Interesting comments, love to hear your opinions. We did SOTW1 in 1st grade, but then switched to TOG year 2 with SOTW as a spine in 2nd grade. The key for us was to use the questions from the TOG evaluation set to join the different books, threads, weeks, and so on together. We did not really use them as evaluations, but discussed how events, people, ideas were connected or lead from one point to another. I still love SOTW, but for example we never got out of it how Marco Polo's travels and book were a big factor in the beginning of the Renaissance in Italy. Why people suddenly opened up again, became curious. That's what TOG did for us. We not only listened to a beautiful narration of events and learned about that event, but drew connections from one to the other. In short, for us, it's just the opposite from how you feel. We consider SOTW rather disjointed, it does not show how different events influence each other. Maybe it's just us, but that is what we got from TOG, despite using LG mainly and only a bit of UG. Again, the ideas from the evaluation questions brought the whole thing together. Without them, I could easily see how you would find TOG disjointed at the grammar level.

Homeschool Buyers' Coop has several group sales for DiscEd streaming/plus/health until 7/31. How often do you use it? Is it worth the price tag? (I guess that's more or less obvious since you are looking to renew :blink:).

Has anybody used/made a lapbook for TOG that was not the Lampstand Press/Knowledge Box Central one? We did SOTW1 together with the lapbook from http://runofthemillfamily.blogspot.com/ in first grade and loved it. In 2nd grade, we switched to TOG year 2 with SOTW2+3 as spines and tried to use TOG's lapbook, but could never warm up to it. It seemed to not correspond very well with the LG readings and to be not as much fun as the first one. The run-of-the-family lapbook for SOTW2 ends with week 23, so that's no longer an option. Now for 3rd grade with TOG year 3 (and SOTW as spine), I am wondering whether there are any alternatives out there? Has anybody tried Time Travelers by Home School in the Woods - with TOG? Any other ideas or links?

We have Stiebel Eltron heaters in our second home which we use for a total of 4-5 months per year. When we built the house, we had the plumbing laid out so that we would have several smaller heaters serving different locations - smaller ones for vanities, a bigger one for bathtubs and showers. One of the heaters gave out rather quickly, but since then they have all been working perfectly. With our particular "on location" heater system, we have basically instant hot water, and that endlessly. No more "the tank is smaller than the tub" or "don't shower for too long, others need warm water,too" issues anymore. True, in case of a power outage you have no hot water, but then again, you're no longer heating and reheating and reheating water all day long just in case somebody might need a bit by chance. Water tanks are wasting a lot of energy and thus money. We love our heaters.

I do have the whole collection on my Kindle and love it. We use the readers (primary through third, I believe) for reading practice and literature. I think some of the books are suggested in SOW, but now that I will start TOG Y2, I am thrilled to see quite a few Yesterday's Classics books on their primary resource list. No more money to spend here.:001_smile: Also, Lisa from Yesterday's Classics is extremely helpful. I had asked her whether a list existed with the books ordered by suggested reading age, and she quickly generated one for me. The books go all the way up to high school level and will certainly be very much worth the investment because we will be using them until graduation. For me, it's worth the money.

