Yayayayayayayyayay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Congratulations!

We used TOG Ancients (year one) through week 18 of this year. We did about half of the program (everyone tells you that you can't do everything, so I didn't even try!), and it still was too much. I was dreading, dreading, dreading going back to school during the Christmas break. The Friday before we were supposed to start school again, I sat down with dh and he gave me the go-ahead to ditch it. My fifth grader is reading SOTW Ancients + outlining and taking notes from the Usborne and Kingfisher Encyclopedias + reading library books and books from our home library. It has been such a relief and I am enjoying history again!

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Ok. Thanks!

Thank you for your response! I searched for hours last night and read through many, many posts. :-) Ds currently works above grade level (2+ in math, 1+ in science), but this would be his first science textbook. I'm starting to second guess myself about Life Science. I'm wondering if I should go with Science 6 (which would be his grade level next year), to get him into the textbook mindset. Or, is this silly, we should just jump right in. He is a great reader and we currently outline for history ala TWTM methods. Thoughts?

OT: OhElizabeth, is your daughter in 6th grade this year? I'm strongly leaning toward BJU Life Science for my oldest for next year (sixth grade). I'm fascinated by your post here. Could you point me to amtmcm's recs for more info?

Thank you all so much for your replies! I've had a little back and forth with the assistant to my state representative about this. She was very surprised that other states allow homeschooled students to participate for free. She asked: If your state does allow homeschooled students to participate for free, would you please post a link to your relevant state law or any other pertinent information? I would be much obliged. :)

My oldest two were 9 and 7. We have the Kingfisher Human Body Encyclopedia and it came up. We are pretty conservative Christians, and I never expected to have the conversation that young, but they were asking, so I told them. They were grossed out (LOL!) and it was soooo awkward, but we got through it. We've actually had several conversations since then when particular questions arose. :-)

How does Dual/Concurrent Enrollment work in your state? In Wisconsin, public school students can enroll in college classes (and receive college textbooks) for free, but homeschool students have to pay full price. I understand this in theory because, as it was put to me by my state legislator, "this is consistent with having to pay for one’s family’s own homeschooling curriculum and textbooks – when the parents of a public school child do not directly bear that expense." But, it still makes me really mad because if my boys were in our local school system they wouldn't need the college classes!!! Our local public schools are so atrocious that the test scores for reading, math, and science are some of the lowest in the country! I've paid property taxes for my failing public schools for 10 years plus borne all of the costs of educating our boys at home. It feels like a no win situation. If we crossed over the county line (which we can't afford), we could have our children attend amazing public schools where they would most certainly receive educations that prepared them for dual-enrollment. Grrr. I realize that it is not relevant for me just yet; my oldest child is in 5th grade. However, our oldest ds is currently completing a 7th grade math program and if he continues the math sequence that he is currently on, he will be doing Pre-Calculus in 8th grade! In plotting out his high school course work, I realized quickly that he will be beyond my level at that point. I'm starting to panic about high school already! Anyway, I'm wondering, is common in most states? I'm starting to be so envious of those whose states allow homeschoolers to participate in varsity sports and dual enrollment!

Currently I have a 5th, 3rd, K5, and 8-month old. I was SO gung-ho for TOG Ancients this year. I probably did half of it (everyone tells you that you can't do everything, so I didn't even try!), and it still was too much. The boys weren't loving history anymore and I was so dreading going back to school during the Christmas break. The weekend before we were supposed to start school again, I sat down with dh and he gave me the go-ahead to ditch it. It was A LOT of $$ and was not an easy decision to come to, but I can honestly say the minute we made it I was THRILLED!!! :lol: We are doing history with SOTW Ancients + Activity book for my 3rd grader, and SOTW Ancients + Usborne and Kingfisher for my 5th. We are enjoying history again!

