Just wanting tosay I agree with the others and welcome to TX. Lots of homeschool families here.

You've definitely given me a lot to think about as far as tweaking the LA, etc. Interesting on the TGTL Yahoo group she posted to have the younger child read one book and the older child read the other book a loud. Maybe I miss understood that portion. I wish TGTL rwas not such a new program. It's hard to find reviews, etc. and what I"m finding is that most peopel tweak it. Thanks!

See.. I've thought about just using POE as is, forgetting all the other LA we've been using and then adding in just SL reading for my 10yo. POE seems slow in reading for my 10-yo but honestly, just right for my 9-yo. And they love when I read aloud but that seems lacking in POE as well. I really like POE, I'm just really concerned about a long-term plan. I do like the dictation and copywork parts of POE. My dh really likes the feel of POE. I'm just struggling letting go of LA, I guess. Thank you for your thoughts.

I know these programs are very different. I own both. I purchased POE used thinking we would use it this fall for our boys 9 and 10. It looks great but I'm concerned about the spelling/grammar/etc. So, in a moment of panic I ordered Sonlight Core D IG and the complete Sonlight D Science. (The boys thrive on science and we'll do this either way.) We've used GWG, SWS or AAS (depending on child) and I'd like to continue with those since ds seems to enjoy them and retains what we've learned so far. If we do, I've considered adding WWW. But..I'm not sure that would mesh with POE very well. Seems we could do SL easier and those programs. Has anyone used both programs? Pros/cons ?? Ds10 is a natural speller, retains everything type of kid, enjoys reading. Ds9 struggles with all things related to school. I would probably use a lower level of Sonlight's suggested reading levels for him and continue with AAS for him. This is our second year at home. I asked on the yahoo group for TGTL but the answer was from the author so it was biased about their spelling/grammar. And I know if I ask over at SL I'll get the same sort of answer there. FWIW- 9 yo likes arts/crafts type stuff but 10 yo would prefer to just skip those type of activities- which I understand SL is not heavy on. Suggestions, ideas?? I almost feel like I need someone to just tell me what to do and then step away from curriculum for a bit. Last year we did MFW-ECC and while we enjoyed it, dh wants them to have American Hx next year. I had MFW Exp to 1850 but the pace was too fast and since we did not do Adventures, I felt like they would be missing too much.

Have you seen the Yahoo Group? You might ask this question there. I think it is called Learning Series. We're going to do POE. I'm going to continue with grammar (GWG) since we have started with that. And add to the science as well, probably will use Sonlight's Science.

When are you starting? What ages?? I just ordered/rcd the student sheets (I have a lousy printer) and was looking over this today. We're really excited too but not starting until late August. Are you adding any grammar? I think we will continue with our GWG and supplement the science too.

Did you know you can bleach that fabric and it won't bleach out? Mil was here and did laundry. I freaked when she bleached all ds's shorts/shirts but she says she does it all the time and sure enough, they came out smelling so fresh. I think over time it would be bad for the fabric but I'm going to do it now and then since we have teen boys. I do hang dry though.

Here's one to build from Ana White's Knock off wood. Fil recently purchased dh a new air compression with nail gun and I've been looking at plans to build something... well for him to build. :001_smile:

That looks amazing! We're doing a graduation party this Friday night for ds and his friends. You've given me some fun inspiration!

If you're near Houston, there is the TheHomeschool Store, and one in The Woodlands called The Homeschool House.

I have not read all the responses, so please forgive if I duplicate someone else's ideas. I have 4 boys, dh and I. 5 laundry baskets. For the boys, I take down their basket of dirty clothes and wash it all together. I only seperate out jeans and reds (I just basically try to avoid them having reds or colors that would bleed) and any dressier clothes, if there are any. I don't feel bad about it one bit. Then, I fold directly from the dryer into that basket and said child puts his clothes away. I also do a load of towels every day. I bought all white hand towels and wash clothes. Any whites from that child that needs bleaching, socks, etc I put in with the towels. So the max I do is 3 loads a day, usually just 2. I hang almost all the shirts coming straight from the dryer- even tee shirts. I only fold their shorts and PJ's. Socks don't get mated- just thrown in the basket. They can mate if they want them neat. I do laundry every day. Ds1 on Monday, Ds2 on Tuesday, Ds3 on Wednesday, Ds4 on Thursday. I do mine and dh's on Friday- I hang all of ours except, underclothing and shorts, etc. Saturdays we try to get the bedding washed. Sundays are no laundry days. It is the only way I can keep up with it.

