Jennifer, To be honest, we do not systematically review memory work. Other than math facts and Latin declensions, which are used consistently, the other memory work is done and then we pretty much move on to the next. Now, we spend a lot of time on memory work. We may spend several months memorizing a long psalm or John 1. My two youngers spent the entire year (every Friday) working on Level 1 of Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization, so that was reviewed every Friday. We often recited poems in the car or as they came up in life -- last week on our family vacation looking out over the summit of white cliffs on our hike, we recited The Eagle. We will periodically go back and review scriptures we've learned. But again, it's not systematic, it's more like, "Hey, I'm going to take this next month and review some scripture portions we learned rather than going on with a new one." Because we memorize large blocks of scripture and whole poems, I find that my kids are pretty good at putting it in the long-term memory. Interestingly, they have not retained the VP history timeline. But we didn't emphasize that as much as other things.

I wrote something this weekend about an end of school year tradition we have. I began thinking about all of the facebook pix I see posted of first day of school and the back to school shopping and various traditions I see for beginning a new school year. What does your family do to cap a school year? We didn't start out with any end of school year traditions, but over the years, we've done 2 things. First, we like to go to a restaurant or make a special dinner at home. During dinner I speak about each one of my kids (even college kids that are home) and affirm them for specific character and academic growth I saw over the year. My husband used to do this (we'd talk ahead of time and I would share some things I saw as well). He was completely uninvolved in our day to day schooling so it was neat for him to step in and speak words of encouragment and praise over the kids. You could see them sparkle from the affirmation. I still do this b/c it's a time for me to purposely reflect on their character growth and give true praise for it. The second thing we do is a questionnaire. This has actually been pretty insightful for me! One of the most helpful questions is "What would you most like me to understand about you?" That's a good question with a house of tweens and teens! The other questions are kind of a fun documentation or bookend to our school year. What does your family do to celebrate the end of school? :bigear:

Great thread! I feel like our 2 changes were big changes but they made a big difference: *drop out of co-op (with permission and grace from the leaders/friends) so I could concentrate on foundational learning I needed to shore up with my younger two. They're doing great! *put the math text aside for youngest dd and play with math. Her math fluency really increased and she was for the first time thinking numerically.

It was not a reason we started homeschooling. Those school shootings are horrific and it does make me feel grateful that my kids have safe days in our home. However, I'm not naive. The thing about that kind of violence is that it's so random: a movie viewing, in the mall, at the Boston marathon finish line, in the university library during finals week. I've not made decisions based on the way to avoid every danger. <-- That's myth land. We can manage it, but we have no ultimate control over it. I mean, I get on the interstate everyday.

The Great Books has published study guides for all 4 cycles of history. They are connected with Worldview Academy. I haven't used these, but several longtimers on the board have used them with their kids. I've always had my eye on them, but we've had a great lit tutorial teacher so I haven't needed them yet. I think you can download samples, but they are inexpensive enough that trying one for Plato's Republic would be much less expensive than the whole Omnibus book. :) Lisa

In case you didn't get this e-mail from VP or you've been waiting for this sale for the fall, VP is having their $100 off self-paced courses. The last time VP ran this sale, we were able to get both the $100 off and the sibling discount. Hopefully that will work again! Link to VP self-pace history course sale *This is NOT an affiliate link in any way.

In case you didn't get this e-mail from VP or you've been waiting for this sale for the fall, VP is having their $100 off self-paced courses. The last time VP ran this sale, we were able to get both the $100 off and the sibling discount. Hopefully that will work again! Link to VP self-pace history course sale *This is NOT an affiliate link in any way.

