The part where she mentioned she was talking about two different kids was in the first paragraph of the first post. "Once, (other neighbors) ds was playing at a different house..." It definitely wasn't very clear though.

We'll be using Mystery of History Vol 2: The Early Church and Middle Ages (http://www.themysteryofhistory.info/volumeII.shtml). Lots of church/Bible history, starting with Pentacost, Paul's missionary journies, Christian martyrs, etc. and moving on to some of the saints and missionaries (Augustine, Valentine, John Wycliffe, William Tyndale, etc.). We're very excited about it!

I'm the same way you are--one book at a time--so it would drive me crazy too. Does she have an assigned reading time? Does she only read during that time? If she reads on her own outside of an assigned reading time, I would suggest just having her read one book from start to finish during that assigned reading time. Anything she does outside of that, she can read whatever she wants. Or if she only reads during an assigned time, then just set a reasonable goal for her to completely finish one or two books a week (or whatever is appropriate). Then she can read as many books or parts of books as she wants, but she has to completely read an entire book every so often.

Thought I would bump this up again, because I would love to hear opinions on this as well.

This sounds like a really good idea and a way to combine what works for you with what works for him! Gotta love homeschooling. :)

I could see this being a happy medium. I hate to admit I hadn't thought of doing it this way. I tend to be kind of an all-or-nothing personality. Thank you for suggesting it! And thank you to all of you who gave me feedback (and support)!

I'd like to get the hive's opinion on block scheduling history and science next year. We'll be using MOH 2 and Apologia Botany. If we do it this way, we'll be spending 22 weeks on history and 13 weeks on science. Is it "ok" to do this? Based on how this year has gone, I think it would work well for us to focus on one, finish it, then focus on the other. However, the thought of only spending 13 weeks out of a whole year on science, even though we'd cover the same amount of material, seems wrong somehow.

My 6th grader started using KidCoder (mentioned above) a few months ago. We're very happy with it.

Rod and Staff has 7th grade level English (grammar and writing combined). I haven't used it yet, but I used the 6th grade book after pulling my son of out of public school. We're really happy with it. It is very thorough--MUCH more thorough than what he had learned so far from public school. If he had been much further behind or not a naturally quick learner, I probably would have had to back up to the 5th grade book. He continually "complains" that he "never had to learn this stuff" in public school, which to me is a ringing endorsement. lol But this was not a charter school, so I don't know if that changes things.

Personally, the only times I fell in love with a subject (that I wasn't innately interested in) was when I realized I could do something I couldn't do before. I've noticed my boys seem to be the same. If something is not particularly enjoyable to me, I acknowledge that. Sometimes you have to do things you don't like in order to accomplish something you will like. When they really argue about showing their work in math because "they can do it in their heads", I give them a much more difficult problem to work--one that uses the same concept but is at least a grade level or two ahead. Of course, they aren't able to do it, but as I work it out for them, they're able to follow along and understand how I got the answer, so they're able to see the need for and benefit of showing their work. No, you don't NEED to show your work to figure out n if 5 + n = 12, but you do need to understand the steps required so you can figure out much more complicated equations later. I also try to accentuate little things that I find interesting along the way, even if I have no particular interest in the overall subject. Even if it's something as simple as me reading aloud from our science or history book and all of a sudden pausing to say, "Hmmm, I never knew this." They automatically perk up and wait for me to continue to see what it was that even I didn't know about. I think they enjoy learning things as a kid that I didn't know as an adult. I think it also helps them to see that learning never stops, and there are always opportunities to learn, like even when this college-educated Biology major is learning something new from an elementary zoology book. And because diagramming sentences has been a torturous struggle for my 6th grader, I frequently have to point out how much he has learned this year. At the beginning of the year, he honestly could not identify the subject and verb of a sentence. Now he can diagram long sentences with clauses, conjunctions, etc. He still hates diagramming, but he visibly puffs up when he realizes what he can do now that he couldn't before. I think being excited about learning in general is as, if not more, important than being excited about any given subject or concept. Long division may be boring as all get out, but if you didn't know how to do it before and now you do, well...that's very exciting!