GWG has tests now. We'll be adding those next year. We used GWG this past year but have not tweaked it at all. I'm interested too in what others are adding for memory work.

We didn't do Adventures.. in hindsight. When I called MFW last year because my oldest was in 4th grade they said to start the cycle and do ECC. Course, I didn't know then I would be breaking the cycle. Dh wants them to follow more closely the school history schedule. That makes sense why it moves so fast. I hadn't thought of that.

Thank you for the suggestion. I've not heard of the Queen's but will look at it. Using ECC was our first year at home. I liked the scheduled pages in the manual and was hoping for that again. I looked briefly at Bigger but will go back and look again.

I purchased this used for my 5th grade and 3rd grade boys with plans to use the 2-3 grade supplement. I was super excited when it came yesterday but looking it over, it seems like it moves really fast. Has anyone else had this experience? We did ECC this year and for various reasons broke the cycle of going to CTC next. Now, I'm wondering if we should have do something different altogether. I spent most of last evening looking at Guesthollow.

My ds did something similar at a park day. He pushed a 4-yo. I had inadvertently switched the brothers names and so when he was calling for the older 1 the younger one kept answering. FWIW- the 4-yo pushed first and my 10 yo pushed back causing the younger boy to fall to the ground. The mom was livid and got their first. Ds said he didn't mean to hurt him. She, of course, saw it was a willful push so thought otherwise. It was tricky to explain that while he reacted poorly he truly did not intend to hurt the boy. He just pushed back. I did make my 10-yo apologize and we took a time out to talk about it. Yes, nice impression at our first park day. We have been avoiding park days because there were actually too many kids. (Isn't that great though?- huge turnout of home school families!) I felt like I was on eggshells the entire time we were there after he pushed another, much younger child. Also our 10-yo is very RULE driven and easily frustrated. It sounds like this boy could be the same way. Games like tag can quickly become overwhelming, but we still continue to encourage play. Thankfully, he has 3 brothers and their friends so they understand him. Each kid is so different but I know when we are in those type of setting, sometimes I feel like always overthinking the situations after we leave. Each parent copes differently. I do think having siblings has been a huge plus for our son. (PS. Simka2: I did check into your group since ours is a strong faith-based group and we don't seem to "mesh". Your group is just a tad south for me but I'm still thinking of joining come next Fall. Thank you for the invite)

Love Zev!! There is a book written for kids on understanding Asperger's. I can't think of the name tonight but I'll try to find it tomorrow. Our library (Harris Co.) has it.

I could see my son (10) saying something about the Wii. I would have talked with him privately once we left that it was inappropriate, but I agree, he probably was not trying to be rude about it. As for the sand toys, again, I could see my son having planned it they way you described "J" had it planned. It takes a great deal for these kids to learn to think about others and how to interact with them. My son is a natural loner and we're constantly working on how he can fit into a group activities. I think the mom maybe was trying to avert a negative reaction from J by allowing him to collect his toys. Not what I would have done. As for the pool party... please go.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/royal-wedding/royal-wedding-pictures/8483146/Royal-wedding-Prince-William-and-Kate-Middleton-marry-at-Westminster-Abbey.html?image=14 Her Father.

WE use Primary Phonics workbooks.

Thank you for sharing!

I had to ask my retired neighbor to watch 2 of my boys recently due to an appointment that I could not reschedule. She's the grandma type to them. When I came back she honestly asked if homeschool kids are required to go through the summer for school since they have so much free time throughout the year.

I too do medical transcription at home via an internet based platform. I was holding up really well until Feb. We've been getting just the 3 R's in it seems with a hit and miss on the other stuff. We're surviving though. I typically work late evening hours 2-3 days a week and a weekend morning. My dh is gone 50% of the time but when he is home the house is clean :001_smile:

Math Maniac (depends on the age of your kids) 50 States Thank you for the other list.

My quirky guy has to hold something. If he has something fidgety in his hands he can seem to handle the other things around him. The MP3 is a good idea that I'm going to try too.