I ship media mail (insured if it's expensive). My favorite website is Homeschool Classifieds. It's easy to list items, and usually they sell pretty quickly.

:( Me too...

Well, I'm trying to find a substitute for the Ancient China Treasure Chest called for in Sonlight Core F (not the new version), since it's OOP. The kit that SL currently sells does not have good reviews and doesn't look like it comes with a book. I was thinking about using this book I found on Amazon: Great Ancient China Projects You Can Build Yourself. Has anyone used it, especially in conjunction with SL Core F? Will I need to buy a lot of supplies? Unfortunately, the book preview doesn't let me see any of the projects. It does look pretty good however. Does anyone have any other recommendations for a substitute? Any input would be appreciated. Thanks!

Thanks so much everyone! I'd never heard of Scratch or Alice before. :) They look pretty cool.

Thanks so much for the CNN link! I found this one, too, after doing a bit of looking. :) http://www.pbs.org/newshour/extra/ I love this idea in theory, but I never seem to get around to it. :) :rofl: Exactly

I don't have any advice...my kids are driving me crazy. :glare: We're all counting down until school starts. :) I am considering buying a bucket of icing at Sam's Club and letting them practice cake decorating skills. :) The great idea is offset by the sugar rush it's sure to generate.:lol:

Okay, I think it's really important for kids to learn about current events and news. We don't have TV (we just use netflix, the internet, etc.). Does anyone know of any good online resources to use in order to teach kids about current events without them being exposed to all sorts of nastiness on news websites? Maybe what I'm looking for doesn't exist. I don't think they need to be guarded from everything, but I feel like the news media tries to emphasize the most bizarre, disgusting things out there, often at the expense of real news. I guess this turned into more of a rant than a question. :lol: Anyway, if anyone has any suggestions, I'd really appreciate them!

:lol: Letter Factory really is IMO the best resource out there for learning basic phonics. I've found it's really helpful later when using 100EZ lessons. If they get stuck on a certain sound, I just start singing..."The h says...?" and it usually jogs their memory. :)

I just realized the deal ends tomorrow on HSBC, so the pressure's on for me to make a decision. :) Thanks everyone for your input!

:iagree: Most of my younger kids started earlier because they were watching their older siblings and really wanted to learn. Not only that, but their siblings had already taught them lots of things through play. When child #5 was 4 years old, she knew how to count to 100+, skip count by 2's, 5's and 10's (acknowledging that she is very mathy), her letters, colors, etc. The kicker is, I hadn't done ANYTHING formal with her! WooooHoooo! This is one of the benefits I see of homeschooling. Younger kids actually learn things from older kids because they get to spend time with them. :) I TRIED to slow down child #3 because I wasn't ready to teach him. I was quite occupied with his older sisters that I was obliged to teach, and I had 3 babies to take care of. So he decided he didn't need me. He just grabbed 100EZ lessons and started teaching himself...lol! He was 4. Every now and then he'd hit a sound he didn't know and he'd run to me..."What does this say???" I'd tell him and he'd run off to go practice. :) Some kids aren't ready at these ages, but if they are there's no harm in them learning. One of my daughters is very artistic and wasn't at all interested in words. She just wanted to make up her own stories by looking at the pictures. She didn't really learn to read until she was 7, but once she did, she loved it! I think it's because I didn't push her too hard. My goal for every one of my kids was that they would love to read. And that means you have to learn to read your kids because they're all different. :)

I noticed on the website that there are also teaching videos. Do you think these are necessary and/or useful enough to be worth purchasing?

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I was looking for. And thanks for the tip about the download version vs. the printed. I didn't realize I could get a print version, which I usually prefer. :)

:iagree: That's what I do too! Leapfrog Letter Factory followed up with 100 EZ Lessons when they know their letters and I think they're ready. No need to panic...it's early yet! :)

I posted this on the K-8 forum, but I thought maybe I'd find better luck here. I'm looking for input about Kidcoder and/or Teencoder from Homeschool Programming Inc. HBC has is at a discount right now, but I'd like to hear what others think before I jump in. How long (approx.) would one course last? Do you feel they learned enough for it to be useful? I'm looking mainly at Kidcoder Windows Programming and Kidcoder Gaming Programming. Thanks!

