I agree. I'm typically 'over' the holidays quite early on, but this year I'm really relaxed. It helps that we didn't travel and have had only brief, non-overnight visitors. I've exercised every morning and napped every afternoon. Can't argue with that! Going to dinner and a movie with two girlfriends tonight, while my husband is home with the kids. DEFINITELY can't argue with that! Here's to 2013 being more of the same :)

I'm sorry. I know this is in poor taste, but I your query immediately made me think of this little bit from Alvin and the Chipmunks: I never thought it was funny until my husband introduced the, um, concept to my 3-year old who finds it so funny she doubles over with laughter anytime the scene is mentioned. My older girls never really went through the potty humor phase, but boy does she think it absolutely hilarious. And she spends a lot of time in our bed, so he reenacts the scene just to entertain her. Lucky me. Hope someone can give you some actual advice on the original topic.

My 8 year old and I just listened to the Rowan Hood series by Nancy Springer (3 titles in all) and loved it. We've also listened to the Indian in the Cupboard series (not sure how many books - 4 perhaps?) in the last year. Both were wonderfully narrated.

I have 1 in PS 9th grade, 2 homeschooling, and 1 in half-day, private Montessori preschool, so we're all over the map. I re-evaluate each child, every year to determine the best place for her. Nobody feels left-out or pushed-out; the decision is based on what is best for the child, not the family overall. Frankly, it would be easier to have everyone home! That said, in your situation I think I'd invest more time and energy trying to 'lay down the rails' and build a good relationship with your daughter, for you have a long road ahead of parenting and educating her and it will only get more difficult if this situation continues as is. I also have a 'mini me' who, in some ways, is a greater challenge (she is feisty!), but I understand her emotions and thinking process to a T, so I'm able to identify (if not always agree) with her. Incidentally, she is one who homeschools. Good luck and do cut yourself some slack - no decision is permanent. You can later decide to enroll her in school, if that is determined to be the best choice.

We are also secular homeschoolers, but the only two classes we've taken at Landry have been science classes - go figure. Each of my older girls has taken Pre-Physics. It is geared toward 7-9th graders, so perhaps too young for your kids. It was solid and had no religious content, though the book they used was Christian. We've also taken (and loved) live online classes via The Potter's School. It is decidedly more religious, but it wasn't a problem for our purposes. We've taken and English and foreign language classes through TPS (I'm certain their science classes would be problematic for a secular homeschooler). Hope you get some other responses, as I'd like to hear more Landry courses reviewed.

During baby years, we generally don't get much schooling done, and it has never harmed my 'big girls'. Enjoy the baby, and don't feel guilty or worried that they'll fall behind. I think the idea of focusing on math and learning to read/reading is a good one. I second the suggestion to use SOTW audio ~ brilliant idea. I'd also get other audio books that can be listened to during afternoon quiet time while coloring, building with blocks, playing with small/quiet toys (Lego, Playmobile, etc.).

When my older girls were little, we had a neighbor/friend who was a former Waldorf teacher homeschooling her own two daughters (similar ages to mine). She taught a half-day/once per week 'Waldorf class' in her home to about six children. They covered knitting, baking, gardening, watercolor painting, form drawing, nature study, storytelling, etc. She also ran similar home-based camps for a few weeks each summer. While we were rather Classical at home, they LOVED their Waldorf-y afternoons at Ms. Ann's house! I am sad that she has since returned to work and is no longer offering her lovely class for the benefit of my two younger girls! I do think the two different approaches fit together well, in a yin & yang fashion!

Love them here. Used Pyramid as a read-aloud last year during SOTW Ancients. Will read Castle and Cathedral this year while studying Middle Ages. I think they work best with a 7 or 8 year old+, but YMMV. I definitely think my students get more out of them when read-aloud and discussed or narrated. They sort of remind me of Paddle to the Sea. We read it this year while studying Michigan history, enjoying just one chapter/2-page spread per day, as a cozy read-aloud. She certainly could have read it independently, but she would have taken away far less from the experience. Even if your child finds all the detail overwhelming or boring, you could simply savor the illustrations and treat is as a lovely picture book.

Thanks for sharing. She's a LONG way off (9th grade), but my daughter is thinking along the lines of a Bio/Pre-Med major at university. I'm sure she'll appreciate hearing his advice.

Lexi is right~ if you want explicit instruction in grammar, poetry memorization, copywork (what, specifically, to notice while copying), narration, and dictation, then you'll want FLL and WWE, rather than the MP copybook. We've used FLL and WWE very successfully, but of course you'll hear differing opinions on them. I like the scripted instructions and having everything laid out for me. How old is your student? I didn't use FLL in grades 1-2, but love it beginning with book 3.