Before I start - a little bio. Both my husband and I are mathematicians - Ph.D. and Master respectively, grew up in Germany and taught and tutored Math from elemantary to grad school level both in Germany and the US. We tried RS A for K for a while - until my poor son was in tears and I nearly exploded. RS has many absolutely superb elements that I still use today, many of their ideas are coming from the Montessori quarters. I love the way they drill kids to look at the numbers 6-10 as 5+..., the way they name numbers - 3 ten 5,...the hands-on approach where possible, the games. So what was wrong with it? The US uses a spiral approach to math, meaning you introduce a lot of topics a little bit and after covering those topics you start from the beginning and teach a little bit more about each topic. Standardized tests assume that your student studies this way, the mile wide/inch deep way. RS, despite getting inspirations from all the top math countries worldwide, uses this spiral approach excessively. You talk, let's say, about place value for a few lessons/days, then you might move to the geo-board for a few lessons, then off to skip-counting ... or whatever the order is. This jumping around is not level A specific, look at the table of contents for any level. They are constantly moving to a completely a new, unrelated topic. My son got extremely frustrated with this. He was just getting the concept and wanted to practice it when RS whisked him away to something else. He never got to own any one topic. This has led me to come up with a theory - we always noticed how many Americans feel extremely uncomfortable with math and claim they can't do it. I believe that is the direct result of never letting a student learn a concept until he got it, always switching to something different before he had learned to really apply it. He is constantly unsure whether he remembers the right thing, it never gets deeply engrained, and thus he feels insecure and starts to think he can't do math. We are now using SM and love it. However, we are still using ideas, abacus, and games from RS for visualization and drill. SM, like math programs from all countries I know, other than most American math programs uses a sequential or mastery approach. This means you study fewer topics per year, but in depth until you own them - you study the topics in sequence, thus the name. SM also emphasizes two crucial elements - mental math and word problems. Imho, word problems are the only reason for math. Wherever and whenever you use math, you first had a description of something you wanted an answer for, and it so happened that math was the tool to get the answer, so you had to translate your question into a formula and numbers. Unfortunately, many parents who use SM do not use the mental math and word problem parts of SM. SM is somewhat short on drills (especially if you don't use the mental math drills in the back of the teacher guide), but remember, the program comes from an Asian country where traditionally parents drill their kids after school without the need for the math curriculum to tell them to do so. SM also does not use a lot of manipulatives, but this is something you can easily add. I sold the RS curriculum, but I will not part with my RS manipulatives and games, they're awesome, and we use them all the time. In short, RS and SM are worlds apart, mainly because of the spiral versus mastery approach. SM, as any mastery program, has disadvantages if you have to or want to go with standardized testing. It takes longer to cover all topics, but what the student learns is learned in depth. My suggestion - if standardized testing is not an issue, go with SM - or any other mastery program - and supplement with RS manipulatives and games. Definitely, do all the world problems you can find.

Marcia Somerville, the author of Tapestry of Grace, owner of Lampstand Press.

Well, I wasn't. It felt that almost half of the workshops were not academics related. Worldview, political view, parenting advice, couponing advice, inspirational talks, ... The majority of the workshops related to actual teaching were vendor workshops to explain - or should I say advertise - their curriculum. Very few, vendor or non-vendor, gave teaching tips not related to their own product. The Great Homeschool Convention in Greenville, SC in March was so much better. The schedule for the NC convention this past weekend looked so much better. Just not ours. I understand the need for workshops that explain a curriculum in depth. I certainly take advantage of some of those at conventions. I also understand that some inspirational talks, thought provoking lectures about worldview, creation/evolution, etc. are part of thinking through how and what we want to teach to our children. However, the main focus should be on homeschooling at a so called homeschool convention. I also did not like that there were so few time slots for workshops, but so many workshops all at the same time. And the vendor hall - is it me or is it slowly being taken over by local fun parks? FPEA is not just an organization organizing homeschool conventions. FPEA is us, the members. Thus my thinking is that the ones planning the conventions should know that there is at least one member (actually I talked to others who shared my opinion) who is absolutely not happy with the direction FPEA conventions are going. I don't want to remain silent any longer. This is our convention. So I send them an email stating my points in a friendly way, but I'm thinking it would help if others who are dissatisfied do the same. My suggestion - if you were unhappy, let them know - in a friendly way of course, but let them know. Maybe we can change a thing or two.