I could have written this post myself. My freshman English teacher was the one whose class I dreaded the most, but to this day, she is the one from whom I learned the most.

When I read it, I immediately thought it sounded like Dave Ramsey as well!

Where is this blog? I would love to read it. All the blogs I see intimidate the snot out of me. Luckily, I'm mostly happy in my squalor. :)

I don't think I've seen it. If you have time(or a link), I'd love to hear it! It sounds entertaining. lol

It looks nice, but with everything else they're doing already (and assuming they're getting fresh air and playing outside on a regular basis as well), I really don't think it's necessary. If you want something more tangible than just daily living to teach them how to be healthy and take care of their bodies (fitness, healthy eating, hygiene, etc.) I would just opt for a health book/workbook. Maybe something they can do once a week or so along with any other science topics they will study.

Switched on Schoolhouse Spanish for us. It's only our first year, so we haven't tried that many things yet.

I'm using ZB's Spelling Connections this year with my 6th and 3rd graders. I can't speak for the 7th grade level, because I haven't used it. It does it's job, I guess, but I am switching to R&S spelling for my youngest son in 4th next year and Caesar's English (word root vocabulary) for my oldest in 7th. However, the reason I have been less than immpressed overall could be simply because I did not want to shell out the money for the Teacher's Manuals. So please take my review with a grain of salt. Things I like: The format is attractive and easy to follow. Spelling lists are related words or concepts. It's easy for them to do independently (aside from me actually calling out the words for the test)--see disclaimer above though. The lists seem like a pretty good level for my kids. They're on the easy side as a whole (for my kids), so they can feel confident and not get overwhelmed, but there have been some tricky words/concepts that they've had to actually learn. If it were too challenging, I think it would be a fight to get them to do it. We also are using R&S for English and will continue to do so next year.

This brought tears to my eyes too. Way to go!

As far as my husband is concerned, there are a few reasons he isn't that interested in the details. One, he says that he can see that whatever I've been doing is working well, so he doesn't know what he could tell me to do better. (He gets brownie points for that one. lol) Two, since I'm the one home with the kids and actually using everything, then what I think about it is more important than anything else, and it doesn't really matter what he thinks, since he isn't the one who is going to be using it. And three, every. single. time. I try to discuss curriculum with him, as soon as he gives me feedback or his opinion, I proceed to tell him why his opinion wouldn't work. And he's right. That is what happens. But he's ok with that, and he will regularly humor me and let me use him as a sounding board. He's also really good about being supportive and frequently affirming what I'm doing. He knows I like hearing it, and he knows it helps me keep plugging along. He just doesn't get all worked up and excited about it all like I do, for the reasons mentioned above.

My youngest son will be 9 in August and starting 4th grade in September (second year of homeschooling). He'll be doing... Bible: daily devotions and discussion with Long Story Short, then moving on to Old Story New History: Mystery of History Vol 2 (We'll also use A Child's Story of America as a read aloud only and spend a few weeks on TX history using the lapbook from www.knowledgeboxcentral.com.) Science: Apologia Botany (and a few weeks using the My Body book) Math: Horizons 4 (and Mad Minutes for speed drill work) Language Arts: Rod and Staff English 4 Zaner Bloser Spelling Connections 4 Reading--30 min a day from book list; narrate/discuss with me; one book report about his favorite book each month --30 min a day read aloud (I read to him.) Spanish: The Learnables (most likely, but haven't purchased it yet) Art: Mark Kistler's online lessons Music: Piano lessons PE: Tae Kwon Do; playing outside; etc.

We're using Long Story Short and love it here, as well. No writing involved--just discussion of the actual Scripture as in depth (or not) as we want it/are able to do it.

I used Zaner-Bloser's level 6 handwriting book this year with my 6th grader. It might fit what you're looking for. Also, I haven't used it, but this might be good too--maybe even better (no pictures, no fluff): http://simplycharlottemason.com/store/print-to-cursive-proverbs/

Oh wow. I can not even begin to tell you how wonderful these are! Thank you so much for taking the time to revise them and share them with others. You absolutely could charge for them! You are a blessing!

Perfect. Thank you for the reassurance!

No harm done. I really was just curious. I don't post much here. Thanks for the candid response!