I'd say there is great worth in Wordly Wise, especially if you value handing your kids something of high-quality that they can actually do independently (a rare thing, I'm finding). My older girls did several years' worth of WW and are both score very well (99th percentile) on the vocabulary sections of their respective standardized tests annually. I would definitely NOT skip the narrative and comprehension questions - that is the meat of the book. They are forced to think about how to actually utilize the words. Make them answer those questions thoroughly, thoughtfully, and legibly! I'll start DD3 with it this spring or next fall.

Anyone else see this video on RI teacher who quit? Really affirms my decision to homeschool through middle school, at least. How do you feel about it?

We're huge SOTW fans in our house. We own the audio, so we never read the books, but rather listen to the stories in the car. At home, I point out places on the globe or map and talk about their relevance to the history stories we're hearing. As they progress through grammar stage, we begin to do more additional reading, timeline work, and projects, but in the early years, the emphasis is on the story. The information really stays with them when presented this way. My eldest daughter, now a PS 9th grader, can recall a shocking amount of information from her SOTW days and I believe it has really helped her build context for her rhetoric stage history learning. At her school, 9th graders are required to study U.S. History and geography. She remembers everything about the Magna Charta (from Vol. 2) and its importance to the founders of the U.S. Just one example of how a grammar-stage introduction to history has lasting, meaningful impact on later learning. Hope that helps. BTW, I've found that things really 'click' more around age 7 or 8, as the child becomes more capable of imagining far away times and places. Some develop this capacity earlier than others, of course. YMMV.

We used the (old) MM 3A & 3B as our spine and began dabbling with BA 3A while finishing the 'year' of MM. We finished MM 3B before Thanksgiving and since have been on hiatus with MM; we've completed BA 3A and the first two chapters of 3B, plus some of SM CWP 3 in the interim. I plan to finish BA 3B and the CWP book before returning to MM4 in January. My daughter calls BA and CWP "fun math", though it certainly isn't easy for her, it is a fun change of pace. I'm sure she'll enjoy the switch back to MM too, as it is a very good fit for her learning style and seems just to make sense to her.

You just described my daughter to a T - I think a child who prefers to read/digest on her own will probably like MM quite a lot! Best of luck & let us know how it goes.

I use MM along with SM CWP and Beast Academy. I like having the teaching right in the book and tend to use the CWP/BA in between books (or when we just need a change of pace). My daughter has fantastic conceptual understanding and fact fluency (we used Xtramath.org for drill). I buy the printed MM books and my daughter has never complained of the pages being dense, cluttered, or otherwise overwhelming. So far, she has done all problems as assigned. If you decide to switch, I'd finish your current book and then begin with MM 1B.

We have finished Chapter 22. I stay 'on track' (to finish one level per school year) largely due to co-op class that sets the schedule! Not that I couldn't do it on my own, but I always rise to the challenge of outside accountability. I don't love the co-op class (not as many hands-on projects as were 'advertised'), but they do timeline, map work, and round-robin narrations of the chapters each week. Probably the thing I like best about it is that the teacher assigns one child per week, roughly per chapter, to be the 'expert' and s/he has to share some sort of in-depth knowledge of the topic with the class. Also, each semester the kids do one research project/presentation on a tri-fold board to the class. This semester, my daughter's expert presentation was on Charlemagne and her research project was on the Robin Hood legend. We also tie-in literature to our history study. Her favorite read-alouds have been Adam of the Road and this re-telling of Canterbury Tales: http://www.amazon.com/Chancers-Canterbury-Retold-Illustrated-Williams/dp/0763631973/ref=sr_1_fkmr2_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355488086&sr=1-1-fkmr2&keywords=canterbury+tales+retelling+for+kids, accompanied by this audio of Canterbury Tales: http://www.amazon.com/Canterbury-Tales-Classic-Literature-Classical/dp/9626342560/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1355488189&sr=1-4&keywords=naxos+audio+canterbury+tales. She has enjoyed that audio so much that I may order Vol. 1 & 3. We've enjoyed listening over lunch and then lingering at the table playing with legos and finishing the stories. If I get distracted (loading the dishwasher or wiping sticky hands, for instance), she can always catch me up with a quick summary of what I missed. I sometimes do that on purpose to hear her 'version' of events. The audio is not specifically meant for children, so the language is a bit more difficult to follow. It helps that we have listened to tales with which she is already familiar. Since Marcia Williams also has adaptations for Tales from Shakespeare, I think we'll follow the same approach when we get near the introduction of the Bard later in the school year. I have many more Shakespeare resources to tap, however, so we may get 'stuck' there for weeks! :drool5:

No experience here, but I am looking forward to others' replies. I reviewed the links above; the Prufrock Press title looks intriguing. I wish the Kendall Hunt titles had sample pages or a 'look inside' feature. Of course, every time I evaluate something like this (LA materials for accelerated/gifted kids), I ask myself, "Could I achieve the same objective using narration, dictation, copy work, and discussion?" For me, the answer is likely yes, but sometimes it sure would be nice to find a high-quality, ready-made lesson to pull-out and use! Thanks for posting.

