I get the downloads. I actually prefer to print the pages, since I like to staple each lesson together and then put them into daily file folders. I just print 6 weeks at a time and plop them into the folders. :)

We've already been through the job loss situation, and I agree, it's not fun. However, right now, we're in a good place. My husband has been promoted twice in the last few years and has received three sizable raises. He is the head of his department, the owner's of the company really like him, and there is no one to take his place should they need to downsize. In addition, he works for a company that has already begun their way back up out of the bad economy, and they have begun giving bonuses and department-wide raises once again. Regarding medical bills and other emergencies, we have it in the budget to be putting money aside each month for medical bills, emergency money, and a yearly vacation. Someone asked about our current home. We are going to be using Marketplace, who will be paying us rent to sublease our house for the next 6 years. We have already received a quote from them regarding what they will pay us per month, and it is more than enough to pay our current mortgage, even including the raise in taxes due to it not being homesteaded. No, we cannot make improvements to our current house to make it bigger. If we did that, we could easily become the biggest house in the neighborhood, which our real estate agents says is not good, as that makes it harder to sell your house later. (No one wants to be the house on the block that has the highest taxes.) And no, we DO NOT want a fixer-upper. We have been in this house for eight years and have yet to do all the things that we originally planned. We just do not have the time to make it happen. And, we can only take advantage of Marketplace if we go new construction.

No. There is not really anything in the area right now, unless we want to purchase a short sale or a major fixer-upper, which is what our current house is.

I thought it was 25% to 35%? Hmmm... I'll have to get my book back. :D We need out of our house, sooner rather than later. We have 1300 square feet for five of us, and only one bathroom. My little guy will be potty training soon, and there is already usually a lineup for the bathroom. Interest rates are already on their way back up, along with housing costs. We already backed away from one house we wanted because they raised the base price up $12,000 a few months ago. If we begin the process as planned, in a couple months, we still won't be moving for almost a year. If we wait another year, we're stuck here for two more years. I don't know if I can do that. But I'm not sure I want to settle and then have to move again in a couple years, either. Oh... what to do...

We are looking to move. We could get our dream house built, but it would take about 34% of my husband's bring-home pay. I know this falls within the Dave Ramsay guidelines, but it is more than double what we pay for our mortgage now. Is it worth it to get our dream house built now and be done with it? I'm afraid that if we wait the interest rates will go up, property taxes will go up, and the cost of the house will go up. If that happens, we may never be in the position again to do this. Would you take the plunge?

I started my oldest out with the first lit unit of 7-9 just to get a taste of the program. Although it is way too easy for her, she enjoys it. She has one lesson left, then we are starting her on the first unit of 8-10, which is Little House in the Big Woods. My youngest is now doing the first unit of level 7-9, and it is about perfect for her. She will be 8 in a few months. I do not have any experience with the science or social studies, but I am really enjoying the approach of the literature. It is a perfect fit for both of my girls, which surprises me, since they are very different in their learning styles. HTH

We do Apologia at our co-op. Right now my 2nd grader is in zoo 2, and her sister is keeping caught up at home, as she had another class she wanted the hour it was offered. Last year, they were 1st and 3rd and took zoo 1. Before that, my oldest was in 2nd and took botany. Neither of them have had astronomy.

Yes, I know what you mean. Of course, this is the child who is gifted, and therefore, more emotional on a normal day. She still has the occasional tantrum, so I'm quite fearful for when the hormones really start kicking in! Fortunately, she does work pretty independently on most days, so maybe that will stick around for the most part.

What about girls? My daughter just turned 9, but she will be 5th grade next year as well. She already seems to be getting hormonal. (We just bought her The Feelings Book last night.) When do I have to start worrying about it really affecting her school work?

We are using this right now as a break from SOTW. My girls are 7 and 9, and we will probably do more than a lesson a week, depending on the topic. It's actually a full-year curriculum, but it looks like you could honestly go through it faster than that if you wanted. We're only a couple lessons in, but so far they seem to be enjoying it. We just went to Barnes & Noble last night and picked up Who Was Ferdinand Magellan? and Who Was Queen Elizabeth? to supplement the first couple lessons. (Those books are Buy 2, Get the 3rd Free right now!!!) Good luck finding something!

:iagree: I have the advantage of being able to purchase things as my girls get near the end of what they are using. For example, my oldest is about to begin the last chapter of her GWG, so I will order the next one in a couple weeks. However, my other daughter is just starting the program, so we won't have to order her next level for quite a while. This have been very convenient for us. However, I like the idea of taking a chunk of tax money and setting it aside for use throughout the year. I think $1000 would cover our curricula and our co-op expenses for the year.

I didn't read all of the others' responses, but my gifted daughter loves it. We've been using it for a few years now. A lot of times, if I feel the concept is easy, I'll just have her do half of the problems. I highlight the ones she is to do. Other times, I'll have her do them all for extra practice.

Thanks! That definitely helps! I think I will stick with WS for now. It does look like IEW is more for the reluctant writer, which she is not!

My 9-year-old daughter loves to write. She always has. Her writing can be very poetic at times, and she is great at telling a story with a beginning, middle, and end. She likes Writing Strands, but I was also thinking of adding in some IEW. I really like the method, which I have witnessed in our co-op. However, I keep hearing people talk about how IEW works great for reluctant writers, so I'm wondering if it would be a bad fit for her. Also, I wonder if using both of them concurrently would be overkill. Any insights???

Are these times one lesson per day for most of you? If I sat my 9-year-old daughter down for an hour of math, she might be able to get 2 or 3 lessons done, depending on the topic and how many problems. (We use Math Mammoth.) For grammar, I set her a timer for 20 minutes a couple weeks ago, and she did 4 lessons of GWG! Do you think this is just because she does most of her work independently, so we're taking out the instruction portion?

I wondered about that, too. I have three kids now, not just two girls. :)

I do 6 on then 1 off, with Thurs/Fri off at Thanksgiving, 2 weeks off at Christmas and New Year's, then a 4-week break in July. Our school year begins in August. It ends up being a 42-week school year. I figure the extra days are for making up what we miss on slow days or sick days.

I like using these for all of the books that don't stand up well.

I thought the same thing!

I have been using this and love it. I just posted a review of it on my blog. http://allthatschool.blogspot.com/

Thanks, everyone! I know where to begin my search now! :D

Our co-op is trying to gather some information for history programs for 7th/8th grade. My oldest is only in 4th, so without having a need to look into it before now, I'm not really sure what is out there to fit this category. Can you give me some ideas of good programs to begin my research? TIA

Yep, it's that easy! :D

Oh, I like that idea. Maybe I'll have to do something like that in our morning meeting.

I used to have a graph where they would check the temp each morning and plot it on the graph. I should do that again this year...