Were did you buy it from using your Visa? This sounds like a great deal, but I don't know how/where to use my Visa to take advantage of the deal?

:iagree:with this also. Depending on how far you got in each program I would either start over if it wasn't that far or assess were shes at in each subject, do as much review as needed, and move on when she is ready. ETA: What I wrote wasn't very clear, I was trying to type with one hand while holding my son in the other. So let me try and clarify what I meant. I started over with my daughter because we only got a few weeks in, so it wasn't a big deal to start over. If you got farther in, say like half way or more, I wouldn't completely start over. I would redo the parts that you think she is struggling with. So in math for example if the first lesson were say about numbers and counting pictures and labeling the number of pictures you see, you probably wouldn't need to go back and review that simple concept. What about addition, did she understand that, do you need to go back and review that 1 + 1= 2? etc. How is she doing on addition facts from 1-10. What about subtraction. Maybe she understood addition and subtraction just fine and she left off at multiplication. (this is all just an example of course) The point is you don't have to redo everything, only review the things you think she didn't quite grasp the first time around. And then just proceed from there at her speed. If you are worried that she didn't understand most of what you taught in a particular subject than it woudn't hurt to start over and quickly go through anything that is easy to her, skip things if you need to, and then slow down when things seem to get challenging. Hope some of that made sense.

:iagree:I did the same thing my 6yo's K year. I started her a year early. and then tried starting 1st last year it was too much. We will be starting WWE and FLL over this year as well as history and science. I say start over and move as quickly or slowly as she needs. Focus on her skill levels rather than her "grade level." It is better to go back and build a strong foundation with no gaps then to keep pushing forward and have her continue in frustration throughout her school career. :grouphug:

I haven't read through this whole thread, so sorry if I am being redundant. I completely agree with this recommendation. Someone on here recommended this book to me and I am so grateful they did. It was extremely eye opening. IMO it is a very worthwhile book to read.

I have learned so much from this forum. I have also wasted more time on here than I care to admit :tongue_smilie:. I think the biggest thing that I have gained from this forum thus far is the confidence in my choice to homeschool. More specifically the confidence to branch out and choose curriculum that works for our family. I would have never found that courage without the hive, I probably would have still been trying to get that box curriculum I started with to work. I also agree that this forum has completely opened up my eyes to the world around me. I have very much enjoyed reading about others religious beliefs, approaches to parnthood, etc.. Thank you all for the blessing that you have been in my life!

:lol::lol::lol: ETA: Sorry I had to chuckle when I saw this post, because I can completely relate! It is also frustrating, sorry I have no solutions to fix this but I do sympathize with your situation.

Mmmmmmmm! You guys are all making me hungry!:001_smile:

Count me in. Heres my intro... I have a 6yo, 4yo, almost 3yo, and 14 month old. I guess we will officially be in our second year of homeschooling, K and now 1st. Homeschooling has become a way of life for our family. I found WTM book right before I started my 6yo's K year. So we are beginning our second year with using the Classical education method (although not perfectly we do the best we can ;)). I have only recently started reading stuff about the CM philosophy. Everything I have read I have really loved. I have made it a goal this next school year to learn more about the CM approach to education. So this group will be perfect. I went ahead and ordered a used copy of these. After reading some of the reviews of this series I am a bit worried I will be in a little over my head, but a book club would be perfect to help me work my way through them. I have a feeling that eventually our homeschool will be a mix between CM and WTM.

I am very impressed! I would love to put together a schedule like this, I think it would make our days and weeks run a whole lot smoother. What do you do if you ever fall behind? That would be my only concern with having everything all scheduled out for a whole year.

Wow!!! That is an amazing system. I wish I had enough time to put something like that together. I especially love the Notes pages that you made. Did you type all of that info on the note pages yourself? How long does it take you to put together a whole years worth of planning?

:001_huh:! I can't believe someone would say that to you! I am sorry to hear so many of you have been treated this way or at least have felt unwelcomed just because of what you believe. :grouphug: I found one co-op in our area that looks great but they require you to sign a statement of faith to join, which I will not do. Fortunately for us in the area we live we are surrounded by people of similar faith to ours. I still feel lonely though because none of them that I know, homeschool. I will need to investigate some support groups in near by cities. I just wish they were closer because at the moment I don't have my own car, and even if I did it is not easy to get 4 small kids ready and out of the house. I go back and forth with the idea about finding an outside support group. I feel like I get great support from this forum, but my kids could use some friends (there aren't a ton of kids in our area). This thread has been great, I don't feel quite so alone with this frustration.

To bad all of us on here can't easily get together! That would be so much fun! To bad there isn't an annual WTM conference.

Your welcome! I had a lot of fun looking through my art history binder, I have a lot of fond memories from that art class. Blondeviolin thanks for asking the question. I had decided to just skip over ancient art history with my kids, but having gone back through it now I forgot how fun it is. I think I will make an effort now to include it this year! So thanks for the great reminder!:D

This is exactly me as well. My Dh is very supportive, so are my mom and dad. Most of our extended family is pretty supportive. Any other ladies I talk to in our area are intrigued as well as understanding. But I do not know any other homeschoolers in our area. It does get a bit lonely. I wish I had at least 1 or 2 friends that would be willing to talk about curriculum, math manipulatives, etc.:lol:! Like others have said, this forum is my support group. I don't post a whole lot on here, but I am on here a lot :tongue_smilie:(ask my DH). I am very thankful for all of the wonderful help and support I get here. I don't know what I would do without this forum. So Thank you!

:bigear:

Sounds great! I can't wait to read it! And don't be afraid to make it as long as you need to. I would rather have more help and examples than I need then not enough.

Ruth, I have really enjoyed reading through your posts. You have given me a completely different perspective on science and how to teach it. You have opened my eyes to the fact that the way science is often taught is actually not really science or in other words so called "experiments" are often mere demonstrations not true experiments. I would love to see you expand on that topic a little more. I think it would be a helpful reminder to be able to go back and read why teaching science the way you have outlined can help our kids better understand science. I would also love to read more details about how you go about teaching your kids science. I love the idea you have about doing a large science fair project at the end of the year. I myself would love to incorporate this into the way we do science but I would have no idea were to start. I would love to read more details about how you go about doing this and perhaps more guidance and step by step help in this process. I would also love to read a break down of the level of detail for a science project you would expect for different ages/stages. I think more guidance and help on the topic of scientific inquiry and the true scientific process would be really helpful. I would love more help on how to go about coming up with a scientific question/hypothesis, how to design an experiment, how to collect data, and how to know what data to collect, how to analyze the data, how to display the data (graphing, etc.), and then how to write up the results (as you have mentioned before that you need to include a discussion, assumptions and difficulties, etc.), etc. It would be helpful to read how to do those things overall, and in more detail or in a step by step format. Basically how to figure out a question to ask and then how to use the Scientific method to answer it. In a past thread another poster asked you if you knew a book or resource "that might teach different methodologies for gathering and analyzing data for different science subjects". Something like that would be extremely helpful. I hope some of that made some sense. I feel like when I read your posts I am very inspired to do science the "real" way, but when I try and think about how to incorporate your ideas into the way we do science my head starts to spin because I am not sciencey at all. Maybe you could just write a book like WTM but for science. :lol:Do what SWB did for history but for science!!!

:iagree::iagree::iagree: I would love to read a book written by Ruth. Here is another great thread that Ruth contributed a lot to, not sure if it has been linked yet.

I haven't read through the whole thread, but what I have read I am really enjoying! I just wanted to comment that I thought there was absolutely NO way my Dh could get me to like Star Trek. I grew up hearing Next Generation's theme song playing in the my parent's room almost every night while trying to fall asleep. I thought my parents were so weird for watching it. I finally caved in and agreed to watch the first episode of Voyager with my Dh (it was his birthday gift, what could I say!). I was hooked. I am a true Star Trek fan now. OP perhaps you could try watching Voyager. The graphics are better;). But you do have to start with episode 1. Unlike the other Star Trek series Voyager's episodes build on one another.

Yes! Growing up I always wanted 6. We shall see what happens. We will take them one at a time!

