Well, we started with R&S...hated it....moved to FLL and loved it, so maybe you can do the opposite? :D

We are just south of Santa Clarita by a bit (near Burbank). I have a number of friends up there who are part of Lighthouse Christian Academy, which is an ISP (independent study program). Also, Grace Community Church in Sun Valley has a homeschool ISP, as well. I know many people who are part of that group and love it. We file the Private School Affidavit and are not attached to any groups but have found many homeschooling friends through church. Good luck with your move!

Nope. No outside help. Just daily chores for everyone.

DS (9th): History/Literature/Church History: TOG Year 1 Math: ? (still working this one through) Memory: Scripture & IEW Poetry Writing/Grammar: CW Herodotus Science: Chemistry & lab (offered for home schooled students at a local college) Logic: The Discovery of Deduction Foreign Language: Mounce Greek & maybe continue w/ Latin for the New Millennium II? P.E.: fencing DD (8th): History/Literature/Church History: TOG Year 1 Math: ? Life of Fred Beginning Algebra Memory: Scripture & IEW Poetry Writing/Grammar: CW Diogenes: Chreia Science: Apologia Physical Science Logic: The Discovery of Deduction Foreign Language: maybe continue w/ Latin for the New Millennium II? Music: voice lessons DD (6th): History/Literature/Church History: TOG Year 1 Math: Singapore Primary 6A/B Memory: Scripture & IEW Poetry Writing/Grammar: CW Homer A w/ Harvey's Grammar Science: ? Foreign Language: Latin for Children B P.E.: horseback riding lessons daily copywork/dictation DS (3rd): History/Literature/Church History: TOG Year 1 Math: Singapore Primary 3A/B & Miquon Memory: Scripture & IEW Poetry L.A.: FLL 3, daily copywork/dictation Science: ? Foreign Language: Latin for Children A DS (Pre-K): Phonics Pathways

My kids know not to even ask (and they don't!) The library is for reading. They can play on the computer at home.

For cabbage I highly recommend Minestrone soup. Also I make a German dish using turkey kielbasa and shredded cabbage with oil, vinegar, and caraway seeds. Just microwave the whole bowl (half-covered w/ plastic wrap) for 8 minutes, stirring halfway through.

Definitely just keep going!

My in-laws are wonderful!

We had artichokes last year...they did pretty well. We are in zone 8. I currently have carrots, sugar snap peas, parsnips, lettuce, spinach, chard, and onions growing. I am beginning to plan my summer garden. I am a New Englander transplanted to SoCal and I must admit that I LOVE gardening year round! Enjoy your garden!

I've never been called - 36 years old.

Definitely my mother-in-law. She has (and uses) spices that she collected from her mother's cabinet when her mother died - 26 years ago!!! I am not kidding!!!

Strive to be organized. Wake up early. Train your children to do chores from a young age, and to do them thoroughly. Train your children to clean up after themselves. Have a schedule. Use free moments during the day to tackle quick chores (such as: cleaning a bathtub, dusting a room, sorting the bills, etc.) Start a load of laundry first thing every morning. Plan your meals ahead of time. Have an afternoon quiet time. These are the things that quickly come to mind. I have never had household help or been involved in a co-op or enrolled my youngers in pre-school. And I'm still here to tell about it :lol: It is crucial for me to have a clean & tidy home. I am a stressed out mama if it isn't. My children have always done chores twice a day. Now that they are older they do much of the work, from cleaning toilets to vacuuming to emptying the dishwasher to putting away all of the clean laundry. I firmly believe that one of the best things we did was to train our children young to do chores and to insist that they get done well. It is not too much for them - 20 minutes before school starts and 20 minutes before dinner. When our kids were younger there was plenty of time in the day to get the 'extras' done. Up until my oldest was in 4th grade we were able to finish school by lunch, leaving the afternoon free for errands, cleaning, projects, etc. Now that I have 4 school-aged kids, 2 of whom are at the jr. high level, we have much less free time, so we need to spend our time even more wisely and be as efficient as possible. I try to correct assignments as they happen, so as not to fall behind. I stagger my kids having one-on-one time with me while the others are working independently. Sure there are weeks that all the assignments don't get completed, but all in all, we usually accomplish most of what we set out to do (and the house is clean!) Consider it a job - strive to be as good at it as possible. Learn from your mistakes. Always assess areas that need improvement. And train your children to be cheerful, helpful, responsible members of the household. :001_smile:

Have you ruled out SOTW? I have used it very effectively for those ages. Very open and go, maps, narration questions included, lists of lots of great books.

But you are feeding 6 adults, 3 dogs, and buying all of your cleaners/paper goods? I think you are doing fine. It is very easy to keep the food budget low when the children are small and eat 1/3rd of what the adults eat. Six adults (frankly, teenagers eat MORE than the average adult) eat a LOT of food! You could switch to cloth napkins and make most of your cleaners to save a bit. I have found soup with homemade bread or biscuits to be a very economical way to feed a lot of people. My weekly budget for food, paper goods, cleaning supplies, and clothes is $300/wk. I belong to a co-op and buy almost everything in bulk. And I still have a couple who don't eat very much! Don't beat yourself up, I think you are doing fine!