Some suggestions: Word Problems - to me (I'm a mathematician) they are the only way we use math, everything comes in a worded way first: "If I have $19 and a shirt costs $5, how many shirts can I buy" to formulating a plan to fly to Mars and calculating what the rocket should look like, which path to go, how much fuel to use and when... everything comes to us in words first, then we transform it into a math problem. So start her immediately on this. Singapore Math has entire books dedicated to word problems only. I would start with these in addition to whatever other curriculum you might choose. There are no or hardly any pictures in there, so "babyish" should not be an issue. I would even start her on 1A to learn the process of extracting the important information/question out of the bulk of words and to boost her confidence, especially if she can do the arithmetic behind it without problems. Here are some visual tricks to guide her through a word problem and to prepare her for Algebra at the same time: Copy the problem - either on paper or on a white board. Black out or wipe out all words that are just wordy fillers, so that eventually you have only phrases like "Mike has 10 stamps" - "gives away 4 stamps" -"how many left" or "plane A flies at 300mph from X to Y" - "plane B flies at 350mph from Y to X" - "where do they meet". Then discuss whether she sees any unnecessary information - "there are 5 children, 2 boys and 3 girls, and they are to split 15 marbles equally between each other, how many marbles does each child get?" -it's not important how many of these kids are boys and how many are girls, just the total number of kids is important. Talk about what I call buzz words or phrases that lead her to find the correct operation needed, words like "altogether" = addition, "how many left" = subtraction, "split" = division, and so on. Replace the word by the symbol for the operation. In the next step you might want to black out or erase parts of the main words or use a symbol instead, meaning reduce "Mike" to M or "stamps" to s, either one "=10", "plane A" to A, "plane B" to B, and so on. This leads them to realize that we use symbols in math to represent numbers (big step toward Algebra). Then help her write down the equation she needs to solve, and finally have her solve it. In each unit, I would first see how much she can do on her own, then guide her if necessary, but let her do more and more on her own. I suggest that in the beginning (or for however long it takes) you sit with her during her entire time with math. Do not require her to work independently at this point, she has not learned how to solve the problems independently yet, so why would she suddenly learn it now without good help and guidance. The second most important issue is that she must have her math facts memorized, that she can do mental math at least to some degree, and has a firm grip on how to do more complicated operations (long division, working with fractions, %). Singapore Math and Mammoth Math have been recommended, I would second this. Both are mastery programs. It is essential that your daughter truly masters a concept and knows how to apply it before moving on to something new. Key to.... is a wonderful program easing kids into a certain concept. I believe they start with fractions, percentages,... I have used these booklets numerous times with students I tutored, and it helped each and every one truly master a concept. The booklets are called Key to Fractions, Key to Measurements, Key to Geometry,... Look for keypress.com. If you own an ipad or ipod touch, there are inexpensive drill apps out there. Right now my son loves Rocket Math, but I know there is one app for the ipad that generates wonderful word problems. I haven't used that one yet, so I don't know how/whether you can choose which concepts/levels should or should not be covered.

I can only second this. Miele's are THE best when it comes to washing. I know you're thinking about a top loader, but the issue with your Kenmore might have been residual moisture in the machine, it's not an issue typical for all front loaders. Miele washers will save you a lot on money on bleach and other stain removers and additives. My machine gets even the worst red clay stains out just with regular Tide. And whites stay white without bleach. I haven't come across a top loader that can do this. Stainless steel drums are standard. Just be aware that wash times are longer than in American machines - one of the reasons Miele does a better job cleaning the laundry. As for dryers, I don't care the least bit for Miele. The only Miele dryer I know gets terrible creases into jeans. Hate it. I always go with the super-sized dryer from Costco, somewhere below $500 I believe.

I love Carol Barnier's attitude - if the child is not learning, the parent needs to find the right key to unlock whatever the child needs to learn. I think she is right, we have to search high and low to find the way to help them learn. And you are doing just that, way to go. :001_smile: IMHO, if you have not gotten your son to read fluently, as in blending sounds, it's time to ditch ETC and try something else. It might be that at some point you can go back to it if you like it, but to get over this wall, try a new "key". SWR suggests some exercises to get them ready to read. I found SWR rather teacher intensive, lots of preparation needed to stay ahead of the game, and it does not use mastery approach, but spiral. If you're interested, I have my set (complete except for the rule cards) in the box for our local curriculum sale on Tuesday. If you want it, it's yours for $30 + s&h. But don't feel pressured. I am selling it because I did not like it, mainly for the above reasons. There is a game set that goes with SWR, but it mainly teaches the phonograms, not how to blend all of the phonograms together. (I'm also selling that one) We separated phonics/learning to read from spelling. My son learned to read in PreK/K grade level, mainly with OPGTR. However, sometimes we would reach a roadblock. Then we used whatever came our way, HOP, McGuffey, some phonic programs I got through Freebie of the Day, just reading Bob books,... Each program uses an at least slightly different approach, and eventually one of these methods turned out to be the "key" to unlock the current block. Once he got there, we switched back to OPGTR. Only now in 1st grade did we start with spelling. He is a natural speller, it was mainly to find a curriculum that met our tastes, not so much a search for the "key". We love AAS, it's tactile, not just writing. Since you already own AAS, why not download the sample for the new AAR, and try those two for a little while? Just some food for thought - could perhaps a sequential spelling program help him get over this blending hurdle? Does analyzing a word like in SWR and I think in Phonics Road to Reading perhaps confuse your son at this point and overwhelm him even more? Of course, it could also be exactly what he needs. Search perhaps for ideas from Carol Barnier or Dianne Craft, they have some ideas how to teach a struggling reader.