Congratulations!! Woohoo!! Job well done!! :hurray: :hurray: :hurray: It's pretty fun to watch them thrive post-graduation, to find their passions and even to see some character traits develop that were dormant in the younger years. This child raising is the hardest of hard work but as I launch kids off to college and internships, I so appreciate all the extra time we've had together because of homeschooling. Lisa

Our memory was always done as a family, but my olders eventually cycled out when they had demanding high school schedules and outside classes. Actually, they continued to memorize Scripture with the family until graduation. Other than Scripture memory, most other memory work was grade/age related. Math facts, presidents, states and capitals, countries/continents/major physical landmarks. We did memorize the Gettysburg address together as a family, the first part of the shorter Westminster catechism and two creeds. My kids also have memory work from church -- verses for Sunday School and choir, hymns for choir and Awana verses. These were almost completely done independently I just did not have the time or brain capacity to systematically hold them accountable here. We do enough Bible memory work at home that I wasn't *depending* on church activities. Lisa

Sorry I'm replying to this late Garga! My brother and sil feel this way and really have not celebrated the days. But, it's hard to get away from and I've become more and more aware of friends who really struggle with this whole week. Lisa

Well, if you're looking at downloadable stuff, SWB's writing curriculum would qualify and it's excellent. I've really enjoyed the VP self-paced history which is accessible asynchronously. It's expensive but they run sales 2 -3 times a year. R & S English is just inexpensive, solid and easy to implement. Can be handed down from child to child. If they have residency in a state, they should see if their state has a free online option with classes. Florida, for example, has free AP classes and a full slate of elementary through high school classes. Starting in middle school, they can be selected by course rather than a full year's enrollment. I taught phonics and reading with homemade flashcards (I'm sure google will show the a site with all the phonograms) and the Christian Liberty Press readers which are inexpensive. Explode the Code is an excellent phonics and spelling supplement to readers that is now accessible by pdf, yes? I have the old-fashioned books. There is so much free online, it's hard to list it all here. For high school, there are MOOCs and things like Hillsdale College's free online courses/lectures. This is a start! Lisa

I only had one university that wanted course information so far. But I save the letter with the grade. I'd also save the text used and go ahead now and write a course description based on the syllabus. You can always screen shot the syllabus as well just in case. Save information to contact the teacher in case you need it for any recommendations. Lisa

Got it. They are on the list Arctic. Lisa

This is 2-year lesson that I've learned with my high schooler. It's been a game changer for us. Highschooler Lesson: My relationship with ds > his academic success. This boy. He just pushed against every single way I tried to motivate him, encourage him, correct him, discipline him or otherwise help him with school, college apps, choosing a major, etc. My interaction in any form when it applied to his school was killing our relationship. For the first time ever in this homeschooling journey, I had to completely release him 2 years ago. I told him I was available for help but would wait for him to come to me. He only came twice in a panic. He made lots of mistakes, some rather big. Not permanently scarring, but setbacks that might cause him to go the long way to his goals. And here's the amazing part: I didn't COME UNGLUED inside or outside. I had released it so completely that his mistakes didn't affect my emotion or my sense of worth. Huge victory! He's gonna make it. I know he is. He's got some good big brothers taking him under their wings. He responds like soft buttah to them. My job? CHEERLEAD. Affirm. Wash clothes. Provide healthy meals. Gas money now and again. Applaud when I can. So, yes. A needed lesson that my relationship with my kids trumps a lot of other stuff that I held tight. Lisa

Oh my gracious. I've been out of town this week, so I missed this thread. Can you link it here? :crying: Lisa

It's so hard to know how any of us would handle these huge life moments. So glad for such a great bridge that was built today for you and your SIL and neices! Life really is short and relationships are so worth every bit of very hard work. Kudos to you for reaching out! Lisa

Yellowstone and Grand Tetons was awesome! You could easily spend a week in Yellowstone and another 4 - 5 days in the Grand Tetons. Though they are near each other, each park is so different. Alternatively, as a kid, I loved our trips to the Southwest -- Grand Canyon, the National Parks of Utah (Bryce, Zion, Arches, Canyonlands), Mesa Verde and then Santa Fe, New Mexico. LOVED that and would so love to re-create that with my own kiddos! Lisa

