Can anyone tell me more about this? How it works? How intensive on parent? What are the pros and cons?

We did this last december. First we did rid which only took care of a little bit. We waited the 7 days and then did nix, which really eliminated everything. Every day, we got hair damp, and dumped on a ton of conditioner. Any kind works. Then we took a flea comb from a pet supply store and combed through the hair a section at a time. We found the easiest way to see, was to flip all the hair over the eyes in front, and then start at the nape of the neck, and slowly work a bit down at a time. Much easier than trying to Bobby pin a section. Plus then you are constantly recombing each area. You will see the bugs, eggs, and anything else in the conditioner or in the tines of the comb. It is amazing how tiny they are. Rinse the comb in hot water each time and use toilet paper or a paper towel to wipe it clean. Make sure to boil after every use too. The conditioner would have worked alone but there were three with it, and it was Christmas with company coming. We wanted them gone! Vacuum everything every day. Bag the stuffed animals and other stuff. Or put in the dryer. And I washed all clothes, bedding and towels everyday. My house was never so clean!!

You have to have three kids per grouping. So according to the test, it must be administered separately to different age ranges. The younger grades are by themselves, but then there is a grouping of fourth, fifth, and sixth I believe. S you could test your fourth grader and a friends fifth and sixth grader together. But if you also had a second grader, you would need two more second graders. Make any sense? And I read or heard this just last month when preparing to test our co-op kids. I think it was on the DVD that they make you watch as training. Not sure who puts together that DVD but I think it is bob jones.

Another thing to think about is how much do you actually remember from your own schooling in middle school, and high school. I can honestly say, I don't remember a whole lot of history or science detail. But I learned to write well, and think critically. I think sonlight is an excellent curriculum for learning to read thoughtfully, and express ideas. Combine that with solid writing programs like IEW, and a good grammar program, and you have a hit. And even more importantly, sonlight gives you lots of flexibility to pick and choose what to study, when, and how much to do.

I also have a 4th grader this fall, and a 1st grader. We have always been Roman Catholic, but here is my pennies worth. We are going to do a bible study using The Breakthrough Bible, and one of their workbooks. Plus whatever fun activities to go with the stories I can find free online. We have used Faith and Life, but I didn't like it for early years. Returning to it for 4th grade. We used Seton for 2nd and 3rd, and I felt it was a great fit at the time, but 4th grade looked pretty repetitive of the previous 2 years, thus the switch. Our CCE program uses Faith First. Great for littles. Good online Catholic bloggers are Danielle Bean, Elizabeth Foss, and showerofroses.blogspot.com. Elizabeth Foss has a learning area called Serendipity and you may find some useful info there.

I know this is a bit late to chime in, but I am planning to use Kolbe's 4 -6 Lit study for next year. I borrowed a friend's to browse, and everything that I wanted came in the $150 set. It truly has the "meat" of the course. The other 3 book set has a lot of repetition of what you find in the expensive part, but divided into 3 separate packets. It drives me a little crazy that they didn't make it more streamlined and easy for the teacher. But I chose it because my daughter loves classic literature, and Sonlight cores for 3 and 4 were not going to offer her the kind of books she loves. This lets me choose a set of books for the year, based on her level and interests, and has an indepth study for each book with vocabulary (which is super hard), and lots of questions and writing projects. We won't do everything, but it gives me a lot to go off of. I would say it isn't worth buying the 3 book set without the $150 study guide unfortunately. And also Kolbe has a policy on resale, so you are not likely to find any used very easily.

From a Catholic Sonlight fan... We are a Catholic homeschooling family who have used bits and pieces of Sonlight every year that we have homeschooled thus far, 5 years! I have done the Pre-K books without a sonlight guide because they are excellent literature choices. We have done the kindergarten read-alouds with a guide. And for the past several years have done the readers and language arts that were originally grade 1, 2 intermediate and 2 advanced. Next year we are planning to do the ones that were originally 2 easy, but probably going to do the Kolbe literature guide with daughter entering 4th. We would be at core 3, and have done American history already, as well as I don't want the books they have selected to go along with the core as readers. I want more classic literature. I buy 90% of my "sonlight" books used, at our local homeschool store, half-price books store, or paperbackswap online. I do plan to return to Sonlight for 5th grade though and do a full core including history for Eastern Hemisphere. While I do not do their bible studies, I find the sonlight guides are wonderful and easy to use. I like the way they are laid out, and they do give you options to pick and choose. I have many Catholic homeschooling friends who use almost nothing but Sonlight. Only substituting for bible and science. They still pick and choose their way through the book list. The benefit of homeschooling. I also use the yahoo catholic sonlight forum and love it for the wisdom of the ladies on there, as well as the information they have in their lists ( someone actually has scheduled out the option of adding All Ye Lands from the catholic textbook project along with core 5 and 6). Good luck in your choices.

We have done 2 years of Voyages both without a TE. I usually plan my weeks using the table of contents. I count up the lessons, and then figure out how to schedule them to get everything done in the number of weeks I want. We use the practice books as well, and to schedule that, I have to look at the bottom of the page where it tells you what lesson in the student book it goes with. It actually is very easy to match up but does take some time. The student book teaches exceptionally well just from reading through and discussing. My guess is that a TE might be more useful for older grades, where you may not be confident in your own knowledge. I know all the TE's I have bought in the past end up not getting used. Hope this helps.

