Since math seems to be an area where your children differ may I suggest Life of Fred. They are very different. Both gifted and struggling students seem to do well with them. A friends struggling 10 year old is finally grasping math thanks to these books. My somewhat gifted but lazy son reads them for fun. We do still use other math curriculum too but they can stand alone if you need them to. Some libraries apparently carry them so you may be able to try them there. The Rainbow Resource catalog is an incredible resource. It is three inches thick and probably contains with reviews 90% of the curriculum out there for good prices. I would order one. Another thing we really enjoyed are Ellen McHenry science materials. I know that is your strong area but these are fun. People also love her geography materials.

Ds read it when he was 10. Loved it. Not at all traumitized by the content. I did pre read it. One scene (can't remember what but s*x related) gave me pause. I decided that it would fly over his head and it did. He thought the 3 B's weird. Loved the movie. Please note we are British (sort of) so the style is familiar.

First in order for us to help you we need to know if you plan to use Christian curriculum or secular only. Personally I think the next thing to think about since your children are so close in age is your vision for your school day. Do you see all three learning and working together covering the same topics (Sonlight might be good for you) or more individual, workbook style learning. I would learn the laws in your state and what is required. Check into homeschool groups--find out if they have openings to join. Decide what outside activities they would participate in -- Scouts, sports, 4H, church groups. Spring is convention season. They can be so helpful. The speakers are informaive and actually looking at and comparing the curriculum can save you lots of money. I would read The Well Trained Mind. It really is the best homeschool book out there. ;) Seriously it has helped many people decide that home ed is possible. As for people not agreeing some never will. Some will come around over time. After you start to have your plan in place hopefully your husband will see that it can be done well. As you do your research post questions here. The people here are very helpful. They just need a more specific question to answer. Good luck!

I haven't had a chance to post last weeks books. 21) The Light Between the Oceans by ML Stedman. While I enjoyed it overall it still makes me a bit sad because of the infertility issues. 22) Hexed by Kevin Hearne. I am enjoying this series but each book takes me a really long time to get into. The first 40 pages drag then I love them. Been reading Hammered all week and just hit the fun part. 23) The Spy's Secret Family by Cindy Dees 24) Bones are Forever by Kathy Reichs. This is the latest in the Temperance series. The quality still exists after several books. 25) Undead and Unstable by MaryJanice Davidson. Love this series but the last two have been weird. I think they have gone on too long. 26) To Catch a Spinster by Megan Bryce. Fun free kindle read. 27) Wicked Business by Janet Evanovich. I am such a fan of hers but this one didn't interest me. The only reason I finished it was it was the only book I took in the car. Enough said. 28) Never Tell a Lie by Halle Ephrin. Really enjoyed it. Good page turner. Sorry for the negative reviews. While in the US I catch up on book series and authors which I enjoyed for years. My expectations were high this week unfortunately!

I have now reserved a stack of Kitty Norville books from the library. They sound fun! Thanks!

I love her books! That Dr.Who episode is one of my all time favorites. I just love the thought that instead of a sad Agatha hiding away she was actually on the wonderful adventure.

Sonlight may give out coupon codes if you are planning to attend a convention they are at. I seem to remember talk of those. I have never had a code or a deal beyond ordering a full core and receiving free shipping on my bits and pieces all year. Last year SL had a major revision of core for the younger grades. I doubt that it will change much but I generally prefer to wait for the new catalog in case they switch a book or two. SL has its own forum. You can ask about changes there. In general after spring conventions start shipping takes longer. Also since you are just starting this journey now is the time to go to a convention. Lots of great information and a chance to actually see the books is wonderful.

Hopefully Laura will chime in tomorrow morning with her links. She is so good at it and truly understands which I do not. Because Dd's best friend is a gifted musician I do know a bit about music education in the UK. My dc's are not musical so this is simply from observation. The students test at levels from a young age. The levels are 1 to 8. These levels all include theory etc. I hear a great deal about composition and it appears to be very intense. When you pass a level you really want to pass with distinction. At level 5 you receive points for University acceptance just like GCSE exams. Level 8 is something very few people achieve especially with distinction. Very few teachers are qualified to teach a level 8 student -- big deal. Figure 18 to 19 year olds normally take their grade 8. I know professional sucessful musicians without that level thanks to dd's friend. I do know you do not have to take every levels exam. The ones that should not be skipped are 5 and 8 for a professional career. That is all I can think of right now. I hope this gives you an idea of where to start. Ballet can also have similar levels. As for more general A levels think math and chemistry I do know home ed students who self study and do very well. So it is possible. I think they were on the IGCSE path.

