Definitely visual-spatial. She also has many aspects of aural-musical. I get so lost trying to figure this all out!

I have the same issues as many: what seems like not enough hours in a single day. I have some thougts, below, that may or may not help. We just started doing a version of this. I actually scheduled just the school part of our day on paper, and all three of us have a copy. School starts at 8:30, and if math isn't completed by 9:30, we stop and move on. My DDs have any left over work for "homework". This is beneficial to me as well, b/c it keeps me off the computer, where my back is to them, and more focused on their work. I use Remember the Milk for this. I have lists ranging from a variety of daily tasks, to recurring household chores, to christmas lists, to clothing needed for each person in the house. Anything and everything I think of that needs to get done goes into RTM. I have it on my computer, iPod Touch, and iPad. I could not function without it. My DDs and I do this, too! We do 15-min. "Crazy Cleans" where we all fly through different rooms and see how much we can get done in 15 minutes (I took this from FlyLady years ago). In total honesty we can get an entire room straightened in 15 min. Not cleaned or de-cluttered, but at least presentable. HTH!

DD#1 is in SM 5B. She is very good at math - "gets it" almost immediately - is sick of SM and wants to do LoF exclusively. My original plan, however, was to complete through 6B this year - using LoF as a supplement - and then move to LoF exclusively for 7-12. To me, DD looks a bit "behind" in SM (she "should" be in 6A), but I have to remind myself that we have done two complete math programs each year: first SM & Miquon, and now SM & LoF. Maybe I have burned her out ;) WWYD? How important is it for her to finish the Primary Math series? Should we just supplement with LoF the remainder of this year (Fridays only) and then move to it full-time next year? Or go ahead and make the move now?

When we moved to Germany, we did not choose to buy a microwave. No reason other than lack of space. We haven't missed it at all, and I doubt we'll get one when we move back to the US. I can boil water and melt butter (which is about the extent of our prior usage as well) on the stove ;)

I give up. Again. I loved HST years ago, but I have been using the HST Online version now for almost two months and it just doesn't do it for me any more. I spent a good portion of time yesterday afternoon and again this morning trying to determine what it is that I need/want, and have decided that I like the looks of both OLLY and UHP... OLLY looks really neat and I do like the idea that it is all on the computer and that things can be changed/bumped, etc. I also like the fact that there should be an app soon, which (I assume) would let my DDs look at their assignments on their iPod Touch. However, the time involved with rescheduling assignments that really should've been two days, etc. on HST Online makes me wonder if I'll run into the same irritation with OLLY. I feel like I "should" use a computer-based planner, as paper is out ;) but have a sneaking suspicion that going back to paper would be easier. UHP looks so stinkin' pretty, and I really like the idea that my DDs would have a book to physically write in each week. I wonder if in the end it would be easier??? Thoughts? Anyone use both? What did you end up with and why? And FWIW, I like Donna Young's site and have used her sheets - or my variations of them - before. I'm just too overwhelmed to throw that back into the mix right now :tongue_smilie:

For those who keep track of grades, I have a question or two. I have never kept grades before but feel like I "should" now that DD#1 is in 6th grade. I want her to get used to it before high school (we plan to hs all the way through, but would be open to her attending a n academically challenging high school if she chooses that route). Anyhow, I have been on DonnaYoung.com and found several grade forms, but can not for the life of me figure out how they would be used. I'm not sure what all of the lines and boxes are for, as I have never used a grade book :tongue_smilie: I would love to be able to weight grades (reviews vs tests for example) but I am unsure how to do that as well on paper... We have Macs and ideally I would love to find a Numbers '09 spreadsheet to use instead of paper. The one pre-installed on my iMac is for a classroom of children. Has anyone altered that template to make it work (I know next to nothing about Numbers)? I am more than willing to play around with things and try to figure it out (fun for me, LOL), but don't want to waste time, either. Hopefully someone here has the answer!!!

TY both so much! I will let her go at her own pace and see what happens. I want her to get as much out of them as possible, so taking some time might be exactly the right thing to do.

