give it a more World History view. Perhaps your more burned out on doing History in general. (This is how I feel this year). If so just make this year less formal. Do a more child lead approach by allowing the children to dig in a little deeper to topics they liked in the past. You could, also, pick some topics and just order library books each month. Put them in a basket and let them follow the tangents. No formal curriculum, just really good books and perhaps a timeline to bring it all together. One month could be Jewish Studies. You could cover the war, immigration to the U.S. is fascinating and PBS did a great series on the Jewish immigrants last year. Another month could be the wars of the 19th century. Cover wars from all over the world. Use DVD's, literature, and a timeline if you don't have one already.

I have really wanted a larger family. We have three sons and they are a handful. One of my children is special needs. I'm a really good birther, so having more isn't a worry. But, I don't really feel comfortable bringing another child into our family because of income at this point. I just don't see how we could do it. I am happy with my boys and I think I'll be happy with the family I have. But, I always hoped for more and it's not out of the question. But, somehow after having 3 children 3 years apart we haven't gotten pregnant again.