I've looked at Bravewriter a few times, and have never been able to go ahead with the purchase because of the sticker price. I have looked at the samples and even tried them. I like that they are flexible and not planned to the nth degree. From the little I know, I haven't seen a "plan" or "scope and sequence". I wasn't convinced that all the bases would be covered with the program.

Oooh! Thank you for remembering and sharing these books. I'm adding both of those to my list. I think we'll enjoy both of those.:D Does anyone know of a really terrific Civil War or World War book that has good detail, but not too much for young kids. Is "Young Riders" a good choice for WWII?

Thanks! Any other recommendations? :lurk5: Is Across Five Aprils a great read aloud? It seems to have mixed reviews on Amazon. Some people love it, some don't. I'd never heard of the Jackie Robinson book. I've added that to my list!

I'm fine-tuning my read-aloud list for our study of American History. What "must reads" should I add to my list? Anything I should replace/remove?My boys are 4th and 6th grade. Almost Home - The Pilgrims and the Mayflower Sign of the Beaver - Early Settlers near Indian territory Guns of Thunder - French and Indian War Johnny Tremain - Pre-Revolutionary War Boston Tolliver’s Secret - Revolutionary War Bold Journey - Lewis & Clark explore the west Courage to Run - Harriet Tubman & path to freedom The Boy in the Alamo - Seige of the Alamo Bound for Oregon- Journey west to the Oregon Territory Iron Scouts of the Confederacy - Civil War Little Britches - Life on a ranch in early 1900s Little Riders - World War II

I used to use the large neck ball canning jars (quart size). I had them arranged on a shelf. The kids could see through the container and find the color they were looking for easily. Now we store all of our coloring items in the plastic pencil boxes that you can get at Target for under $1. I like clear best, so I can easily see what is in the box. We have 8 boxes for: markers, colored pencils, dry erase markers, glitter glue pens, etc. The drawer is close to our school table. When we need somthing we just pull it out. The box is portable, the kids can see the items in it easily, and they can share it easily.

We did two words per week also. Monday: New Word. I'd write the word on the board and the meaning. We'd talk about it briefly. I'd also write some English words that came from the root word we were studying. The kids copy the info on a flash card. Then . . . we use some of the words in sentences aloud to one another. Tuesday: Same word as Monday. This is glossary day. We pull out our index card to review/learn the definition. Then we record the word in our homemade glossary (3-prong folder with 26 a-z pages in it). The kids record the word, the meaning and write a sentence with an English word that comes from the root. Wednesday: Same as Monday, but new word. Thursday: Same as Tuesday, but new word. Friday: Review. After you have several words under your belt you'll be able to do flash card review games. For example, flash the card and have the kids race to say the meaning. The kid who gets it first, earns a point.

I ordered my full size Well Planned Day last week. I had been eyeing it for the last couple of years and decided that I couldn't go another year without it! I hope and pray it comes in the mail today!!!! I can't wait to get it! I think I'm going to record the things we accomplish/complete in the planner. I have lesson plans that I made for myself for history and science. Everything else is "do the next thing." Recording what we do helps me to keep a steady pace during our school year. Maybe I'll change my mind once I see the planner in person.

Math is one of the few subjects I have not waivered on . . . much! :D For my kids: I have Horizons Math. For the Challenge Classes I teach: I have Saxon Math. Once my kids finish Horizons pre-algebra, we plan to switch to Saxon.

The game "Over and Out" is terrific. I actually enjoy playing with my kids. :D This game uses addition, subtraction and a little multiplication. Cards and chips are used to play the game. Here's a better description: http://homeschooling.about.com/cs/productreviews/gr/overandout.htm

:iagree: Combine! Select the main resources you'd like to use with your VP cards, pick some living books to go along with them, and grab your VP TM for an easy- to-implement history program for your grammar stage kids.

I don't think it would be difficult to tweak. Ignore the math grid section and just do the next thing with the math that you want to use. If it really bugs you, you could even take the time to white-out their math lessons and write your own in. Same with handwriting. Use the stuff you want and ignore the Easy Classical plan. That said, I think the Easy Classical handwriting includes copywork that ties to history, which is a nice reinforcement. Good luck! It sounds like you'll have a nice plan that fits YOUR homeschool nicely once you tweak. :)

Ya know, I did the same thing you did. I purchased the intermediate student sheets AND the teachers manual, only to find that the TM didn't help much with the student sheets. I've concluded that the TM enables you to do BSGFAA without student sheets. The TM the review questions, timeline, mapwork, etc. The student sheets seem to be stand alone, although one could easily add the wall timeline or the large map. After looking at both products, I opted to just use the student sheets -- it seemed more straightforward and open & go. My kids absolutely love the student sheets. We usually do the cartoon-like front side first. Then . . . the next day we do the timeline/map side. We always read the Bible passage aloud together and the boys work independently on their worksheet. When they finish, we get back together to check answers and discuss. We usually spend 15-20 minutes per side. So, it sounds like it takes us twice as long as the previous poster. We're almost finished with our student sheet packet, and I'm pondering using the TM for the next set of lessons. I think it may seem less school-work-ish, so I'm interested in giving the TM format a try.

I'm envious! Hope you have a great time! I always feel like super-homeschool woman (hear me roar!) after a convention.

If I were you, I'd make the attic room a play space. Put all the toys in there and let that be a dedicated place for the kids. Keep the bedrooms bedrooms. They're a little small for a school room. Do your school in the kitchen. This will enable you to watch over your crew and take care of your cooking/cleaning while supervising the kids. If you enjoy being in the bonus room, you could also make it a school space / play space. But, you'll have to determine how much time you'd like to spend in there, too.