I don't think you can. Mine isn't cool but dh had to make it on his laptop since I normally just use my fire.

From what I can tell rover will not work. We will hope that the new apps on the 15th help!

I completed the sign ups then discovered adobe flash is required to play. I cannot seem to get things to work. One Fire(mine) is an old one which it is supposed to work on -- not for this. The kids have new models and it apparently will not work. Is there anyway around this? I had thought this would be fun using the fires. I never would have started this if I had thought the fires wouldn't work. Each dc would have their own. If we have to do this on one laptop it will be a constant battle here. Sorry I turned this question into a bit of a rant. My dissappointment sort of took over. If someone can tell me how to make it work or that it definately won't I would be grateful.

I learn something new here most days. Didn't even know that coconut flour existed! :)

I will bump you.

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation might work well. Lots of pre and post tests with good explanations when needed. I have a copy but have been using it when problems appear as opposed to a quick course. As long as you do not need to teach it all it could be quick.

I would be tempted to put the whole thing in a slow cooker if you have one one large enough. Season and add a couple of onions sliced. My father loved to hunt and venison was a staple growing up. Since I can't remember my mom ever serving cooked leg of venison this must of been a part that she canned. My all time favorite dish with her canned venison was cooking home noodles in the broth with lots of meat. The noodles are easy just egg, flour,and a bit of water. I think the meat after the slow cooker would be similar to canned. Just another idea.

Your thread made me remember another resource which can only be used from the US on Annerburg learner. They have an Economics in the 21st century series that seems to be good. Just watched the first two and everyone liked them. There are 28 half hour episodes for free. Produced fairly recently. We were unable to do them while based in England so thank you for getting us started with them.

We have used Lessons for a Young Economist by Murphy which is a free pdf. My kids like it and easy to understand examples. Great intro to economics--I have an Econ degree. :)

One piece of advice I recently learned is to get most of the water out of your hair before putting the cream rinse in. Wrap it in a towel or at least give it a good sqeese first. Apply conditioner then rinse. Since dd hates trims this helps keep her looking nice longer.

:grouphug: Not sure what to say except that could be my ds many days and he is almost 13. It is funny. I got clever this week and posted a weekly schedule for him(dd too where subjects overlap) on the frig. I reminded him yesterday that a free fun day tomorrow required the work being done. Other than one algebra assignment he managed to complete the whole week today. One hour tomorrow morning will finish algebra. Absolutely amazing. I knew the work level was not too much. It is so hard to be a mother and a teacher sometimes. I find it to be so much harder with my son now that he isn't little. My dd has her bad moments but doesn't have the need to test me that ds has. I have no advice just :grouphug:

Praying!

They give instructions at our village church for those just wanting a blessing--we take the days program forward with us. Every C of E we have attended explains how to be blessed very clearly. We are Presbyterian also and taking communion is fine because both believe in the trinity. Also should be a member in good standing at another trinitarian church. Our village has a Sunday School where the children leave right before the sermon and return for communion. My dc's have never attended they prefer the sermon which is fine. We have really learned to love the services at the village church. At first it seemed like a lot of paperwork. We are used to one piece of paper which has everything including the words to the hymns. We receive a hymnal, an anouncement sheet, and a prayer book when entering the church. Don't worry if you can't figure out which is next because they truly understand. Our vicar announced page numbers for our family the first few times we attended--they know it can be confusing. Definately give it more then one chance because our first time seemed very difficult. Obviously small place. Our village church is reformed so a very comfortable place to be after we learned to negotiate the purely technical differences. I hope you enjoy your visit.

:grouphug:

If you decide on the UK things home ed wise have grown a great deal in the 6 years we have been there. I actually do have several classical home ed friends there--that is why I own a copy of TWTM to loan to people. ;) I live in a fairly rural area of England and have access to four groups for activities. None of the groups are classical but they are nice to have. My dc's are older. With littles things would be much easier--for us many activities are too young. But we pick what to participate in and generally manage a pretty full schedule. I do drive quite a bit to accomplish this.

We loved the Good times Travel Agency books by Linda Baily. Lots of great information built into a fun story--Egypt and Greece and more. The Usbourns Time Travel book is good too. For Eygpt there is a Ms.Frizzle book from Magic School Bus. My ds loved all of these far more then SOTW at that age.

England is easy too! Canadian friends did home ed in the Netherlands for a few months without problems but they were always very short term. Sweden is illegal or close to illegal also.