Awesome. Thank you so much. We'll use the current list for review and fun over the summer and can't wait for the next list in fall when we'll be in SOTW2. You're saving me a lot of time searching for such movies.:)

We are just wrapping up 1B, and have used everything except the EP books of the US edition. Since I have a master degree in math and tutored math since I was 12, the HIG was of little use for me, the only part we use on a regular basis are the mental math worksheets in the back, and yes, they actually do start in 1A of the US edition. Some comments speak of the test book - this is only available for the Standard edition. The US edition is the original Singapore edition adjusted to customary measurements and American money. The Standard Edition is adjusted to California Standards. The two versions are NOT interchangeable, so you need to decide in advance, among other things, whether you do or do not want to test. TB and WB can be done in 20 minutes or so (I know a friend has the same experience with level 3). They absolutely do not offer enough practice and drill. Our routine therefore is to start with TB and WB until we've finished one unit. Then we tackle the same unit in IP, followed by the old (2006) edition of CWP, and finally the 2010 CWP edition. If I see that my son need more practice or drill, we use different resources like the Rainbow Math CDRom (does not work with Windows 7!), Math-U-See drills, Rocket Math on my ipod touch, the mental math sheets, Muggins Math games,... Be aware that the mental math work sheets are in the back of the HIG, so don't just throw out this book! Obviously I use the TB to teach a concept, then assist my son with the problems in WB (if he needs assistance), then require him to work out the problems more and more independently until the word problems serve as kind of a test. Also, every now and then there is a review in the each book. They are great as mid-term tests (or simply reviews, whichever way you want to call it). By the way, the solutions are usually in the same book as the problem with the only exception of WB problems, those solutions are in the HIG. Make sure your student doesn't cheat by looking up the solution in an unsupervised moment. I feel very blessed that Rainbow Resource Center had warned customers in advance that the 2006 edition of CWP was about to be taken off the market, I managed to get all books for levels 1-6 and like them more than the new edition. For example, the new edition might suddenly have word problems with "unnecessary information", without prior warning or teaching. This can easily confuse a 1st grader who believes every word must be of utter importance. I also feel that occasionally the new books require a level of logical reasoning that is beyond the level of my 1st grader, even though he has a rather mathematical/logical mind. That said, I believe the word problems are absolutely necessary, and I love that Singapore Math starts right away. Just think about it, when was the last time you encountered a real life problem of simply solving an equation? Each and every math problem in real life starts with a problem described with words which then have to be translated into an equation (or inequation, system or the like) that has to be solved. This can be as simple as "donuts are $2.99, coffee is $1.09, do I have enough money on me " to "how much fuel do we need to send rocket A into space so that it will eventually release a probe that will land smoothly at spot B on Mars". Therefore starting the students on word problems right away is one of the best things you can do. I would never skip any word problems that comes my way and would throw out any curriculum that does not offer word problems from day 1 on. The one thing we have not used too much during the course of the year is the ME (Math Express) that teaches "speed" math techniques. We will spend maybe a week or two on this after finishing the other books in the 1B series. Together with the emphasis on mental math, this another one of the assets of Singapore Math. Perhaps the only books that you might not need are the HIG (but remember the mental math sheets are in the back) and the EP if your child grabs a concept quickly. Despite using all books and doing math not on absolutely each and every day, we are finishing level 1 in way under a year. We don't find the curriculum stressful at all. Hope this helps. :)

We left a turtle simply where we found it. After a while, we were left with the shell and skeleton, though the shell broke apart upon touch. Nature will take care of all non-skeleton parts.

We belong to one huge support group - about 500 families. They offer one parent night per month, a back-to-school day in August, and a program with all kinds of academic and a few non-academic classes. Because of the size of the overall group, there are local sub-groups. They offer a monthly park day and organize field trips. We love both the local and county-wide groups. We also have a very active forum online. Right now, we're not in a co-op. We had a mini one for RS4K Prel-Level 1 until a couple of months ago, but that fell apart.

I guess FPEA felt the heat - the workshop schedule was off-line for more than a week, and now that it's back the Muslim Brotherhood workshop is gone. Instead it says "Title to Be Determined", same speaker, Boykin. At least one step forward (at least there's hope for that, who knows what workshop will be scheduled instead).

