Thank you everyone for sharing. I have loved looking at all of the blog posts and links you have given me. It is funny how much enjoyment I get from looking at organizational items:D. But I have to admit that some of you blow me out of the water, and I can never hope to reach the level of organization and planning that some of you have achieved. :w00t: I have really gotten some good inspiration and some new ideas. Thanks for sharing, and keep them coming.

I'd love to see examples from any of you who are willing to share the planners you have made yourself. I know I want to make our own so I can completely customize it, but I need some inspiration and motivation to get started. So if you have a copy on a blog, a google doc, or some other easy way of sharing with us, please do! Also, if you have any tips, software programs, etc. that you have found that made designing your own planner easier, I'm all ears. Thanks!

Thanks. I just got ahold of her and they are doing fine. As you said, they are east of I-25 so they feel pretty safe. Their previous home and the church they still attend is in one of the worst hit areas (Mountain Shadows). So they have several close friends that are have been evacuated and a few staying with them right now.

Christina and wapiti, Thank you both. My time zones are all mixed up, so I was thinking it was later. I think I'll try to give her a call right now, but it is good to know that they look safe for now. Thanks!

I just got on the computer after being MIA for the last two days and had no idea the fires had reached the Springs. We have family on Coyote Willow Dr. I know it is near the AFA, but I'm not sure how close. It is too late for me to call her, so can anyone tell me how close they are and if they are at risk of being evacuated? Thanks!

http://www.kinderbach.com/ I've never used this, but somehow I'm on their mailing list and remembered seeing recently that they have an app.

Ali, thanks for the feedback. My dd is really interested in anatomy and the human body, so the human body encyclopedia looks great for her.

Is there anything specifically you did to tweak it?

Since you've used both Noeo Bio and Mr. Q Life, can you compare the two?

Thank you! I really appreciate hearing the reviews. Wendy~ Thanks for giving me some more details about how the two levels compare. I don't like crafty busywork, so I'm a bit concerned about the Level 1 experiments. My dd would probably enjoy them, but ds definitely would not. I'm wondering if I could use Level 2 as the basis for my 3rd grader, but then adding some of the Level 1 books if the concepts seem too tough. Or maybe I'd be better to go the opposite way, and add the Level 2 books and experiments to the Level 1...... using Level 1 as the core. If I end up getting both, I think I will try to sit down and coordinate the two somehow. Thanks for the idea.

Anyone else have thoughts on any of these programs (Noeo, ES, Mr. Q)?

Thanks Crimson Wife. I'm going to take a closer look at this program.

Anyone else with feedback about Noeo, ES, or Mr. Q?

I forgot all about this one! What can you tell me about it? Why have you loved it so much? What can you tell me about the labs?

Thanks! The fact that Noeo comes with most of the materials is a huge draw for me!

I'm trying to find a biology program for my 1st and 3rd graders. I'd say dd is a pretty typical 1st grade girl, both for interest level and understanding. My 3rd grader is a bit advanced, so the difference in input and output level between the two is greater than their ages suggests. I'm willing to do 2 seperate programs with them if needed, but if I can combine them that would be a bonus. I decided to do Biology with them this year because my dd has a big interest in the human body, and my ds is interested in animals, so Biology was a good fit for both. I think I've narrowed it down to Noeo or Elemental Science, but I'm open to other suggestions too. I like that Noeo has two different Biology programs that fit into the elementary age bracket. I'm a bit concerned about Elemental Science because the Elementary level looks a bit light for ds, but I'm concerned the logic level would be too much. Some of those science encyclopedias can be a bit detailed and dry. If you've bought the experiment kit for ES, has it made the program open and go for you? I'm terrible at gathering supplies for experiments and projects and love the idea of the kit if it is truly useful. For Noeo, will I still be gathering supplies or is everything I need included? What do you think of the type, quality, and frequency of the hands-on components of either program? With Noeo, does the format of the program get boring..... reading, narration page, etc? I like the more varied components that ES seems to incorporate. If you've tried to coordinate different levels of either of these programs for two different students, how did that go? Thanks!

Anyone at all?

We've been happily using MCT's grammar books for the last 3 years. We've finished the Town/Island/Voyage, and I'm trying to decide if we should continue with MCT into the middle grades. Grammar has always been a weak area for me, but the 4-level analysis makes sense and I get it. My son doesn't really seem to care what we use for grammar, so it has been a good fit for us to this point. However, I'm questioning if continuing with it is the best option for my son. Since grammar is a weak area of mine, I'm not sure if it is covering everything we need to know. I feel like it has been light on punctuation, but I haven't been too concerned to this point because I figured we still have time. But as we are entering into middle school, I'm seeing that time is running out and I want to make sure we have a solid basis of grammar, punctuation, etc. going into HS. I don't see us continuing grammar studies in HS, so I'm feeling the pressure of time to get everything in during the next 3 years. As I've been looking at other grammar programs, I'm seeing topics in their scope and sequences that haven't been touched on in MCT. These are things like verb tenses, verb forms, superlative adj. form (I don't know anything about these things, I'm just copying from the SS:tongue_smilie:). If you've used the upper levels of MCT, does he get to these things? Are these things we really even need to know? Does he begin to cover more complex punctuation useage? If you've added to the upper levels, what have you used? If you've abandoned the upper levels, what have you switched to? Thanks!

Thank you everyone for the great list. I've heard of some of these, but many of them are new to me. We just downloaded a few to dd's Kindle so she has some new reading material for the plane ride home. Thanks!

I'm looking for good "girl" books for my 6yo. With 2 older brothers, the books in our house are very "boy" focused. She doesn't mind, but I think she'd enjoy some books with a bit more of a girly flair. Any suggestions? To give you an idea of reading level, she is reading things like Boxcar Children, Roald Dahl books, Bobbsey Twins, and Beverly Cleary. Thanks!

Hopefully soon. I am heading back to the States in 2 days, and I need to order all my curriculum to bring back with me in a few weeks. I think the deadline to get stuff ordered is increasing my anxiety about what to order. Plus, I won't really have a chance to look at things and order something different if it doesn't work. So whatever I end up ordering in the next 2 days, I'll have to make it work:D.

Thank you, thank you, thank you! I really appreciate you taking the time to tell me more about CIA. The exploratory labs look particuarly interesting, and I'm thinking it might be worth it to pick up an inexpensive copy on Amazon even if that is the only thing we use the book for. Even more than telling me about CIA, I appreciate you helping me gain a little perspective. For some reason I'm making this decision all too difficult, and I really do just need to pick something and go with it. There seem to be several good choices, and ds isn't too picky about which curricula we use. So I guess I really can't go wrong with any of them. Thanks!

:lurk5:

Brownie, Thanks for chiming in! I'm going to look through the PH books I have on the shelf again to see if they could work.

Thanks Elizabeth. That is a great point that each program is going to have its own strength. I tend to forget that in the search for the "perfect" program. Can you tell me a bit more about CIA? You recommended it to me previously, but I can't find much info on it so I have kind of set it aside in my list of choices. I'm particularly intrigued by your description of it being strong at getting the student to think through how the labs are structured. Also, are there samples anywhere online for it?