I noticed you are in TN. What part? My dad is just outside of Etowah and will have more corn coming in the next 3 weeks at least. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

BJU Bible curriculum includes catechism. I know they are fundamental baptist, but it's probably a basic Christian doctrine. I'm pentecostal (Church of God Cleveland, TN). I have the K4 book only, but have seen the 6th grade. I didn't read through all of the 6th, so I can't say if it's anti-pentecostal. If you want, I 'd be glad to share what's in the K4 book. It's 22 questions with scripture references. I don't know the ages of your children, but it might be a good start anyway. I might could scan and email to you. From what I can tell, catechism must be a systematic way for children to learn how to answer to what they believe. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

We had my dad's corn today. It was YUMMY! We cut it off, pan fry it with butter, salt, and pepper. It just doesn't get any better!:tongue_smilie: My dad grows corn on a few acres, picks it all by hand, and sells it to a lot of people in their are for $3 a dozen. We were there for his birthday (71!), and he gave us silver queen to bring home. He plants about 4-5 different kinds each year so that they'll be coming in at different times since he picks it all himself. He doesn't use any pesticides, but wish he'd find out some natural methods, there was a worm at the top of just about every one. I'm kind of grossed out by things like that. Enjoy the corn! Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

Just the mention of key lime pie drew my attention! :tongue_smilie: It is my absolute favorite dessert of all time. I put graham crust, but would take anything but the pretzel. I don't even like pretzels, so it seems like it would ruin it for me, but I could be wrong. Not the first time!:lol: Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

Hi! We're near Griffin (just south of the Atlanta Motor Speedway in Hampton). Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

I know someone in my homeschool group who used it last year and HIGHLY recommended it. I bought it used off ebay and am going to use it this year with my dc. I have been looking for anything I can do together since mine are 6 years apart. It is a K-12 vocabulary program. It has 673 English forms of Greek and Latin roots and prefixes with their meanings. It includes 1716 vocabulary words, many of which are common to the SAT. It has a general lesson plan for the week (15 minutes a day) and activities and games. The roots that younger kids can understand are indicated by an asterisk. Vocabulary words cover all the subjects. I'm going to have my K son start with 1 root a week and My 6th daughter to do that root and 1 more. Those are the author's recommendations. If you are starting later she recommends 3-4 roots per week. I hope this helps since I haven't actually used it yet. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

Thanks for discussing this. I'm wanting to do a timeline this year. There are some good ideas here that will help! Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

I used ziploc bags for small pieces, then store them all in a dishpan together. I really like dishpans! I like that they are really cheap, easy to sort through and find what I want, convenient to carry. I have dishpans for several different things (math manipulatives, reading manipulatives (word/letter cards, reading rods, etc.), the playstation and controllers near the TV, books in my son's room (they stack up in it and is easier than book shelves). I think I got them at Big Lots for $1.50. I'm sure most dollar stores have them. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

My dh was coaching basketball and teaching at a Christian private school at his church. My church (we lived 75 miles apart) had a Christian private school. He went out at half time when both schools were playing each other, called me out of the crowd, got down on bended knee, and asked. It was nice to have about 300 people there to see, most of whom were from our churches. His team did win! LOL! Just a little sweet side note. He gave me a wedding gift at our wedding rehearsal that is so special to me. He had saved pennies when he was a little boy to buy his future wife a gift. He bought me a small ruby with those very pennies. He read the scripture about a wife being worth far more than rubies and said that was all the he could afford and was glad I was worth more. I had it made into a pinkie ring that I wear ALL the time. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

Congrats on her doing so well from just "life learning". She must pay attention to the world around her very well. I think it's a good idea to get her used to doing those subjects again before high school. That's when the grades will really count. Apologia is good (I've taught Biology and Chemistry in a co-op setting). Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

So nice of you to share:001_smile:! Amy of GA Darins wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

