Emphasis? It definitely falls below math & language arts, but it also is higher in priority than formal music or art appreciation, or formal art or music skills. That said, we still make sure we do both weekly. This year, ds is in K, and we're doing history more formally than we are science, because dd & ds asked if he could start SOTW this year (as dd cycled back to ancients herself), but next year history & science will have equal weight. For us, it's about exposure. It also provides a framework for me. If we're doing SOTW, it gives me a framework to look for additional non-fiction & literature. The content gives us a lot of opportunities for narration and comprehension. The experience of doing experiments before having to write formal lab reports is valuable. Absolutely necessary? Of course not! But we still find it valuable. It also adds interest, especially for ds who needs interaction with his learning.

I have almost everything listed that I need to buy curricula-wise, but not supplemental books-wise.

We're in East Cobb, closer to Marietta, and we have about 5 inches. The kids are enthralled. The dog (a Siberian Husky) thinks we custom ordered this for her.

This is essentially my philosophy, though I'm finding I may have to bend a little sooner than I like due to other factors. How do you incorporate technology? Generally, I don't view technology as something that I wish to incorporate too much in the logic stage. I think of it more as a supplement or add-on to our "core." When did your dc start using a calculator? She hasn't yet (fifth grade, but just finished Life of Fred Advanced Algebra); next year she'll be primarily doing geometry, so I don't see a reason for it there. I suspect seventh grade will be the time when I finally give in and let her use a basic calculator (trig). If she wasn't ahead in math, she would not use a calculator for all of logic stage. When do your dc start typing their writing assignments? The plan is to start that in seventh grade. How much online research vs book? Very little online research. My background is in the sciences and all I can think when I research on the internet is "Where is the peer review? Did anyone even edit this?" :tongue_smilie: Do they have a computer, netbook, or tablet of their own? No. DD does share use of an iPod Touch w/ her father, but she uses it for flashcards and the timer, plus alarms. How do you monitor online activity? She has very little time online, but browser history & open access to her email and all other sites she might visit. Do they use an electronic schedule? Her assignments are written by hand. She does use the alarms on the iPod to help her remember to transition between subjects/activities. Have they taken virtual classes? One so far, from onlineg3. She will probably take some of the Art of Problem Solving courses before logic stage is over. What options are there for learning the various software programs? What she is doing now, slowly, is working through a big fat "Mac for Dummies" book, as well as Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing. After she's finished the those, then I'll be signing her up for various workshops/what have you at the Apple store. I'd rather her learn the Mac software and then go back later for familiarity with Microsoft Office. Would you see that they have experience with MS and MAC? Microsoft Office software, yes. We use a Mac, so that is covered. I assume that in the next few years, there will be times she encounters a Windows machine. If she gets to, say, junior year of high school without significant exposure, I might attempt to make sure she can do basic stuff on a Windows machine. I know a lot of my local friends think I'm a bit of a Luddite in my approach to kids and technology, but I think that we have a good balance of its advantages with plenty of non-screen times.

Generally, I ask dd which curricula she likes best and the reasons why. I also use my observations to extrapolate further reasons some curricula are big hits and others are not. If I do end up trying to decide between two specific programs or books, I will sometimes ask her opinion. Often, though, by the time I take multiple things into consideration, including what type curricula she likes & does best with, I'm down to only one choice anyway. She and I have had extensive discussions about what direction to go with regard to math and science. To some extent, she decided what science she'd pursue during logic stage, but I've decided the order and the primary resources to use.

I mark the number correct on objective assignments, yes, and put it as a fraction and/or percentage. I don't assign a letter grade to things I consider "practice exercises" (most outlines, some grammar), nor to more subjective things (writing assignments). I suppose I'll have to on the latter at some point.

Dd started Fred after finishing the six Miquon books & the first 12-13 of the Developmental Math books, at the very end of third grade. Decimals & Percents in fourth grade.

Ours is up–first week back went surprisingly well!

My oldest used all of Miquon and Developmental Math up to book 12 or 13. Then she used the Key to... books & the first two Life of Fred books before continuing with Life of Fred Beg. Algebra. She's still using Life of Fred, and she's also using some Art of Problem Solving texts and various other resources. Ds is using Right Start & Miquon... Miquon because we loved it, and Right Start seemed liked it would fit ds well. So far it has.

I don't know if it's "good" according to anyone else's definition, but ds is doing Miquon alongside Right Start. I like that Miquon introduces a few more concepts earlier on, and we both like the change of pace between the two. I think Math Mammoth is a common pair with Right Start.