This is, more or less, what I was going to say. Keep the history narrations in keeping with the WWE work so that she has a consistent expectation. She'll eventually improve her ability to remember and express that thought in a complete sentence, but it will take time and lots, and lots of practice! I recently said on another thread that my daughter, who is nearly finished with WWE 2, answers every question I ask her with a complete sentence, even mundane things like, "Where is your sister?" She might reply, "Harriet is in the basement getting her swim bag." I attribute this largely to use of WWE!

Evan Moor Daily Science 3 might be an option. I also have a new 8 year old with whom I had planned to do Nancy Larson science this year, but haven't gotten around to it. EMDS has been more thought-provoking and engaging than I expected. In addition to talking about each 'big idea', we pull in non-fiction books and videos to supplement. It isn't heavy science, but it gets done and is almost entirely independent (other than the discussion we try to work in).

Per my signature, I had plans to use Nancy Larson science this year with my newly 8 year old daughter (note to self: update sig). I just couldn't pull the trigger on that purchase! Instead, we've been using EMDS, faithfully. In fact, since September we've completed over half the book. My daughter has a good science foundation after having attended a once per week class at a natural history museum ages 3-7 and a Montessori preschool/K that has a strong science component. Additionally, we did a pretty thorough year of life science (a la WTM) last year for first/second grade. The topics in EMDS are rarely her first introduction to a concept, but I try to have her use the book as written and then add in non-fiction books or videos from our collection or the library that relate to the topic. It probably isn't the MOST robust science education she could get, but it works for a busy family. It always gets done and it usually leads to discussion and application. Oh, one other thing that happened organically (I didn't plan it, she just started doing it...). My daughter has used the science vocabulary words introduced in EMDS as her two 'bonus' words each week in her spelling lesson (EM Building Spelling Skills). I've thought of having her write every science vocabulary word (introduced in the sidebar of some lesson pages) out on a flash card and adding them to her memory work. That hasn't happened yet, but may be the next 'tweak'. She seems to really like this series (we're also using the Daily Geography book), so I think she'd be open to working with/playing with it more.

Wow! That is rare & worthy of sharing. Thanks. I dabbled with so many math curriculums for my older girls and feel so settled and content with MM for my younger set. My newly turned 8 year old girl finished 3B before Thanksgiving and we're taking the rest of the calendar year to work on Beast Academy 3B & 3C and SM CWP 3. She is enjoying the change of pace, but I can't wait to get back to MM 4A in January!

I think I'd recommend doing a year of First Language Lessons (probably level 4) and a year of Writing With Ease (probably level 3). He'll be learning grammar, some poetry memorization which will be good to stretch his brain a bit, some spelling and mechanics via copy work and dictation, and the (IMO) critical skill of narration. You might find that level 3 is too easy and he'd be better off in WWE 4. The next year, I'd probably tackle Writing With Style, and keep up on the grammar using Saxon, Analytical Grammar, or something similar. I would think you could get through both programs in 40 minutes or less, 3X per week. Not sure how long MM is taking, but maybe your goal could be to 'afterschool' for an hour three times per week, plus a little extra math on the weekend? Just an idea. My 12 year old will be beginning school in late January (after she begged for the past semester). I know I will make compromises academically, but she is an extravert and will really enjoy being around other kids all day. She will afterschool writing and math (at least through 8th grade) because I want to continue to build her strong foundation. My 14 year old daughter is having a great experience in PS 9th grade, but I'm so thankful that she homeschooled through 8th grade and began high school with such a strong background.

I can't compare to Bravewriter, but we're just about to complete WWE 2 (my daughter is newly 8 and doing 3rd grade-ish work). She can listen attentively and summarize/re-tell with accuracy and great detail. She always answers questions with a complete sentences (even if casually asked what she wants for lunch, she'll respond with something like, "I want soup, grapes, and cheese and crackers") and her writing is almost always spelled & punctuated properly. She isn't writing volumes. She doesn't "love" to write, but she can do it well and easily, without complaint. I recently had two neighbor girls over for a playdate (they are in PS and had only a half-day of school). Rather than playing, they wanted to 'do school' with my daughter, so we did our WWE lesson for the day (week 28, Day 4). The girls are nearly 9 and just turned 11 and in third and fifth grades, respectively. Neither of them could answer the questions at the end of the passage and they wouldn't even attempt to narrate the passage. They were pretty amazed by my daughter's responses. I should add that both are bright girls and good students, but they've been taught so differently that they were definitely out of their comfort zone with WWE. It requires a different skill set and, in my opinion, far more skill to be able to do copy work, dictation, and narration than the sort of writing that is taught in school (the writer's workshop method is popular here). I used various other writing curriculum with my older girls. Both are very solid writers, but I think the process would have been streamlined and less difficult had WWE been available then. I see that my younger daughter will be even better prepared for upper level literary analysis and critical writing with the foundation established with WWE. Hope that helps.

Best used for what age/grade?