I used it last summer during the e-science camp. We really enjoyed it, but I don't think we used it enough. I had high hopes, but our summer "play" time took over! I plan to enroll again for the regular program and the e-camp program. Aurora is very helpful and involved with Supercharged Science. She answers email questions and online comments in a very timely fashion. The site is well organized with many resources: video demonstration downloads, readable text (with nice illustrations), supply lists, experiment instructions, etc. You can even print the text and make your own notebook if you like things in hard copy. Much of the topics center on physical science and chemistry and most units are high interest, cool, and fun. A biology unit is being added this month and more biology will be added thru the summer. Content is always being added to the site. You can do the units in any order you want. Just print the supply list and lesson plans and you'll be set.

:iagree: RSO!!

April in NC, Wow! What a helpful post! Thank you for sharing such a detailed description of TOG. I own one unit, and have played with it a lot, but I still learned several new things about TOG. I've thought for a long time that I'd use TOG for high school, but your post makes me want to reassess my plans! In all honesty, I'm a happy MFW user, but I'm easily tempted by other great products that are out there.

I only have two ds, so I don't have personal experience with using MFW with a larger family. But . . . my best friend, who has 5 children, was just here last night looking at my MFW materials with a fine tooth comb. Most likely, she'll use MFW next year because she loves the idea of beign able to combine several kids in several subjects. She loves the flexibility that comes with the notebooking recommendations, and she appreciated that the Friday schedule was light, which gives time to "catch up" or do projects from the week . . . or time to go on an outing/field trip/co-op, etc. Part of the beauty of MFW is that it was written FOR families, so that studies such as Bible, history, science, fine arts, and read alouds could be combined. This helps to free up mom so that she can work individually with her kids in Language arts and math. MFW gives you the freedom to choose the LA and math resource and level that best fits your kids. MFW schedules everything in moderation, which I greatly appreciate. The schedule is carefully put together so you're not doing an involved science experiment, a history project, and mapwork/timeline all in the same week. IMO, Everyting is very doable. My friend's first thought was that the schedule would help her to stay on track and help her to focus on what she needed to cover when.

You can just read one section (part of a chapter) of SOTW each day. If a card relates to that material, pull out your VP card. Take a look at my previous post, it might give you some ideas about how to combine SOTW and VP. If you want to have SOTW "drive" your studies, then read through the whole book, and use the VP cards on days the information overlap. The cards summarize people/events very well and help kids understand some of the most important events in western history. The VP cards have varous resources listed on the backs, including the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia. Because we love history so much, we do plenty of extra reading. (Right now we use MFW and I always pull out the VP card that relates to the material we're reading if there is any overlap.) You can use the SOTW AG or the VP TM. If you're using SOTW as your spine resource, then the AG would probably be a better tool. HTH!

We're oddballs -- we do history 4 days a week, mostly because we love it so much! You'll want to keep your chart handy so that you know when to pull out the VP card as you read SOTW. When there is overlap, you can start with the VP card. As your kids to retell the information on it. Sometimes, I reread it, leaving out key words and have my boys shout out the answers. They enjoy this. Then, tell the kids you're going to read more about the topic. We dive into SOTW. Use the AG guide to suit your needs. The next day, you can read the SAME VP card as a breif review of the previous day's material. Then . . . just progress through your history material as uausal. On days I want to do a quick review, we flip through the VP cards and the kids tell me a thing or two about each card.

We are happy MFW'ers! I have greatly appreciated MFW because of the schedule, the book basket, and integrated lessons with a strong Biblical worldview. I also love that the lessons are flexible -- notebooking is often assigned, and I have the ability to make that what we want/need. We can get creative and do a fancy page, or we can just do copywork to keep it simple. MFW has given us two full, rich years of study and we're looking forward to more. You're right, I have noticed a lot of HOD threads lately, but things do come and go in waves, as a previous poster mentioned. Oddly, HOD has never been on my wish list. Their years/topic focus doesn't line up with my kids ages. Don't get cold feet, just because of the message board!:D If you feel MFW is a good fit, then GO FOR IT!

First, you have to decide which resource you're going to let drive your history studies. Will you read SOTW and use VP cards as you encounter them, or will you use the VP cards each week and read chapters of SOTW as they relate to the cards. We have done both, and honestly, I like both. The kids retain more when we let VP be our main resource, filling in with other things. But . . . I personally enjoy a story format, so most years we have read SOTW and supplemented with VP cards. It's helpful if you make yourself a chart. There are several available on Paula's Archives and on the VP Yahoo group. If SOTW is our main resource, I like to use the VP card AT LEAST twice, to help get some of the main points in my two ds heads. I begin by reading the back of the VP card. Oftentimes, I ask the boys to retell the information. Then . . . we dive more deeply into the topic by reading SOTW. The next day I would read the VP card again, this time asking some questions orally from the VP TM. After that, I read more about the topic from an encyclopedia or other resources listed on the back of the VP card. We also like to do little review days. Every few weeks we go through the cards we've studied, and the kids tell me a fact or two about the card. If you want to let VP drive your studies, then this video will be very helpful to you: VP History. You'll want to substitute SOTW as one of your main resources. When we've done this, we don't do the worksheet quesitons using paper and pen. We go over the orally. Instead, I ask the kids to narrate and assign narrations during the week.

Here are some reviews that will probably be helpful: Homeschool Reviews

I used PZ level A with my third grade son, bit it was too much for him at the time. I've kept it and plan to use it next year. The man's voice is a little odd, but we got used to it. (we used the program for about one month.). If you have an auditory learner, this may be a good fit, especially since you need an independent program. They cover spelling rules very well, with little rhymes/sayings to help kids remember them. There is a free TM download on the IEW website for this, I believe.

Glad to be of help. :D You'll be out about $100 for the cards (unless you find them used), but IMO it will be well worth it. They're an easy to use, flexible resource.