Planned out curriculum? Yep. A few question marks, but mostly finished choosing. Planned out specifically for weeks? No. I've started the process of picking supplemental books for SOTW 2 for ds, as well as for life science with him next year, though.

I don't think school should be "fun" in the sense Western society uses the word. I think it should be satisfying to learn new things. I think there should be genuine pleasure when a child masters material, or has a new understanding a subject. I think happiness can be found in work well-done. But, no, I don't think it should be fun. I was recently reading Barzun's House of Intellect (which I highly recommend, along with his Begin Here; I can't wait to get my hands on more of his work) and I wrote down several quotes, but this was one of my favorites: "The business of learning must above all others be represented in its true guise as difficult, as demanding effort." Learning isn't easy, and too often, fun is equated only with something that is easy or requires no effort. School should be not easy, requiring little to no effort.

I feel like this is very true. Things change a rapid rate. Yes, some professions will be with us, but I suspect that many professions will change considerably, possibly be unrecognizable, or be totally new. My kindergartener has a better idea of what he wants to do when he grows up than his fifth grade sister. This still isn't saying much. ;)

Well, I have the opposite problem. I feel like I'm putting so much time into my kindergartener that my older one is missing out on prime instructional time. Ds loves the work we're doing together, for the most part, and honestly, he would be disruptive if I tried to work with dd in the mornings while he played with little dd. But then I have to fit in the work I do with older dd during the afternoon while ds is having quiet time and little dd is (hopefully) napping. Since we have activities by 2 three days a week, this sometimes means we're doing Caesar's English after dinner. :glare: Unfortunately, dd's best time is in the morning, so we're missing out on some good instructional time. My solution so far this year is occasionally doing some schoolwork with dd on a weekend day or deliberately leaving a bit of work for ds to do independently or with dh during the afternoon or evening (usually reading w/ dh or pages in ETC). I'm looking at next year and know that I'm going to have to be really careful about what activities we plan and what time they are each at. Another thought – what is each child's best/worst area, and what is their best time to work? For instance, I've had dd do math in the mornings, but math is her best subject. She can do great work in math at any time, though, so I may need to change that up, for example. Just a few thoughts.

My kids are 10, 5, and 2. Fifteen minutes before dd starts schoolwork, she's just getting up. Fifteen minutes before ds starts schoolwork, he's eating breakfast. Fifteen minutes before I start with either of them, I'm either eating breakfast or (more likely) cleaning up breakfast while the kids finish eating. Our bedrooms, kitchen, etc. are all on the main floor of the house, and the schoolroom/playroom is up in the finished attic, so we transition by going upstairs. It seems to work pretty well.

We've used part of LfC A & all of LL1. At the time we used LfC A, dd abhorred it. She hated the activity book, she didn't like doing the workbook, you name it. We used LL the next year and she completed it happily. Just a few days ago she announced that she had "really loved that first Latin curriculum we used, the one with the book that had all the mazes and crossword puzzles!" :tongue_smilie: I think that the difficulty level is similar. If you use the reader in LfC A, it would provide more translation practice, definitely. The main difference, though, is in presentation, IMO.

what we're doing now for K... OPGTR & ETC ds just started SWO A a few weeks before Christmas (mainly at his insistence) HWT Miquon Orange RightStart A, moving into B WWE 1 & FLL 1 (again, mainly because he wants to Do School like his big sister, and his writing is surprisingly good for his age) random science experiments & reading random science books (Thames & Kosmos Little Labs, Magic School Bus kits, Let's Read and Find Out science books) SOTW 1 + AG (and, yes, again, at his insistence... he & his sister asked last February if he could go ahead and study ancients so they'd be studying the same time period for a year. It was so sweet I couldn't turn them down.) It looks like a lot but he doesn't do everything every day or even every week (e.g., we did several weeks of just Miquon and no Right Start; before that we did several weeks of just Right Start and no Miquon).

I used to use dd's chore sheet to list her morning stuff; now (10) it's pretty ingrained, so I use the chore sheet for habits that aren't yet. ;) She lays out her clothes at night before going to bed. I check to make sure her alarm is set. When her alarm goes off, she is to: - turn off her alarm - close the door & turn on the light (so the light from her room doesn't wake her siblings) - make her bed - get dressed - brush hair - use the restroom - brush teeth We're working on adding the hair-brushing and the teeth-brushing as automatic right now, but everything else she does pretty much without prompting. We'll probably add 'wash face' next year. After all of those are completed, she tells me good morning and goes into the schoolroom to work on one subject (usually math) before breakfast.

