:party:What a blessing. Tell your sweetie happy birthday from the 4Pillar Academy.

Well, at least you talk to your mom. My mom does not call, niether does my dad. Can you tell I am from a broken family?? However I did want to say Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear KIN Happy Birthday to you!!!:party::party:

Hmmm... I did not wait to start it and it was tooo much for my children at that age. Their sweet little brains just did not get it. They would rather be playing in the dirt!! They were both early reader too. My oldest started reading at 4 and my second one began at almost 5. They are very smart and absorb history now. I expected too much from them when they were young, trying to do WTM as written. It burned us all out. So, my answer is to wait!!! There is honestly no rush. I do not plan to start it with my younger children until 7 or 8, or later (or earlier) depending on the maturity and interest level of the student. Hope this helps.

Thanks for the replies. I do have the evaluations.... duh!! I wish I would of thought about using that for accountability!! Thanks! I would love to try and carve out time to read her history with her, but with 5 children, it is just about impossible! sigh.. which is why I went with Tapestry in the first place. We included her in our dialectic discussion time today and she did very well!! I may either adapt the questions, or just use the evaluations for her. Thank you, thank you.......... gotta go:auto: :auto: :auto:

I just realized that UG does not have any accountability questions!! How do you handle the discussions with an UG? I want to make certain she is reading and retaining the info, but am not really sure what is being covered in "her" reading. She really wants questions to answer too. She is my very over achiever 9yo! Boy, sure with they were all that way:) Ideas??? Jen

I have used Rod and Staff English for 3 years and Saxon Math for 7 years!!! We did stray from Saxon a few times for maybe a month or two, but always come back to it!! Fun topic!

Thanks! I think I will just stick with my freebie:) I did go online and look at the new edition samples, and there were some nice new pictures, but we can just look them up in an encyclopedia or something. I would rather just save the money too. Thanks again

better than the older edition? A friend gave me the older edition, but of course I want the NEW one!! However, I hate to spend the money if it is not really worth it. So, has anyone thoroughly compared the 2 yet? Thanks!

We will be using Word Roots software and workbook along with vocabulary cartoons.

you are not alone. I have ALOT of curriculum. My husband just started a remodeling company after a very high paying job. We are struggling to make ends meet while we are in the beginning phases of the is new venture. My hubby made the comment that if we get really desperate that we can just sell the curriculum sitting on my shelf and live for years:lol: Well, I did not think it was funny at the time!!! Little does he know that I am going through curriculum buying withdrawl because there is not any money to buy anything;) There is nothing more sad than a curriculum buying junkie without any money to quench my addiction.... SIGH:lol::lol::lol: Sooooo, if you see me selling anything, please know that we are trying to buy groceries:lol::lol:

THanks!! I think I will go ahead and purchase Henle, and do LC with my 9yo while my older ones listen in via DVD. Thanks everyone for making my decision so much easier.

First and foremost, I am very thankful for this board. TWTM team is doing the best they can to provide us with a safe place to chat. As for losing the classical focus... well, I think that there are so many users here that it may happed a bit. However, for the most part, I still see it as very classical. Many other boards seem to be very traditional or unschooly (is that a word:tongue_smilie:) Also, with so many users, you are going to have a variety of "classical styles" so to speak because each family has unique learners and circumstances. I do think we all have the same goal though... which is to provide a top notch education in the safety and loving comfort of our own home. HAPPY 4TH EVERYONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Just wanted to mention another program called Find the Errors. I just found this at Mardel the other day, but it looks good. They have advanced concepts, such as finding the dangling modifiers and such. We have also used daily paragraph editing, which was good too. I am glad this thread was started because I has considered it for my children, but after some of the comments it does not sound like something I would be interested in at the moment. THANKS!

I have heard that you can start Henle first year latin if you are an older student (13) just starting. Is this true? I was going to do Latiana Christiana 1 and just progress quickly with it, and then do LCII and on to Henle. I am also doing this with my 9 and 12yo, so I wanted to try and keep them together, but am wondering if I should seperate them. Thoughts?

Janice in NJ gave me this great advice: when they are reading their book, have them sit at the table with their feet on the floor. When slouched on the sofa, their reading is more of a passive type of reading. Have them read their AQs before they start reading their book. Then they have an idea which topics they should focus on. Have them hold their pencils and write their answers. I had to sit with them for many a day until they got the hang of actively reading and finding the answers. In essence, I was teaching them note-taking which is skill they'll need as they get older. (By the way, I think I still have to do this with them again when we start in August with Yr2. It's an ongoing learning process for them and an exercise in patience for me!) This is really great advice. My children tend to read in a tree house, lounged on a couch or bed, so maybe I should try this. Sue... great testimony. I plan to keep doing TOG. I have way too much $ invested in it. So far, they enjoy the books too, which is good. Oh, and they do go to bed reading books of their choosing as well. I am going to really try and keep their TOG reading during school, so they still have time to read novels of their choosing at night. I am, however, going to make them stop and read for at least and hour or so on Sat. and Sun. too. I think this will help them get through the assignments quicker. Thanks again for all the kind and wonderful advice. I am really thankful and very blessed to have this board to help me on my homeschool journey!

