If you're still looking for things, I have some stuff I'd sell cheap. I also have some FFS stuff but it all needs elastic replaced and I'm not that talented of a seamstress. LOL Just PM me if interested. :)

Been married 16 years. I honestly can't imagine being happier with my marriage. My husband is my best friend, my travel companion, my co-parent, my lover, my helper, my stand-up comic. He just gets me and loves me and accepts me, thorns and all. I feel the same way about him. I truly look forward to spending time with him. He brings out the good parts in me because he supports me and trusts me. It makes me feel that I have the freedom to just be me. One big positive in our marriage is that we have a lot of similar interests, the same religious beliefs and similar political leanings. Our core beliefs about life are just so similar. In general, I think a good marriage is one with two people committed to loving and helping each other through all of the ups and downs of life. Good communication skills (and the continued effort needed to work on those skills) is really important too. We've definitely had a lot of big bumps in our journey but we are happy and committed.

I voted history but should have voted other (meaning reading). Reading is really the core of our home and school.

:lurk5:

Ohhhhhh, sign me up. Sounds like a fun playdate! :D

I stumbled upon AO late in the game, so to speak. I've been agonizing over where to place my daughter, too (she'll be 9 in late September and is entering 3rd grade but is an average to below average reader). We're also doing SOTW and are super excited to study the middle ages. I really want to move into SOTW 2 during 3rd grade (we haven't finished SOTW 1 since we began that in January). I finally decided to combine AO 1 and 2 into one year. Yes, I'll be cutting out quite a bit but I think it's going to work. With all of the prep I'm doing, I think it should turn out well once we get started. I love that AO is so flexible and can be adapted to each particular child. If you did literature from year 1 but history from year 2 (along with SOTW 2), would that work for all of your children? Your composer, artist, hymn and folk song (along with other aspects of a CM curriculum) can all be the same for all of your children, too. IF AO worked well for you, you could continue mixing and matching what you need each year (or not) depending on how the children progress. I really love all of the rich and beautiful options in AO and hate to have DD miss anything. It's a good problem to have, though! Good luck figuring it out!

I just have an icky feeling when I study the TJEd philosophy. Not sure why. I'm curious how people really implement it but not curious enough to stick around and ask questions. I'm just a rebel at heart. I don't want to follow the masses which is why homeschooling really works well for me. I want to do things because they feel right to me, not because of pressure from other people. I can't imagine finding a co-op or group that would fit me well.

I just have no interest in joining a group. There aren't any LDS groups in the area (that's what I'd want for my DD) and I'm just too busy to want to join one anyway. Plus my DD has some special needs (medical, educational and emotional) and that's pretty overwhelming. I'm currently RS pres and my DH is the 1st counselor in the bishopric. DH commutes an hour each way for work AND works as an adjunct professor on the side--what little extra time we have is spent with family. I don't need anything else. If anything, I wish we had less going on in our lives. LOL In addition to those reasons, I find that my educational philosophies are quite different than other hsers I know. I just want to do my own thing, happily, in a bubble. :D

Thank you!

:iagree:Well, except for the being Catholic part. I'm LDS and have no idea what "reformed" or "not reformed" means. Can someone explain, somewhat briefly?

CLE is our favorite math curriculum so far.

Treating these issues is so tricky. I feel your pain. My daughter (8) has ADHD and anxiety and major sensory processing problems (along with organic brain issues). No AS diagnosis but very AS seeming. :001_huh: We finally hit our limit in January. Up until then I wouldn't consider meds but at that point things were so hard, we didn't see any other options. Have tried Concerta, Adderall (huge disaster), Ritalin and now Metadate CD. The Metadate CD is helping. Actually, the Concerta was great but the side effects were too severe. I'm seeing some of the same issues with the Metadate. Not sure where this road is taking us but she does have a psychiatrist now so I feel a bit better. We added risperdal this past week and I'm seeing big improvements with that. She's only on half of the dose so far and I'm not sure if I'm going to bump it all the way up. We haven't had a single tantrum or explosion in 4 days which is nothing short of a miracle. I think the anxiety is the worst part for us because everything in life is impacted by her anxiety. These two drugs are helping her, and maybe indirectly being more in control will help her not feel so anxious. I guess time will tell. I'm watching the anxiety levels really carefully. I wish I had advice for you. I can commiserate though.

Ah yes. Sunfire!! :001_smile: Thank you! They were weak but I loved history so much and would read practically anything that was historical. They were some of my favorite books in 6th and 7th grade. It didn't help that I was completely boy crazy. :D I bought a bunch a few years ago and reread them and then promptly resold most of them. LOL

Such a fun thread! I loved to read (still do). :D Books that have stuck with me: Little House on the Prairie series Crime and Punishment any Janette Oke book We Were Tired of Living in a House Heidi Anne of Green Gables Bridge to Terabithia Five Little Peppers and How They Grew The Little Princess The Boxcar Children Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret. Little Women Do any of you remember a series of teenage historical romantic fiction where each title was a girl's name? I still have a few of those books. I LOVED them. :lol: Just can't think what the series is called.

This was my thought as well.

I have one child headed into third grade next year. She'll be studying language arts (grammar, phonics, spelling, reading, creative writing, literature), handwriting, geography, music, art, health, chemistry, history, scripture and typing.

I did and it was definitely worth it. They have great resale value. Very big fan of cloth diapering!

We have a family room/school room in our basement (desk, toys, games, TV, couch, indoor swing, books, art supplies, computer all in one handy spot). It's nice to have a space dedicated to school. Plus, since I'm a control freak, the main level of my house can always be super clean and uncluttered and "grownup" while the family room is all fun, bright colors, indoor swings, solar system models, and my DD's artwork everywhere. Keeps me from feeling stressed. Plus, my basement is huge and gives me TONS of storage space nearby for everything we need. Works perfectly for us.

Anxiety. My daughter was having a terrible time with public school. In desperation, I decided to try homeschooling. So glad we did. It has blessed us in so many ways.

3 to 4, usually. But my daughter has some significant struggles and ADHD so just staying on task is pretty challenging. I'd bet a fourth of that time is spent dealing with melt-downs, listening to her rant and rave, etc. LOL So probably 3 hours of actual schoolwork. We're doing 2nd grade.

I didn't use the TM. Never missed it.

Taking my daughter to a psychiatrist? LOL Seriously, though, dealing better with medical and behavioral issues will help a lot. This will be our second year and I'm much more settled in and know better what works for us. That alone will make things simpler. I'm streamlining more. Focusing on what's important to us--not what the public school kids are doing. It took me a while to deschool myself. :lol:

Thank you so much!

I voted "other" with CLE in mind.

Typing: BBC online program Math: CLE Math 300 series Handwriting: Copywork/dictation (manuscript), HWOT cursive Language arts: With Pencil and Pen, Sheldon's Primary Language Lessons, journaling and a bunch of random stuff for grammar and creative writing. Spelling: undecided Geography: Country study. Scripture: Old Testament scripture study. Music: Singing. Composer study. Music appreciation. (Beethoven's Wig, Kids Classical Hour, etc). Art: Discovering Great Artists. Art camp. Lots of museums and picture studies. Drama: Summer Broadway Bound camp. Science: Elemental Science: Chemistry. Living books. Reading/Phonics: MCP level C, Elson readers, Classics for Young Readers, More Classic Stories. History: SOTW 2, TruthQuest Middle Ages and Renaissance and TONS of living books Literature: Huge list of read alouds by mom. French: BBC, if we get to it. Health: Human body