Then I go to a lot of used curriculum fairs. Then I go to my library a lot. My children think it is their second home. I personally think that a lot of stuff can be done for free online if you look hard enough. I have a lot of literature books from when I was in high school and college. I have some books and people give me things. Also, my local library has book fairs in the fall. I have gotten books for 25 cents each. That is cheap. Blessings in your homeschooling journey. Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I did Growing with Grammar 5 with both my sons. I loved the independent work that this curriculum offered. If you removed all the extra stuff that Rod and Staff has like the writing, the extra reviews, etc. If you whittled it down, you would have Growing with Grammar. I looked at Rod and Staff 5. I compared GWG with R&S and I noticed there were a lot of similarities in the subjects and what was being taught. So, I would say that Growing with Grammar is good in that it will teach your child grammar, but that's it. I enjoyed it, but my older son seemed to have retained more with R&S. Just my experience! Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I feel that this is great. I am focusing on writing skills also. I have a heavy schedule also, but I am willing to throw everything aside to get him to a logical writing level. I am dropping logic this year because I really want him to focus on writing. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I am focusing on essay writing this year also, but I want to share that I don't think you should give up Rod and Staff. I plan on completing Rod and Staff in three months and then spend the rest of the year doing writing assignments for essay writing. So, what I plan to do is start off with Rod and Staff only for about 6 weeks to get acclimated with the grammar. Then, I am going to dive into essay writing. I plan to take the writing slow at first and then really fast after a few weeks. I mean by slow. I will do one essay a week to start and move to two few weeks after. Basically, I think that you can do Rod and staff in 3 months and then move into writing for the rest of the year. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I want to say something badly, but by the nature of these posts, I would be attacked. I understand why you would be upset. No one wants their child to be rejected, but on the other hand... Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

When I read this article yesterday, this is my opinion: The doctor from Harvard is an idiot. Don't care what he is saying, he sounds like a buffoon. He says, "in the best interest of the child." I read about the poor single mom who was working two jobs and so she could only take her son to McDonald's and was penalized for it. I was so overcome with tears by this report. A mom struggling to make ends meet and instead of the government helping her a little they are taking the child away. They snatch your child when they are too thin and now if they are too heavy. It seems as if this country is no longer run by the people, but the bureaucrats. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Thank you soo much for your help. This ebook is outstanding.:D Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Thanks for that clarification on Physics and Chemistry. So it makes sense to start him in physics this year and do chemistry next year. Thank you so much. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Yes, the vomiting is an allergic reaction. It is a severe reaction. My son vomited years ago when he was given shellfish. A year after that reaction, he went for allergy test. The doctors found that he has a severe allergy to shellfish and needs an epi pen. He has several other allergies, none of them does he have such a severe reaction as the shellfish. Your child might have to have a special pen with such a powerful reaction. The Benadryl might have been too weak for that allergy. Blessings to you. Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I love Writing Tales as a writing program. It is fun and simple. The teacher's manual has lots of games and things that you can do with the child to reinforce grammar. However, I think First Language Lessons 3 would help alot with the grammar while Writing Tales does your writing or you could do SWB's WWE with FLL. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I have a question along these line also. My son is going into 8th grade next year and he is taking Algebra 1 and Apologia Physics. I was going to do Apologia Biology, but I saw someone said the prerequesite to Apologia Chemistry is Algebra 1. Would it be OK to do Chemistry first and then Biology? Isn't Chemistry suppose to be the best spring board science to other sciences? I have heard so many science teachers at the homeschool conventions always say that Chemistry is better to learn first because it helps the child understand Biology and Physics better. I know that it is a different order from Well Trained Mind, but I know that for any engineering, everyone always says that math and sciences are the keys. So would having not only strong Algebra, but a strong Chemistry background be optimal? Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I would not smile about this situation either. Situation A= abuse unacceptable. What scout leader was there that it got that far? Yes, your son was wrong to break his stick, but the boy caused bruising. I'm so glad that you took pictures. Send that to the scout masters and see what they say. Situation B= that is appalling too. I feel that putting a PG13 movie on for boys is really serious. PG13 is a mild rated R movie. I have a problem with people pushing PG13 movies on my children before their time. My oldest is 13 years old and I don't know if I would let him see some PG13. I saw the first Transformers and I did not like the lustful shots of the women in the movie. What a way to introduce a young pre-adolescent boy into desires and feeling he does not understand! I would find a diplomatic way to speak to the scout master about the movie issue too. Blessings to you! Sincerely, Karen

