Wow, didn't know that! Thanks... calling them now. Jean

Does anyone have suggestions on best place to purchase daily lesson plans for LC2? I've looked at MOGD - but don't see samples. Or have plans they'd like to share :) I have a 7th grader who needs daily detailed plans to follow. Thanks! Jean

I have used Singapore with 2 kids, starting on the 3rd. We start roughly at age 6 with Singapore 1. So, I wouldn't consider this a "switch" for you, since your ds is only 5. (The Earlybird Series has little added value, IMO, and can be skipped entirely.) Borrow some Primary Math books if you can. I highly recommend you purchase a copy of "Elementary Mathematics for Teachers" by Parker and Baldridge. It is a short, but detailed mathematics course for teachers based on Singapore's Primary math series (specifically 3A-6A). Even if you don't end up using Singagpore, you will benefit greatly from learning to think mathematically and relationally. You'll learn how to think about how different arithmetic concepts are related to each other, instead of as separate scope and sequence tasks to check off. This book greatly improved my understanding of elementary math. Then, if you like the methods and think you'd like to invest some time into teaching the Singapore way, go ahead and start your children in at level 1A. Even 2A is a good entry level. After 2nd grade, I highly recommend you settle on a math program and stick with it (we combine Abeka and Sinagpore). FYIW, I think to choose a good math program, you'd want to look at their upper levels of elementary math. Look at how they teach story problems. Are they challenging? Look at how they teach addition, subtraction, mental math. Look at how they teach long division. Do they offer mulitiple ways of manipulating numbers, or do they just teach an algorithm and expect the student to plug and chug w/o much comprehension? Math is such an important subject that I think it is worth researching well, while your kids are still young. My son did Abeka for a long time, than asked to switch to Singapore in 4th grade. His sister was using the program and he knew he wasn't being challenged as much as she was.... But I love Abeka for building a solid foundation in muliplication and addition/subtraction in the early years. But they are a bit weak on story problems and mental calculations. Have you looked at the upper levels of your current math program to know they approach they take? Jean

I would do a 10-day science "camp" at home and just focus on one or two subjects until your break. Or get a head start on writing skills. Just a thought. That way, you're not dealing with retention problems if you start something (say in math or foreign language) which doesn't work so well with long breaks in between.

This year (7th grade) we used Mindbenders B, Building Thinking Skills Level 3, and Critical Thinking Bk 1 (hardest for us).

We love this! We use it as intro to logic material. It teaches formal logic through primary history sources taken from different periods in American history. You can match up the content with what you're currently studying. We spend 20-30 mins M, W, F. And we use a separate logic program on T and TH.

30 minutes of grammar in addition to all the writing seems like a lot. Can you do Saxon Grammar orally, and cut it down to 10 mins/ 3 or 4 times a week? Cut out the review? If you have time to plan ahead, you can also try to teach grammar and spelling in the context of her writing assignments. This takes some practice, but would save you 40 or so minutes daily! If your child loves science, and enjoys the curriculum, I'd say go for it! If you want to work on her writing skills, you might want to try simple write-ups in lieu of the worksheets. Or have her summarize the worksheet answers in paragraph form. We do science 2 days/week and alterate with history 3 days/week, in order to fit it all in. Free time is also essential and one of the great benefits of homeschooling. If all you've scheduled and planned leaves little "down time", then that's when I'd consider modifying the schedule! Chinese for an hour a day seems like a lot too. Especially if its just written work. Does she have someone to practice with?

YWAM series, brown covers. We have LOVED the entire series, especially Nate Saint. See sample here. These would be for 10+ reading level, or a read-aloud.