Funny! Actually after Hurricane Ike, we came back to our house to find a fish in our backyard. Nobody else reported anything of the sort that we know. But since we live with a man-made lake right across the street, we figure it got picked up during the storm from there or somewhere else and landed at our house. It was disgusting, but DH took a bag and threw it out. Birds dropped yours maybe?? We thought seagulls were another possibility with ours.

I am thinking of using History Odyssey Level 1 Early Modern for my 9 year old daughter who will be going into 4th grade next year. And then skipping Modern Level 1, in favor of Ancients Level 2 for 5th grade. Any thoughts?? This also would put ds in 2nd grade using Ancients Level 1. Do I miss out on anything vital by skipping the Modern at this point?

Agreed. I am so happy I saved last years catalog. Although trying to compare between cores is even a pain with the new letter system. Do they really think lettering them instead of numbering them makes a difference? I also noticed that the index at the back doesn't have all the books listed like the previous catalog. When my children pick up a book at the library to read, and I recognize it as a "sonlight" book, I usually check to see what core it falls into. You can't do that with the new catalog.

History Odyssey uses the Story of the World books for all the Level 1 courses. I really like the way it looks, but haven't tried it yet. We have used Sonlight, and loved it, because of the consistency of reading from real books in a chronological order. That being said, the only thing I have against Sonlight is their use of Usborne books. These drive me crazy, since they are pictures with captions and nothing more. My kids like the story, versus the blurbs. Seriously tempted to try History Odyssey this summer with their try before you buy feature. If it is a hit, I'll purchase for fall.

Love Sonlight compared to FIAR. I like how everything is scheduled out for me (even if we tend to read ahead in almost everything). My kids have adored the books we have read with very few exceptions. I have done Sonlight's kindergarten twice now, and the 3rd grader came in to listen. The books are that good! We have also done the P4/5 books but without the instructor guide. Didn't want to spend the money on a schedule. I also love the choices Sonlight gives for learning to read from real books in each of the early years.

Primary Phonics is good too. We used one of those first and then moved on to Explode the Code. I would have stuck with Primary Phonics if I wouldn't have already had the ETC books.

I have always been a super avid reader. While everyone is school would complain about reading assignments and say they didn't read the book, I was the kids that devoured the whole thing overnight. But I must say, in all my years in school, only Great Expectations did I never finish. I just couldn't take it anymore. I am just not a fan of Charles Dickens in general.

I totally agree. We all have periods like that, some worse than others. There is a pretty decent book call Managers of Their Chores. If you have ever watched the Duggars show, that is the system they use with their children. While I don't agree with everything in it, there were some helpful suggestions. Just remember homeschooling families have children living in the home 24/ 7. We are lucky not to get swallowed alive somedays by the messes.

Don't forget Singin' in the Rain and White Christmas. Many places have productions solely done by kids that are called Jr. such as Annie Jr., Singin in the Rain Jr., etc. They are great experiences for actually learning about the technical aspects of musical theatre and what goes on backstage.

The Letter Factory is awesome, and my son became obsessed with letters at 4 years old. We have used a different phonics book put out by the same publisher of Explode the Code. They are called Primary Phonics and although teaching the same skills are different in format. I think there is a lot more repetition and the pictures are clearer. Plus it incorporates the color words. Explode the Code can also be done online for quite a bit more money than the workbooks, but if your son is more capable working on a computer, it could help.

We have a Honda Odyssey from 2004 and have fit 3 car sears across the last row several times. Two were Graco boosters with or without the back didn't seem to matter. And I am not sure what the third was, but it still had a harness. I use the captains chairs for the bigger harness needing carseats, and put the older ones in the back. Or at least two older ones in the simple boosters. I know the Graco boosters are the ones you find at Target and everywhere else. It also helped to put the harness carseat to the right or left and not in the middle. I think it was because the boosters can be lifted and shifted more easily for belt buckling. Hope this helps.

Most people tend to adjust to the idea over time. We still get the question after 4 years of doing this, when do you plan to put them in school. They also see what their other grandchildren are doing in public school, and then "test" our children. Drives me crazy, but I don't really care what they think. Sounds like your first conversation wasn't too bad!!! :)

We had a bunny. It was a bad decision for us. The little guy never did get the litter box idea, and you are supposed to let them our for exercise, and ours would poop everywhere if we did. His claws also were like daggers and ripped open my arm on numerous occasions. Don't know what kind of rabbit he was, but I would never do that again. Now on the other side of the argument, my husband had a big floppy eared bunny as a kid, that was gentle as could be but they also kept her outside in a rabbit hutch. I think it depends on the rabbit breed and where you plan to keep it.

I used part of the Horizons Preschool Program but didn't find that it was engaging for my son, or that he was learning much. It is colorful, nicely laid out, and has some fun projects though. Not really worth the money IMO.

I agree with Tabula Rasa. I don't know that you will ever find anything that is totally accurate. And yes the whole Pluto thing happened so recently that many science texts have it listed as a planet. I know our Apologia does, as well as a R.E.A.L. Science Odyssey, since they were both before the decision to downgrade Pluto.

I like the way Real Science reads. Real life examples, kid friendly. I don't think it is too old for a 1st grader if you use any of the pre-levels. My only issue has been that it seems to need more. By itself it isn't very comprehensive or fun.

This is why I always have preferred the D'nealian style. The print resembles cursive to a large extent and makes letter reversal much less likely. I agree that kids should learn both. Even in books, you will find handwritten letters by people that your children will want to be able to read. Without some knowledge of both systems, there will be some instances of being unable to read items. Not something that happens a lot, but I know even last year in 2nd grade my daughter came across cursive in her books she was reading for Sonlight.