I know that I am nuts. I was going to do CPO science, the secular, because I got it for free. However, a homeschool mom sold Apologia for $10. The whole thing with tests and solutions, etc. I could not pass this up. So, my son is going to just read CPO and the Apologia will be his main spine. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I did SWI-B with my son this past year. He did Classical Writing Homer the year before and SWI-B is soooo much easier. He was able to figure out what they wanted. It gives you a check list. Oh, it is so much nicer to have the DVDs which were funny. My son laughed. I wanted to throw the book out with Classical Writing. IEW's SWI-B saved my life. It is not as expensive as getting the whole TWSS part. I am grateful to the Lord for IEW. I did Rod and Staff English 6 with IEW's SWI-B. I feel that is a great combination. Blessings to you in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I have never heard Singapore Math called drill and kill. People complain that it does not have enough drill. This really is a first. Please forgive me I just have not seen this before. I think that if you go the home instuctor's guide it would help you. I just want to tell you I examined Teaching Textbook 7 for my younger son. It had the same lessons as Singapore Math's Primary Mathematics 4A & B. So, with that said, I think that Singapore would be more of an advanced math. Just to tell you though there is not perfect program. I know mostly about Singapore Math. My older son used it up to New Elementary Math 1. I would say that Singapore's strength is its word problems. It really challenges the child's mind to think and to think critically. Singapore's weaknesses are it does not offer enough supports. There are not enough solution manuals to help you to understand how to solve problems especially in the old Challenging Word Problems book and the advance math, NEM. People complain about its lack of drill and not enough graphing i.e. coordinates, etc. That's all I can share from because my knowledge is Singapore Math.

The truth is if you search, all the major subjects are out there. There are so many websites that will teach math, reading, writing, spelling, and grammar. There are a ton. Then you have your local library will give you science, geography, and history. You don't need to purchase one penny on them. However, music is a subject that I pay for already. I would have to pay for that anyway. It was a toss up between music and art. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony:)

My children liked it, but I was so-so. At first, I loved the idea of telling history as a story. I thought it was original (I was new to homeschooling at the time). Then, I discovered Children's History of the World (CHOW). I then discovered Mystery of History. I was very enchanted by SOTW, but I did not need to do it twice. That made me disillusioned. The Activities Guides are wonderful. They do enhance the history lessons. I want to share what other moms from other forums not Well Trained Mind. One mom said that she felt the writing talks down to the child. For example, let's pretend to be on a magic carpet and fly over here... As opposed to Children's History of the World, it is as if the child is being challenged to think at a higher level. In my opinion, it does not matter as long as it is well written and captivates the child's attention. Both of these history books are well written. Another mom told me that she did not feel that it had a Christian World view. SOTW tells some Christian history, but not the same way as the Bible. There is also some Muslim history and Jewish history too. I think that it was wise of the author to put the history of the three major religions of the world. So, you teach your child your views. Another mom told me that SOTW is not accurate. I hate to say this, but no history book is totally accurate. SOTW is written from a certain point of view. If you have problems with her views, check out her bibliography in the back of the book. It will tell you where her sources are from. I have a book called, "The 100 most influential people in History." Some of his assessments, I do not agree with at all, but they are based upon certain criteria in his opinion. History is always told from different angles. Finally, I wanted to share that SOTW Volume 4 has been recognized as one of the best modern history children's book out there. There are a lot of history books out there, but SOTW Volume 4 gives a very good accounting of modern history for a young child. It is one of the best. So, for that alone, I would at least purchase that one. In the entire series, Volume 4 is written outstanding. It is accurate. It does not talk down to the child. It is solid for 4th grade and up. Just my experience and thoughts. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Faithr, I looked at Kidcode myself earlier this year. I was planning on purchasing it, but after seeing this post, I have changed my mind. I like that book, "Hello World! Computer Programming for Kids and Other Beginners." It seems much more precise in that a child could easily understand programming. Now my son is currently taking a robotics class where he is learning programming C. I want to see where to take him from that point. I am going to show his teacher the two books and see which he suggests. I won't see him until next week. Do you want me to ask for you too? Blessings to you in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