I'm looking for input about Kidcoder and/or Teencoder from Homeschool Programming Inc. HBC has is at a discount right now, but I'd like to hear what others think before I jump in. How long (approx.) would one course last? Do you feel they learned enough for it to be useful? I'm looking mainly at Kidcoder Windows Programming and Kidcoder Gaming Programming. Thanks!

We haven't actually used WWE yet, so maybe someone else will chime in here. I would probably use it for writing only. However, I would drop doing handwriting worksheets and just count this as handwriting practice since dd already knows how to form the letters. She just needs practice perfecting them. :) It looks like there is some grammar, enough for me to drop Daily Grams 2, but I don't know if it would suffice for older kids. I'm sure we'll stick with Easy Grammar starting in 3rd grade. Did you look at the samples on Amazon or Peace Hill Press? Amazon is less expensive, but Peace Hill Press has much better samples of their books.

:iagree: I love it when I'm planning my younger kids because I've done it enough times that I have definite favorites. Some of my curriculum are like old friends. :) When I venture into new grades, however, it can be SO difficult. Although I have to confess I think the researching is kinda fun, too.

I got mine at Sam's Club.

This is one reason I use HST. I'm the kind of person who just won't plan during the year, because I'm too wiped out from school all week. Instead, I'll end up letting things slide. I like having the ability to schedule the whole year when I'm fresh and excited about the upcoming curriculum. If I have to make adjustments (because life happens), the reschedule button is there to rescue me. :)

:iagree:100%!

We use Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons coupled with Leapfrog's Letter Factory DVD. I follow up with AAS, since I've learned that being able to read well doesn't mean they'll be able to spell well. It has worked fantastically for all 6 of my kids. My youngest finished the book shortly before she turned 5 (she was eager to read, too) and now reads on at least a 3rd grade reading level.

Just thought I'd share that I bought 20 of these books very early in our homeschooling, and they are actually my kids' favorite books. They even talk about who's going to get to keep them when they're all grown up!

My personal vote would be for Homeschool Tracker. I've used HST+ for several years, but I've switched to the Online version. My favorite feature is that my kids can login and see their own schedule. This has lent itself to greater independence and my kids really like it! I also like that I can add internet links to their assignments. So, for example, say there's a video clip that goes along with the lesson for the day that you want them to see. You can add the link to the assignment so it'll take them directly to it. It's great for me because I don't think of those cool little extras during the busyness of the school year.

Here's what we're doing this year (with my 5yo who is reading well and doing 1st, and my 7yo who is reading well and working at 2nd/3rd) : Reading/History/Geography - Sonlight Core B (for both), 5yo (2nd grade readers), 7yo (3rd grade readers) Handwriting/Writing - 5yo still working on handwriting (thinking about starting WWE 1), 7yo practicing cursive and doing Writing Tales 1 Phonics/Spelling -AAS for both Grammar - 7yo will be continuing Easy Grammar 3, 5yo may start Daily Grams 2. I've had success with doing Daily Grams 2 in first grade (if the kids are already reading and writing well). Math - 5yo Saxon 2, 7yo Saxon 3 Science - BJU Science Art - Mark Kistler's Online Drawing Lessons Music - undecided

:iagree:I'd keep moving on. I have 2 kids that are particularly bright with math. DS10 will be doing Saxon 87 this year, and DD7 is almost done with Saxon 3, has mastered addition, subtraction and multiplication with Xtramath.org, and is working on division. In our case, my kids who love math seem to thrive when given more. It's like a game to them and they can't get enough. They lose interest when it's too slow.