Well . . . unfortunately, it seems you've received lots personal thoughts on the political views of Ron Paul. However, I will answer your question! I view Ron Paul's comment in a positive light. Without a doubt, the number of homeschoolers is growing year after year, many of whom (certainly not all) are deeply interested in a truly free society with constitutional protections. Remember: just a few short decades ago, homeschooling was not a legal option in most states. These laws, of course, restricted freedoms. Many homeschoolers are not interested in government restrictions on how they homeschool. I appreciate the fact that he recognizes that homeschoolers (certainly not all) are interested in limited government rather than a rapidly expanding government - specifically in the area of educaton. He implied this when he said, " We cannot expect a Federal government controlled school system to provide the intellectual ammunition to combat the dangerous growth of government that threatens our liberties."

I've been on a long journey to find "the perfect planner for me." For several years I made my own. I liked my system, but just wanted something that felt more polished than what I was making for myself. (BTW, I just bookmarked the planner that a previous poster linked! --Thank YOU!) Last year I used The Well Planned Day and really liked it. I only have two kids, so I was able to use their weekly planning grid with few difficulties. I purchased some high grade sticky tabs and added those to each month view calendar page so I could easily find my monthly calendar. I also placed a bookmark tab on the current weekly grid so I could turn to that section in a snap. I thought I'd read and enjoy the monthly articles, but didn't get to them very often. I didn't need the financial section that is part of the monthly calendar page, so I put a pretty 4x4 post-it note over each section, which enabled me to have a "to do list" that I could take with me where ever I went. This past year I attended an "Ultimate Homeschool Planner" conference session at our local Homeschool Convention. I loved Debra Bell's vision of using a planner and praying through my goals on a weekly basis. I though the "Bible Plan, Battle Plan, and Hospitality" sections would be a useful new way to approach my planing. I also really LOVED the idea of recording the "Memorable moments" and 'Evidences of Grace" each week. In theory, that is terrific. It just wasn't happening here. (A discipline that would do me good --I know :D!) I thought I'd appreciate having the blank pages so I could customize everything myself. But . . . I didn't like that at all. If felt just as unpolished as my DIY calendar did. I also didn't like having to take the time to fill it out. I discovered that I needed dated planner that would bring me down to the nuts and bolts. So . . . Last week I ordered a 2012-2013 "Well Planned Day" and I'm much happier. Here's what I like about "The Well Planned Day": bright white pages - the planning pages are visually appealing to me I like that the weekly planning pages are right behind the monthly calendar view chore cards teacher & student schedule pages (enough for 4 students) books to enjoy section alongside each monthly calendar view shopping list and articles very nice -- in theory! I hope I use them this year! I REALLY like the check boxes that I can use when we complete a task/assignment I appreciate that the dates and subjects are already printed on the pages -- one less thing for me to do I like that there are a few blank areas so I can add other subjects/electives that we study. I LOVE the dinner menu section. I often plan our weekly meals when my kids are at the table working on one their assignments. The Ultimate Homeschool Planner might work better for you if: you want/need undated calendar and weekly planning pages you want/need blank weekly planning pages for easy customization the idea making a battle plan and recording memories is absolutely wonderful. I truly wish this fit "my style" of doing things. They are both beautiful planners. It comes down to personal choice.

Oops! Sorry, I just read the rest of your post. :auto: It can't be Bold Journey, because it is not a picture book.

Could it be "Bold Journey: West with Lewis and Clark" by Charles H. Bohner? We read this book and thoroughly enjoyed it.

Here's what we read: Almost Home - Mayflower& Pilgrims The Sign of the Beaver - Colonial life among Indians Guns of Thunder - French & Indian War Amos Fortune, Free Man - Slave trade Johnny Tremain - Pre-Revolutionary War - Boston Ben and Me - Life of Benjamin Franklin Bold Journey - Lewis & Clark Bound for Oregon - Pioneers & the west Courage to Run - Harriet Tubman & slavery Iron Scouts of the Confederacy - Civil War I can say that we enjoyed all of them! I personally LOVED "Almost Home" and "Sign of the Beaver". My boys really enjoyed "Ben and Me" "Amos Fortune", and "Iron Scouts of the Confederacy"

:iagree: Spelling Plus is so easy to use. We, liked the dictation sentences as well.