Long story short, I would like to know if it's possible to have a sixth grader who adores science (unlike her mother) to go through all six elementary Apologia books in one year. I bought three books to start, plus the workbooks (which she will love) and would like to know if it's even do-able. FWIW, I will be teaching my 3rd grader starting with the botany book as soon as it gets here. I won't make this mistake again :001_huh:

TY so much! I went to the SM site, but looked in the Shop section :tongue_smilie: I usually have the girls take two days for each unit: one for the practice and another for the challenging problems, so I'll count it as 26 lessons (same as CWP 4 - maybe they are all the same). Thanks also for the HIG info. I tend to plan math no more than two weeks at a time, but we are "behind" from last year so I am trying to get a general idea of what we should cover in 36 weeks. I also built in another 4 weeks for "catch-up" work which should help this year! Take care!

Could someone tell me how many chapters or lessons there are in CWP-5? I need to plan but do not have the book yet. I looked on the SM and Amazon sites, hoping for a TOC, but no luck. TIA if you can help! ETA: I would also like to know the weeks scheduled in the HIG for 5B, 6A, and 6B. 5A has 16 weeks, but the HIGs seem to vary up to 18 weeks. Thanks again.

I've never particularly cared about naming our hs, but since HST Online wants me to have a name, we call our hs [Town name] Academy for Girls. Pretty boring... ;)

My 1st weaned weaned at 26 mos when I was pg with #2. My second, however, nursed until 3 1/2. For the last month or two, it was just at night.

TY - I am glad to hear more positive SL reviews. We already do SL history, so I am familiar with the scheduling, etc. I read her bio - interesting lady! Headed back to read more after school. Ugh - Noeo doesn't go into middle school. I really want to find something I can continue... And I had no idea that RS4K wasn't a full-yr. I really might suck it up and do science as outlined in TWTM - it's the planning part that seems to get me there ;)

Absolutely no idea what to do for science this year and we are already in wk 5. TBH we haven't done a thing - consistently - in science yet. However, my almost 11 yo loves science and constantly reads all she can on any science-related subject (and we have tons of books - from WTM elementary suggestions, Easy Classical, SL, and probably another program or two I bought & didn't use)! I spent the greater part of the morning looking through science posts in this forum, which left me more confused than ever :lol: The only thing I do know is that I do not want a young-earth text, as I am simply not sure what I believe on that topic (FWIW we are Protestant Christians). So far I like the looks of science TWTM way, but can't tell that many actually do it. Why not, I wonder? I have also considered SL, as I like how it is all planned out. Not sure I will like jumping around, but if it is a good and complete program I can certainly manage. I looked into BFSU. Am I understanding that there are just three books? How would that work - one for each stage? Finally I looked into RS4K. I really like the fact that it doesn't teach any particular world view, but not 100% sure why that appeals to me right now. Perhaps there is a downside to that? Also, would I be able to do elementary biology alongside middle school biology, or would that be too difficult? Thanks so much for any advice! I am also open to other programs (yikes)!

Question: DD has done very well in LoF Fractions. Most of the time she passes the Bridge in 1-3 tries. However, the Final Bridge has been very difficult for her. She has not passed any of the Final Bridges, and it looks like she might not pass this last one (she is working on it now). She is not consistent in they type of problems that she is missing. What says the Hive?

That's my problem - I had one lesson plan that included both math programs. Will change that this morning. Thanks again!

TY both so much!

I posted this on the HST site, but thought someone here might know & answer quickly! I use two math programs, and want to schedule one Mon-Thurs, and the other just on Fri. Is this possible? If so, could you please lead me to the correct Help topic or show me how to do this? Thanks so much!

Perfect - ty again!

Thanks! Would that be both pre-algebra books?

We are currently using LoF with SM, and plan to use LoF only after SM-6B. What LoF books would you all say we should complete by the end of 6B? I was thinking through Elementary Physics, but that's just a guess. TIA for your help!

We use the same recipe every Fri. night - LOVE it!

I used HST years ago when I had a PC. The past two years I have used paper & pencil, as I could find nothing for my Mac that suited me. But this year as I was planning, I discovered that HST has an online option now. I have been using it for a few weeks now and love it!

It sure is! I Googled first, got overwhelmed, and thought to ask here! I am so glad that you ladies knew where to look - and how cool that Caroline knows the owners! My DD's birthday is in Sept. and I need to ensure plenty of time to ship. Thanks again!

My daughter (almost 11 yo and 5' tall) really loves her unicycle, but it's too small. We need to get her a new one that will hopefully last several years, but I have no idea what to get or where to look (the one she has was gift from my parents). Can anyone lead me in the right direction?