My daughter will be taking geometry next year and I am choosing between Abeka's Plane Geometry or Bob Jones's Geometry. I was wondering if there are any opinions regarding either of these to help me decide. Thank you!

I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with Living Language Spanish? Thanks!

Does anyone have any suggestions for a United States geography curriculum for junior high/high school grade levels? Thanks!

Thanks everyone for the input!!

My daughter has a choice between reading King Lear, Don Quixote or the Odyssey. Does anyone have a recommendation? Thank you!

What is the best typing/keyboarding CD Rom on the market for grades 8, 6, & 4?

My daughter is taking Saxon Algebra 1/2 this coming year and the book highly recommends her creating a loose-leaf algebra notebook to record notes, definitions, formulas, etc. I was wondering if anyone else has made one before and how you organized it? Thanks!

Bowel blockage?????

I have three kiddos going into 7th, 5th and 3rd grades. Typically I will give my 7th and 5th graders work that they can do on their own such as spelling and math, and sometimes Bible, grammar and reading. While they are working on their work, I begin with my 3rd grader (he still needs to be watched closely to make sure he is staying on task. :)) When he cooperates, we can be done with his schoolwork before lunch (we start @ 8:00) and then I can focus on each of the other two for science, history and anything else they made need assistance with. Plus I grade and we go over what they did on their own. We are usually done by 3:00 or 3:30. It's a long day but each child gets individual attention at some point in the day.

I agree. When we decided to homeschool our children, I knew that it would be my full-time "job". It has to be priority. I love (not!) when people call and want me to do something and when I tell them no because of school, I get "well you homeschool, you can fluff off if you want". There are definitely days when I would love just to not get schoolwork done, but if I have that attitude, my children pick up on that and then I have a whole other problem! Even on those hard days, I remind myself that I am training my children (not just regarding school) for their future. When they have jobs or committments when they are adults, they won't be able to just say "I don't feel like working today" or "I'll try again tomorrow".

My oldest has done BJU English since 2nd grade. She is now going into 7th and scores very high in the language portions of the CAT test. I think BJU is one of the best grammar/writing curriculums. I think it was about 5th grade when she actually started to like the writing chapters. It is a lot of hard work, but you will definitely reap the rewards....I know my daughter is. Now I just have to convince my other two kids coming up behind her!:)

We live in NE Ohio and are a family of 2 adults and 3 (growing) kids, 12, 10, & 8. We homeschool so that means breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks are 7 days a week here. I spend on average $100-110 each week and even that seemingly little amount annoys me. This amount includes food and all toiletries. I tell my husband every week there has got to be a way to get it down to about $75/week but I am beginning to wonder if this is just plain unrealistic. I shop primarily at Aldi and only shop at Giant Eagle for items if I have a coupon since they will double it. Every week, I sit down and make a menu based on what is on sale. That includes our dinners and any dishes I might need for get-togethers, potlucks, etc.

CLASS has changed quite a bit over the last few years, especially in their choices for high school. If you look at their website, www.homeschools.org, they now have suggested 4 year plans depending on the interests of your child. They have plans if your child is leaning toward medicine, science, ministry, etc. If your child isn't sure, there is a plan towards college prep. They also have a wide variety of classes to choose from for each subject. You aren't left with just one or two publishers to choose from.

CLASS (Christian Liberty Academy School System). AWESOME!!

Have you looked at CLASS (Christian Liberty Academy School System)? www.homeschools.org

All three of our kids are enrolled in CLASS and I wouldn't homeschool any other way. CLASS offers accountability without interferring and offers a variety of publishers to choose from. We have been able to use Saxon, Abeka, BJU, CLP, Modern Curriculum Press, etc. Referring to just CLP items, I particularly like their spelling, phonics and handwriting.

My oldest (who is now 12) had breast milk jaundice too. Her bilirubin counts were as high as 21. She had to stay in the hospital for an extra week right after birth to stay under the lights. The way the doctor explained it to me was that it had something to do with the Rh factor. I had to "pump and dump" my milk for two weeks and supplement with formula just until she had the nasty seedy bowel movements. Once her b.m.'s were no longer "seedy", I was able to continue breastfeeding. I nursed her until she was 8 months old.

My children are in the middle of taking the CAT tests right now. They take the tests for the grade that they will be entering. My daughter who will be going into 7th grade is taking the test for students entering 7, 8 & 9 grades. My other daughter who will be entering 5th grade is taking the test for students entering 4, 5 or 6 grades. There should be things on the test they wouldn't know for this reason.

www.homeschoolclassifieds.com

When my 8 year old son is reading, he will change/add words in the sentence. They are mostly the little words like "the, and, is, as, has" etc. What is frustrating is if he takes his time and concentrates, he can read with no errors and he comprehends what he is reading. He does seem to lose his place while reading so we use a bookmark to help him stay on the correct line. Some lines he reads at a very normal pace and others are painstakingly slow. What I am trying to figure out is if he is just being lazy and not concentrating (i.e. being a typical boy), does he need more reading practice, or does he have something going on I need to have checked out. He does not have any problems in math, spelling or writing and he does not write anything backwards. :confused:

I have used Bob Jones Grammar/Writing for 2nd through 6th grades. I love the fact that every other chapter is grammar/writing. The grammar lessons are very easy to understand and the writing chapters cover the five steps of writing: planning, drafting, revising, proofreading and publishing. The writing also covers a multitude of topics: compare/contrast essays, book reports/book reviews, research papers, poetry, friendly/business letters, personal narratives, tall tales, etc.

I have used CLASS from the very beginning and am very happy with it. We have almost completed 6th, 4th and 2nd grades. One of my favorite aspects of CLASS is that you can choose alternate publishers in a lot of classes. Something new that they started for high schoolers is having a tailored 4 year plan if your student knows what they might be interested in pursuing after graduation. If your student is interested in pursuing nursing for example, they have a 4 year plan that chooses courses that will prepare them with that in mind. Of course, you still have the freedom to choose what you want, but they have given you a starting point. They have more options listed on their website. Overall, I would highly recommend CLASS and have done so many times.

My daughter will be doing Bob Jones World Studies for 7th grade next year. I am interested in knowing if anyone has an opinion on whether the Student Activities book is worth purchasing to go along with the text. Also, does anyone know if the teacher's manual has lesson plans in it? Thank you.