...because I don't just buy, buy, buy; but I don't really budget either. I do research on various curriculums, choose what I think is best for my kids (after three years, this part has gotten a lot easier as we've tried and discarded), and then look for the best deal. We generally have a big purchase sometime between may-june of the books, and another big purchase of binders, pencils, paper,art supplies, etc in august.

Been there too....although the disapproval is more subtle...you know, comments about "real school" and asking the kids if they miss their friends. Rolled eyes when they find out that we are hsing one more year... No outright arguments, but I think that might be preferable! One thing that helped was to share the girls standardized test scores (of course, I chose the metric that sounded most impressive , not "they got 90 percent", but "they scored as well as college graduates who answered the same questions") Family still thinks we're strange, and possibly warping our children, but the comments have eased off a bit.

We just started Apologia this year as well. My 8th grader started out in Bio, but we had to move her down to General - not because she couldn't handle the concepts, but because her study habits were so bad. I'm using the elementary Astronomy text with my 3rd grader, and she loves it. My 8th grader finds it interesting too. If you wanted to cover the topics in the elementary texts, you could probably work through them the first half of the year and then go on to Gen or Phys. science the last half. They say that Gen Sci is a year long course, but we have been able to cover it in half the year. We spend one week per module (30- to 40 min a day, 4 days a week), with an extra day or two to do the study guide, study, and take the test. It seems to work out well. You know your children best, but if they have good study habits, enjoy science, and "get" science, then they should do fine in either the Gen or Phys science books, and maybe even the Bio for our 13yr. If they've never had to study for a "real" test though, you may want to start out slow and take them through the first couple of study guides - that's where we made our mistake, and wound up crushing our eldest's confidence. What a struggle to get that back!

It's so encouraging to hear that someone else had such a steep learning curve! We are using TOG for the first time this year, and I also lived, ate and breathed it the summer before. The first start was slow and rocky until I got a feel for it, but now it's such a pleasure. The kids love the books, and I love the freedom. I spend so much less time planning now, and can't imagine switching back. Even if we don't use the exact books they recommend, I have a plan laid out that covers all the major history topics available, so as long as the books cover that topic I know my kids are getting a complete education. Just one more word of encouragement - TOG is a little overwhelming to start, but stick with it. This is one of the easiest programs to use with multiple ages that I've found (once you've found your rhythm), and I'm a curriculum junkie who's ordered waaaaaaaaay more than any person should need (4 different history programs this year - just to compare, you never know.....there might be something better:))!

I've used many different science programs over the three years I've been hs, and while some have been good (and some not so good!), I really think Apologia is one of the better ones out there. If you don't believe God created the earth, or if you don't want to take the time to explain that every book written is influenced by the writer's personal beliefs, then it may not be for you. Academically, it seems sound. My daughters are learning a lot - including good study habits and critical evaluation - from these books. I like the fact that the author also makes clear that he has personal beliefs, and while he tries not to let them influence his writing, that the reader should evaluate and make their own decisions (particularly on young/old earth, catastrophism/uniformitarianism and other "hot topics"). That is only in the higher level books, however. In the elementary books, you need to make that clear to your child. This has never been a problem for us, because we take that approach with all of our schoolwork. History, science, literature, all are written by humans, and all are subject to their viewpoint. Read 3 books about anything, written by 3 different people, living in 3 different countries, and you'll get 3 different stories! It's up to you to piece it together.

I used TOG for the first time this year - loving the redesign! - and we used the "main" books listed. I tend to be a follow the rules type of person and was a little afraid to vary too much from what was the first choice until I had some experience with TOG under my belt. Having said that, I see no reason why you couldn't use the alternate books instead of the main ones. TOG is very thorough, and they wouldn't list anything that didn't cover the material. In fact, you are encouraged to take the plan and change it to suit you! They even say (somewhere) that you can just go to the library and get whatever books are available on the topic that you are studying. TOG uses topic based lessons, not book based, so you have a lot of freedom. One word of caution, though. If you do choose to switch books around, then you run the small risk that not all the answers to the questions will be in the resources you use. As far as I'm concerned, that's not a big deal. Just go over the info with them and call it good. We also tweaked the discussion idea to better fit our style. Instead of a weekly discussion on the reading they did independently, we follow more of a Sonlight approach. I read the UG (i have UG and D levels) aloud to both girls and we discuss as we read, then my oldest reads her books as supplementary info and does the worksheet. It turns out that quite often she's calling for me to "listen to this.... isn't that cool/crazy/interesting" on her reading. Seems to be working well so far. Anyway, to sum up, you can use the optional resources as spines without fear! As you gain some experience with the way TOG works, you'll find yourself altering things to better fit your style anyway. That's what I like about it - I can change things around, and as long as I'm covering the topics, I know that my kids are getting a thorough education. Hope this helps!

Not sure which Latin you're using, but I saw that Latina Christiana has a French program. I plan on trying it out myself, but you need to like their Latin program because it is set up along the same lines. Hope this helps.

Marie, Boy, can I sympathize! We are just finishing up our first year with TOG and if you buy everything, especially if you have different levels, it can be expensive. What I did was take a LOOOOOONG look at the book list and the bookshelf listings; copy or print out all the books, authors, copywrites, etc; and then go to my library's online catalog and search for them. A surprising number of them were available, and it really helps keep the cost down. Next, I went to Rainbow Resource and searched for the rest. RR usually has things at a better price than anywhere else. Anything that I couldn't get at the library or through RR, I bought from the bookshelf. I would recommend buying the books that are used all year, and the ones that are used multi year. We did that, and when I was looking at the first Q books for next year, my cost is way down because I already own a lot of them. Another way to ease the pain is to buy the books one quarter at a time. I really recommend that, because you'll find yourself tweaking things here and there, or omitting this or adding that. Buying by quarter means you won't have books you didn't use after all sitting on your shelf. Just a word of encouragement - my husband almost choked when I told him how much the books were going to be, but he is glad we went with TOG. It's a really strong program.