Yes, all of the Spelling Plus lists are included in the Essentials guide! But, I still recommend purchasing "Spelling Plus" as well as "Spelling Plus Dictation" if you're interested in using the program as written. Spelling Plus is a great program because it includes the 1000 most used and most frequently misspelled words in the English language. If you only want to use resources that are part of Essentials, here's what I'd recommend: Decide on a "spelling level" -- A, B, or C. Level A uses lists 1 - 25. Level B uses lists 26 - 47. Level C uses lists 48 - 69. Show your student the spelling list and discuss the spelling rule/help that is listed with the list. Ask your dc to study the list every day for a few minutes. I made myself a set of activity cards that would provide fun ways for my kids to practice their spelling words. (write the words in alphabetical order, write each word in a different color, draw a picture and hide the words in the picture, write the words in cursive, etc.) At the end of the week, test your student on the words. Any word that gets missed, ask them to write 3-5 times and carry the word over to the next week. If you'd like to use the Dictation book, you can still use the lists that are part of the Essentials guide, you would just use the sentences for the list you're working on in the Dictation book. With this method, you'd introduce the words on day 1 and discuss the spelling rules/hints. Then, you'd dictate a few sentences to your student each day. They write the sentence down, and you go over the spelling of each and every word in the sentence with them. The student corrects the sentence immediately after writing the sentence down. The dictation book is nice because it does not use any words that have not already been covered in the spelling lists. I usually did dictation with my kids twice a week instead of doing an activity. Dictation is very effective, because kids often misspell words in their writing that they may have written correctly on a spelling test. The Essentials guide also includes homophones that kids can study each week. My son is a 5th grader and has already completed Spelling Plus, so we are focusing on the homophones this year. If the Spelling Plus words are too easy for your student, the Essentials Guide recommends a few things: Ask your student to add suffixes and/or prefixes to the words. Concentrate on mastering the spelling rules that are included in the guide. Ask your student to write down examples of words that follow the rule. Study the homophones and make sure kids can use and spell them correctly in their writing. Essentials really is a great language arts program. My kids have benefited from it immensely.

CC generally recommends kids enter Challenge A when kids are 12 years old. Of course, there are always exceptions. Sometimes kids are a 13 when they enter Challenge A. On occasion an 11 yr. old is admitted, but this is generally not encouraged -- mostly because of more mature topics and heavier workload in upper challenge levels.

I have not used Sonlight, but have contemplated it several times! However, I can comment on Veritas Press. The VP cards are terrific because it helps you pinpoint specific people/events in history to study. My kids memorized all of the VP history cards, which put a terrific timeline of history into their minds. Now that we are getting ready for our second pass of history, I appreciate the fact that we focused on western history during their elementary years. This gave us the ability to study western events in a little more detail. Now that the boys are middle schoolers, we'll study world history with more detail/information about global events. T VP provides a more structured study of history. You study one card per week and consult various sources to get more information. All of the source material is listed on the back of the card. You will need to select the literature yourself, but their catalog coordinates literatrue with the cards by listing the card number in small print after each book description. The VP TM has nice activities for hands-on learning and also includes worksheets and tests. I used the worksheet questions for oral review of the events and we did not do the tests. Oftentimes, I'd have my kids outline info from a VP card or use a VP Card as source material for a writing assignment. The TM does have writing assignments integrated into the curriculum. VP is very easy to use across several grades. My boys are two years apart, and it worked well for us.

I pretty much follow the TM when implementing PZ. I have not asked my kids to memorize the rule cards/jingles, but I think the program helps my kids to process the rules and understand them. They learn about the rule from me when we first go over the card. Together, we look for the words in the list that follow the rule and we talk about the "rule breaker" words. Then, they listen to the rule explained/repeated in the audio several times. Rather then just memorizing the rule, they're intuitively thinking about spelling, seeing examples, and practicing that spelling pattern/rule until they master it.

Phonetic zoo has gone quite well in our house. We use the audio, the cards, and the TM. I appreciate how the phonetic rules are emphasized and like the teacher notes about how to cover those things with my kids. Voth of my boys like doing it independently and seem to be retaining the things they're learning.

