Got it. I've not seen it explained this way before but I guess I should have realized that. Does this mean I have something that I can hold over your head? :rolleyes: Thanks for explaining this. Your first post made me a wee bit fearful that BFSU wasn't so great. I'll keep my eyes open for your post. I appreciate all the time you've spent answering my questions.

Could you explain what you mean by the specific order is open-ended? Do you mean that the lessons in those threads could be placed in any order because their not very related or do you mean they don't reach a clear conclusion/point of the thread or something different? If I am an organizer-type personality would you guess that I would hate those threads or are they still good, just maybe different/more difficult? If you have time, please tell me any more about C & D that you think would help me more. Thanks so much for helping me.

You're a peach, thanks. You're obviously a goof-ball as well! :001_smile: My favorite kind of person. I would love to have the science background/interest to have that vision. Gotcha. Please don't limit me. I thought it all sucked!!!!!! Excellent point. I never thought of that. This will be the harder part for me. First I don't read any blogs, just stuff here. Second, I really want to plan it out AND I want to avoid the junk experiments that don't really teach anything which was written about on another thread. (paraphrase) If you have time, could you list some of your winners? :lol: Did I mention that you're a goof-ball? What can I say to that logic?!! Amen. You sound like a cool "Mum." You funny little Aussie you. Thank you so much for your ideas. It sounds like you're sold on the book and I sort of am as well... just from a distance, since I don't have it yet.

I don't mean to pry but, knowing that I am rather compulsive also, you give me an idea as to why you are switching? Having read so many posts about people being concerned about planning and implementation etc, I just don't want to get it and find out it is really best for people who like to fly by the seat of their pants and not for planners... or some other unforeseen mismatch. You explained it well. That's actually the way I perceived it but didn't explain myself properly. That's exactly the info I needed to know. Good, thank you. I thought of four years mainly because I figure if I supplement with WTM stuff, and perhaps RS4K and AS that it would be quite possible. I found your schedule and will be referring to it. If you supplemented with anything that you particularly liked, could you please list it? Thank you so much for your thorough response. I really appreciate it. I'm still cogitating so I'm sure I'll keep referring to your post.

I am trying to plan science and am looking into BFSU. I am researching/shopping right now so I haven't looked at the book itself but I have read the pressforlearning site, the example lesson, the threads here and the amazon read me so I think I have a good idea about the book but I'm just not sure about some things. I'm hoping you all can help me to decide if BFSU is a good fit. Here are some things to note about me: my ds is 6, we're doing 1st next year I always plan with an eye to the future, in other words, I want continuity from year-to-year so if I started I would probably continue on to his next book when it comes out. I'm not much for "giving it a try" and then scrapping it to find something else. I would prefer to research more and get it right the first time, sort of compulsive, I know. I like following the ideas in WTM because they lined up so well with our families educational goals. I've enjoyed all their recommendations plus their writing and ideas have always clicked for me, so I always feel if I don't do their ideas I might be missing out on something truly great. KWIM? According to WTM, science should be orderly. Their claim that traditional science jumps around just when child develops interest in the subject is important to me because most of my "issues with education" stem from my dissatisfaction with my own schooling; subjects being taught haphazardly, jumping around so that now I have various facts and stories but lacking any sort of order or those wonderful pegs. I've also really liked that it would correspond to the historical figures being studied in history, although they do write that this isn't as clear with science. Lastly the goal is for child to say "Oh, good. I love biology!" when next it comes around... I want that for my son because I NEVER felt that way about science and now I know how cool it can be. I love the rigor and goals of BFSU but, on the other hand, it has you follow those threads concurrently so here are my questions: How has this worked, do you feel like there was clarity? When you were working through the threads, did his use of the requirements and the lesson being taught act as some sort of organizer (, a replacement for the life science/chemistry etc ... progression? Could you, and more importantly, could your child see and understand the progression or did it feel like it was jumping around? If you made a plan ahead of time, did it work or did you have to scrap it or edit a lot? If I went this route, for my personality, I would want to plan it out as much as possible. If you can post any schedules that did work that would be a great help as well. Were his experiments fun/engaging? Were there enough or did you need to supplement? Would it work to follow his progression, and then stop where appropriate and follow the WTM idea of looking up spine facts, doing a narration followed by supplementary books and maybe more experiments? (I also saw that mom2moon2, in her schedule in another thread even added AS and RS4K.) I'm considering doing this partly because of the reason listed above plus I'm not sure if I see anywhere in BFSU that you actually learn those "fun" facts about various animals, for instance. I'm not looking for a rubber stamp here. I'm wondering if this would be somehow going against what BFSU is trying to accomplish, for instance, taking too much time within the thread so you lose "the thread" of the thread? :tongue_smilie:(Sorry, I couldn't think of another way to phrase it.) Also, is that just too much for this age? Do you think that is a good idea or would you advise against it? If I did above idea, I'm wondering if it might even extend into fourth grade, is the material fine for that age or just plain too young? (It's listed K-2) My son is inquisitive and loves challenges. Thanks for staying to the end. Please feel free to critique any of my ideas. I really need help in fleshing this out.

I'm sorry that happened. To use a button, will you have to hold it the whole time or just start and stop? I'm asking because, for myself, I can't picture sewing with one hand. :001_huh: (I'm not the best sewer but I DEFINITELY need both hands.) Hope you find a solution.