This is our 6th year of using the IEW poetry program. The children have a list of poems to review each day during their morning memory work. At lunch we listen to the last three completed poems and then listen to our current poem three times. I then spend 10 minutes or so running through the new section of the poem we are learning in a listen/repeat manner. Every Friday we do dictation as follows: I have typed up all the poems from the program and cut them out on small slips of paper. We have a small Rubbermaid container labeled "Poetry Recitation", with all the poems we have memorized to date inside. Each child picks one and we practice recitation and being a good audience. We usually go around 2-3 times. We keep all of the recited poems in a separate baggie until all poems have been recited, then we add them all back into the box and start again. Why do we use it? Because we love language, and a unique turn of phrase. Memorizing the poems stretches our brains, improves our vocabulary, and is a fun thing to do all together, regardless of level. My 7 year old is just as capable of memorizing Casey's Revenge as is my 13 year old. We broke down The Embarassing Episode of Little Miss Muffet and acted it out as a family for my husband and parents. It cracked us up. It was a wonderful opportunity to make a lasting memory. Yes, the program is expensive. Too expensive. But it gets done. Consistently. And that makes it worth it to me. The CD makes it uber-easy to implement. The poem selections are a great combination of silly, serious, delightful, and witty. With five children I foresee myself using this program for a total of 15 years or so. That breaks down to $4.33 a year. I'm okay with that. :001_smile:

:iagree: As a professionally-trained musician (married to a professional musician), I heartily agree. Sad, but true.

Excellent. Thanks so much for the info!

I have a good friend who is pulling her son out of 2nd grade and homeschooling him for the remainder of the year. She does not want to join a co-op or charter. I have always filed the affidavit in October, which she has obviously missed. What is she supposed to do as far as filing with the state so they know she is homeschooling? Has anyone been in this situation? Thanks for any replies!

When I had kids this age it was all about the schedule. I used Managers of Their Homes and had 30-minute slots for everything. While I was doing math with one, one was doing copywork, and one was playing with the toddler. Then we would switch and the one who had completed the one-on-one math would do his/her workbook ecercise, the next would do math with me and the 3rd would play with the toddler. It sounds rigid but it really wasn't...and it allowed us to have time for everything every day. Once the schedule becomes automatic it makes for very smooth days. This is also a great time to get the toddler into a routine. Train him to sit at the table for 30 minutes and do puzzles, spend 30 minutes in a pack & play or his room with special toys brought out only at that time. Definitely have your children rotate playing with him, giving each a different assignment, like, "Build the biggest train you can for your brother/sister in the next 30 minutes," or "help your brother/sister build a tall tower with blocks." My toddlers always loved knowing what was coming next. It can be done! It just takes a bit of persistence and ingenuity. :001_smile:

We have done it in 7th grade along with Decimals & Percents and Dolciani Pre-Algebra as a means of review before beginning Algebra.

I check my library (which is extensive with many branches) and then buy the rest, unless I have a similar book to substitute (which usually happens with the biographies). My library generally has 50-75% of the books.

At that level I assign an end-of-book review to be completed in 2 days. I think you are right!:001_smile:

There are no workbooks at that level. They are unnecessary because it is all done orally. The copywork/dictation can be done on standard handwriting paper and kept in a notebook.

I agree with Heather. We are using Year 4 this year and my 7 year old ds would be very overwhelmed at the UG level. He is a strong reader, but is still on the slower side. He would not be able to keep up with the pace.

What is your area of study for history this year? Modern - using TOG Year 4 (first year of TOG here). For the MCT groupies, are you still enamored or has the some of the luster worn off? Not a groupie :001_smile: What are your areas of focus for skill development? 8th grade ds: Focus, focus, focus... 7th grade dd: Slowing her down so her work is done thoroughly (my two oldest are about as different as they could be!!) 5th grade dd: Increasing reading speed/amount (and decreasing the whining/complaining :-) 2nd grade ds: Focus, focus, focus... Is there any tool or resource that you don't think you could manage the year without? My sense of humor? Seriously, the library has been invaluable. We are doing TOG for the first time and I have 2 D students, 1 UG student, and 1 LG student. I would be completely broke without the library. I can place holds online and have access to 25 or so branches, so I can get many of our books quickly and easily and FREE. How goes the writing process? Great! I adore CW - especially the online tutorials!! I currently have a child taking the Chreia class and one taking the Maxim class. My 5th grader is finishing up Aesop B with me and will begin Homer A soon. Is there one new, invaluable thing you have learned that is helping you to be a better teacher? To give myself a little slack. I have been chronically anemic for the last two years and have not had the energy to put into planning/schooling that I have had in the past. I am learning that my children will still learn/excel even if we do not do every project/field trip/paper/etc. I am very thankful for this.