In NC, The North Carolina Museum of Natural Science in Raleigh and there is also a history museum right next door and a children's museum that is not far from there. We loved the Natural Science museum there was so much to do and see. My kids are begging to go back. Also in NC, we love to go to Asheville to the Biltmore House. There is so much to do there. The Biltmore House is amazing and the gardens are so breathtakingly beautiful. They also have a petting zoo that is past the winery, places to hike and live music near the winery in the evenings (I think just on weekends, but I may be wrong). We also love the Blue Ridge Parkway in NC and Grandfather Mountain is not too far from there and Tweetsie Railroad is also not far from Grandfather Mountain in Boone, NC. In SC, we loved Charleston and can't wait to go back. There is so much to do and see and the history is awesome. In TN, the Smoky Mountains are so much fun. There are lots of places to hike and picnic. We love Dollywood and Pigeon Forge and there is also a waterpark now at Dollywood. We haven't been to the waterpark yet, but I have heard it is really fun. Also, Cades Cove in the Smoky Mountains is really nice. We can't wait to go back there too! I hope you plan an awesome trip. There are so many great places to go!

When my son was in Kindergarten, I took him to see his pediatrician for his check up. The pediatrician asked me how my son was doing in school and I told him that he was doing really well. He asked where my son went to school and I told him we were homeschooling. He proceeded to roll his eyes and start quizzing my son on math facts. My son answered all his questions correctly. I was a insulted that he felt the need to verify my statement that my son was doing well academically, and we started seeing a different pediatrician in the practice. I have had several situations where people make rude comments about homeschooling to me. When we started our homeschool journey I would answer proudly when someone asked where my kids go to school, but now I dread someone asking because of some of the negativity from people that don't understand. At the same time, I have had plenty of positive comments too.

Congratulations!!! :party: It is on my wish list to get one for next year. Right now, I am just dreaming of all the ways I could use one.

The Kindergarten K5 books are where we started. I used the Writing with Phonics K5 cursive workbook, the Kindergarten writing tablet K5 cursive and the Cursive Formation Flashcards. The Cursive formation flashcards might be optional, but they are large and my kids would use their finger and trace around the letter to see how the letter was made before writing it on the paper. We also used the number writing workbooks as well. It is really an extra, but my kids have beautiful number formation. We are still using Abeka cursive penmanship. We are in the 3rd grade book now. My kids have beautiful cursive handwriting.

My dd is in 3rd grade this year and my ds will be a 3rd grader next year. I am making some changes next year for his 3rd grade curriculum. This is what I am thinking tentatively: Bible: CLE Math: Teaching Textbooks 4 and Abeka 3 Language: FLL 3 and Abeka 3 Writing: WWE 3 Vocabulary: Wordly Wise 3 Spelling: AAS finish 3 and start 4 Reading: CLE 3 History and Geography: Abeka 3 Science: A Reason for Science C Penmanship: Abeka cursive Art: Artistic Pursuits

We are doing Adventures this year for my dd 3rd grade and my ds 2nd grade and it has been great, but I agree with the previous poster that the science is too light. We added some extra science to it and it has been fine. My kids and I are enjoying Adventures and they are learning a lot. I am too lol!

We use and love AAS. I purchased it last year and started using it and didn't love it at first. I switched to another spelling program, but all it had the kids do was memorize lists of words and they didn't retain spelling skills. I switched back to AAS and now I realize how important the way AAS teaches is in helping my kids learn how to spell. What I didn't like at first was I though it was too easy for my kids, but it is more challenging as you go through the levels. We love it now. It doesn't take long to do each day. It gets done without a complaint from the kids.

Both of my kids started with Abeka cursive in Kindergarten and they write beautifully in cursive now. They also have beautiful manuscript handwriting now in 2nd and 3rd grades. We didn't even spend a lot of time on manuscript. Abeka's cursive curriculum is really good. We still use it in 3rd and 4th grade.

Yay!!! Congratulations!!!! Great Job Emmett!!! :thumbup: It really is the best feeling when you can say, "I taught him how to do that!" :party:

My son has ADHD and he has problems staying on track with his lessons. We started Teaching Textbooks 3 for math and he is independant with his math now and he no longer procrastinates (with math at least). I wish I could find another curriculum that he loves doing independantly as much as he does TT because it has been a huge help for us. We also do xtramath online that he never complains about and it is interactive and he doesn't procrastinate with that either. We also did Time4learning for a while like the previous poster does. Both my kids loved it. It has lessons in most all areas and they can "earn" time to go to the playground area of the website where they have fun games for the kids to play. They can go to the playground after a (x) amount of time (determined by you in the parent settings). My kids would really try hard to get a lesson done just so they could play the fun games.

I used it with my daughter when she was in 2nd grade and I felt it was very good. We used the Letters and Sounds 2 book and the Language 2 book. We added AAS for spelling also. The Abeka Language 2 book teaches grammar, creative writing and Reading Comprehension. If you add the Letters and Sounds book, it will really does help to master the phonics skills which helps in reading and spelling.