Well, we are planning on doing Apologia General and Physical science for my 12 and 13yo, but am not sure yet for my 9yo. I may follow the recommendations in the WTM for my 9yo, but am just not sure yet.

I have received some really great advice! I am having them do all the AC in writing because I feel like we have lacked in this area. For example, when we did history before with Mystery of History, I would read and then ask for a narration and then I would have to prod a bit to get a good answer. I am just ready to take them off the bottle, so to speak. My 12dd did go and read more of her book and it actually got better. I think that I will just allow 2 full weeks for the first few weeks of TOG to really get a good grip on it. Also, I do have another question... How in the world do you fit in everything else??? We did a lesson in math(saxon), a lesson in Rod and Staff English, Spelling work and then history. We started around 9:30 and stopped at 2:00 with a lunch thrown in. We will begin Latiana Christiana and Apologia General and Physical science soon too. I had wanted to begin some type of critical thinking as well, but am wondering where to fit it in! Thanks again everyone!;)

We just strated TOG today and my children are complaining that: 1. there is too much to read 2. the reading is hard 3. there are soooo many questions to answer This is mainly coming from my 9 and 12yo... my 13yo is really fine, although he is a bit overwhelmed by all the reading. My 9yo is in UG and my 12 and 13 are in D. I have always read aloud to them for history in the past, and I have not really required that much reading because I always read it to them as a family. They usually read a chapter or two out of their current chapter book a day, and that was it. I see now what a mistake this was. I am having a hard time discerning if they are *lazy, or are *really having trouble. My 12yo tends to get very flustered very easily... no matter how easy the concept, so this may be the issue too! Does TOG get better, or easier? Has anyone elses children had a hard time adjusting? Oh, I am having my UG read everything in the the primary resources. My D are also reading everything in the primary resources too. SIGH... I feel like I have failed my kiddo's in a way by reading everything, meaning history and science aloud to them, and then not requiring much reading from them. Advice?

I bought a used version of the Latiana Christiana I teacher's manual and realized it is the old version. Is the old version compatible with the current workbooks? It was hard to tell from the samples. Thanks

WOW! You really thought this out. I think it looks great too. I do agree, though, that your child should do oral reading daily:) Otherwise, it really looks good. Jen

Thanks for the replies everyone. I really know that these are all suggestions from the book, but just needed encouragement from all you guys. Another one of my favorite homeschoolin books is Educating the WholeHearted child, which is the complete opposite of WTM... and that one really messed me up too! LOL Thank you, thank you, thank you!!

feels chained to using a certain curriculum because it is recommended in TWTM? For example, I would much perfer to just use Easy Grammar with my children, and they would too. But, I feel like they will not get a very good grammar education if I use something else.... and I know it is from the influence of TWTM??? I know that Rod and Staff is much, much more comprehensive, but geez... even I have trouble with it sometimes. Easy grammar seems like a breath of fresh air! Anyone relate... Anyone have a key to this ball and chain I am wearing?????????:001_huh:

I have no advice for you, but can relate to you very well. I find myself up late figuring out what to do/use for school. I have a rising 8th, 7th, 4th, 4yo and 19month old. It is scary to try and think of what to use and then HOW I am going to get it done with my destructive:willy_nilly::smash: 19month old!! He can open all the doors:001_huh::sneaky2: and climb Mount Everest!!! SIGH.... So, I stay up at night trying to figure out what I need to keep in my plan (what plan:lol::lol::rolleyes:) and what I could possibly leave out and still give my child a good education!!! ARGH!!! Again, I have no advice, just thought I would worry with you!!

I don't think I made myself clear in the origional post:lol: By using the worksheets only, I meant that they would read the lesson in the text, then do a worksheet if there was one for the lesson. I am wondering if it is better to have them actually use the exercises in the text versus the ones on the worksheet. Does that make sense?:001_smile: The consensus seems to be to do the exercises in the text and reserve the worksheets for further practice if the student is struggling. Sorry for the confusion:) I am really bad about making sense sometimes:tongue_smilie: I guess I need to work on Rod and Staff English myself. Then I can write elegant posts that will get lots of reps and get another green bar!!!:lol::lol::lol: Just joking;)

I am wondering if anyone JUST uses the worksheet? Or, does anyone JUST uses the textbook? Of course my kids would love to use the worksheets because it is much less writing... but, I feel like the skills will be cemented into their mind better if they write it out more. Opinions? Experiences?