Have you looked at Winter Promise? They don't use SOTW, but some of their themed history sets use MoH. I originally purchased SOTW for this year for ancients. I then went to Winter Promise's website to see what they use for ancients, and they use MOH. I then took a look at the books they use in their ancient history set and made my list that way. I didn't purchase through Winter Promise, but they do have an IG that lays everything out, if that is what you're looking for. You can also just purchase the IG and then get the other books from the library. They don't use MoH for all their history sets, though.

Thank you for this! I've been going crazy trying to figure out what to use for Elementary introduction to Chemistry and Physics as my dh and I want our kids to be introduced to these subjects far earlier than Apologia originally had. I am close to picking something...I'll have to see this new book first...I hope they have it to buy at the HS conference I'll be going to in June. Did they say when it will be available on their website?

Yeah, my phone's spell check--or is it word assumption?-- screwed my previous post up. so horrible! sorry.

I was where you're at around this time last year. I decided not to get it... fast forward a week after starting school this past August and I realized that I really made a mistake. so I put aside dd's (4th grade) La and purchased MCT Island. now, my ds (2nd) grade saw it when it arrived and asked if he could do it too. I was hesitant to let him, but decided to give it a try because he was interested in the books. My dd had since finished Islands and had started the Town level. she lives this curriculum. I never have to remind her to do it, she does everything without complaint or moodiness, and she had learned a lot. both of my older kids have learned a lot. my ds is still working on Island, but he excels at it. bye actually gets this stuff and enjoys it. I recently purchased the Mud literature pack and my son cannot wait to read the books! oh, and the pretty my dd had written since finishing Music of the hemispheres is awesome. so much better than I thought possible from her age. I live all aspects of the MCT LA curriculum, but some skip parts. I think it's all great. this is by far the best investment we've made in or homeschoosorry for any typos. I'm on my cell phone, on a train.

I know I'm interested! just yesterday I saw some drawings that my 10 yo dd drew. I was amazed. I was just thinking that I should invest in a program that would teach her the skills needed to set free her creative side.

Good. I purchased MM from the co-op last March and it didn't get to 50 percent off until the very end...I think two days before the end of March.

I must apologize if my comment from days ago came across wrong. I focused on parts of this boy that I found to be funny and very common amongst the boys I know, including my own "killing"-drawing boy. I did not comment on the rudeness of the boy, and for that I apologize. I think half of the stuff I read fizzles out of my brain before I finish typing my posts. Anyway, this boy does sound very disruptive. I wish I had advice for you and this situation. I know with my little boy, we have a list of words that are unacceptable for him to say. He knows he's not supposed to say them, so he comes up with other words to use in place of them. Yes, my 6-year-old has come up with a new language. He has taught it to my other two kids and they use this language whenever they want to talk about something that has to do with one or more of the banned words. Poop, pee, butt, penis, vagina (penis and vagina are only on the list for when they say them out of context or in bad taste. In other words, if they aren't using them in an appropriate way), die, stupid, idiot, jerk, etc... I didn't think the list was that long until I wrote them all out. He has gotten better. We have had a couple of incidents with my 6 year old drawing pictures of naked people at church. Now, when I first heard about this--before seeing the pictures--I was livid, embarrassed, and just wanted to yell at him. But then I saw the pictures. They weren't obscene. He used circles where a woman's breasts would be to depict the difference between the boy and the girl. I believe it was a picture of two people getting married. He even drew an arch of flowers over their heads. I couldn't believe the teacher made a fuss about it. He was just using the only way he could think of to differentiate between the boy and girl. I wasn't mad after seeing it. The second picture was something similar and I didn't freak out as much because I knew it wouldn't be obscene, and it wasn't. But he did get in trouble because we had already told him that he should use different ways to show the difference between the genders, like a dress for the girl, instead of breasts. He hasn't done it again since. *knock on wood* Anyway, having a kid like this is challenging, and I can see why you're frustrated with this boy in your class. The getting up and walking out, talking over you, using inappropriate language, it's rude and disrespectful--not only to you, but also to the other children in the class. Again, I wish I had advice. As a mom of a child who has the potential to be just as poorly behaved as this boy you're dealing with, I'd want to know about it so that I could discuss it with him. I'm not sure if his mom is easy to talk to or not. I know that we have some moms in our HS group that don't think their kids can do anything wrong and when confronted by other adults about their kids' behavior, they blame the adults and insist their kids could never do "that". *roll eyes*. I hope his mom is not like that. :( Best of luck to you! Oh, and I still laugh over the vomit sculpture. Seriously, it's funny...I hope that some day--maybe in a few years--you can look back and remember the vomit with a smile on your face...some day...