We love them, too! I was surprised to discover that the text pages that are part of each lesson are actually quite thorough -- and well written. I appreciate the variety of projects: lap books, notebooking pages, crafts, cut & paste, recipes, story writing, handwriting pages, Vocab, timeline, maps, etc. everything is absolutely beautifully done. EVERYTHING! I can't say enough good about TT. Do prepare yourself to spend a good bit of time printing everything. Some things have to be printed on card stock, some on plain paper, some things on colored paper. But, the time and effort will be well spent. TT can definitely enrich your history studies and create sweet memories for you and your kids. We're getting ready to do our third pac and can't wait to begin it!

Yes, that does help. Thank you very much! It sounds similar to a resource I already have called "Victor's Journey Through the Bible". However, the Victor book doesn't have any study questions. What type of questions does the Field Guide have? Would you mind typing out a couple for me soi could get a better feel for the book? Does anyone know how the Field Guide and Victors Journey Through the Bible compare?

I'm interested in using this resource, but cannot find any samples online. Anyone have this book? What are some of the chapter titles? Are there study questions for the kids to do? Does it have lots of pictures? What is the book like? Thanks so much!!

:iagree: Spelling Plus is easy to use and the lessons are short. I love the dictation book that goes with it.

Sorry! I did not know what YEC meant. Still don't, but I assume that it is young earth something. :D I own the Ecology/Astronomy Physics set. I'm looking through them now . . . It does not appear that any young earth OR old earth views are presented on the cards. They stick to more basic facts. Here are a couple of examples: The card entitles "The Planets: The Eight Largest Masses that Orbit the Sun" - It has a very nice photo of all of the planets on the front. The back has a box intended for memory work, which lists the 8 planets. The rest of the card has an overview/summary about planets in general. It discusses the inner planets, the outer planets, and the asteroid belt. It also explains that Pluto was considered a planet until 2006. It defines a planet as, "a celestial body that 1) orbits the sun, 2) has sufficient mass to result in a nearly round shape, and 3) has cleared the neighborhood around its orbit, making it the only significant body in its orbit other than those that are influenced by its gravity." The solar system card discusses different things present in our solar system, such as asteroids, meteoroids, comets, etc. Again, no young earth/ old earth info. IMO, these cards would best for kids 7th grade and under.

I have not used Time Travelers Civil War, but I have used the packages for The American Revolution and The 19th Century. Each pack is structured essentially the same. First of all, let me say that I absolutely love these resources! When I purchased them, I had intended to use them to supplement the history in MFW Explorers to 1850's. I have two boys who love hands on activities, so Time Travelers seemed like a great add-on. As I became more familiar with Time Travelers, I discovered that it is actually quite complete! When we read our SOTW section and looked up the assigned info in an encyclopedia, I usually found that the text that I read to the boys from Time Travelers was already presented in our other reading materials. However, I continued to use all three (TT, SOTW, UILE) because it really helped to cement the material for my kids. I explain this because I want you to know that if you chose to *just* do TT for your civil war studies, you could. In fact, the TT Civil War program will have a lot more detail that SOTW. You guys will end up learning A LOT (and have fun while you're at it)! I'm a planner, so when I used TT, I printed everything I intended to use before we even began. Print your text pages and put them in a binder. Print the project pages for each lesson. Put the corresponding project page after each text lesson in the same binder. Print the project calendar/schedule Once you have the basics printed, you'll be able to see what kind of projects/activities you want to do. You'll need to decide if you want to do a lapbook or if you want to do the notebooking pages. I don't recommend you do both. I personally like the lapbook pages best. Circle the projects/activities that YOU want to do. Don't plan on doing everything! We didn't do the handwriting pages or the memory cards. We sometimes skipped the board games, especially if it required LOTS of printing. :) Then . . . go through all the projects in detail. Print the masters that you need for each project and insert them behind the corresponding lesson. Finally, make a list of all the supplies you'll need to complete your unit study. Last year we had SO MUCH fun with Time Travelers. The text is just enough for reading aloud, and the projects help to really bring the time period to life. Have fun! HTH!

Yes, they can easily be used by anyone, whether you're involved in CC or not. Here are a few ideas for history card uses: Pictorial timeline - hang on wall as you study them or put them in a binder to browse through. The back of each card has a short synopsis of the event/person. Each card includes a date and a small map so you can see where in the world it took place. Memorization - CC families memorize the titles on each card. We'll use their new song which also includes the dates of some of the major events. If you're not in CC, you can still choose to memorize all the cards -- or pick the cards that you want to focus on for the history cycle you're doing. Writing resource - We will use these cards for basic source information when my kids write a research report. History supplement - As you're reading through history, pull out the history cards that go along with your topic. Read the card and look at the picture together. It's a great way to review. Science - Use the science cards in a similar way! Kids can memorize the info on the backs, use them for writing resources, or as a supplement to your science program. The whole collection makes a great pictorial science resource for kids, and it touches on lots of basic facts that are good for kids to know.

TWSS includes videos that you, the parent/teacher, use. They cover all nine writing units and help you to understand the IEW method/program. Going through the TWSS material will equip you to lead your dc through most types of writing lessons. The SWI are specific lesson plans (with video content) that lead you through specific, planned units. I have opted to stick with only TWSS and have used it every year for the last 5 years. It is the backbone of our writing program. Once you watch the first two DVD lessons in TWSS you'll have a better idea of how to implement IEW at home. Then ... As you're ready to progress through the program, you watch the next DVD. The notebook contains material to walk you through the details. TWSS is not open and go, so if you need specific plans, then you should opt for the theme-based books or the SWI materials. At any rate, TWSS is an invaluable resource that will equip you to teach writing. You'll understand the whole IEW program better if you use TWSS in conjunction with SWI. HTH,

We did 30 min. Per day in second grade. I found short lessons to be best for my ds. We almost ALWAYS played some sort of math game during the day, too.

We enjoy: Scrambled States of America - geography Over & Out - math card game Scattergories - vocab Apples to Apples - vocab Monopoly - lots of money changing Ticket to ride - light geography skills Catch Phrase - Vocab/definition builder Fast Scrabble Bananagrams Boggle

I hope your year goes well! I am very seriously considering SL G this year. For those of you using Core G or H: Much time will you spend each day reading aloud? How much time will your dc read independently each day? I am hoping to do a two year world history overview and I'm trying to decide if I want to plan my own thing, or use SL. My kids are 10 and 12. I know I'd have to select some independent reader substitutions for my 10 yr. old, but I KNOW he'd really enjoy the read alouds and SOTW, as we've used those before. He could still do *some* of the Core G readers. What led you to choose SL? Have you used it before?

Here is a link to the samples on the Saxon website: Saxon Sampler I believe you can also see samples on the Sonlight website. HTH!

Here's what I have done over the last few years: I gather some fun school supplies, such as cool pens fun erasers, a notepad with their name embossed on it, etc. I put the items in a fun container they can use and fill it in with candy. I place these at the school table for them to see & look through when they come into our school room in the morning. We also fill out a fun autobiography form. We do this each year, so after they fill it out, I let them look at last year's form so they can see how they've changed. They love this! Honestly, so do I! It's super fun to learn new likes/dislikes, etc. I always spend a few minutes "casting a vision" of our year. I tell them what we're going to study, show them the books we'll use, and spend time talking about how our learning will be fun! (Field trips, projects, read alouds, etc.) We also talk about the school year schedule and we talk about how they should use their new planners. They like looking through these, too. Then . . . we head out for donuts, but before we do I snap a couple of photos of the boys while we're outside (for my scrapbook). I try to focus on basics the first week of school and make sure we get to do plenty of the fun things: art, science project, crafts, etc. ......This year, I hope to change things up a little bit -- because we've moved. We'll keep the autobiography, the planner, and the "vision casting pep talk", but I want to make this year special. Since our school room is new to us, I may decorate it with something fabulous. We may also end our day at Sweet Frogs instead of going out for donuts.

I believe someone already mentioned Biblioplan. It does an excellent job of scheduling SOTW and other resources for you. They do weave in Christian info. This is a four year program. U.S. history would be covered in yr. 3 and yr. 4. I agree with the previous poster, it will be difficult to study Ancients and U.S. history at the same time. U.S. history didn't really begin until the 1500s and 1600s when explorers began trying to settle the "New World". Sonlight is another great option.