We've been using BtB Spanish for about a month now. I would not be able to hand this to my son and have him work independently (though some kids might - my oldest would have been fine). There are no daily lessons, not quite enough review, and they use words in exercises that are not on the vocabulary lists. Honestly, I think that's great because he is almost always able to figure out the meaning because it is similar to a word in English, or from the context, but he tends to work things out better when he has someone to work with. I wish that they had every exercise read aloud on the CDs so we can check our pronunciation more often. And they have no recommended method for review. I am having him make and use online flashcards and I set up a vocabulary notebook for myself. I guess that is obvious, but if I had just handed him the program, he probably would not have thought of it and would be even more overwhelmed with the amount of words he needs to memorize. I do have a background in Spanish (my parents wanted us to speak perfect English so they only spoke Spanish to each other privately and made sure that our home was about 95% English speaking and that our relatives spoke English to us as well) so I know a lot of vocabulary and my accent is tolerable. If I knew no Spanish at all...I would have had him take French (which I took in school and did with my oldest) or totally outsourced it (like I did with German for my 2nd). We are actually having a good time with it. He likes figuring things out, so long as it is not too far above his abilities and he knows that doing the minimum is not going to get him more time on Minecraft!. BtB seems to be just right for us. I did spend the extra $ and bought the TM - much easier to use than the answer key for my middle-aged eyes!

I used the WTM approach. Years 1 and 2 were easy - Ancient History and World History 500-1500. Years 3 and 4 I did a little differently. 3: .5 credit of World History 1500-1850 and .5 credit of U.S. History to 1850. 4: .5 credit of World History 1850-2000 and .5 credit of U.S. History 1850-2000. I treated Government and Economics like electives. They are required here in NY so I made sure that they were clear on the transcript! For English, I just listed English 1, 2, 3, 4 and included a book list with the application. If I could not have added the book list, which I set up by school year, I would have labeled the classes the way regentrude did, I guess. I chose not to because we did more than literature for English, kwim? And I could not come up with a way to phrase it that was not wordy. A few of the colleges my oldest applied to were a little confused by homeschooling/my approach to homeschooling, so I included a list of the materials/books I used each year for each class. I have to send this info to the Board of Ed here every year, so I just sent copies of those letters. She got some excellent scholarship offers from those schools!

Since your husband is willing to take over one day a week, I am assuming that he also thinks that going back to homeschooling is the best thing for your son? If so, have him speak to your son, sort of man to man. That definitely takes you out of the picture, probably dials down the emotion, and hopefully leads to a productive discussion.

This made me laugh! Record-keeping is hard!

I think it was 2005-2006. We were in Year Four and using everything from Spielvogel to SOTW to the If you lived in...books. The kids were 10th, 8th, 2nd, and K. Other fun curricula - Rainbow Science, Teaching Textbooks, Explode the Code, Analytical Grammar. We read The Autobiography of Malcolm X, The Endless Steppe, and Snow Treasure. We started the school year with our first trip to Disney World! Best of all, my youngest had been sleeping through the night for 2 years and I FINALLY felt caught up on sleep! Honestly, I think not being exhausted all the time is what really made that year special.

Super-creepy. Knowing that it was written with his children in mind doesn't change how I feel about it - I wouldn't have it in the house - but I no longer think that the author must be a weirdo. I've lost my son and lost my mother since I first read the book...but it is still creepy to me. Not so much the idea, but the illustrations.

We've been married almost 28 years. I am a better wife now than I was when we first got married and certainly better than I was when we were having our children. Now that we know each other and ourselves better and I am no longer a sleep-deprived, desperate woman, our marriage is better than ever. {I said better 3 times. If one of my children turned in an answer like this, I would have them rewrite it!}

Really? Wow. That stinks. My husband is a cop so I know how things can be, but that is a depressing statistic!

My husband says I am a great wife. I don't feel like I am because I am so bad at managing the home and those things really matter to him. But he has relaxed his standards and I have raised mine - a bit! - and he hasn't complained about it in a few years. So I guess I am doing ok!

We are very excited here!!! When my older girls were 10/12th grades, we watched the series together. We got the DVDs from Netflix and it took us 1.5 years to watch them all. I was surprised by how well they held up and I actually enjoyed them more than I did when I originally watched them on TV. The show really had a beautiful flow from season to season. My younger kids are not particularly interested - what's up with that? Even my husband loves the show!

Catch-22 wasn't published until 1961 and he wrote it during the Korean War years - maybe that's why you though it was Korean War era? I've never read it but my husband told me to have my son read it, so I will be reading it with him next year!

Personally, I would do the rest of World History next. You can choose a text like Spielvogel or Strayer and just have him do the rest of the book next year.

In High School they have a lot more say. But I have final say. Certain shows are just not acceptable and I tell them to wait till they are 18. When they are in college they can watch what they want. Actually, there are certain shows I don't even let my adult daughters watch. I tell them to go to a friend's house to watch something I find too racy. Not that they can't watch it...just not in my home!

Well, I have time now so here are a few more to consider: WW1 Goodbye to all that - memoir Robert Graves Rilla of Ingleside - the last Anne of Green Gables book set during the 4 years of the war Poetry - Brooke, McRae, Sassoon, Owen, others Testament of Youth - Brittain - memoir In between Mein Kampf WW2 All My Sons - Miller - play Night - Wiesel A Bell for Adano - Hersey Hiroshima - Hersey Catch-22 - Heller

Only fiction, or non-fiction and biographies as well?

I did a WTM style program with my older girls. Sort of. One daughter did the 4 years 7-10 since that's where we were as a family - she had used Veritas for all of elementary school. She repeated Years One and Two at a higher level for 11th and 12th. So she did Yrs 3,4,1,2 through High School. My next daughter did Years One and Two for 9th and 10th. By her request, we split Years 3 and 4 up into US History for 11th and then World History from about 1500-2000 in 12th. So she did Yrs 1,2,3&4,3&4 through High School. Hope that made sense! OK. I planned it in such a way that I did not teach - the books taught. I preread everything so I knew what they were reading. I used books that were recommended here and in the WTM book. I used some curriculum when I thought it would be helpful - a few Lightning Lits, etc. I used some Teaching Co dvds as well. It was not hard to plan. I didn't use tests, just discussion and writing. We were able to use SWBs Ancient World book one year - that was great! But there wasn't really any teaching going on. I was always ready to discuss because I had read the same books! If you don't have time to do the reading yourself, then I would advise using a real curriculum.

When I was in High School I helped out backstage with the younger girls at a few recitals. I didn't dance but my good friend did. She and all the older girls were asked to rope in some of their friends and we were all happy to do it! Is there any chance that you can suggest that to your studio?

Our traditions mostly revolve around food, but we have modified them over the years as our children got older. We trim the Christmas tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and eat Pillsbury Christmas Tree cookies. Homemade ones will not do! We celebrate St. Nicholas Day with gifts in their shoes - candy, quarters, and a DVD or CD. I make Sauerbraten, potato balls, red cabbage and apple kuchen! More gifts in their shoes on Three Kings Day - and I make Pollo Guisado, Rice, and flan! We have traditions for Valentines Day, St. Patrick's Day, July 4th, Labor Day, Michaelmas, their birthdays, etc. None of these things take a lot of time, really. And we have changed things as they got older! When they were younger, we would have a Medieval Feast on Michaelmas, wear costumes, and put on a St. George and the Dragon skit. Now, we have totally changed it! We watch a Jane Austen DVD with no costumes...but we still have the special dinner, especially the blackberry cobbler!

Albeto - I want to believe that science is objective, even when scientists are, well, human. Like I have said, I think I have been reading all the wrong stuff! Thanks for the link, and thanks to everyone who recommended books upthread. My goal is not to "know" but to understand more.

We have found the Ducklings, Children's Museum, Science Museum and Aquarium great for all ages.

No. I am of the opinion that most of what I have read on both sides seems to written by an arrogant blowhard. Not just on the age of the earth, but on climate and vaccines and fossil fuels. All that is beyond the scope of this thread..I am just trying to explain my distaste for popular writing on these topics. And I know am not well-educated and I definitely struggle with anything technical, so I read popular explanations while frustrated that I am not able to understand anything more detailed. But I am going to try!

Obviously, I need to spend less time reading what Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins have written and more time reading up on the science. Starting with the new textbook I bought!

We live in a small space - a coop apartment that is about 1,000 sqft. We have three bedroom, 1.5 baths, a living room large enough to call one end the dining are, and a foyer large enough to house two desks and three bookcases. The big pro has been affordability. We paid off our mortgage a few years ago and it was never that big, so we have been able to manage on one income. That pro extends to so many areas - Disney World Vacations, helping our kids with college tuition, buying a new van cash. The con has been dealing with 2 children with Sensory Issues. what I would give for a sound-proofed basement or attic!! Storage has been a small con - we keep very little and pay for a storage unit in our building which keeps my apartment looking neat, not overstuffed. Easy to clean is a small pro as well. A lot less floors to mop and toilets to scrub!

I don't believe in YEC. My conformation bias makes me unable to just trust that "reputable scientists" are free of bias. ETA: Not trying to be snarky. I know I have my preconceived notions and I just don't believe that others don't!

From that Nat'l Geographic Article - “Science is not a body of facts,†says geophysicist Marcia McNutt, who once headed the U.S. Geological Survey and is now editor of Science, the prestigious journal. “Science is a method for deciding whether what we choose to believe has a basis in the laws of nature or not.†If understanding everything from the age of the earth to vaccinations requires me to subject my belief in God to the laws of nature, then I will just not understand. She has her preconceived notions and I have mine. The article was fascinating but I think it was really saying that scientists are some special breed of people who are able to put aside conformation bias but the average American is not. I can't buy that.