My oldest did SOTW Ancients with the Activity guide for first grade and now is doing SOTW Ancients + Kingfisher and Usborne World Encyclopedias for fifth grade. My second oldest is in 3rd grade and this is his first time through SOTW Ancients + Activity guide. (I folded him in with oldest ds, so he covered Early Modern in 1st grade and Modern in 2nd grade.) My third ds will join us for Middle Ages/Renaissance next year when he starts first grade. We love SOTW. I have tried other things (TOG and Winter Promise) and hated them.

We had a mouse earlier this year. I told the boys I'd pay them $10 if they caught it. The 10 and 8 year old trapped it in the corner of the basement and then corralled it into a paper grocery bag! Maybe you could pay your sons? :D

I'm following your thread with interest because this is exactly how I feel! I bought year 1, but I'm basically only using the reading recommendations. Quite expensive for a booklist!!!! I, also, did SOTW the first time through completely with oldest ds. Second oldest ds only did two years of it for school, but has read through the entire series several times on his own FOR FUN. :lol: I need something new for next year (Medieval-Ren) for a 6th, 4th, and 1st grader. I'm off to explore all of the suggestions you received. :)

Just the mechanics were discussed with our oldest two around the ages of 7-8 with the Kingfisher First Human Body Encyclopedia.

Kenneth Branagh's Henry V is amazing, too. My 5th and 3rd grader watched it this year for the first time and loved it! :-)

That's what started this whole thing! My oldest found a flyer for the local children's choir. It's $500, 90 minutes a week, and 32 weeks long. Right now that's too much $$ and too much of a time commitment. I don't mind the hijack. I thought it was very interesting! :-) I'm confused about solfegge patterns. I googled this, but didn't come up with a concrete explanation. Can someone explain this? Yesterday, I told oldest ds that he should try to sing on the treble cleff for his songs; that trying to sing too low or too high might damage his voice. He was very excited that other moms were giving advice. :) So, basically, we played through the top line of a hymn (soprano part) and tried to match it and then the alto part and tried to match it. Is this the basic gist of what to do?

Thank you all for the ideas and especially the video, Cheryl. Now I at least have somewhere to start!

My boys would really like to learn how to sing. They have taken piano for years and can read music, but I have no idea where to begin with this! I learned through a combination of school and our church choir and my poor boys don't have either. {grin} Could anyone recommend a curricula or DVD set or anything that we can use so that they can learn how to sing?

Name: Heather age of dc: 4 boys: 10, 8, 5, and 6 mos. how long homeschooling?: this is our seventh year :-) have you taught these ages/grades before?: Our oldest is in 5th grade; this is our first trip through the logic stage. Do you follow a particular style of education? TWTM is our foundation and we tweak from there. Do you plan to homeschool high school?: Not sure Any favorite quotes or wisdom that get you through the day?: It all begins with me. (from MMV) If I'm off-task or scattered, the children will be, too.

In every case it is not all smoke and mirrors! This story has me really upset! Mother Kept In “Glass Cage†For Almost An Hour By TSA For Resisting Over Breast Milk The latest case of TSA tyranny to hit the headlines comes in the form of a young mother who was subjected to enhanced groping and then shut inside a screening box for almost an hour by agents after she refused to allow them to put her breast milk through an x-ray device, a legitimate request that is even written into the TSA’s own guidelines. The ordeal, which took place at Phoenix airport earlier this year, was captured on security cameras, which Stacey Armato, who is also a lawyer, gained access to, but only after repeated requests and careful editing by the TSA had taken place.

Amazon dumps WikiLeaks Amazon.com Inc. forced WikiLeaks to stop using the U.S. company's computers to distribute embarrassing State Department communications and other documents, WikiLeaks said Wednesday. The ouster came after congressional staff had questioned Amazon about its relationship with WikiLeaks, said Sen. Joe Lieberman, an independent from Connecticut. WikiLeaks confirmed it hours after The Associated Press reported that Amazon's servers had stopped hosting WikiLeaks' site. The site was unavailable for several hours before it moved back to its previous Swedish host, Bahnhof. w00t!

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No, but I'll definitely check it out now. Thanks!!

For nonfiction, I recently read Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman and liked it very much. :-)