From the Creek's Edge homepage, you can go to "At Creek's Edge" and find links to the history that you're doing. She has links to maps saved for you. That's what we've used this year.

and mailed the test back to the provider, did you insure the package? Last year the Post Office wouldn't insure my package, saying that they could not insure tests. I get my tests from BJU, and right on the front of the return envelope it says, "insure your packages." The postal worker said, "No. They mean ensure that you've got everything in there and sealed up." I tried to explain the difference between insure and ensure, but she wouldn't insure them. I ended up going to UPS and had no problem. Anyone had a similar experience? We're testing this week and I'd like to use the Post Office b/c it's cheaper, but wondering if I'm wasting my time with them. Thanks!

I'm spreading ours out over a week so we can continue to cover the 3 r's and not feel worn out. This is the first year I've done it this way. If I notice that it's too much, I'll adjust, but that's our plan.

Thanks for posting this!

We started off with Saxon 3, but it just wore on me and I had a feeling something colorful would catch her attention better. I moved her to Horizons 2 and she's about to finish. We could have skipped some at the beginning, but I wanted to give her plenty of time to memorize her facts.

We're toying with the idea of sending dd to a small charter school for high school, so I might only have one more year with her at home. She's always been an excellent writer, started with WWE and then some IEW. She really wants to be an author and works on different writing projects outside of school. Her stories become very complex and she often doesn't finish b/c she's never satisfied with her work. Her academic papers have always been good. I think she would really enjoy One Year Adventure Novel, but I know that WWS would probably benefit her more before heading off to a classroom. If I used WWS, I'd likely pair it with TCW, I'm just afraid that wouldn't be enough creative writing to make her happy. I'm afraid OYAN and WWS would be too much. Any opinions/advice? Jen

Inquiring minds...

We're using it for 2nd grade and it's going well. We enjoy the suggested readers and read-alouds too!

We write in the text too.

I've not used the RS4K book, but am using Apologia Astronomy with my almost 8yo dd this year. I've used it in the past with my other girls when they were 1st and 3rd grade. They used it in conjunction with a co-op class, but with my youngest we're doing it on our own. She enjoys it and retains a bit. She uses the journal, but I wish we'd got the Jr. Journal. We had an extra from the previous co-op so we went with what we had. She has no special interest in astronomy, but does point things out in the sky that we've gone over.

We're doing 2nd grade this year and having a good time with our choices: English - FLL, WWE, HWOT Cursive, SWO, Editor in Chief Math - Horizons Bible - Explorers Science - Apologia Astronomy History - Adventures in America (from Elemental Science) Geography - Maps, Charts & Graphs Reading - Sonlight, lots of American History readers, Christian LIberty Nature reader Music - concert choir art - Atelier and outside classes P.E. - summer swim team and year-round soccer We're taking a break from the history cycle with all the kids this year to focus on American History. Adventures in America has been a good fit for this wiggly dd. She likes the notebooking pages and the brief reading. We've read most of the read-alouds and suggested readers too. Haven't done all the hands-on stuff, but she's enjoyed those we've done. I think she's getting more out of this than she would have SOTW 3 which is where we were in the cycle.

It's so early that I'm sure I'll make changes, but at this point: Horizons Math finish 3 and start 4 FLL 3 WWE 3 SWO finish C and start D Sonlight readers Seton Religion 3 Apologia Flying Creatures Maps, Charts & Graphs C cursive practice? SOTW 4 or ? Concert Choir outside art class summer swim team & year-round soccer

7th grade dd started using a planner at the beginning of the year. She loves it. It's the middle school planner from Rainbow Resource.

If we continue with our current stuff, she'll do: Math: Horizons Pre-A Grammar: Hake 6 Reading: Seton 6 Writing: combo of Writing Strands and finishing up Jump In Vocab: Seton 6 Logic: Orbiting w/ Logic, Fallacy Detective Science: BJU 6 History: Ancients w/ World History Detective, spine not decided yet Music: Concert Choir art: Atelier Spanish: outside class P.E.: year-round soccer, summer swim team edited to reflect changes!

We just got back from a weekend at Great Wolf Lodge. We leave at the end of the month for skiing in Steamboat, CO. I've also promised the girls a Disney trip in 2013. We always spend all our vacation money skiing, so we've never been to Disney. In October we meet extended family for a week on Topsail(cheap off-season). With three kids playing travel soccer, it's hard to get away. One is already missing a tournament for the ski trip. It's been planned since August though and no one bothered to ask if we were available for the tournament. I also need to get to Indiana to visit relatives. My sister moved to Arkansas and it's our turn to visit her, so that's another trip I need to plan.

Thanks! Dd10 could certainly use an intensive year of writing. I'm going to think about letting her do something very light for grammar and focus more on writing next year.

This is similar to what my 2nd grader does. For science and history I prefer to do a solid week of one and then rotate to the other. I combine 2 weeks into one for each. She also has once a week choir and art and soccer 3-5 times a week.

Just wondering the point of skipping ahead in grammar? My kids have had a lot of grammar at this point, but we just keep plugging along to keep it fresh. Should I be looking at it a different way?

We've used a few different things for science, but it's Apologia stuff that actually gets done. This year I let my 5th grader do her own, Botany. I'm doing Astronomy with my 2nd grader and my 7th grader is doing General Science. They're all really enjoying the courses and doing well, though the timing for several botany projects has been difficult due to the weather. We're not young earth, but we just discuss the different beliefs in that area. We like the journals alongside the elementary books.

I'm planning to spend $600 for 3 kids, but I doubt it will be spread evenly. One is getting a more expensive gift than the others, but she's the youngest and won't understand if she only gets to open 2 things. The olders understand that we're saving for a special trip so they aren't asking for big stuff.

My dd is asking for almost nothing this year so it makes choosing pretty difficult. She really wants ferrets, but she's had rats for just a few months, so we've told her she has to wait(rats only live 2 years). She is looking for opportunities to foster though, b/c dh gave her permission to do so. She asked for a furby, I think only b/c her sisters are getting them. She wants a favorite OOP book from the library, which I've found for a reasonable price online. A suprise will be a belgian waffle maker. She is crazy about making them on those hotel breakfast buffets. I'll also get her a hoodie from her soccer club, new shin guards, and possibly new cleats. I'm still looking for ideas and listening from dropped hints.

Praying for you.

I have a 7yo dd and though she does play with toys, she will also draw for hours on end. She really like to listen to books on tape while drawing. As far as kits go, she likes the potholder loom thing and comes back to it over and over. Now if I can just figure out what to do with all the potholders. Does she play on the computer? Mine likes games, but maybe yours would like some sort of art/drawing software.

if you're meat eaters, summer sausage is always a favorite here. meatballs done in the crockpot are good and easy too.

I tend to rearrange or paint when dh is out of town for several days. :lol: That's just a couple of times a year.