Singapore Math 2A (if not finished by beginning of 2nd grade, 2B and problably 3A/B, supplemented with drills Rocket Math (on ipod touch), Math-U-See online drills and other drills FLL2, WwE3,WW2, AAS 2 through ??? (who knows how far we'll get), 2nd and 3rd Readers from Yesterday's Classics, plenty of books across the curriculum, biographies like Who in the World is..., Magic School Bus chapter books, Magic Tree House books,... SOTW2 Not quite decided which one first - Galloping the Globe or Cantering the Country, Evan More Geography Centers Meet the Masters, Artistic Pursuits K-3, mixing all three books, Mark Kistler, German: Löwenzahn und Pusteblume Science: perhaps RS4K PreL Physics, more likely Apologia Zoology books Telling God's Story (yep!) 1 and probably 2 when it comes out early next year, reading Acts through Revelation Piano, Classical Music for Kids

Spelling Workout - way too easy and boring for a natural speller Spell to Write and Read - IMHO there is something wrong with a program that requires so much preparation, training workshops, ... I also didn't like the spiral approach (I'm a firm believer in mastery approach), pronunciation, pronunciation symbols don't match those in dictionaries, separating syllables (this is a good exercise for a time, but I am more concerned about the child seeing the whole word. We use a red vertical line to separate syllables),... We are now using All About Spelling and love it. RS4K Pre-Level - I liked Chemistry which is rarely ever taught at early elementary level, though it was only a small introduction to atoms and molecules.We're now in Biology, and I have to agree with another blogger - it's very basic, disconnected. Makes me want to not only start Apologia, but really make this our main science curriculum. We had started Apologia twice, unfortunately it is more work than we could handle at the time, but I found it excellent. Sad that so many people shy away from it for religious believes, the academic part is sooo good. On the positive side, what I/my son like: FLL, WwE, OPGTR (they have to read, no way to deduct from a picture what the words might say), SOW (love, love, love it), All About Spelling, Singapore Math with all the bells and whistles (though the new version of Challenging Word Problems is sometimes way over my son's head, and he's a pretty smart cookie), Wordly Wise K,1 (we're using it without the teacher's guide, making up our own hilarious stories), Meet the Masters, Artistic Pursuits, Mark Kistler,...

In Germany , we start 1st grade with manuscript, but by Christmas the children have learned cursive and from then on are required to write in cursive. And they can do it. Does the cursive look picture perfect? Of course not. But the argument is that the continuous flow of cursive is easier on those little hands than the constant lifting and placing balls and sticks in a straight way. So here is what I've been doing: We started with HWT in PreK/K, then in 1st grade we started using Cursive First, the cursive program that goes with Spell to Write and Read. We've stuck to cursive exclusively until a few weeks ago, then added DRN. My son's cursive is acceptable, depending on the day it might be anywhere from almost perfect to "is there any reason to limit me to main floor/attic/basement for my letters?". But so is his manuscript. I would let your son start cursive, just don't expect perfection. Letter size still varies greatly at this age. That's why German notebooks start with big lines (four lines to make three spaces, just like beginner's lined paper here), getting smaller and smaller, and then for 2nd or even third grade providing only two lines marking only the "main floor" space. It does take a couple of years to teach them correct sizing of letters. Don't worry if your son isn't there yet. He might actually be doing better with cursive in that area. Don't let him write without guiding lines too early though. Birgit

My house isn't big enough either, but I would like to come to such a workshop. Brainstorming with friends about some possibilities. WPB, FLL, Miami - everything would work for me.

CC IS expensive. The book "Foundations" will last throughout your time in foundations, so do the timeline cards, but since CC is on a 3-year cycle, you will need three different sets of memory cards/audio/memory resource CD - if you choose to buy them. I agree CCC (=CC connect online, I think $70 per year for CC members) is a wonderful way to go. If I'm not mistaken they have the songs and chants in a way that you could burn your own CD. Big advantage of CCC: Many people, especially tutors post tons and tons of additional material. I personally would buy the audio, at times it's the only thing we listen to in the car, and CCC. The timeline cards are also expensive. You would only need them for a visual learner or if you want to use Veritas Press' information on the back of the cards. A family in FL has produced a great CD with all timeline card songs in the CC order (it's not the Veritas Press order, so don't buy their CDs). That CD was all we ever used for the timeline cards. Keep in mind that the program itself also costs some money. In our case over $300 for the program, $50 for registration, $50 for material, 1-3 love offerings for the church where we're meeting, and now also an insurance fee. This does not include Essentials, the afternoon program with IEW, grammar, and some math.