For those who will have a hard Mother's Day, my heart goes out to you. I'm so increasingly aware of those who will celebrate with half of their hearts or suffer through because of a child, the death of their own mom, secondary infertility, or other reasons. If you are inclined, you are welcome to raise your hand here and I will be privileged to pray the rest of the week. I'm already thinking of some in our community, but feel free to post here. Lisa

My teens love playing volleyball, chair tag and frisbee. Enjoy the celebration! Lisa

After 3 not-tip-top years b/c we've been readjusting to life, I finally feel really good about our schooling this year. For youngers: *I loved our read alouds. This remains my favorite part of our day and is so refreshing after working with high schoolers or doing my own work at home stuff. *Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization. We used this for the first time and LOVED it. I often hear my kids reciting a line or stanza from a favorite. This was a love and we'll continue next year. *VP Self-Paced History. This was our 3rd year with VP self paced and I continue to feel it's solid, thorough, fun and interactive for my elementary kids. I added in some independent reads for ds. *for dd, we set the math book aside and just played with math. It worked as well as I hoped and we will continue through the summer. She is becoming math literate and really beginning to see and understand the patterns in math. And for my olders: *I LOVED Writing with Skill 3 which I used with my 10th grader and his buddy. I exchanged writing instruction for math instruction (Saxon Advanced) and I got the better deal! I'll use SWB's other writing books with my youngers. I've written about this on the logic board and I'm just so pleased with it. *My 10th grader continued to do history through biographies, excellent nonfiction works and a couple of novels. He loved it; he's a history buff and has an excellent background, so approaching history through really good books was the best way to deepen what he already knows. There was more that worked well and many old favorites (Saxon, R & S English, Cuisenaire Rods). Lisa

I love SWB's idea. Word can apparently get out quickly because so many came back to delete pictures when SWB posted that urgent request. Wasn't she in Canada? I miss Stacey from Ontario. She was a stitch! She coined the term so-very-apt term boybarians and had a hilarious poem that's somewhere on a very old computer of mine about lining up 5 different history curricula for the PERFECT history year. Who used to post on the high school boards, taught with Tina in Ouray and had children attend University of Dallas? Those were veterans, the figure out how to do this classical thing from the masters moms who I learned so much from. Lisa

I did not know that was you CMM. And I remember Peek playing around with her board name with her posts . . . Peak to Peek to Pique. Any others? Ah... poor Peek couldn't keep from getting into hottest threads.

Please don't go Jane! The collective wisdom of those who've graduated kids is worth so much! Remember when we first dipped our toe in at the high school board and had a thousand questions of whether this whole experiment would work? Yes, it works. It works amazingly well and that is good to remember on those days when moms are pushing through in February. . . March . . . April . . . May and June are coming. SWB: It would be really neat to have folks write in and tell you some of what the Hive kids have gone on to do. Lisa

We Draconian Moms must have been all talk. :D Our little social group fluttered out. But it was a good Atta Girl while it lasted!!

I've been around since the early days as well. I read WTM in 1999 and joined the boards shortly thereafter. I remember folks getting really upset over the dangers of castor oil! I loved the look of the oldest boards .. how you could follow the progression of the discussion at a glance from the various responses. So many folks raised their kids over the years on these boards. A lot of folks and curriculum got their start on these boards. I remember when most boardie handles were [real name or initials] in [real state/town/city]. These boards have a been a huge resource for all kinds of questions I've had both home and non-homeschooling related. I remember when SWB thought about naming the chat board the water cooler and when folks huffed and puffed and left over various issues (the overmind? the denim jumper?) I first learned about trolls and IP lookup here. I remember when folks first started talking about these new things call "web blogs" and when there was a pretty good-sized blog roll. I remember great efforts to align 2 and 3 and 4 history programs to meet all the needs of various ages. And the touchy issue was Saxon math. AND I remember when SWB earned her doctorate. ;) The volume of information that could be catalogued from these boards! Lisa