Thanks! I did spot some ideas on Homeschool share so that was very helpful!

Does anyone know where I can find samples of Before Five In A Row on line? My mother-in-law from Canada works with kids from about 2 years to 4 years whose mothers are taking an ESL (English as a Second Language) course at their church. It is government sponsored so it can't be religious. They like to read basic books and do lots of very simple activities that tie in. I though Before Five In A Row might help her with book ideas and activity ideas. She could leave out the Christian books. So any samples on line or suggestions of whether this would work? Other similar ideas would be great too.

Just to add another side . . . they never mix up b and d with d'Nealian. You start at the top with B. I have never had my kids struggle with letters looking different other than the Times Roman 'a' which I think a lot of kids notice. I guess I can't really see how the letters look different other than the loop at the end.

A lady in a neighboring town here in Montana found a dead bat and took it to school. She showed it to several classes and to some kids outside playing sports. Apparently she gave a real interesting talk on bats and had wet wipes handy but . . . somehow they found out the bat had died of rabies and all those kids had to get rabies shots! It cost the school a bundle of money (their liability insurance covered some). The news never said the mother's name but I'm sure most people in the community know who it is. I kept feeling sorry for her and wondering how she felt. Of course the big kicker was that she was a nurse and should have really known better!

All of my children do D'Nealian. They have beautiful handwriting (okay, my son's isn't always!) Cursive has been an extremely easy transition. By the end of third they are very confident at cursive (my youngest is in the middle of third but she is getting very confident). I would probably suggest workbooks at first because of their instruction but after that there are several sites on the internet where you can create your own worksheet pages with D'Nealian. I do their spelling words or other things this way so we cover 2 things at once.

I was going to comment on the age also. I think they should use manipulatives and time lines and visual pictures until about the middle of second grade. Skip counting can be started about the beginning of second grade. I would make it a goal to have addition and subtraction down fairly well by the end of second grade. I have a goal for multiplication and division to be fairly solid by the end of third grade. Multiplication needs to be learned before long division and complicated multiplication and both should be solid before Algebra. You have a long way before you need to panic! Comprehension is much more important at this point.

They do have an option for scheduling out the day according to time. You than can print out the schedule with the time increments on the side. You can easily put in weekly scheduled activities such as music lessons that print out on this sheet too. I don't use that. I just want a list of daily assignments.

Yes, MOH does have audio CD's. I haven't used them but haven't heard a lot of negative or positive.

Actually the plan is for 5 books total. The third just came out and she says about 2 years per book. Each book has definately increased in depth. We are doing the third book and finding it quite deep. I think your kids would be a perfect age for the first book. I also think you will want to plan on doing all the mapping, timelines, and quiz work. We found them perfect for cementing the facts. She also has activities for the different levels. They look great but we haven't done them because I'm combining with Sonlight and it was just too much. These activities include hands on and research type projects. You will have to photocopy the maps and quizzes for the first two books, the third one came out with a separate CD or book with maps and activities. The mapping is really straight forward. All you need is a good historical and modern atlas. She has links for some on the web. She has some book and movies suggestions to round it out but I really loved combining with Sonlight books. I looked back at your other questions. As far as teacher prep it could be just photocopying maps and quizzes or it could include bringing in extra books, but that would be all. I have my youngest sitting in. She started in 1st grade. SOTW would be much more her level but I didn't want to do both. We borrowed the SOTW CD's and she listened to those. If you have time it would be great to do both and if you ask around you can find the two programs lined up. I know a bunch on Sonlight have done that. Ask any more questions. I have really enjoyed Mystery of History. The only negative may possibly be that it isn't quite as engaging as SOTW.

I hope this works right! Someone just posted this site about a week ago. It is a site where the books are read. You can listen for free. I think you may have to sign up if you wish to download them. I don't know if that would cost money. My kids love listening to books on tape so this worked great for us. http://www.archive.org/search.php?query=creator%3A%22John%20H.%20Haaren%20and%20A.%20B.%20Poland%22

I personally found starting too young was a great waste of time and effort. My older two started on 1st grade in public school so I kept with it. I did not really see progress until about 4th grade. I really don't think they have the coordination. I will start 4th grade with my youngest. I also found doing typing in units worked much better. For example, doing 20 minutes a day for 6 weeks accomplished a whole lot more than 20 minutes for twice a week for a whole semester. We have had great success with Typing Instructor Deluxe.