From what you wrote, I am assuming that you can both read and pronounce Spanish. You might be interested in looking at TPR (Total Physical Response) in First Year Spanish. (The first link has samples and here is another link that also has some info.) Don't be put off by their talk of high school and college, that is just where it began I believe. TPR works for everyone, it was modeled on the idea of how children first learn language, which is responding to commands. You teach the language through commands given in the imperative. (Later it ingeniously teaches the other verb forms by embedding them within the imperative.) It starts with very simple commands, which you demonstrate by acting out first then the student joins in. Progressively it builds, about three words at a time, with the student responding by doing the action, thus the physical response. (The physical part convinces the brain that this word is indeed true; French "main" really does mean hand because I just moved my hand when I was told to do so.) The fun part is the physicality and even more so after the students learn a few words then they are challenged with novel commands. For instance, if it starts with "Touch your, nose. Touch your ..." in a short time you would command them to "Touch your nose with your elbow." It's fun and increases their confidence because of the novel sentences. TPR also insists upon comprehension before production, the student will not be expected to produce, (speak) until they are ready. The book is a teacher's script for each class. As a side note, I also like the idea of TPR for homeschoolers because much of the scripts teach specific vocabulary e.g. the kitchen, and we can just go there and act it out. Good luck finding something that will work for you.

:lurk5:

I am teaching my ds French and German. He's only 6 so this may or may not be of use to you. I have a degree in French but am learning German just a step ahead of him so, of course, I am anticipating much more from French. We are studying them concurrently and what has worked out the best is to alternate weeks. We tried all kinds of combinations like 3 days of French and 3 days German (extending into Saturday) but just when we got in the groove of one language it was time to switch and one always got shortchanged. So now, we do foreign language 3 times per week and alternate the language each week. It's working out quite well. The logistics were tough for me as well and the key was having a complete lesson plan before the year began and looking over the specific assignments a week or two before so that I am sure all is in order. I think, with this schedule, if I were better in German I would expect fairly the same level of proficiency with each language. I don't think multiple languages are hard to learn, provided you have good teaching materials. Right now I'm looking into materials that use the TPR (Total Physical Response) method. The retention results for this are quite high plus it is fun for the student. We've used the technique a bit and we both love it and remember a lot.

I'm so sorry, I hate feeling that way too. When I started out with our budget, I found this happening many times and boy, was it deflating. This may not help how you're feeling today, but perhaps you can take a look at what you've accomplished that allowed you to even be in a position that you COULD cut back to cover the problem, and be proud of that. :grouphug:

Oh I'm sorry. I meant, "Wow, how did they manage to do all that!!! That's fabulous!" (I wonder sometimes if I should wait an hour, or maybe a day between writing a reply and then posting so that I can PROOF-READ! :001_smile:)

Great link - thanks. I have no idea how they organized all those... I looked at the Middle Ages lapbook and am blown away.

THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!!!! Yes our family is completely hooked too. I cannot believe those episodes are available to watch, we are in mourning every time we're between seasons and can only watch reruns. I really never thought I would be discussing Top Gear on the Hive!!!

Completely love Miss Piggle-Wiggle. (It's fun even typing the name!) I cannot wait until my son is willing to read them with me. He knows I'm excited about them so I think he is holding out to make me suffer.

Flopdom..(sounds also like it could be a very depressing country.) I hope to never visit the land of flopdom... either definition.

OK, after reading this whole thread, this post seems to me to describe a far different situation than the original post. The examples of the dd12's inability to write is sending off alarm bells for me. I think all the responses you have had that discussed late reading etc. didn't seem to be describing this age of child. If, as her sister, you are hearing confession than I would take that as perhaps a plea for help. Your previous post sounded more like you were just giving us your passing observations. I would just ask her about all these things that are concerning her (and obviously, you) and see if you can offer any assistance. Your sister may have indeed started wondering if they have learning disabilities and now she feels in so deep with her method that she can see no way out. You also wrote that you had no desire to learn about a TJE. I'm not sure if you meant that, from what you're witnessing, you don't like the look of it as an educational method, or if you meant rather that you don't want to take the time to find out what she is doing. Either way, to help your sister I think it would be a good investment of time to get yourself at least somewhat knowledgeable about it so you can help her to assess her situation. At this point, I think you should tell her what you think you're hearing in her voice, tell her that you love her and ask her how you can help her.

May I just say, "Wow!" What a wonderful post. Congratulations. You are an :Angel_anim:

OK, I have been replaying the OP's story in my head and have now been laughing for about 5 minutes straight. You all kill me.

I'm personally quite rusty on the vocabulary of grammar so I'll try to help you directly from my French Grammar book. HTH

We have long winters as well so I went to Barb's website and printed out a list of all her previous challenges, chose the ones that I was interested in and were applicable to our area, and then plugged them in the proper place on my calendar. This also helped me because I like everything planned out ahead of time, it didn't work for me to receive her challenge on the Friday before the upcoming week. HTH

:lurk5: I've always wondered this.

I'm sorry to interrupt your thread, but may I please borrow "book greed" as well? .... That is so perfectly descriptive! :drool5: I just opened your thread for future info about LoF. Good luck on your planning process.

YES, YES, YES, WE LOVE OUR MATTRESS!!! We knew we wanted a quality mattress because no one was sleeping well. At the last minute in our shopping we found BedInABox. On their website they have very strong claims about their foam being better than TempurPedic. We went with them because the reviews on independent websites were staggeringly positive. Their prices are fabulous and their customer service was very attentive. We co-sleep and my ds and I, without fail before going to sleep, both say, "Isn't this bed fabulous? I just love this bed, it is so comfortable." We adored it from day one.