You finally convinced me to dig out my huge art history binder from high school;). There really aren't any particular artists to study in ancient art history. So here is the main list. Pre-historic/Cave Art (in no particular order): -Cave of Lascaux -Cave of Altamira -Stonehenge Some Major forms of artwork -Stencil- patterns created by blowing charcoal, water, and spit on a flat surface. Like the outlines of hands that you see in caves. -Incising- Scratching on a surface -Modeling- Shaping and forming something like mud or clay Some Vocabulary: -Post & Lintel -Megalith -Trilithon -Henge -Mortise and Tenon Joints -Corbeling/Corbeled Egyptian Art (in no particular order): -King Narmer's Palette -Ziggurat, Bent Pyramid -Pyramids of Giza (largest is Cheops/Khufu) -Rosetta Stone -Egyptian gods -Other egyptian paintings and carvings (you can teach about how they had to have certian features like hands and faces face certian ways) -King Tut's Tomb and all the items in it -Sphinx -Abu Simbel (Temple of Ramses II) -Nefertiti's bust Vocabulary Words: All of the common ones for this time period as well as.... -Pylon- gate -Cartouche -Ankh -Gilded -Lapis Lazuli -Scarab -Low Relief -Obelisk -Limestone -Granite -Canopic Jars -Motif -source of an artists ideas -Stylized - somewhat abstract -Diorite Greek Art (in no particular order): -The Parthenon -Greek key (its a pattern, you can google it to see what it looks like) -pottery (you could study the different types...Krater, Kylix, Hydria, Oinochoe, Amphora) The Greeks are well known for their sculptures, here are some of the main ones to study (preview before teaching as the greeks often used nudity)... -Aphrodite by Praxiteles -Hermes w/Dionysus by Praxiteles -Apollo (Belvedere) by ? -Venus de Milo at the Louvre (I think) -Apoxymenos (scraper) by Lysippus -Nike of Samothrace (Winged Victory) -Doryphorus (Spear Bearer) by Polyclitus -Poseidon by ? -Dying Niobid -Discobolos (Discus Thrower) by Myron -Laocoan (ETA: My notes on some of these Sculptors of each of these sculptures were a bit hard to understand. The artists that carved these may not be exactly accurate, I took those notes about 8 years ago so things may have changed, and just as a note I copied the way my art teacher spelled the sculptors names and he may have spelled them differently than the way some one else might spell it. So double check the scultpors names, I think the actual sculptures names are accurate) Note: some of these surviving Sculptures are actually Roman Copies, If I remember correctly the Greeks taught the Romans how to carve sculptures and the Romans copied some of the Greeks sculptures and turned around and destroyed the originals made by the Greeks 3 orders of architecture: -Doric -Ionic -Corinthian Vocabulary Words: -Acropolis -Columns Roman Art (in no particular order): -Arches -Colosseum (which was named after the colossal statue of Nero) -Aquaducts -Arch of Constantine -Circus Maximus -Pantheon -Column of Trajan -Bridges -Catacombs There are also many Roman Sculptures you can study as well. I believe that Romans also came up with Cement or at least got really good at using it (can't remember which) Other: I know there is a lot of other ancient art history to study from other places like China, Ancient Americas, Africa, etc. I am just not as fimilar with those. Hope that helped.

Heres our 1st grade plan: Math: Finish RS B and start RS C, use pieces of MEP, SM, and Miquon to supplement, also do LOF on fridays Writing: WWE 1, Zanor Bloser, and Notebooking Grammar: FLL 1 Spelling/Phonics: AAS 2 and maybe beginning of 3, and possibly ETC (still trying to decide) Reading: Quick Review everyday with OPGTR, SL Readers 2 (finish), SL Readers 3 Read-Alouds: Anything that strikes our fancy as well as SL Core B Read Alouds Science: Our own thing with a bit of BFSU and RSO Life mixed in, and Nature Journal History/Geography: TOG Yr. 1 with SOTW Art: Artistic Pursuits as well as Confessions of a Homeschooler's Artist Study Music: Lots of listening to music, Confessions of a Homeschooler's Composer study, Violin, and Piano P.E.: Lots of outdoor time, Ice Skating Lessons, and Swimming Lessons That's the plan anyways. I am sure our plan will have changed a lot through out the year.

I am really excited to do history and science this year. For history we are doing a combination of TOG and SOTW. For science I am combining some of BFSU and RSO Life with lots, and lots of living books. We are also going to start notebooking this year which I am very excited about. I am also excited about my commitment to do more art and music this year, I think it will add a lot of life and fun to our homeschool!

:iagree:Every year I order our "real" art supplies from blick art supply. Other things like crayons , markers, etc. I usually get from walmart.

I have been looking a little bit at CC for memory work. I don't think we can afford to buy everything to do all of the memory work (book, cards, CD, etc.). I would however love to at least do the timeline with my Dd. What would I need to get to do that? Are the timeline motions on a DVD? What exactly is CC Connected? How much does it cost? Everytime I look into CC I feel like my head starts spinning:confused:. Any help clarifying any of this for me would be greatly appreciated.