I'm putting all the finishing touches on school preparation this week, and I'm trying to decide if the SL timeline figures are worthwhile. Do you use them and love/hate them? Did you plan to use them, but had a hard time fitting them in? I have to order them today if I'm going to use them. I'm looking over everything we've got planned and I'm feeling swamped. I don't want to waste my money if we're not really going to use them, but I don't want to miss out if they're wonderful...KWIM?

I bought this one, per SWB's advice in WWS.

:grouphug: So sorry your family is going through this. I can only imagine how scary it must be. I hope everything turns out well.

Our kids like Typing Instructor.

I didn't like it. I found it very stressful to schedule all my time. I have found that structure is important and helpful, but MOTH just felt like too much for me.

I've put together a variety of fun options to learning math facts here.

We did meet all of these requirements. We were trying to establish it through our church, but were denied. I'm not sure when these laws came into being, but perhaps they came after my time (I graduated in 1995). Either that, or I was just not well informed enough to really go after it. Also, I was not aware that "release time" for religious instruction was something allowed anywhere else for other religions. So I appreciate the clarification. I'm glad to know that it's not entirely exclusive to the LDS church, but Utah is definitely the only place I've seen it.

You have to realize, this "release time" is during public school, not private schooling. It was actually part of their class schedule. My graduation requirements were far less stringent in UT than in CA because they had to accommodate time for kids to have seminary during school time. We tried to get permission to have "release time" for Christians to study the Bible. We weren't participating in seminary, but were very much interested in studying our beliefs (I can recall 3 Christians). We were not allowed to do this, even though a separate building apart from the school was made available to us (supposed separation of church and state). One of the reasons I homeschool is to be able to study our families beliefs with our kids. That doesn't bother me. But when one religion gets preference over another during public school, that's a major problem. The seminary training in UT public schools should be done before or after school just like it's done by other LDS members throughout the nation. :iagree:My sentiments and experience exactly. I will also add that even though I'm a Christian, I've had plenty of unpleasant encounters and experiences with other Christians, and unfortunately I've been the offending party more times than I care to admit. My beliefs are not based off of who is "nicer," since I can find plenty of well meaning, nice people in all walks of life. My beliefs stem from what I am convinced is Truth, no matter how well people do or don't represent that Truth.

I have known many nice Mormons, so I'm not trying to make a rash generalization here about all Mormons. But my experience counters the notion that they're all embracing of others. I moved to a small predominantly Mormon town in Utah when I was 16 years old. My first day of school (public school), I was asked by 5 out of 6 teachers, in front of the entire class, which Ward I belonged to (which is the same as saying which church do you attend?). I was shocked! Before any of the kids could learn anything else about me, it was made known that I was a Christian and not a Mormon. I was completely ostracized my junior and senior years of high school. I didn't get asked to the prom and I had very, very few people who would really even talk to me. Granted, sometimes kids in general can just be mean or unaccepting of the new kid, but I think it was easy for them to leave me out because they didn't need to accept anyone who was different. They had enough people just like themselves. Just for the record, I don't harbor any ill will toward Mormons. Quite the contrary, I have a lot of family who is Mormon. My Dad used to be Mormon, but is a Christian now. As a matter of fact George Reynolds was my great grandfather. I do agree that Mormons do tend to have great family values and can be very loving and kind, but so are a great many Christians I know. Also, there are many foul "jack" Mormons out there, just as there are many who claim to be Christians but certainly don't live like they are.

Just wanted to let everyone know Atelier is on sale at HSBC again, up to 40% off. I missed this sale last time around, so I'm planning to purchase this time. :D

Same here. And to add input to your theory, we were married young. I went from home, to the Navy (where you don't have to take care of a lot of those things), to being married. I guess our habits came from after I was discharged and became a SAHM military wife. I was the one who was consistently home, so it made sense that I would take care of those things. :001_smile: It would drive me crazy to be that clueless about our financial state.

I voted 5. I often get up with dh before he goes to work. I also learned long ago, that I am a much better mom when I get up before my kids. I personally can't stand waking up to: "Mommy, can I have this? Mommy, will you get me that?" etc. It makes me really cranky. I just have to have my own quiet time in the morning.

I don't think I would redo Saxon 2 again, especially since he understands the concepts. Instead, I'd probably take a couple of months and focus on basic facts, then head into Saxon 3. Are you using Xtramath or anything like it? It seems to me that while Saxon 3 does continue to practice addition and subtraction, they also move into multiplication pretty quickly. My dd7 (also just out of first grade) finished Saxon 2. I've used the summer to have her work on multiplication and division with Xtramath.

:iagree:

:iagree: More than likely, she'll cash them much faster this time. :)

Thanks for this idea! I thought $39.99 seemed pretty high for little plastic clips, but I found pretty much the same thing on Amazon for $7.95 here. It looks like you get 4 strips that each hold 5, but can be broken into smaller sections to customize. Doing the happy dance and gonna give it a try! :hurray:

We're enjoying Mark Kistler's online drawing lessons. Not DVD, I know, but definitely open and go. The subscription is discounted at Homeschool Buyer's Co-op. You can also try a couple of free sample lessons to see if you like them. Just wanted to add that I don't know about Atelier, but I'm :bigear: since I've been interested in it too.

I started out using Rod and Staff with my kids. After a couple of years (and BJU in between) I ended up switching to Saxon and have been in love ever since. I disagree with pp about Saxon early levels. We've used them and really liked them. I do skip Saxon K, as my kids pretty much do those things when they're playing in their toddler years. We start Saxon 1 in K. We use Xtramath instead of speed drills. I have no experience with RightStart.

I used 100 Easy Lessons with all my kids. I created a sticker chart to go with it, which they loved. When they finished the book, they were each given a reward. It has to be something they will really look forward to receiving. It was a huge help keeping them motivated on days they didn't want to do it. Reading is really the only subject we've offered a reward for, but it's been effective. 4.5 is pretty young, so I wouldn't worry about her. But if all she needs is a little motivation, this may work for you. :) My youngest finished 100EZ lessons when she was 4, so I'm a pretty big believer that a lot of kids can learn a lot earlier than is typically assumed. But I'm also a big believer that one of your main goals should be that she enjoy reading, even if it means slowing down a little.

Thanks! This is just what I was looking for. We also have Mark Kistler's drawing lessons and I was trying to decide, in part, if this would be a worthwhile addition. Sounds like the combination could be really good. I think I'll give it a try. :)

Thanks for all the great info! I think I'll be going with the workbook. :) I'm also going to be using WWS with my older kids and I'm super excited about it, too!

I just noticed that HSBC has Mike's Inspiration Station DVD's at a pretty good discount this month (all 12 volumes for $34.95). Has anyone used these? What did you think? Could these be used as an art program?

Just for clarification, are you saying the book, The Complete Writer: Writing With Ease, is not really needed? I've been trying to figure out if it's necessary. Thanks!

For what it's worth, I think you've chosen some solid programs. I'm not sure how AAR and AAS work together, because we've always done Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons before AAS, with great success. I think AAR looks good, I just chose to stick with what has always worked well for us. I think it's wise that you've chosen separate spelling/phonics and writing programs. Overall, I think your plan looks pretty good. I'm not sure what grade Shurley English begins, but I don't typically start formal grammar until 2nd-3rd grade.

I'll be 49 when my youngest is 20, and 40 when my oldest is 20!