Well, I have to say we've done pretty much traditional school up to this point. I'm just learning about classical education since finding this board a few months ago. This past year she did BJU (not Homesat) Reading, English, Math, Social Studies, a variety of stuff for Bible, SOS Science. She also attended Master's Academy of Fine Arts, a one day a week program for history, music, art, and drama. She is an avid reader, and we let her do as much of that as she wants, which is a lot of her spare time. I give my kids lots of spare time so they have time to use their imaginations. She goes through a lot of paper. This summer she's been rewriting books she's read, or putting them into script form. She's also been writing histories of imaginary countries. I'm going to do MOH Vol 1 with both of them this year and Roots and Fruits Vocabulary for some intro to Greek and Latin roots/prefixes. I'm going to enrich it for her with lots of time period reading. The rest will still be traditional school. My ds LOVES workbooks, so I feel like I should give them to him. My dd doesn't, but has a few issues with not wanting to do what's required of her, so I feel like having just a few might be good practice for life. Not everything is fun to me either, but some things you just have to do to survive. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

We have something better than a co-op, but it isn't right in our town. We have Master's Academy of Fine Arts. There are several around Atlanta and a few in other states and South Africa. They meet for 3-4 hours one day a week during a normal school year. It cost $65 per month per child last year. They meet for 7 months. They have 6 time periods of history that they follow, one per year. They study all the history, art, drama, and music of each time period. The first semester kids take one each of those 4 classes. The second semester is electives related to the time period even including science. They do this so children can pursue what interests them most. They offer more in-depth art, music and drama classes, as well as science options. We have attended for 3 years. I'm still not sure if we are going to be able to attend this year because of gas. Last year they needed me to teach someone Advanced Math, so I got to stay and also help in the art classes. If they don't need me to work this year, we can't go. I would have to drive almost 100 miles each time to drop them off, go back home, and pick them back up. I'm disappointed, but I'm going to try and do more with history, art, and music at home this year since I can't. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

I'm just bursting and want to share with other homeschoolers about my dd test scores on her ITBS. I don't know if people mind you doing that. I've really been questioning my ability to do this and I guess I'm just so happy that it's working WELL! So here goes: DD just finished 5th and she tested in the top 1% nationally and had a 12.3 grade equivalent. 5 areas were college grade equivalent. None were below high school equivalent. She actually is testing higher percentages than when she was in private school (we've homeschooled for 3 years). I'm just a proud mother, please don't be upset with me. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

I used BJU for 5th and didn't have to do that much instruction. I guess that would depend on the child. Dd scored in the top 3% on her language total and college grade equivalent. I bought it through Christian Liberty Press. It's much cheaper through them. They sell 2nd through 6th and have permission to print a basic answer key parent manual. It has a little instruction for you on the writing chapters. We are using it for 6th and will use it probably all the way through HS. I like the emphasis on writing. She did 5th. There were 16 chapters 8 grammar and mechanics and 8 were different writing projects. They do alternate the chapters; however, you could go through and do all the grammar then go back and do the writing if you wanted. I liked the alternating and so did my dd. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

You could write out an assignment sheet and have them put stickers beside each item when completed. This could be daily or weekly. Maybe even let the first day of school be them helping design the format. It may be that they appreciate it more if they feel a part of it. You might could design something that has a peg they move up or down a slot for each subject finished daily if they would like to see visually they are making progress. This has actually got me thinking of getting my kids' opinions on what they would like. I designed my own document where I write out each month's lesson plans for both, then use that to input the assignments into Homeschool Tracker. I have a tentative schedule for the whole year, but I will only do detailed a month at a time. I like to see how things are progressing, what's working, what's not, etc. I tear out consumables for my ds (to make the writing easier), but leave them in for dd (so she has the pages right there to use as a reference). I have 5 folders for each week of the month where I place his consumables. I have a bookcase by my computer for all the school stuff plus I use a linen closet in the hallway for manipulatives and other bulky teaching material. I put a lot of things in dishpans because they are very cheap. Dd has a "locker" in her room for her books. They'll have binders with tabbed dividers for subjects as well. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

