I think it's fixed now, thanks for letting me know.

I've been thinking about it all day! So much food for thought! The two mile walk to school, the boy who lives alone in the slums with his siblings, the afgan girl who helps her mom while her brothers do nothing! There is just so much to ruminate on! It makes me so thankful, and makes me feel so sheltered in this wealthy(compared to the rest of the world) and priviledged society.

It was facinating. It was a semi-documentary about children around the world being educated. I was able to see the girl from Romania, and the boy from Kenya. Anyone else see it? It gave me a huge appreciation for the opportunity I have to home educate our children and how we live in such a privledged nation. Wide-Angle Preview Full Episode

I really like the Calvert 'Melody Lane' videos. Also, I signed up my 5yo & youngers up for Music Together class this fall. We sing every morning as we start schooltime. It's a wonderful way to start the day!

I didn't go to a waldorf school as a child but my friend did, she loved it also. I really don't want to do the whole fairy thing with my kiddos either. Thanks for the recommendations, I'll have to look into them more. Excellent review, just what I was needing to know. Thank you for being honest!

I'm hoping for any Oak Meadow review. Anyone?

I would combine your 8 & 9 yo for FLL 3. I don't use it but I looked at the samples and I think it would work well for those ages. It starts with review so I think anything that they didn't catch in Shurley they would pick up quickly. I started AAS this year and I try to do two at a time. I just sit one on one side of me and the other on the other side and we go back and forth between the two. It seems to work well so far. Have you tried workboxes? It has really helped me to be more organized. Also, I LOVE MFW for combining history & science. I wasn't sure how it was going to go but it is working so well. My 5yo LOVES to join in the fun! We are doing Adventures this year.

I would love to do the lesson with her but I need to hop...from one child...to another child....to another child....to another child.....to another child. Life with many littles...make homeschooling very interesting.

Very encouraging. Guess what, we had a good day!!! NO CRYING!:D I had her read through the lesson. She found the sentences. Yay!! Then I had her work on the worksheet (Lesson 4-worksheet 2) I just gave her a bit at a time and each time she got finished she did the next part. It was great! All together it took us maybe 10 minutes. She did a great job! So thankful for all the encouragement and ideas! I feel more confident with the curriculum and less stressed about trying to do it all as written.

May I just say that the word LAZY and (homeschool)Mom of 6 kids do not belong in the same sentence. sorry...had to interrupt Please don't insult yourself

thanks so much for the replies. I know the biggest problem is the writing....she's not much into writing. I am so glad I got "permission" to do it orally. thank you

Hi all! We are done with day 3. I used R & S Grammer 2 last year with my dd. She did well with it. I have always planned on using it. In fact I have all the R & Staff Grammer books up to 6. (Very pathetic....I know) Anyhow, I was planning on just forging ahead on this particular grammer road. My good friend used it with her daughters with great success. As stated we are on day 3. Day 1: Daughter opened up her workbox and sat down with the book and cried....we just did it orally. I had no idea she dis-liked it so much. Day 2: I introduced her to a worksheet yesterday...again crying. Day 3: I wanted her to do one small exercise.....more crying. I really don't want to torture the poor girl. She is more emotional than some, but I seriously am questioning if this is the 'right' program for her or...do I just ditch the worksheets and do it all orally. Any ideas, thoughts, encouragement?

I would use MFW first grade, even if she is reading....the phonics moves very fast in this one. The Bible/Science parts are wonderful also. In my opinion of course. ;)

Have you tried doing it as an audiobook? There is one online. I think as SWB wisely stated that you need to read(listen?) through a book several times and start an internal dialogue. Pilgrims Progress is a tough book, which I think makes it worth the battle. I personally am listening to it for the first time (after dropping out of reading), it is much easier to digest when listening than reading. IMHO! http://librivox.org/the-pilgrims-progress-by-john-bunyan/

I used it last year and really liked it. We read through the lesson together did a few samples (when suggested) and away we went. I didn't have her write everything out. We did a lot orally. The only beef I have is that the definitions are not drilled as well as they are in FLL 1/2. I had to add that in.

Veritas Press has one on the AE & OT c.d.

