The Homer volumes are the only ones that we stretch around here. They are definitely the most intense and carry the largest workload. You can always skip weeks that do not introduce new concepts, unless your child needs extra practice in that particular area. The Maxim and Chreia levels go much, much faster. I am not too worried about finishing all of the levels. We are actually taking this year off from CW (my oldest 2) to work on creative writing. They both needed a break and are looking forward to something different for a year. We will jump back in with Herotodus next year, which will mean my oldest will not complete the final volume in the series. The program is so solid, I don't think it is critical to finish everything. HTH,

We just returned from a 3-week road trip spreading across 6,300 miles and 11 states. We just love road trips here, and this was the best one we have ever taken. We began in L.A. and got on I-40E in Barstow, CA. We traveled along Historic Route 66 in many places. We spent a day at the Grand Canyon, toured the Petrified Forest National Park, drove through the beautiful Painted Desert, spent nights in some great cities and had some wonderful regional food. Our destination was Pigeon Forge, TN where we had a week-long family reunion. We spent time with fantastic friends we hadn't seen in a long time, as well. On the way home we visited New Orleans, ate beignets at Cafe du Monde, took the ferry to Galveston, put our toes in the warm Gulf of Mexico, spent an evening walking along San Antonio's riverwalk, visited the Alamo, spent a day with Grandma in AZ and then came home. Did I mention we ate great food? Oh, yeah, baby. This will be a summer we never forget!

Dr. Suess??

My nearly 13 year old read it - I just told her to skip those pages, which she happily did.

We have owned 2 beagles...we currently have a 10 month old puppy. Neither of ours were constant bayers, although they will bark when horses and other dogs walk by the house. We also have a lab and there was no issue with who was Alpha when the beagle pup came. The lab definitely exerted his authority and she (the beagle) immediately submitted. However, they play very sweetly together...the lab is very soft-mouthed with her, as labs usually are.

Definitely hide him.

We definitely fall into the adoring crowd here. We have used the whole SOTW series two times through, and I appreciate the role it played in fostering a true love for history in my children. I personally thought it was thorough without being tedious, and the stories were the perfect length for my children to follow without losing interest. My children had no issues understanding how the stories were presented (myth vs. fact), but we had already read a ton of fairy tales, Christian biographies, historical fiction, and Biblical accounts, etc...so maybe they were just used to it. They didn't remember everything (not that I expected them to) and there were the occasional subjects that garnered less interest than others, but all-in-all, I am thrilled that it was available for my early days of homeschooling littles. I will always cherish the memories of cuddling on the couch and reading the next story out of SOTW.

Hubby and I are both INTJ and I would say we fall into the draconian camp.

mandymom, I've seen you post a couple of times now and wished you lived closer, as I have five children the same genders as yours and almost the exact same ages!

ds14 has wanted to be a Marine since he was 4. He is particularly interested in intelligence. After retirement from active duty he wants to be a military historian and writer. dd13 wants to be a mom full-time and be a part-time artist. dd11 wants to be a professional horse-back rider. But since that is not economically feasible, she wants to own a small ranch and board/teach lessons and "have a really understanding husband" (direct quote) ds8 wants to be a Marine. (Actually he just wants to be his older brother :-) ds4 always tells me he wants to be a daddy when he "grows up big."

Little Women (and others by Louisa May Alcott) The Penderwicks series All-of-a-Kind Family

LOVE it! I have been using it for six years..began when my oldest was 7. Great for all ages.

I use Pledge.

Jessie Wise, Susan's mother and co-author of the WTM, home schooled Susan all the way through high school. So they are quite qualified to write about it.

That sounds exactly like mine (maybe even a bit lower) and I also have 2 adults and 5 kids, preschool to 14. We are in an expensive area...I'm not sure where you are.

I stuffed it into the big red donation box. I was sick and tired of moving it :001_smile: I guess I am not so sentimental :tongue_smilie:

:iagree: Same experience here.

That is all we are required to do in CA, as well. It is a very easy state in which to homeschool. I just has this conversation with my ped. last week. As long as my kids are continuing to home school I am not required to have the vaccination for my children. We have never had to keep any kind of vax records at all.

First Language Lessons.

OK, I'm adding a fourth... STAIR BASKET!: I keep a stair basket at the bottom of the stairs. Anything that belongs upstairs that gets found downstairs during the day gets tossed in. At evening chore time one of my little guys empties it and puts everything in it's home. (Sometimes we make this fun by timing him and seeing how quickly he can do it :-)

(1) Everyone does chores twice a day, every day. (2) Take care of mail, email, phone calls as they come in...no procrastinating. (3) Train the children to put the last toys away before taking out anything new (everything is labeled and has it's spot, so this is easy for them to do.)

I watched the whole series w/ my three oldest. We kept the remote handy and used it periodically. Other than that we loved it, and enjoyed the references/names/puzzles together.

:iagree: Pick something that you think is solid and stick with it. Little by little. She will get it.

I've got three in the house with braces and we eat chips/tacos regularly with no problem at all.

The AG is where you will find all of the narration questions, map work, and recommended supplementary reading. Even if you only choose to do a small handful of the activities it is a very important part of the program, IMO.