We don't do school on birthdays – the kids' OR mine. This past year, we had season passes for the local water park (a critical mass of the kids was finally old enough I felt it was worth it) and our new tradition is definitely going to be going to the water park on the day that our county starts back to school. It happened to fall on elder dd's birthday this past year but I think we're going to keep doing it. Ds & little dd are both far too young, but elder dd and I try to go out & discuss schoolwork at least twice a year - usually we go to Starbucks one evening and have a girls' night out. :) I have a few specific questions I ask her (what subjects she likes best/least, what curricula she likes best/least and why) and then let her just tell me all manner of things - some school-related, some not.

No, it's not. It was such a relief to find a homeschooling high school book that acknowledged and even, at times, advocated a rigorous academic curriculum.

I think ds will finish OPGTR & most of the ETC books that I want to use before we officially start first grade in the autumn. I also think (but don't know) that we'll finish Right Start B and the first Miquon book before autumn. Language Arts: Spelling Workout B, FLL Level 2, HWT Printing Power, WWE 2 Literature: good picture books, leveled readers, plus fiction to correspond with history Mathematics: Miquon Red, Right Start C History: SOTW 2 + AG & supplemental nonfiction Science: first grade life science a la WTM (using The Natural World, DK First Animal Encyclopedia, Kingfisher Human Body Encyclopedia, & Incredible Plants as spines; Let's Read & Find Out, Rookie Read-About, and National Geographic books for additional reading) Foreign Language: German w/ some friends, and possibly a Saturday school as well. Fine Arts Appreciation: trips to the art museum, a few lessons from Art in Story that correspond to history, Sister Wendy DVDs, various books; The Story of Classical Music, Classical Kids podcast; weekly attendance at Master's Academy of Fine Arts Fine Arts Skills: How to Teach Art to Children, maybe Drawing for Children; Music for Little Mozarts (at home, not w/ a teacher; I think I can manage this even though it's been years since I've done much playing). I really need to get to work on picking supplemental reading for history & science both. :tongue_smilie:

I can share what we've done this year for fifth grade. :) Math: Life of Fred. (Dd is accelerated in this area, so we've also added several other resources, including Art of Problem Solving, Patty Paper Geometry, and two courses from TIP) Language Arts: MCT Voyage level, plus All About Spelling Level 6, and various literature from a list I put together. Science: PLATO science, plus supplementary reading and a couple of experiment kits (mostly Thames & Kosmos) History: So far, she's done it a la WTM, using History: The Definitive Visual Guide as her spine. I'm going to change this up for the latter half of the year, I'm just not sure how, yet. :D Latin: Started out the year using Latin Prep. We're on an indefinite hiatus from foreign language at the moment. Logic: Critical Thinking 1 & 2 via online course Fine Arts: Appreciation via Art and The Complete Idiot's Guide to Music History; skills via private piano & trumpet lesson. She also participates in Master's Academy of Fine Arts once a week, which covers some appreciation & skill in visual arts, music, and drama.

Essay Voyage is stellar, stellar writing instruction. We've used Island-Voyage now, and it's probably my favorite book out of those three levels, hands-down. I wouldn't hesitate to use it for your sole writing instruction for a year. One of the reasons we have stuck with Fred for algebra on up is the books take less than a school year to complete, giving dd time to explore even more areas of math. I think she's got her finger in three different pots, so to speak, currently, and she'll finish up her current Fred book in just two weeks after our break, so she'll add a different third 'pot' at that point. Logic - we went w/ Critical Thinking this year after Mindbenders and the Orbiting w/ Logic series. Dd has been doing the class through onlineg3, which has been great for both of us - she gets to have discussions, and I don't have to try to facilitate a course that is really geared to be done in a group. I would pick just one science, tbh. We doubled up on science this year, with good reasoning, etc., but as we reach the middle of the year, I'm wishing that I had found a different way.

:iagree: We spent "less" on our kids this year. "Less" is a relative term that apparently I should not even feel like using. In our household, we wouldn't have young children with laptops, but goodness, yes. I'd love to give my kids a house or a sizable down payment on a house for a college grad present. I sincerely hope I'll be able to do so.

So far, I'm using mostly the same stuff for language arts... ds is able to succeed with Spelling Workout, whereas dd was not, and we had to find a different solution for her. Math... yes and no. Miquon is a repeat. I would have liked to use Developmental Math with ds but a lot of the workbooks are now unavailable, so I decided not to go that route.