The comment that I bolded. I agree that when I truly teach my child the lessons it works more than what the curriculum offers. I just realized something that I use to do something with my sons years ago. I taught my sons a Spanish song. I had them listen to the song everyday for a month. I had them write the song out line by line. I had them write only one line for a week. They would write the same line for a whole week while still listening to the whole song. By the end of the month, they had written the entire song. Well, fast forward two years later, my younger son was singing the song in Spanish the other day. It blew me away! I never used a curriculum to teach my children. However, I used this idea from another curriculum's idea. It is funny how when I teach it with my creativity works better than using the direct curriculum. In other words, once Janice in NJ put a youtube of how she taught a literature analysis. However, she told me that she got the idea from other programs that she used in the past. I just want to share. Just my opinion. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I am currently using, How to Study in College by Walter Pauk. It covers time management and note taking skills. I want to say that I got this book when I was in college. It help save my life in college because I almost failed out when a tutor gave me this book. I wanted to say that I realize that college was too late to learn these skills. So, I have had my former 7th grader read the book and apply some ideas little by little with the goal of finishing before 11th grade. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

If you will, please specify your child's age/grade: my older son is 13 years old and going into 8th grade/my younger son is 11 years old and going into 6th grade. teacher's qualifications (degree, etc.) She has a bachelor's degree. She might have higher. I have only seen her degree. She is registered with the piano guild association. However, my boys take an exam at the end of the year. The person, who listens and grades to my sons' playing, is usually a PhD teacher. Lesson length 30 minutes (30 minutes, 45, 60?) Lesson frequency(once/week?) once a week Monthly cost $ 10 a week per child which is about $40 a month. Region where you live I live in North Eastern part of the US. However, my teacher's rate is low because she sees this as a ministry not for profit. She is also 84 years old. She has been teaching for several years to say the least. I know someone in my church who charges $45 a class per week. That price seems to be the average rate where I live. So, you are paying the going rate for my area. I wonder what it is in your area. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Memorizing can be done a lot of different way. It is the task of going over and over and over again, but it is how you do it. For poetry, we did a little bit everyday. You do that in bit size pieces. I also like using jiggles for some subjects. I realize that jiggles are not always the best way to learn something. They can get to be overkill and I realize that if the child does not remember the tune, they won't remember what they have learned. The best way to memorize is to have the child figure out what he/she feels comfortable learning. I use to do body movements to help my younger son memorize the scriptures. Someone taught learning notes on the scale, "every good boy does fine." We changed it and said, "E,G,B,D,F." Also, we made it into a song. It was just saying the letter to a tune. We used "Yo, Millard Fillmore" to learn the presidents. Here's what we have memorized over the years: 1. the State Capitals 2. Presidents 3. Math Facts 4. Bible verses from AWANA 5. Poems 6. Passages from the Bible. My older son memorized all of Chapter 1 of John. 7. My sons have memorized skits for plays. 8. My sons have memorized Suzuki pieces for violin. 9. My sons have memorized piano pieces for their piano exams at the end of the school year. They will continue to memorize and continue to learn. Memorization is a great way to develop the brain. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I don't mind what I did. I had my sons both learn at about third grade. I wish that I had started later maybe fourth instead. I notice that about sixth grade is when my older son was getting it. This past year he was correcting everyone's grammar and correcting himself when he spoke. It was hysterical.:lol: I love that I started later. I definitely do not feel that it would harm the child if it was taught later. Grammar is a logical subject. There is a lot of critical thinking skills. I notice that at about 4th grade they were understanding the concept of a noun or a verb, but my son grasped it at about 6th grade. I will see about my younger son. Once again, I have no regrets with this one. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely,

Thank you for putting up this post. I just purchase it at the NJ State Homeschool convention. I did not know what to do. Thank you, Anj for explaining things at the convention. Thank you, Luckymamma for posting that nice pdf. That really helped. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony