You might also like the Veritas Press Self-Paced History courses. They offer them at half price a couple times a year, which is a great deal. My boys do the classes together. They really enjoy the classes and are learning a ton in the process.

We have been using SOTW and really enjoying it, but my DS will be in 5th next year. We are ready to start over with Ancient Times, and I feel that SOTW is too basic for him. I would like something meatier. I looked at History of the World, but it seems too advanced.

We don't do Classical Conversations, but I use their cursive series, PreScripts, and love it. It requires very little from me and integrates history or Bible and art. My boys, ages 8 and 10, have made great strides using the program.

Anyone know of a Christian-based history program similar to History Odyssey? Has anyone combined a Bible history program with History Odyssey? I love how History Odyssey is set up, but I would like to have Bible history integrated.

My DS will finish up Singapore 5 this year. I am considering condensing Singapore 6 into a the first semester of next year then beginning AoPS Pre-Algebra. If you have had experience with AoPS Pre-Algebra, how long did it take you to get through the program? How about for Intro to Algebra? I'm wondering if either one would take longer than a normal school year for a fairly mathy kid. Thanks!!

I'm looking for a history curriculum to use in a co-op class for next year. We'll have an American/Modern History class and an ancients class. The plan for the classes is to have students read from the spine of choice/ living books at home then have discussions in class. Here's what I'm looking for: A guide that has in-depth discussion questions. Integrates Primary Sources Integrates maps and geography I haven't been able to get my hands on Biblioplan to really look at it, but it may be a good option if the discussion questions dig deep enough. Any other ideas?

Thanks so much for all the helpful advice! I will definitely not skip to AoPS Algebra. I'm still mulling over doing Singapore 6 as a review or jumping right in to AoPS Pre-Algebra.

Thanks! What was your reasoning for skipping 6A/6B? Were you using US edition?

My ds is currently working in US Edition Singapore 5A. He should complete 5B by the end of this school year. Looking ahead to next year, I'm trying to figure out if it would be better to skip 6A/6B and go into AoPS Pre-Algebra. If we complete 6A/6B would we still go into AoPS Pre-Algebra or would it be better at that point to go straight into the AoPS Algebra course? Any advice is appreciated!

I'm looking ahead to next year. My ds will complete FLL 4 this year, and I'd like some opinions about which grammar program to use next. I'm looking at MCT, Analytical Grammar, and Rod and Staff. I would love to hear from folks who have had experience using these programs.

Completely agree! The examples of plagiarism are horrid, but the fact that a history text would use Wikipedia as a source is equally as horrid. I had purchased a couple of the self-paced history courses for my kids for this year, and now I am wondering what sources VP used for those courses.

Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding. You have to gather the materials yourself, but most of the items you have around your house.

We were introduced to Colega this year, and I love it. I wish we had know about this curriculum a couple of years ago when we first started homeschooling. We had been using Calico, which I enjoyed, but Colega is much more rigorous. We jumped in at Colega 3 this year, but we're going to go back and refresh some of the grammar/vocab from Colega 2. Where Calico was more focused on conversation and geared towards pre-school aged kids, Colega is grammar/writing heavy and geared towards middle-upper elementary aged kids. It can be appropriate for early elementary kids who are able to read and write.

We just started using Colega this year, and I love it. I am using it with my 7 and 9 yr. olds, but it could easily work for kids a bit older. I feel like it is more thorough and challenging than any of the other beginning Spanish programs. It is heavy on the grammar and writing, though, if you're looking for something more conversational.

I'd also like to recommend adding to the Preschool Beginning Readers list the Elephant, Piggie, and Pigeon books by Mo Willems. They are a favorite at our house. There are only about 1 to 10 words on each page, but yet the books manage to tell delightfully humorous stories. These books were a big factor in getting my youngest reading books on his own and fluently.

I know this is an old thread, but I was hoping to get some feedback from Sahamamama on Notgrass Learn to Draw. How did you like this book? Do you think it would be appropriate for a 6 and 8 year old? Does it teach the fundamentals of drawing or does it give in instruction on how to draw specific drawing projects? I'm looking for something that will teach my kids the basics of drawing so they can apply it to drawing anything.