I beg you not to. I'm fairly certain you will regret it, at least I did. Our contract runs out in Feb. We are not renewing.

I completely relate to your post, having said that I also realize that home education is a choice. I have made this choice for our family, and it is up to me to carry out that choice. That means I have less choices about what I want to do or feel like doing. It is hard, and draining, and just planning everything has me thinking "How am I going to get it all done?". I'm all about practical, here's what helps me get through the day. 1. Have a routine everyday. Let your children realize that x, y, and z will happen in a certain order each and every school day. This requires some self-discipline. Schedule if you have to. Give yourself a little flex time to teach with the baby, but a baby can be held, fed, or rocked while you are teaching (trust me, it's the only way it can be done sometimes!) 2. Turn off/down the phone and computer(unless needed for something school related!), interruptions kill me! 3. Consider workboxes. I think the idea is brilliant, whatever way you decide to use it, the concept is wonderful. Get file folders, drawers, boxes whatever and put your material in order. 4. Have a goal/ plan for each day, semester and school year. Write it out. Example: Today we will do math, spelling, grammer, writing, history, narration etc., By Christmas we will have 50 lessons done in book x. By June we will finish this book, or have x much narrations done. 5. Plan it out. I need a piece of paper telling me what to do next because otherwise I would stop when I felt like it. If I know we have to do bible, reading, math, grammer, writing, spelling, history or science(and I know what to do in each area!), then it is more apt to get done. Plus checking it off when it is complete is a huge motivator for me!:D If you aim at nothing you will hit it every time ~Zig Ziglar I hope this is an encouragement to you, it helps if I take my own advice sometimes. ;) P.S. I do need some down time during the day. Snack time in the morning or Quiet/reading time in the early afternoon are two suggestions. Allow some time to recharge your batteries.

Where is your husband in this? Has he changed his mind given this new information? Have you considered sending your dd and keeping your ds home? First speak with your husband.

First, relax. :) FLL covers grammer and you can easily do a lesson a day and complete Levels 1 & 2 in one year. I prefer to do it that way anyway. Have you considered WWE 1 for writing? It is an excellent program and I am using it a year behind, which is fine. As far as spelling goes, there is so many options to choose from. I would recommend All-About spelling level one and then you could always breeze through that and get into level two later in the year. Sounds like you have math covered. Our children love the SOTW c.d.'s. You could play those and add in some of the map/timeline stuff if you wanted. Your kids are still little. I just got back from a conference and what was re-iterated over and over was CHARACTER counts more than academics. So bear that in mind. ;)

Rod & Staff

I share your concerns. Pray. Schedule. Train. Teach. That's what I'm trying to focus on. Also on a more practical note, I use a modified Managers of Their Homes schedule, and I LOVE the SOTW c.d.'s. I am going to be using that to supplement our school instead of reading it aloud. Also, we are leaning toward the MFW bent in order to better work together. I am also going to try workboxes this year, I know it won't take away any of the actual teaching time but it will save the "I can't find my book etc," problem (I hope!) . We'll see. You are not alone. P.S. Loop scheduling, I think it is just moving from one subject to the next and what you don't finish you just start up the next day. Please someone correct me if I'm wrong! I personally couldn't handle it, I would never get much done, thinking it would get done the next day! ;) Procrastination is a problem here, I don't want to encourage it!

I hate to disagree with you but I recieved my DVD's yesterday, so that was TWO DAYS!!! WOW, talk about fast ship out, faster than Amazon.

I'm behind where you are. I plan on using WWE 2 for my third grade year. Then I plan on using CW Aesop for 4th. I'm not planning anything in stone yet, that is what I am planning now but depending on how it goes this year will determine next year. I wish I knew for sure which way to go but I don't yet. We'll just have to see how my dd responds to WWE. Sorry I'm not any more help!

I haven't listened to it but I found this one. http://www.amazon.com/Hobbit-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0788789821/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248962103&sr=1-1http:// I just wanted to encourage you. My fourth grade teacher read HOBBIT out loud and I still have fond memories of sitting in class listening to him reading it. I think I'm going to pick up the cds in a year when I have a fourth grader.