I would seriously look at Sonlight. It was originally designed for overseas missionaries so provides everything you need and has a broad worldview. It has wonderful book selections that can really pull the child into learning. The Language Art is a 'natural' approach. It is much more relaxed and yet the most kids really learn with it. There are other similar curriculums but that is favorite. There is really something to say for going very relaxed for awhile and picking up with something after Christmas. Spend time researching until then and enjoy life now.

My husband actually went straight to pastoring from a Bachelor's degree from a Bible college. It wasn't even a pastoral degree but a theology degree. He had one preaching course and no counceling courses. Not his plan but God superintended. The biggest thing we have seen in rural ministries is the need to intern or train under someone. No seminary can prepare you for the relationships and many crazy, frustrating things that can happen in small churches and communities. Internships will help you know what you are getting into and prepare you to look for and learn the things you really need in the church. Whichever route he takes he should spend some summers or a whole year ministering alongside someone he respects. Two other important areas: teachable spirit and humble heart! You can't learn those at seminary!

Sausages of all types, hotdogs. We freeze ahead of time and they stay great in cooler.

My husband is pastor of a non-denominational church in Montana. He planned to teach at a college or seminary level but the year (to the date) after we were married (he was only 22 and I was 23!) he started filling pulpit in a small church that had just lost their pastor (and all his extended family) in a bad situation. The first Sunday there may have been 20 people. I was asked on the spot if I could play the piano - they had also lost the piano player. We led the youth group and a Bible Study. After a year of commuting an hour 3 times a week we moved into the 'parsonage' which was in the church basement. We pretty much had teenagers at our place all the time. Pretty much anything that happened in the church was started by us. After 5 years we moved to a church in Minnesota so he could work on his master's degree. It was a much more established church which also meant certain expectations of the pastor's wife. Now we are back in Montana at another church. It is just big enough, about 250, that I don't stand out in the crowd. By choice I'm involved with Bible studies, AWANA, and a few other things. I do have a strong compassion for pastor's wives in small churches because of my previous experience. It is a very lonely place to be.

My issue: ect. instead of etc. I notice it everytime.

Search 'Warm Window' shades on the internet. They are insulated shades for window. You also seal around the edges with magnets. They are an awesome power saver. They work in hot summer and cold winter. They also look really nice!

Somehow I felt Mystery of History seemed to bring out more hope and light. Just my personal feeling and I'm not sure everyone would agree.

You'll find a lot of posts on Apologia (Exploring Creation . . . ). They would be great for a 3rd grader. Each book has one focus rather than hodge-podge. You can easily make it through one book in a year, although we have sometimes done two a year. It is definately a Christian world view.

In my opinion the first two books of DEL are superb! Yes, really. They help stretch the child, gently, in so many areas. I used page protectors so we could do each page as many times as we wanted. My children enjoyed them. By the time they were ready for the last two books we had added so many other things that they weren't really useful. The last two are really quite advanced. I am so biased that I think most kids should go through the first two. Mom's learn a lot about their kids and the kids learn a lot about learning, paying attention both visually and audibly, etc. I say order the first two and wait on the second two.

Very straightforward explanations. Incremental - each lesson explains one new step or idea. Very, very fun word problems. Some feel it is not up to the level of more rigorous programs but the kids do really learn.

DD 8 loves Apologia. They suggest notebooking and I still do lots of the writing for her but she does the drawing. Very doable experiments for the most part for her to understand and me to accomplish!

Bumping. Would like to here this too.

This book is great in several ways. Men need to feel 'respected' as much as we women need to feel 'loved.' Did you know that if asked which they would prefer, most men would say 'respected?' So out of most women's norm that we barely believe it. You might ask your husband this. So just like showing love is a choice, so is showing respect! Look for areas you can respect your husband and show it. Anyway, that is one of the main highlights of the book but there is a lot more. Definately recomend it!

First, I understood that they changed it a fair bit this year so unless people are using it this year they won't be able to answer you. My 4th and 6th children did really well several years ago with the old version. It was great for research etc. They have now lowered the amount of research and added more notebooking (from what I read). I would tend to give it very high marks from both my experience and what I hear from the newer version. As usual with Sonlight, don't go with too high of a core for your child's age. My 4th grade son is advanced and he would have learned a lot more if he was older.