I'd love to hear more about the above and how you are accomplishing it. You sound very CM to me. ;)

I have no idea if this would work for you, but Queen's has something tied to Nature Study using Parables. Maybe that would work/help? http://www.queenhomeschool.com/productpages/Discovering%20Nature%20Series/discoveringnatureseries2.html It's the 5th one down.

I really like both of these options too. Unless your ds loves ancients, I'd let that be the one you only get to once.

I didn't even remember the science experiments. If yours are younger, you might be able to get by with just what's in here; if they are older, I'd suggest getting a separate curriculum.

Science portion? Can you give me a link? I don't remember there being any science.

I have 16 days left on my free trial. I'm extremely adept at computers and programs; I run my own web hosting company. After about 5 days, maybe 7, I was ready to throw in the towel. I sat with the PDF help manual on my Ipad and the program open on my computer and went through a ton of it. I played around and I even figured out how to import someone else's lessons plans to see how they did it. I read alot at their forum. Then all of a sudden, it just clicked. I'm sure I haven't figured it all out yet, but I've got enough to get me started now. I kept with it, because after comparing it to many of the others, none of them really stood up to it. HST+ just has so many features. Now, I can finally purchase a license. :)

Sure, I use my Ipad. I let the kids read the text from the Ipad or the computer, their choice. And I use the directions on the Ipad for the projects. I only print out the actual projects/lapbooks/notebooking/timelines/etc. Works great that way. The only thing is, when you transfer it to your Ipad, the "program" that works on Windows doesn't transfer, only the individual PDF files. So you have to look them up individually instead of the easy way through the program. You'll figure it out though; it's easy. I've got all of them and we are in the middle of the 19th century one. I can't say the text is terribly exciting and the way the PDF is formatted, I find it very hard to read from. But you could skip the text and just use the projects along with your own text of your choosing too. Let me know if you have any other questions; Good luck,

Which HITW products are you referring to? I have almost everything of theirs and LOVE their products.

http://donnayoung.org/forms/guide.htm Scroll down and you'll see a box with weekly planner, subject planner, journal and timer. Good luck,

I don't know when the lesson planning will be ready for sure, but on their site, where you go to login or purchase, on the left hand side is a section called Beta Updates - it says that July 14 is when Lesson Planning will be added. I assume that could change at any time though. There are also two locations for resources - curriculum and literature. I haven't figured this all out yet as I'm still playing with WPD, HST+ and CMO. I decided I didn't like HST Online though. I'm probably wasting more time comparing all these when I could have had all my lesson planning done on paper. ;) :lol:

I don't totally get it. I mean I signed up and I see how you can enter things and take pictures of projects and upload them, but how is this better than having your own blog? Maybe I'm missing something?

We've done it every year since 2004. LOVE IT!! Though my oldest is now officially "out of it". I'd choose to go closer to the beginning of October though and not near the end. The closer to Halloween you get, the busier it is. It's usually sold out early on Halloween night and the several days around it. Have fun,

I don't think it does grades either. I do like it though and I wish it had a little more to it. We are CM in philosophy so it's great in that regard. Maybe if they give it some more "umph". :) I would place this, oddly enough, as my second favorite with HST+ being my reluctant favorite so far.

Oh, it might work great for you, I'd definitely try it out. I don't like that I can't see both students at the same time. I don't like that it doesn't have alot of "help" to figure out how to do things. I can't plan easily and then pass out those plans to whichever student I want. I have to plan per student. I can't put alot of details in the lesson plans, at least not that I can find. It's just too plain for me, even too plain compared to Simply Charlotte Mason Organizer. One reason I'm wanting to use a planner this year is to try to keep better track of everything since my son will be starting highschool. It would be nice to have it keep track of it all so I can put it both in his portfolio and use as a transcript.

I've been going through this dilemma lately too. I've tried: Scholaric - not enough for me; Edutrack - no free trial that I could find; Homeschool Tracker Plus - hate the learning curve but it does everything I could want; Homeschool Tracker Online - easier to use but not sure I want the yearly expense and my data could be lost in one fell swoop if the server crashed and they don't have a good backup, it also doesn't do quite as much as the Plus version; Well Planned Day Online Planner - looks sooo pretty, I like that, I both like and dislike that it does everything, such as menus, shopping, projects, etc., it's still evolving so I'm not sure I can make a decision yet especially since I can't see how the Lesson Plans and Reports will work (those functions aren't up yet); Simply Charlotte Mason Organizer - I do love this for its simplicity but yet it doesn't really have much and no reports. If I'm missing any, let me know. :) I think I've decided I really want something on my computer, not online. I worry about losing my information (I'm a webhost and know how easily that can happen). I also can hook up my iPad to access it on my computer so I can "use" my iPad with it also which is the only reason I would go for an online one. Good luck finding what works for you. If I can answer any questions on the ones I've tried, let me know.

These look great - I had never heard of them before this. I noticed in the ad that they have old binder recycling too. So I'm guessing you could recycle an old binder and get $2 off this sale price. I'll have to ask them if they'll do that.

I feel your pain, truly. My son, 15, does not have eating issues but he has severe ocd/anxiety and where yours is afraid of food, mine is afraid of his little brother. He had a very rough time when we told him we were having another and he's terrified of him. He won't touch him, look at him, say his name or talk to him. Nothing can go in his room that the baby has touched and ds won't touch anything in the rest of the house if the baby has touched it (which is getting to be almost everything). It's EXHAUSTING!! I feel like I had a new son but lost my old one.

Same thing happened to me last night. I was hoping to have access right away and then I couldn't access my FAV forum to find out. :( Glad to see its not just me.

We live in Clermont and are part of a fantastic homeschool group called SLHE (South Lake Home Educators) http://www.slhe.net . We have a large co-op also. We literally will NOT move because we'd miss our group too much. PM me if I can help at all.

:001_wub: We just love her stuff. Can't wait for her new program. We are waiting for ancients too. Maybe this could fill in while we wait.

Here you go: http://homeschoolprogramming.com/

I'm so glad to hear this. I almost bought this at our homeschool convention last week but hesitated. Now I'm wishing I had gone ahead. I think I'll consider going ahead and buying it now. I wonder if HSBC will have it again???

We are using it with both my dd12 and ds15. I read it aloud most of the time and I just skip over or reword parts that are just too much for us. The science part of the book is very good and the religious rhetoric is not in every paragraph. However, of course, your mileage may vary and I'd look it over closely to make sure it doesn't drive you crazy. We are not christian and I used to try to use strictly secular products but I've relaxed now that I've been doing this for a while. There really are a lot of great homeschool products but so many are christian its hard to avoid them so I've learned to embrace them and use the good stuff. Good luck,

Ladies, Thank you!!! Honestly, I hardly post as I feel so overwhelmed most times but I can't tell you how much I appreciate reading all of your posts. I read and sit here and cry or laugh or nod in agreement and it makes me feel better. This particular thread really hit me. Again, thank you for always publicly sharing!!!

I just checked the WTM 3rd edition and it has two progressions: normal pace and slightly slower pace. AoA is in the slight slower pace but it is scheduled after AoA. CT 1 and 2 are both scheduled for Grade 6 with AoA following in Grade 7. HTH, I've been curious about this too. We are "logically challenged" around here so I think we are going to start with Building Thinking Skills and then move into AoA based on Old Dominion Heather's post.