Whatever you do, do NOT go with Calvert Science. It has to be the most borning, text book science in the world. We just sold our Calvert and switched to NOEO Physics I. My box comes tomorrow! :) For your son, I would go with NOEO Chemistry II. It isn't about how much Chemistry he has had (choosing level I or II), it is about reading level and it sounds like your ds could handle a harder level of reading. Check it out! I drooled over NOEO for awhle.

We used to suffer from the same thing. This summer, I went through the kids' bedrooms with those giant black trashbags and threw away 4 of them FULL to junk. We have vowed to NEVER let it accumulate that way again!

A lot - haha, I noticed that in a post last night. Some of the others that make me cringe: ~High school is two words. For that matter, some is HOME school. ~separate A....not E, A!

Won't that be fun (when Obama is elected)? We can all have our little big brother ID cards, the UN can take over America, and we can be FORCED to give all of our money out to other people...often people who just sit on their butts and collect from the government because, well, that's easier than working like a dog to make it to the top ranks of middle class. Share the wealth, spread it around. Heck...just give it all away. I am not saying everyone getting the trickle down from "spread the wealth" (which, by the way, is just the democratic way and I am not really surprised at all) doesn't deserve some help from the goverment. I am saying there are certain groups I would not help if my life depended on it and unfortunately, I would have no choice in this matter. I stay out of politics for the most part, but this country seems to be going to the birds (so many other fun ways to put that, but we will stick with the birds). ETA: No, maybe those making under $250K a year will not be hit by a tax hike...but the places where they do business will. And what does that mean?? The prices of those goods will go up too. Any tax hike translates directly to the consumer - an no, I am not talking about Jo Blow's family's tax hike...I am talking about small businesses!

Yep, yep...Bellatrix's behavior is what made them think to go to the vault. She was a bit too paranoid.

Yeah, I saw the co-op one too...but if you buy from physlink.com, you get free UPS shipping on orders over $100! We ordered the microscope and some prepared slides and voila - free shipping. :)

Gosh, I had never thought of it from a religious standpoint. Having not really read or thought much about it, and having considered cremation myself before, my initital thought is that I am okay with it. Religiously, that is. I don't believe that your body goes to heaven - only your soul. And to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord anyway. I never understood the part in the Bible that talks about the dead from the seas rising first and so forth. I always took that to mean that the body and soul are at rest until the second coming, but I will tell you right now that the book of Revelation has never seemed very revealing to me...at least not in ways that make any logical sense to man. That said, we have dealt with this lately. My son's great-grandmother was cremated last week and her ashes buried. *scratching head on that one* - anyway, the entire subject has my son so freaked out, he has asked my husband and I at least 3 million questions about it. Back to your original question - I absolutely do NOT believe it matter (as far as entering heaven) whether or not your body was mutilated in death (ESPECIALLY if it was not your choosing!). I would never buy that dying in a plane crash gets your name removed from the Lamb's book of life. My God just doesn't work that way. But, then again, I don't believe that the body is the same in death as it was in life - I think that it is sacred only when filled with the soul. Wow - deep stuff.

I tried 100EZ and my son hated it. I did not try the others. What worked for us was just reading. We did the ETC series and read Bob Books. He learned to read with little effort in record time. He was so frustrated by the 100EZ book, though.

Growing with Grammar is that workbook style, sentence mapping, grammar. I haven't used R&S but my from reviews, it sounds about the same only with religious content. Other, correct me if I am wrong. We are using LLATL, but it has some religious content (though is not advertised as such).

I thought the grammar in LLATL introduced too many things in one week or so. It doesn't expound on one area before flitting along to the next one. But then I looked and it seems to use those same things all through the grammar parts, so I guess it is sort of spiral then. We will give it a go. Like I said, I really like the way it is working for my youngest. He really enjoys learning with LLATL Blue. He is Kindergarten/1st grade level right now, though, and the books are a bit different for that age. There is no book study or real writing stuff (not yet, anyway).

All I will say is that is always looks good on the outside. My son made straight A's and was top of his class. I got him home and found his struggles - some of them are major. Before I was involved in his education like I am now, it all looked rosey on the outside. He won more awards at the end of last year than any other child in his class, yet he can't spell the word "down" without asking me if it is ou or ow. ??? Each child will have struggles. My youngest excels in spelling and reading and is doing both at a very young age (5 years, 2 weeks old!) while my oldest struggles with these things. However, my youngest struggles a bit with concepts like counting backwards, and for a long time, he totally didn't get rhyming words!! And my kids have the SAME TEACHER. KWIM? Try not to be discouraged, the grass always looks greener till you get to the other side and see that it has dog piles too! (just in different places) :) HTH

Well, I already own LLATL orange, so I am going to try it before tossing it. I really like the way it is working with my youngest. My oldest is 9 and he is doing mostly 4th grade work right now. He did not have a lot of instruction in ps on grammar and the workbook style that Calvert used did not work for him at. all. What I want is to make sure we have grammar covered completely as well. I was reading the website for WT and the author said she used WT 2 with her own child in 4th grade and adding GWG. I guess what I am asking is what, if anything should I add to LLATL (other than spelling. He is an atrocious speller and we have AAS as well as the Calvert 4th grade CD just to keep him up to level with his reading and such).

