You might want to check out: www.hometrainingtools.com www.workshopplus.com

Heart of Dakota. I wish I had found this earlier.:glare:

I checked out ScienceJim too. It looks very good, and something I will have to keep in mind for the future.

Hello Everyone, I don't know if this has been posted before, but here is information about some really interesting looking classes for homeschoolers.:001_smile: http://www.homeschoolscienceacademy.com/OnlineClasses.htm

I can understand your concerns for the children if you think they are being mistreated. But that has nothing to do with the state getting involved in the lives of ALL homeschoolers. This woman is probably just looking for help and guidance. It maybe that she has seen something in your family and/or children that she would like in hers.:001_smile: I have had people ask me about homeschooling because they were afraid their child was about to get kicked out of public school, due to bad behavior, and they could not afford private schools. I simply provided information and left the decision up to the individual. (They decided not to homeschool) It sounds like this is a very uncomfortable situation for you. I will pray that the Lord will give you wisdom in dealing with your neighbor.

No. Just a June and May.

I hope she was just joking. :001_huh: A speaker at our state conference told a story about a family she knows who did the same thing and lived to regret it. She pointed out that if a child has no plans to continue their education beyond homeschooling, the parent has the responsible to provide their child with the best education they can (which they should anyway), because this will be the ONLY formal education they will get. How is the daughter supposed to handle these classes on her own 5 years down the road? I would ask her why would she want to put her daughter in such a disadvantaged position? She could be ready to apply for jobs/vet assistant training at 16-17 with a proper education. Shocking and sad.

We also do most of it orally and use the worksheets.

We used the Character guide for primary grades about 3 years ago. We are about to use the same guide for grades 4-6. The guide is really good for the reading list and information about the books. Would I say it is essentially? No, but it does provide good discussion questions and suggestions/information. I have also used the American History Study for Primary grades. We really liked it. It provided a solid foundation for study. The book suggestions are excellent and vey age appropiate. We are also currently using A History of Science, and my boys (ages 9 & 11) love it. I like BF guides because they are not overwhelming. IMO they provide just enough direction and information for us to get the most out of what we are studying. Some people may want "more" but for us, they are enough.

We don't grade. I just make sure my son understands any problems he gets wrong.

My kids, ages 9 & 11, still love them. They beg for me to keep reading. I like them too.

We are a little more than half done with Preparing. I really, really like it. My kids and I have learned a great deal. The program is very easy to follow but very complete. I feel we are hitting my goals in more areas, such as writing and research skills, than we ever would have been able to do without HOD. I have been homeschooling for over 7 years now and I have used a number of different history programs ( I chose HOD primarily for history). HOD is a well-balanced program that doesn't take all day to complete. I would, and have, recommended people give it a try. It may not be for everyone, but it has certainly worked for us.

We are half done with Preparing Hearts and I LOVE IT. My son doesn't like that it sometimes asks the same questions in the Bible portion and read aloud sections. This has been one of our most productive school years yet.:)

We used GTG about 2 years ago and really liked it. I also used the Complete Book of animals with it. The animal studies are broken down by continents, so it was really easy to match the animals to the area being studied. We did use CGC but mainly focused on the animals for science. I purchased the main bundle from www.geomatters.com, and it provided an excellent foundation. We added in a ton of read alouds. It was great year. We then did Cantering the Country. This is basically the same thing as GTG but for the US.

After we finished HOP, we did Master Reader by the same company. I purchased used for about $95 (three years ago). I have also seen it new for about $89.

My 11 year old has done the fractions and is now doing the percents and demicals book. We use them as a supplement. My son really likes them.

What about Greenleaf history? I have a few of their guides, and they are great. You can check them out at http://www.greenleafpress.com:001_smile:

There was not a lot to assemble; the cubes took all of 1 minute to put together. If I remember, it was pretty much open and go. There is a lot of information covered in the games. Did I like it? I did, but games do not fit well in our homeschool.

I purchased and used this about 4 years ago. It is a LOT of games played with paper grids and cardboard cubes that you have to assemble. If I remember correctly, there are quite a few bingo games too. It was a good supplement to what we were using at the time. The games are best for grades k-4. I would only recommend this if your kids really like playing games.:)

I placed my order! :) I got everything new for less than $75 including shipping. I wanted to try Chalkdust for Pre-Algebra, so I would rather spend $75 than $300. Thanks so much for the information.

We used Galloping the Globe last year for 3rd & 5th grades. We really liked it. I purchased the complete GTG bundle from www.geomatters.com. The GTG manual has worksheets for each country that you can photocopy and use to make a lapbook/notebook. The manual also has an extensive list of suggested books for each country. The bundled included Considering God's Creation for science. We covered geography, science, literature and history using this program. We also used The Complete Book of Animals that I purchased from Sam's for about $6.00 each. This is a full color workbook that lists the animals by continents. We learned a lot using this program and are now using Cantering The Country (USA). I have also used FIAR and it should be very easy to comibine the two programs. FIAR covers geography and culture in setting of the books. One of the best things about GTG (for me) was being able to choose my own books and spending as much or as little time on each country as we wanted. With GTG we had a good foundation with the flexibility we enjoy.:)

I have this program and will be using in starting in Jan. 09. We will be using this 2-3x week just for science for 4th & 6th grades. We wiill be doing this along with a 1 year world history program using Heart of Dakota. Cathy Duffy recommends this program in her top 100 book. I have not used it yet so I can give only limited feedback. I have looked over the materials and it looks very good.:001_smile:

If you go the AWOA Yahoo group and look under files (I think), there is a schedule for combining the two. I believe you have to be a member to access the information. :)

Hi. This is my first post on this site.:hurray: I have used LLATL for 4 years now. I have always supplemented with spelling and grammar, we use R&S. We do all the exercises in LLATL, but it is very light in spelling. We enjoy LLATL and will continue to use it through high school.