I've been forwarding all of your responses to DH since he's the one doing math with DS, and I just wanted to say thank you to all of you who have taken the time to respond to this thread. It's been very helpful and enlightening!

When they were younger we read the Vos Story Bible together. Then we started working through both the Old Testament and New Testament with Veritas Press Bible curriculum and Training Hearts, Teaching Minds by Starr Meade for catechism training. It's a very gentle easy introduction to the catechism. We did that over the course of two or three years. Now that they are older we have moved on to The Most Important Thing You'll Ever Study, also by Starr Meade. ETA: We don't do any type of grading or test taking, and everything that we do, we sit down and do together. I don't just hand them the curriculum and their Bible and say go complete this and let me know when you're done. It's all done together with discussion.

DS, 12, just started AoPS pre-algebra about 2 weeks ago. He's completed MUS Alpha through Zeta and wanted a change of pace. Math has always been his strong suit and after looking at AoPS I thought he could handle it. DH took over math with him when he started because math at the upper levels is not my strength, but DH is a natural at all maths, even at the uppermost levels. DS seems to doing well with the material, but needs a bit of hand holding from DH, which isn't a problem, but DH is bugged by what he thinks is over-explaining/over-complicating it. I'm wondering if anyone else agrees with this, or is it just DH's natural ability to figure it out making it seem that way. I was hoping to stay with AoPS from here on out with DS if he does well with the pre-algebra, but DH isn't sure. Does anybody have experience with this?

Logic of English. It has transformed our home education in the way it makes spelling & reading so much easier for my dyslexic dd. Teaching it is so easy--there is a lot of review and optional extra pracice built in, plus games that help cement the rules. There are also Youtube videos you can watch that have really helped me understand how to teach it even better.

Yes you need the student book. You can get either the manuscript workbook or the cursive workbook, depending on how you want your child to write in it. I second watching the YouTube videos. You can download for $10 a PDF to go along with those videos and they were so helpful to me, above and beyond the teachers manual, that I felt the the investment was well worth it. They helped to teach me how to teach the program even better than just reading the teacher's manual did. Also for the game book, I bought two sets of cards and I thought that was enough. Most of the games can be played with two sets of cards.

We used 3 levels of AAS, and while I liked it at first, it soon became burdensome to me with all of its pieces. We're on lesson 24 of LOE now and love it so much! Dd is dyslexic and this is the first thing that is finally working! I can't stress enough how wonderful it is. Let me know if you have any specific questions.

Well it seems it's too late for the house of course, but if you've legally co-signed on your BIL's loan, you'll have to pay it or it will reflect badly on your already shakey credit. I'm sorry.

I didn't say you were a scam artist, but you've got a defaulted mortgage, approx. 10 late or defaulted payments on other things, plus you're on the hook for a loan that you co-signed for. My point is that you've got a lot of work to do before you should be worrying about your credit score. You need to pay back what you've borrowed, whether or not it helps your credit score. After you've done that and you've proven to yourselves that you can safely manage money, THEN you should worry about upping your credit score and/or buying a house. And before you think I'm just being a big meanie, let me assure you, I once owed over a $100,000 in various debts, plus my house. We worked hard for over 7 years to climb out the debt that we put ourselves in. Not so we could have a good credit score, but because we realized how irresponsible we had been and we didn't want to live that way any more. Today we have zero debt, except for our house. My advice is forget the credit score and just work on getting out of debt. You're putting the cart before the horse, IMO.

I think you're asking the wrong question. Instead of asking whether paying off thousands of dollars worth of bills will repair your credit, you should be asking yourself why you don't think you should pay off money you borrowed and promised to pay back unless there's some bigger payoff in it for you.

Thanks Twoxcell for the bump! I'm fairly new to the reform camp, probably within the last year or so. I struggled with Calvinism for years. For some reason I just couldn't quite wrap my mind around it. But I have finally decided, after much prayer and reading, that I do believe it. We are have been members of a Presbyterian PCA church, but we are in process of leaving it for a Reformed Baptist church. We've been a handful of times and although the drive is much further (30 minutes vs. 5 min) it seems to be well worth it. Excellent expository preaching, full gospel being preached, etc... It's everything I believe the Bible calls us to be. I'm re-reading R.C. Sproul's Chosen by God for the second time, also reading J.I. Packer's Knowing God & John Piper's 50 Reasons Jesus Came to Die. I also love anything by Voddie Baucham and Mark Dever.

Awesome--thank you!

Just checking to see if the Reform group ever got started? I'm in if there is one.

We're using McHenry's Mapping this year with my 6th & 7th graders and loving it. We usually do it once a week and it doesn't take up much time at all. It's really interesting and easy to do.

DH has a business and we need a web page designed. It would need a shopping cart and multiple pages. We want to hire someone who we don't know (in case we don't like their work and need to fire them) but aren't sure how to go about finding them. I've heard stories about people taking your money and either doing shoddy work or leaving the job incomplete. Is there a web site somewhere that ranks/reviews them? Do you just ask friends for references? Help me find someone, please!

Sounds like our last church, which we left. No one should have total control, IMO.

I'm just about done. DH has to help me pick out the last gift for DS (a remote control car) because I had no idea that it's easier to plan a 2 week Disney trip than it is to pick out a remote control car. Jeesh! Other than that, everything else is done. And most of it is wrapped too--woot!

I got my Seed Savers catalog today. I was so excited! I'm going to wait until everyone is out or asleep and drink a cup of coffee while I look through it.

I like to use about 10 beans per 750 ml bottle and let it soak for about 6 months if possible. I've always used regular vodka, but I just bought some bakery flavored vodka (iced cake, whipped cream, fluffed marshmallow, & kissed caramel. I like to experiment a bit and try different combinations. I'm sure what you have is fine, but if in doubt add another (cut up) bean or 2 into each bottle.

I'm also a natural speller, but my dyslexic dd is most certainly not. We tried AAS, and while we liked it for a while, all the pieces and parts became cumbersome very quickly. Logic of English has been a God-send. It's just so darn logical! ;) Really though, I never knew why things were spelled the way they are, but LOE has really amazed me. I love the way it's presented. I'm a big fan!

Doc Martin is a favorite of ours from last year, and this year we're watching Dr. Who & Bramwell.

I just ordered some for my kids' stockings as well.

I never decorate before December. And usually not even in the first week. I think it's a little silly how early most people decorate these days so I wouldn't feel bad.

Sorry, double post.

We're using it this year with my 6th & 7th graders and they're enjoying it. She starts you out doing small sections of maps--different countries and coastlines and then starts putting them together to form a bigger map. I think it's very well done and it's fairly easy to do. Even my map challenged 12 year old is learning where things are. We read the short history page that accompanies the lesson we're working on and then watch the video, pausing it if needed while they catch up. We're putting all the maps they complete into a binder and will do the final project at the end.

DS bought this for himself earlier this year. And then added on the speed loader and the extra "bullets." DS is very happy with it. He likes the weight of it (suprisingly heavy in the grip like a real gun), and that it came with a holster he can wear. DH asked his dad to buy DS a rifle airsoft gun that he knows DS wants, but I'm not sure which one. He's also buying him a protective vest and some sort of goggles/glasses/face shield, but again not sure which one.