My kids are in bed at 8:00 pm. Whether they go to sleep right away or not, is up to them. My boys are up at 6;30 am every morning, somtimes earlier. My oldest, has just recently started to "sleep in". It's driving me crazy. I like to get school started at 7:00 am, so the past couple months have been tough. Maybe I should change my oldest's bedtime to 7:00 pm. LOL

Ditto this. We started off our year using both MoH and SoTW, but have since gone down to just reading MoH, and then we listen to SoTW in the car. I really like the detail given to the different prophets, kings of Israel and Judah, and to other such figures, like Daniel.

This is an interesting topic, and I now worry my poor DS (in 2nd grade now) may have been screwed up. :( His entire life, he showed a dominance toward his left hand, but he also used his right hand. In pre-school, his teachers would ask me which hand I wanted him to use, and I told them that I let him use whichever one he wants at the time. He'd color with his left, then switch to his right, then back to his left, etc. I didn't want to make him use a certain one. Then he entered Kindergarten and he went to a private school. His teacher asked me the same question I always got from his pre-school, and from church as well. I answered the same. We don't force any one hand on him. If he uses his left, that's fine. If he uses his right, that's fine. She insisted that I had to make a choice. I wouldn't. So she--in her own decision--chose for him to use his right hand. I'm so mad at myself now for not sticking up for my kid. Ugh! We're learning sign language now and he is left-hand dominant in it. I let him be. In sports, he's left dominant. In coloring, left dominant. But he can do things right handed too, and I wonder now if his writing with his right hand is why his writing is so messy! I'll have to see if he wants to try writing with his left hand... Thanks for this post. I'm going to check out the many links people have posted for you.

LOL Good question. Ours (the kids each did their own) are still on their salt. I haven't checked since before Christmas though. Maybe it's time to check again...I wonder if they'll need more salt. I actually forgot about them. LOL This sounds like a good project for Friday: finish our chicken mummies!

I was okay at grammar. I had tested out of taking English 101 and 102 in college, based on an essay I wrote for my admissions test. So I guess I was okay at it, but I never really understood it until this year. MCT Island has opened my eyes immensly! Wow. I didn't realize how much I didn't understand until I read through it with my kids. And some of the stuff I did know, but taught myself as an adult when I started writing novels. I do it for a hobby, mostly, but I had bought some books when I started writing. I learned a lot from them, but still not as much as I learned from just the Island level of MCT's LA program. I'm floored at how much more my kids know than I did at their age.

I actually think his comments are pretty interesting. My kids and I were watching The Bible on The History Channel on Sunday night and John the Baptist--or was it Jesus?--had a 6-pack. Oh, no, it was Daniel. Right. Daniel. He had a six-pack and my daughter--I would expect it from my boys--made a comment about how could he have had a six-pack and it wasn't realistic (DD is 10, btw). I looked at her and said, "People in those times didn't have junk food to eat, and they also did a lot of manual labor. I don't doubt for a second that he could've had a six-pack." My boys make odd observations during our history and science. I had been embarrassed by some of their sayings until we spent some time with other boys their age and I realized that they're normal. I think the difference with a homeschooled boy and a PSed boy is that the homeschooled boy is free to express himself throughout the day and is not afraid of being told he's wrong in his opinions, or that he "can't" say certain things. Whereas a PSed boy will be reprimanded. Imagine bringing up killing and death in a PS in today's day and age. I mentioned to my DH the other day that if my DS, who is in K this year, had drawn a picture of his in PS, we would've been called into counseling. It was a picture of Steve from Minecraft with a sword and a dead sheep, with the word, "kill," written on the page. He couldn't figure out how to write the other words he wanted to write, so only "kill" made it on the page. *shrug* Steve did kill the sheep. In PS, I'm sure it would've been a big deal. In our house, it was cute. LOL For some odd reason, boys are infatuated with potty words and death. I'm hoping my boys grow out of it soon, and from what I hear from moms with older boys, they will grow out of it some day. Everyone tells me it's "normal" In your situation, I'd do what a PPer has said. Let him be creative in his own way. If he wants to sculpt vomit--let him. It's his work that he has to show his parents. Maybe he thinks he's being funny or cool, but maybe it's just his creative genius trying to break out. ;)

This is my second year homeschooling. Last year I didn't even think of doing standardized testing, but I've decided to do it this year. My problem is that I'm afraid of the results. It's not that I don't think my children are smart, but that I'm afraid this type of test will show how badly I'm failing them. ugh. I want them to test because they need exposure to taking tests like this, and I honestly would like to see how they do so that we can focus on areas they're weaker in. It's the small voice inside me that is afaid of the what-ifs. What if they fail horribly? What if my son isn't prepared to sit in a room all morning and afternoon to take a test. We don't school all day long. We're usually finished by lunch time, maybe a bit after lunch time, and he's offered a lot of play time between work. Will he be able to sit through a test? Ugh. I'm not worried about my daughter. She went through 2nd grade in a private school. My DS only made it through K and he's been home ever since. Anyone have exprience in sending their kids to do standardized testing? Anyone else doing it this year? I guess I should note that it's not mandatory in our state for homeschoolers to do standardized testing. Help calm my nerves!

