I have. There's no way I could afford printing for two kids on cardstock. (we do a LOT of lapbooks, lol!) Obviously, they aren't as sturdy...but we are careful with them. I have certain place I store them so they don't just get thrown in their desks or something and it has always been fine for us. :)

I'm looking at Elemental Science, Noeo, and BJU for my 6th grader next year.

Here's mine: http://pinterest.com/homemama2/homeschool-stuff/ It's kind of a mess though. I'm hoping to organize it more when I have time this summer.

Thanks! Maybe I'll plan on BJU for life and earth and then keep Apologia as an option for the eighth grade, depending on how his math is going.

I think the IOWAs are correlated to the common core. ( the most recent)

Thank you!

I have a question about Physical science as a 9th grader. Around here, the schools tend to do Life, Earth and Physical science as middle school science classes. Physical science is usually only offered in 9th for non-college bound kids as another science option. Everyone else takes Bio 1. Now, I completely understand that the schools that offer physical science in middle school are not offering as difficult of a class as the ones that offer it in high school. My question is whether BJU's classes could be taken in middle school (Life, Earth, and Physical) for an average math student, or whether the math required in BJU's physical science is hard enough that you need to have Algebra 1 completed. (I'm trying to decide between Apologia and BJU and unfortunately cannot go to a convention this year. If I start either of them in 7th grade, then I have time to get my hands on a copy, but if BJU Life is doable in 6th then I need to purchase it this year. )

I'm wondering the same thing! I had decided on Core G partly because of the G. Foster books and then noticed in their most recent catalog they are no longer part of the core. :glare:

I 'think' this is probably an option b/c some math programs allow calculator usage from a young age. Our program does not have them use a calculator much so we chose not to let our kids use it. I figured the calculator would end up being more of a distraction than a help. They have to mark on the test if they used a calculator, but I'm not sure how it affects the scoring.

We don't use it regularly, but sometimes my son seems to understand things better when I write it up there instead of just looking at the book (I'm thinking in particular of Math Mammoth. I think the pages have too much on them for him to focus or something. ) ;)

No. The copywork/dictation is printed on the page but that's in the TM part.

Is this the same as the Read and Think sheets? If so, we used them for one year in 4th grade. I really liked them, and saw a HUGE improvement in my son's ability in that one year. In fact, on his standardized tests this year (5th) that was his highest score (reading/comprehension). Since he improved so much, I didn't bother using them again. But I would use them again if I thought he needed more work.

Has anyone used their lit. guides? I keep looking at them for next year (6th grade.)

I'm wondering the same thing!

Well, we used Artistic Pursuits book 2 (grades K-3) when we used SOTW 2. I used this with a second and fourth grader. The table of contents might give you ideas for artists to study if the book is too young for your dd.

We used the gears kit. It was what Elemental Science recommended for their grammar stage physical science. My boys loved it.

I think it depends on the child. For my oldest level C was very difficult mainly because of the geometry/ drawing lessons. His motor skills weren't up to holding all of the pieces and drawing the figures. These took us forever. My younger son LOVED these same lessons and absolutely flew through this level. Then in level D, my older son flew through this while my younger son is taking a little longer. I think if RS is working for you, stick with it even if certain spots bog you down. I really liked how RS teaches fractions. We have moved into math mammoth for my oldest after completing B-E and it is clear his knowledge of fractions is excellent ( and he is a very average student- not math minded- so I credit this to RS)

Looks great!

Since dh is so opposed, I would look at ways to make the best of homeschooling. Besides, if you think about it, ps kids aren't suppose to be talking during class. Plus the ps 5th graders in our area average about 1-2 hours of homework per night (this obviously varies across the country.) So, that doesn't leave a lot of socializing time (lunch, recess, the bus.) You'd be giving up things like latin and spanish (at least at our schools...these are not offered. The GT class gets latin roots, that's it.) This year, I had to start making more of an effort to have friends over. We invite someone over after co-op each week. In the fall, a group of us plan to meet Friday afternoons to do a couple of subjects together (art etc) and then give them a play time afterwards. We also are doing a group once a quarter where the kids have to do public speaking of some sort (book report, speech, recite a poem etc.) then they play afterwards. I'm not sure what you can do with your work schedule, but I bet you could come up with ideas that would help your ds not feel lonely.

Thank you!

Agreeing with the others, screen time does NOT work here before school. In fact, I don't let mine watch T.V. until school is totally over (mine want to watch it during their recess time.) The only time they can watch anything is if it is specific to their school work (for ex. a civil war documentary during our civil war study etc.) We ease into school by having me read aloud a story, a poem, singing songs, doing picture study etc. at the breakfast table.

We have a school room now, but didn't for the first 4 yrs. I had a kitchen cupboard that I kept school stuff in including odd shaped things and binders, a bookshelf in the living room for school books, and then kept the space under the entertainment center for two rubbermaid tubs (one for math manipulatives, one for other manipulatives.) My kitchen and living rooms are next to each other so it was convenient. It was easier when I was only schooling one and they were little. :) I also condensed ALOT and used the library a ton. I have so much junk now it's spilling into other rooms even though we have a school room. :glare: I also had our timeline in a binder, not on the wall. And our maps were all ones that I could fold up and I stuck them away too. We didn't have anything on the walls (per hubby's request.)

Where can you get the five dollar ebook ? I found a ten dollar one but not a five dollar one... :)

Mine have been in this crazy fog all week. I think mine are just on summer break a few weeks early. :huh: We've had to take a few deep breaths around here as well....

We discussed it lightly when it comes up it history for the young ones. Then the older they get, the more in depth we discuss it. When my oldest was in first grade and we were studying American history we talked about it but kept it very simple. My son's best friend was black so we discussed a lot of it in terms of how the two boys would have been treated differently, how their families would have been treated etc. That helped him grasp the idea of how "bad" and "unfair" it was. Now that we're studying American history again this year (5th and 3rd) we've discussed how they physically treated them so horribly, how they would separate families etc. without being extremely graphic. We plan to handle the holocaust the same way next year....and then save the real in-depth discussions for high school. We handled the treatment of the Native Americans in the same way.