I don't think the "My First Lab Duo" is exactly the same one. It doesn't have a cord and the base doesn't look as large. ??? I could be wrong, but they look mildly different to me.

Wahoo! Thank you for posting this. I have been racking my brain with what to get my oldest and this is IT! Microscope with slides! YAY! :) BTW - we are going with the My First Lab Microscope listed above. :)

Okay, we made the switch just last week from Calvert to my own curriculum. I am happy with my choices, but a bit leary with English (even though I have a BA in English! LOL). My question is, is this a good combination or overkill: LLATL Orange Growing with Grammar Writing Tales 1 Is that too much? Should I cut a book? Would LLATL and GWG be enough? Should I use some of the Writing Strands 3 book I still have and teach writing on my own since that is my background? Is Writing Tales a good writing program?? HELP. Any recommendations of combinations is welcome. I already have LLATL orange and Writing Strands 3. Thanks! EDITED to clarify and ask a new question: Well, I already own LLATL orange, so I am going to try it before tossing it. I really like the way it is working with my youngest. My oldest is 9 and he is doing mostly 4th grade work right now. He did not have a lot of instruction in ps on grammar and the workbook style that Calvert used did not work for him at. all. What I want is to make sure we have grammar covered completely as well. I was reading the website for WT and the author said she used WT 2 with her own child in 4th grade and adding GWG. I guess what I am asking is what, if anything should I add to LLATL (other than spelling. He is an atrocious speller and we have AAS as well as the Calvert 4th grade CD just to keep him up to level with his reading and such). I also have Writing strands 3 already. We tried a bit of it and dropped it just because I didn't know what I really wanted to do yet or how to plan, or anything else, for that matter. LOL

I am not sure I could spend more than the 3K I have spent this year on curriculum. You just have to love Calvert. :( And then having Calvert not work for one of your kids, at all... and then having to buy other stuff to supplement for the other Calvert curriculum you have for your other child. Then, having to sell Calvert for less than half of what you paid for it and then having to buy more curriculum. Then just for good measure...be indecisive on math and chage that 3 times as well (for BOTH kids each time). Yeah. :( I just wish I could have gotten it "right" the first time. Wishful thinking, huh? And actually, right now, I am just hoping to set a good, small budget next year (like $800 TOTAL) and STICK TO IT! LOL

No matter what it look like, getting it checked is always best. My best friend (since gradeschool) is a nurse in a dermatology office. Horror stories. Get it checked.

Let me add another Calvert Curriculum to this list. :( I finally just abandoned ship this week with my oldest DS. Wow...that was a lot of money down the drain. :(

Hey, at least she knocked on the door. When I was a kid, I used to love these white rocks in a neighbor's driveway. Anytime I went down the road on my bike, I'd stop and pocket a handful. LOL At least she came to the door. I hightailed it home before the neighbor caught me! ;)

Someone, please tell my why I didn't listen to the wise woman who pm'd me before I bought Calvert math back in the summer and recommended Singapore? My son LOVES this math, I LOVE this math. It is making our days SO MUCH BETTER! My oldest now looks forward to math rather than dreading it, and I don't find it hard to teach at all...there was a learning curve with the planning, but now that we are over that, we are loving it. Thanks so much to everyone who helped us with this choice!

The CD alone is enough, IMO. However, it will not have any activities like the timeline and such. You may want to see what others (who don't use Calvert) do in that case. I am sure there are options. But, as far as content, it is all there on the CD along with some very basic animations and such.

Well, my 4th grader is doing this type of math right now. It is definitely pre-algebra; find the missing factor type stuff. It is simply learning to do the problem in parenthesis first. However, all you have to do is throw an "a" in the blank and you could call that an algebraic equation. :) (3+5) x ? = 24 8 x a = 24 a = 24/8 a = 3

Oh, the fun way to learn money is to play store! :) My son LOVES this and thoroughly enjoys counting out his money to me. There is no better way, IMO, to learn that to have the "real life" example. I realize playing store is not real life, but it is as close as we can get without going broke! haha!

My son had this happen recently too. It was a gnat, very tiny, but yuck! We had to use sweet oil to kill the bug and then water to wash him out. Fun times! LOL

And *this* is the world I am raising my kids in. :( It is a sad, sad day in the US. :(