I am looking for an art curriculum for the upcoming year, and would love any recommendations! Here's a little bit of background: my kiddos are 6 and 8. I'm looking for something that will teach the basics of drawing and painting. I don't want a curriculum that teaches how to draw or paint specific projects, but one that will teach the foundations of these skills to be used in many different types of projects. I am able to put together instruction on art appreciation, so I just need a program that teaches art skills. I also would like something that isn't heavily text-laden. I have Drawing with Children, but I have never been able to get through it, because it isn't open and go. Finally, I would like something that won't break the bank. I've been looking at the Barry Stebbing programs, but my concern is that someone wrote in a previous post that his curriculum doesn't teach art skills as much as how to create specific drawings/paintings. If I did go with one of his programs, I don't know whether to get the I Can Do All Things program, or the Fundamentals of Beginning Drawing and the Fundamentals of Beginning Painting. Any advice from folks who have had experience with any of these programs or have other recommendations is greatly appreciated!

I went to this type of school in rural Missouri. We were k-12 all in one building. I attended K there and then 3-12th grade. I really don't remember too many people moving in, but plenty of people moved away. I started high school with 33 people in my class, and we graduated with 22. The other 11 either moved away or dropped out. If a new family were to move in, I would guess they would be met with suspicion, especially if they were from a city. There were some things I loved about going to such a small school, and some things that I despised. When I was younger, I loved seeing my big brothers in the halls. When I was older, I hated how everyone knew everything. Gossip was rampant and often strayed far from the truth. I wrecked my car one weekend on a Sunday on the way to church. When I got back to school on Tuesday the story going around was that I was out partying and driving drunk. Another negative, once you had a reputation there was no getting rid of it. The families from my town had all lived there for many generations. If your family had a "bad" name, there was no escaping it, you were labeled the same. Or if you were a "trouble maker" in elementary school, that label would follow you all the way through high school because all the teachers knew everything that was going on with all the kids (Only one teacher lounge and gossip was rampant there, as well.) On the other hand, if you were from a "good" family or labeled a "good" kid, that reputation could take you a long way. I felt like the academics at my school were good, especially for the size. It offered AP science courses, and if a student was interested in an advanced course that the school didn't offer, they would try to get it via video or correspondence. Because the school was so small, there were fewer kids to compete with for scholarship opportunities. I was able to attend the University of Missouri completely free on scholarship. Also, since the school was so small, anyone could play sports, cheerlead or march in the band--there were no tryouts. My school didn't offer a variety of sports, but we did have baseball, softball, basketball, and track. We played other small 1A schools in our conference for sports. It seemed like the school was divided between the kids who played sports (the "in" crowd) and those who didn't. There wasn't really a division among academic-types and non-academic types as most of the smarter kids also played sports, which gave them an automatic bid to the popular crowd. The major downside, I think, to growing up in such a small place is that there was nothing to do, so there was lots of drinking and causing trouble. When I was in school drugs were not a problem, but I did hear that several years after my class graduated that drug usage had increased greatly. I also heard that farmers and the farm store were being frequently robbed of fertilizer for people to use to make meth. Those stories could be part of the proliferate rumor mill or could be accurate, I haven't been back to verify.

I checked out the Home Science Tools. That's just the kind of place I'm looking for. Thanks!!

Does anyone have suggestions for the best place to buy supplies for science experiments online? I'm looking for magnets, fossils, dissection kits, etc. I checked out Amazon, but didn't really find what I was looking for.

I agree with previous posts suggesting Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (BSFU). I know it doesn't necessarily correspond with the four-year science cycle to go along with history. However, it is the most comprehensive, well-organized elementary science program I have come across (after spending hours upon hours researching science curriculum). If your desire is for your children to grow up scientific thinkers, independent science learners, with a thorough understanding of how all the disciplines of science interrelate, then this is your curriculum. One suggestion: Since it seems as many people favor more information relating to "how to homeschool" vs. actual resources, why not make the resource suggestions as on online supplement to the book? The recommendations could be updated as new information and resources come along, and the book could focus more on homeschool implementation. I would like to see more information on how to integrate STEM and foreign language instruction other than Latin into a classical model. Looking forward to a 4th edition! I should probably get a royalty for all the people I have recommended the 3rd ed.! ;)

I went through Super Scratch Programming Adventure last year with my DDSs. We all loved it, and they now enjoy playing around on Scratch and creating their own "programs." I thought the book was a great introduction to Scratch and programming. I'd like to continue to use Scratch next school year with my kiddos and am looking for the next step after Super Scratch that would still be age appropriate for them (6 and 8). Anyone know of any other Scratch books or programming guides that younger children could follow?

You might like Kids of Integrity. http://www.kidsofintegrity.com/ It gives an entire 2-week or more lesson plan on character traits from prayers for parents to pray for their children, prayers to pray with their children, memory verses related to the character quality, Bible stories that relate to it, and activities to demontstrate it. And it's FREE!

Dialectica, Which four languages do you study and what resources do you use for them?

Thanks so much for the info!!