Yesterday the links to workshop schedule and lecture/workshops descriptions were live, today they're not, but I had printed out everything last night. Here is the info: Speaker: Lt. Gen. William G. "Jerry" Boynkin (one of the two keynote speakers) Description: "Learn about the history of the Muslim Brotherhood, its objectives, how it is attempting to accomplish those objectives, and how America is responding." FPEA's convention gets me more and more annoyed every year. at a first glance (I really haven't looked at all the workshops yet) there seem to be two or if you will three categories: Vendors presenting their products How to lead your life as a Christian, and (or if you will as a third category) workshops intended to streamline you politically to a certain view Only highlight that I have found so far is a workshop by Rainbow Resource Center "Level-Headed Language Arts". Their workshops give an overview over all kinds of curricula and methods, discussing the philosophy behind each one. They're not out to sell A specific curriculum and thus relatively unbiased. I love their workshops. But as I said, it's the only good one I found so far. Didn't SWB say last year or so it is time for HS conventions that really teach us how to teach? I totally agree. FPEA is certainly not going in this direction.

If I understand you correctly, you and your DH are native Arabic speakers, and your children are not school aged yet. My family is 100% German, but we've been living in the US for a long time. When I was at your point, I thought I would teach one day in English, another day in German. I quickly realized that it's much easier to simply switch from one language to the other during each lesson every day. My son doesn't even realize it. I might have him explain his way through a math problem in English one minute, then I switch to German, and he automatically answers back in German. Same with other subjects. This way he learns the vocabulary and how to express himself in both languages in all subjects. I do the switching on purpose, not just by accident. Elementary grammar is also easy. Nouns are nouns and verbs are verbs, no matter which language. Most topics touched in early years are not language specific. The main goal at the beginning is to learn the parts of speech. That can be done in both languages more or less simultaneously. Science - if you know the vocabulary in both languages, do the same thing. Use a text that you find better suited, but discuss it in both languages. No need for teaching the same thing twice. I am gradually adding formal German lessons to work on my son's reading and writing skills in German. Fortunately, German uses the same letter symbols. You have to teach penmanship in both languages separately, but that should be about it. After grades K and 1 (almost finished), I can say I thought it would be much harder and made a big deal about it, but it's actually quite easy. All that you have to do is teach your children to read and write in both languages, the vocabulary and fluency will already be in place.

I've been lurking around for a few years now, but never posted. Back then I found this place while researching TWTM and SWB. DH and I grew up in Germany and enjoyed a mostly classical education over there. We're both mathematicians, PhD and Master degree respectively. We now live in FL and part-time in NC. We have four sons, two in heaven and two on earth. Our two oldest sons went to public school in the US- gifted program and IB. I was shocked to see how much the program(s) declined in the two years between the two of them. I also hated the spiral approach used in most subjects. Germany uses a mastery approach. I also ran out of reasons why I was tutoring/teaching other people's kids, but not my own, so here I am homeschooling and loving it. My youngest, almost 7, is 1st grade. We used and finished OPGTR. Now we're using: Singapore Math (just wrapping up 1B) FLL WwE WW1 without the teacher guide, just for the fun of it, and boy, do we have fun inventing silly stories, All About Spelling, after throwing out Spelling Workout and Spell to Write and Read Classically Cursive and Draw Right Now SOW RS4K Pre-Level, we finished Chemistry and are now in Biology, but I might go back to Apologia after that or in between a little bit of German, Geography, music appr. piano Telling God's Story 1/ simply reading through the Gospels this year Artistic Pursuits, Meet the Masters, Mark Kistler IF we find time for that, which is about once a month Swimming, soccer, basketball We did Classical Conversations for 2 years, but just dropped that. We love to read (I managed to turn all my sons into book addicts like their mom), travel, enjoy nature, watch a good movie.

I am so sorry for you and disgusted by what is going on. I hope this goes away soon, for your sake and for the sake of the Christianity and the homeschooling community. This does not show a pretty picture of the latter two. The bright side: This whole debate is revealing so much about the people involved. I personally never learned that much that fast about anybody. Good education in decency, grace, manipulation of facts to suit one's own purposes, and the benefits of a classically and logically trained, Christ-centered mind. As for me and my household, Susan, your posts confirm that we are following the right role model for a well-educated mind. I hope lots of other people come to understand this as well. Keep your curricula coming -we're using ALL of them, yes, Peter Enns' as well. :) Blessings (and I mean this!), Birgit