Here is the song I was talking about. He sang it a little faster though.

My son went to preschool when he was 4 and his teacher taught him a song that helped him learn his months of the year. It stuck with him and he still sings it sometimes if he is trying to figure out what month comes next.

We are doing A Reason For Science and we also started doing the Young Scientist Club membership. Neither of them are DVD, but extremely easy to teach. My kids beg to do the lessons. We buy the kit that has most all the supplies needed to do the projects. There is usually a lesson followed by a project and then a section about what they learned from the project. They have to fill in the sections about what they learned and I have them make sure they answer those in complete sentences and we go over them. This has helped with their writing skills as well as science. The Young Scientist Club membership is really fun too. They get their kits in the mail and they are so excited to get them. I have 2 kids and I order 1 kit for the two of them to share and it works well.

We are having a blast with science with A Reason For Science curriculum and The Young Scientist Club membership. We also are getting the Little Passport subscriptions for the USA state study and the world study. We are doing more art projects. We switched to Teaching Textbooks and my kids look forward to doing math! MFW Adventures has also been a lot of fun this year.

We use MFW for my 2nd and 3rd graders. I combine them for bible, history, science and art. They do math, writing and spelling individually. This is the first year I have combined any subjects and it has made things a ton easier for me (and for them). My kids are a year apart in age which makes it a lot easier, but I think it is helpful to combine where you can and individualize things like math, etc.

My 3rd grader is doing: Daily: MFW Adventures for Bible and History, Teaching Textbooks 3 and XtraMath, AAS, WWE, FLL and Easy Grammar, Abeka penmanship (cursive), CLE Reading Monday/Wednesday: Science (A Reason For Science) and we also get The Young Scientist Club kits twice a month Tuesday/Thursday: Art/Music Our schedule is this: 8:00-8:30 Bible 8:30-9:15 Math 9:15-9:45 History 9:45-10:00 break 10:00-11:00 all language arts/spelling/penmanship 11:00-11:30 CLE Reading 11:30-12:00 lunch 12:00-12:45 Science on M/W or Art T/Th and music classes on Tuesdays We do independant reading for about 30 minutes after lunch and we are done most days at about 1:30

We are doing Adventures this year and we have really enjoyed it. We added more science to it because my kids love science, but I have been pleased with Adventures! My kids have learned a lot this year.

AAS!!! We were using another program that had the children memorize lists of words, but that was not training them WHY to spell the word that way. AAS teaches them the rules and why to spell a word a certain way. It also works with my son with ADHD. He has a hard time staying on task, but he is doing well with AAS.

My second grader is using... FLL 2 along with Easy Grammar 2 AAS 2 CLE Reading 2 WWE 1 ABeka Cursive

Yes, it is made to only do once a week. There are 36 lessons. We started it after Christmas, so we are doing it 2 times a week and adding extras about our lessons from library books, videos, research, etc. wherever possible on the other days. We do MFW Adventures which has science built in, but my kids wanted more science (especially lessons with experiments).

I have a 2nd and 3rd grader. We recently started using A Reason For Science (level B). I have been so pleased with it so far. We purchased the supply kit that goes with it and all our supplies are there for our experiments with the exception of a few items like a fresh flower that we had to purchase to do a lesson. There aren't any videos and the lessons are pretty much open and go. My kids are so pleased with it and are so excited about science that they beg to do the lessons even on weekends. It is expensive so we had to save up to purchase it, but it is well worth it to us.

I was having the same problem with my 2nd grade ds. He has ADHD and is very good in math, but he doesn't like doing the workbook pages. I couldn't get him to finish a lesson without a struggle. We were using CLE math 2. It would take forever to get through a lesson because he would drag his feet through the workbook pages. I switched (started a week ago) to Teaching Textbooks 3 and he is doing SO much better. I loved CLE because I felt it was really thourough, and I was really hesitant to switch, but I am glad I did. We are also doing Xtramath online daily to drill math facts. I hope he keeps on loving the TT after the "new-ness" of it wears off, but as of right now I do not have any regrets switching. I hope you find what will work for you!

I have a 2nd and 3rd grader and we are doing MFW Adventures this year. My kids were wanting more Science and they love to do projects. I ordered A Reason For Science. We are starting with level B. We just recently started this curriculum because it is a little expensive and we had to save up, but I am really impressed with it so far. I ordered the kit that has all the supplies for the projects, which makes it so much easier because most everything is all there for you. They were so excited doing their project today. My son hugged me and thanked me for "making school so much fun today!"

English: Rod and Staff English 3 Spelling: Rod and Staff Spelling 3 along with Spelling City Reading: CLE Reading 2 Writing: WWE 1 (getting ready to start level 2) Penmanship: Abeka cursive Multiplication? No, she has not mastered her multiplication facts yet.