My nephew is gluten intolerant and my sister and BIL are now eating Hallelujah Acres Diet. She always brings some foods for my nephew and buys groceries for herself, too. I am totally fine with it, because she does this 24/7 and is more used to it. I have tried to make myself aware of what is gluten free and not. Unless you don't have a good relationship with them, I don't see how they wouldn't understand. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

I wanted to know what others do for their first day of school, especially first day of Kindergarten. My dd went to private school then, and we did some things (we wrote her letters we're going to give her the day she graduates and had her write one to herself), but I want to do something special in the school work my ds will do as well. He has been doing school since 2 years old (when we started homeschooling dd), but this seems more important. Thanks in advance for the time! Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

Our public school starts Aug 4th. My husband is a teacher and starts July 28th, so we start when he does. He gets 6 full weeks off during the school year, so we get to take 10 extra days off since he works 190 days and we only have to do 180. Because we start a week earlier and our kids' friends in the neighborhood are still out, I usually start the first week kind of light so they can be done earlier and have play time with the others. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

If you don't think it is appropriate, I would just decline attending. If they push you for a reason, I would say why. I actually tried leading a Brownie Troop when my dd was in 3rd grade. We definitely left the program after that. I was looking for a program to really help my daughter become community service oriented and working as a team. I felt like the whole program was directed toward self, becoming a better you, and girl power. We felt like that is not the messages we wanted for our daughter. I'm sort of an anti-feminist, though. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

Are these the requirements to be eligible for the Hope Scholarship, or would that just depend on the college's requirements also? What is going to happen about the math changes to Math I, II, III, and IV? I'm wondering about the public school students. If a person transferred in with Algebra 1, where would they place them? Would they put them in Math II? That just seems really complicated to me. But why should I expect the school system to make any sense anyway? Thanks for the help. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

We do 36 weeks. My husband teaches school. He works 190 days. We start when he does so that we can take all his breaks off (he gets 6 whole weeks), plus 10 extra days to save for other times off. We will start July 28th. That leaves our summer 2 months. I see a lot of people on this board doing school work during the break of summer, but I like to give my kids what I had. It gives them time to relax and just be a kid. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

I was told recently that if my dd does Algebra 1 in 8th grade, that she will have to do all the way through Calculus in HS because she will have to do 4 years higher level math. Is that true? Math is my dd's least favorite subject, although she makes good grades. I don't see her desiring to do anything after high school that will require her to go that far in math. I want to change plans now and repeat 6th grade math using another publisher to put her back on track to do Algebra 1 in 9th grade if this is true. I know I'm thinking ahead, but I'm a planner! Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

We started if for my dd this year and we left if mid-year and just did bible devotionals and books for kids (Secrets of the Vine for Kids, etc.). I thought it would be straight bible, but they were always adding in stories (made up and real). That seemed to make it not flow well to me. It was a little tedious in nature for my dd. I can't say that I saw a lot of Calvinism (we had 6th because it was supposed to be a study of redemption which appealed to me), but we didn't finish it. We had done Positive Action for Christ before and I am going back to it this year for both my dc. I feel like it is a basic Christian doctrine. Their website is http://www.positiveaction.org and they should have sample pages. They give you 3,4, and 5 day lesson plans, scriptures to memorize each week, songs, character trait activities, and workbook pages. Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds

I'm doing Positive Action for Christ with both my dc this year. Kindergarten Learning About God with my ds and 6th Winning the Race with my dd. I really like the layouts of the lesson plans. I've done 1 other year of this with my dd, and really liked it. They give you 3,4, and 5 day lesson plan formats. There is scripture memory, songs, workbook pages, and character trait activities. Kindergarten is basically an overview of the major bible characters and event in order. I don't have the 3rd grade book, but if you want more details on the K book, I'd be glad to tell you what you want to know. I know there are sample pages on their website http://www.positiveaction.org Amy of GA Darin's wife for 17 years 11yo dd 5yo ds