Clarkd, the Aesop's Fables curriculum in RFP is not done by Michael Clay Thompson. It actually looks really nice and I've been considering purchasing it for my youngest for half way through 1st grade or 2nd grade. I actually probably will purchase the entire set over the summer and then just wait for the right moment for when my youngest is ready for it. But I don't think it's a precursor to MCT's LA program as it's done by a different author entirely. In your first post you mentioned your child being beyond the Aesop's Fables program. Have you tried all the books? You stated that your child is reading at a 4th grade level. The first Aesop's book starts at a 2.1 reading level and the series increases to a max of a 4.3 reading level, so maybe that's why your child seems beyond it? I agree with AK_Mom4 in that you should stick with what you're doing, as it seems to be working and then do MCT next year. I started Island with my 2nd grader this year (he was 7 1/2 when he started it) and he's excelled at it. It amazes me how well he's done. I had purchased the curriculum for my 4th grader, but my 2nd grader saw it and wanted to do it too. My 4th grader has since finished the Island level and is now on Town, and my 2nd grader is still chugging along at Island, but he isn't going slow. It's more that my 4th grader went fast and my 2nd grader has been going at an average speed. He'll be finished with it before May. Just wanted to throw my 2 cents out there. ;)

My only advice is to pray, pray, and pray. Pray that God sends a Christian friend into his life because let's face it. A 14-year-old is more likely to listen to a peer than to his mom. ;) Pray that God softens his heart. Pray that his wall get torn down so that he is open to conversation about it. I also agree that you being totally honest with him about everything you believed before and how/why you have come into faith is great. Pray before the conversation with your son and then pray afterward. Pray, pray, pray. Okay, so I guess you could say I'm a holy roller, but honestly, I believe in the power of prayer. Bring your son to church with you. I know that some people think that a 14-year-old should be able to make their own choice in going or not, but you're the mom. He is still under your protection. He is your responsibility. Even if he sits in service or in Sunday school with his arms folded and a scowl on his face, bring him. And pray. ;) Make sure he's doing all the fun stuff at church. A lot of churches have game nights for the teenagers. Get him connected with the youth group. Make sure he's getting introduced to others his age. He may be very surprised to find that these Christian teenagers are a lot like him in so many ways. And guess what! These Christian Teenagers aren't perfect at all. No one is. Especially in a church. I always laugh when people say that churches are full of hypocrits because we're all hypocrits. :) Ah, I digress. Oh, there's a great book out there called "The Case for Christ". It was written by a man who was an Athiest and he decided to research Christianity to prove to his wife, who had recently found Christ, that The Bible wasn't true and that Christ wasn't God, etc. He set out to prove Christianity false and found out the opposite. He was a criminal journalist, so he is a researcher by trade. The book is by Lee Strobel. It's a great read, and for logical people, an eye-opener. I had faith before hand, but it cemented any and all beliefs I had. Anyway, I guess you can guess what my final thoughts are: Pray. Best of luck to you. I'll pray for you and your family. God bless!

Very good question. I'll be waiting to see what answers you get. I haven't received ours yet, but we ordered Building Thinking Skills, along with Mind Benders 3 and 4 for my rising 5th grader next year. I have a feeling that she'll be like your daughter too, and want to do everything right away. She loves logic-style puzzles. Anything that challenges her mind. I can't wait to see the responses you get. ;)

I've dropped it for now, but plan to start up again this summer. The reason I dropped it is because I bought it thinking I could go through it with all three of my kids at once. I bought it last spring at a Homeschool Convention without realizing that Foundations was being worked on. I also signed up for the Beta testing for Foundations, but dropped that very early on because it was too childish and immature for my Kindergartner, but then Essentials was a bit too advanced. Right now I use the flashcards from LoE and we play games and we review all the phonagrams through lesson 4 or 5 (can't remember which one we left off on) of Essentials. I do this with my Ker and we read from readers and I started having him do some of the ETC books, along with the McGuffey Primer and Bob books. This summer, when I know he'll be ready to do Essentials, I plan to start where we left off with Essentials with all my kids and just kick some butt through the book. I don't plan on using it for grammar or handwriting, just for phonograms and spelling. I don't think my oldest needs a review at all, so I may have her "teach" it to her brothers. My middle child has a great foundation in phonograms, so it will be review to him, but a review that will help him. He may be able to help my eldest teach...hmm... So, yeah, we've dropped it, but I plan (not that it will actually happen) to use it in the near future.