My dd is entering 8th grade and will be studying ancients too. I own HO Ancients Level 2 (geared toward 5th grade) and have used HO Modern Level 2 (geared for 8th grade). I can say that the material for Modern is much more meaty than for the Ancients level. There is a lot more logic stage work, including primary sources, critical thinking, essays. Level 2 Ancients would be very light for an 8th grader. So, while you could modify it, making it harder, that seems to take away the benefits of buying a guide in the first place. :) I don't think HO Ancients Level 2 is sufficient work for 8th grade. You might want to try Level 3. That has students reading the unabridged classics, however, and your dd may or may not be ready to do so. It seems hard to find other secular guides for Ancients at upper logic level! If you want Christian, there is My Father's World High School, Konos-The Ancient World, Year 1, and Biblioplan Ancients (high school). They are all intended for 9th graders.

I think you did the right, thing, mom! Consistency is so hard. It is much more convenient for me to not be consistent and persistent. We had some behavior issues with the 2 year old and earlier with a 9 year old. I even put homeschooling on "hold" in order to focus on the attitude issues. I remember thinking, this is taking a LONG time! Almost 2 whole weeks for the 2-year old to stop whining for everything. With an older child, like your 7 year old, you have the advantage that he is old enough to be cognizant of exactly what the expectations and consequences are (both negative and positive). We found time outs were not very effectivw because it didn't cost the child anything. When they got a natural consequence, it seemed more effective. For example, if dirty clothes are all over the floor at the end of the day, those clothes get taken away. If you complain about your dinner, you don't get to eat that meal. If you are rude to a sibling, you have to serve them in some way. If you whine about something (like DVDs) you lose TV privileges for a day. What seems to work for us too, is keeping a chart of positive changes. For example, if your son demonstrates patience, kindness in a situation that normally would have upset him, he can get a sticker, and lots of praise and hugs from you. Once he gets 10, you buy him a toy, or he gets a special treat, and make sure you make a big deal of it at dinner time in front of dad... that gets them beaming...

I've PM'd you!

I'll take a shot at this... I have a dd13 and used to peer-tutor writing in college. Your son writes in a very conversational style. I would think he would be quite good at public speaking, with his particular breezy, confident style of communication. However, the conventions of written essays are a bit different from those of oral presentations. That is, the conversational tone is a great attention getter and is appropriate for an introduction; however, the rest of the essay ought to be a bit more conservative in style. Instead of writing in the 1st and 2nd person (we, you), 3rd person would lend more fomality. The most common difficulty I see in grammar/logic stage writing is narrowing down a topic. Here, the essay touches on the national debt (a huge huge topic even for an adult to write about), and it simply is too broad to be covered effectively in a few paragraphs. It touches a little bit on many sub-topics: debt ceiling, borrowing money, cost of war, effective government, government shutdown, and contacting your reps. Any single ONE of those topics is enough for its own essay. So, my first suggestion is narrow down the topic. This will help focus the content and also make for easier organization. Let's say he chooses one topic only: how the debt became so high. Then he could focus on 3 or 4 reasons why. Once he has mastered the informative paragraph (which is the basis of all writing), you can branch out into persuasive and essay writing which is bit more advanced. I don't have kids at this age do a lot of original writing yet. If they are still working on organization of paragraphs, sorting through what details to include, it is an added burden to have actually an opinion and intelligent solution to offer!:lol:

:lol: Hi Hunter, We use curriculum and resources that are secular, Christian, and Catholic. I also own Considering God's Creation, and will have to dig up the detective sheets. What a great idea! Thank you.

I think we have written enough "chapters" here to compile into a book! The stuff on Kindle/Nook/ebook is all new to me, so I'll have to carefully compile all your suggestions and become savvy with this new technology. I don't even have an ipod or iphone so that will take some getting used to. As for Australia... I think the adventure lies in actually getting there. Boat? Anyone have a boat they want to sell? :)

WTM Cassandra, Elegant Lion, Laughing lioness, thank you for your specific book suggestions. I'm going to get a copy of The Global Student. I feel a paradigm shift coming on... in how I view education and teach my kids! Even if we weren't travelling anywhere, I'd love to incorporate these great suggestions. Once you start thinking outside the box, the possibilities are endless, aren't they? What fun! Thank you, eveyone, who has contributed to this thread! Jean