This is exactly what we used before MM1. DS is technically only in K, but we did SE A last year in pre-school, and then did SE B the first semester this year and started MM1 the second semester. He's doing just fine in MM1. No problems here so far. He actually finds it annoying because he "knows" how to do it, "Mom!". Imagine a whining, annoyed 6-year-old saying that. He just wants to jump ahead. Today he opened up his notebook to a page that looked like more fun to him. It was at least 10 lessons ahead. Could he have done it? Probably, but I didn't let him. We just do the next thing. He's still a 6-year-old and in K though, so we don't do as much in a day as I did for Math with my older son when he was doing 1st grade math. Next year we'll kick it up. ;)

Thank you! I got a lot of the Beautiful Feet books that I'd been drooling over, but didn't want to take the plunge. Some of them were more than 50% off it seemed... As for shipping, I wasn't happy with it, but I still saved a lot with the shipping costs counted in. 6 of one, half a dozen of another...

People use dialog tags that sometimes don't make sense. In my opinion, nothing but said should be used, and when it's easy to make out who is speaking, no tag is best. I can't read books that use tags like "gasped" or "laughed". Ick. Also, adding on adverbs to show how someone spoke also makes me cringe. "Not now," she said sadly. Ugh. No. I don't want to be told how someone is speaking. I should be able to tell how something is said based on the conversation and the character speaking. -ly adverbs drive me batty too. I will teach my kids to find stronger verbs than adding -ly adverbs. And I'll also be teaching them appropriate diaolog tagging. ;)

I feel like the oddball amongst other HSers in my area because I do work full time so I can't join a lot of the things other HSers are doing. I have joined a HS Group, but actually can't stand it. We still go because we've made some friends, but I hate doing all the "joiner" stuff like the History Fair or the Science Fair. I thought they'd be fun things that would give my kids experience, but the projects some of these kids are doing are all done with help from their parents. Some parents even get up with their kids and then "feed" the words for the kids to say when they present and it just irks me. My kids get up and either sink or swim. So their projects are usually done at a lower level than others because, well, I don't help. So I feel like the sore thumb in those situations because my kids' projects are at their level, not an adult level. There are a few like us who let the kids do their own work, but we're a small group. :( So we can't do much outside our home, which is fine, but what we can do is disappointing. I like to stay home and be finished by lunch time. There is so much for other people to do. I have a friend who is so involved with outside HS groups and events that they are so behind in the basics (Reading, Writing, and math). To each their own, but because I can't join in (not that I think I'd want to) I miss out on all the stuff that my other HS friends all talk about. But I'm also finding that a lot of the stuff these other HSers are doing can be done at home. Like dissections. I hear a lot about how they dissected this and that at their coop (something we can't do due to my working full time). I found dissection kits online and we're going to be doing a lot of dissecting this summer. So we can do this stuff. I just need to find ways for us to do it at home without the help of a coop... So yeah, we're odd where we live, but I think we like it. :)

I'll have a 5th grader next year too and it floors me! Time does seem to be going too fast. So far (and this can all change like the wind) I have: **Math: MM5A&B and LOF Fractions, Decimals & Percents, and Danika McKellar's Math Doesn't Suck. Grammar: Finish MCT Town (just started it last week) and then move into MCT Voyage Latin: Latina Christiana I **History: Human Odyssey 1&2, Kingfisher's History Encyclopedia, and a History notebook ala TWTM **Science: Aplogia Human Anatomy or Chemistry and Physics (Can't decide) Logic: Mind Benders 3 and 4 and Building Thinking Skills Level 2 Writing: WWS and IEW (not sure if she'll do SWI-A or the Medieval Theme--I'll be doing TWSS over the summer) **Literature: Using literature to go along with History from lists in TWTM **Geography: Geography Coloring Book PE: Tap, musical theater, basketball, and swim Music: piano and voice lessons Foreign Language: ASL ** Changes I've made It looks so full--too full...I need to think more on this...

Thanks for posting this info. It looks like I have revised editions of MM1 and MM2, but old versions of MM3-MM6. I'm a bit mad that I have revised editions of the first two. I'm going to have to email her and see if I can get the old versions to go along with the rest of the older MM3-MM6. I'd prefer to keep it the way it was. Now I'm a bit worried about the transition from the revised MM2 to the old MM3 for my DS next year...Ugh! Wish I had known this before I purchased it. Then again, she wouldn't have given me this mixture if it wasn't okay to use it this way--right? I'll have to look at the changes between 2nd and third grade again.

Thanks for this. Now if only I could figure out which version I have or if I have a mixture of some revised and some not... Anybody know what version I would've received if I purchased MM during the HSBC sale last March?