thanks for the fun ideas. we have patty paper but haven't begun to use it yet. these books look like some great additions.

i've loved pinterest so much. i am very visual so having everything i am interested in right there makes it so much easier to find. i've even started going through my paper files and pinning the things i've saved over the years - every martha everyday food recipe is on there. no more papers! if pinterest ever goes under i'm in big trouble. eta: i don't find that envy or discontent appears. i only follow boards i am interested in, or use it for research purposes. it's not really a 'browsing' medium for me.

will you explain how that works for you? i decided to try that method this year but i've found that they are either too large (for ex; if i had human body, with only 4 things rattling around) or too small (can't even fit science for the semester in there). how do you divide and organize? i'm usually much better at making things work but this is really driving me nuts lately.

for nutcracker there are costume fees if you are not in the company - $20. the company members do not have a fee and we have company costumes which are variously altered for each production. we produce nutcracker every december and a spring production, which this year included giselle. you didn't mention, but the ballet studios i've known that have more flashy costumes which you pay for and keep tend to be more of a 'show' ballet rather than true classical training. you really have to think about what you want from it. i wanted my kids to have strong clean training and discipline. they may or may not continue in ballet (they are 14, 12 and 8) but i know they'll have what they need if they do, and if not they're learning how to work for what they want. sorry for the long response!

right start math. we tried many and were going with saxon but i think it was a big waste of time. 3 of my kids have used rs now and it really helps them build mathematical thinking, plus it's fun. there's games!

this may not be what you want to hear, but with one of my sons i put off almost any writing till he was almost 7. he knew his letters, and he even knew how to read, but it was so difficult for him to gain mastery over making words that we just ignored that part. and magically, he's 10 now and has no problems with writing at all.

plan for the best and let it go if 'things happen'. i have 4 school age, 2 youngers. some days are fantastic. we do history all together still, they split up and i spend time with each working on math or grammar. other days, forget it, i might spend 10 minutes with each and the rest of the time they read and play outside. i find it helps to have a weekly goal and then i don't feel destroyed by days that don't go as planned. also, we take fridays off. we might have a class, or do art, or my oldest 2 might make up writing assignments, but in general it's my day to relax and do fun things that there is no time for. otherwise, burnout. the best part about wtm is that it's very doable. be careful not to over schedule and try to do everything on the list all the time. especially when they're younger. it really only takes 15 minutes in most subjects/areas. my boys especially appreciate a short and sweet lesson. good luck.

haven't heard of it. sounds lighthearted and fun but difficult to plan for. if i did it it would be once a week. fun friday!

my daughter is enrolled in 9th grade english right now, and i feel like it's a good course. i like the options for literature (really dislike some of the typical choices) and taking the speedback quizzes is really enjoyable for her. instant results! i took some myself as a sophomore, back in the mail-it-in days. i actually failed the math class i took because *i did not want to do the work* she's a different story and is very successful at the self-directing.

my girls (8th and 6th) took a shakespeare study/performance class all year last year and they used 'cliff's complete'. it was a fairly enjoyable guide. there's a good amount of explanation along with the full text. they are doing it again this year and we're using this one: http://www.amazon.com/Merchant-Venice-Cliffs-Complete/dp/0764585754/ref=pd_ybh_7?pf_rd_p=280800601&pf_rd_s=center-2&pf_rd_t=1501&pf_rd_i=ybh&pf_rd_m=ATVPDKIKX0DER&pf_rd_r=11P2GC6AC91XSHDABVQW

i've also heard 'morning meeting' but i'd like something that will attract both my older kids and my younger boys. anyone use a name for it that is enticing?

i have to say the flip side of all the annoying questions is the reverential awe that i often face when someone finds out that i homeschool and have 6 kids. i actually hate it because i know what they *think* about me and what i really am are 2 different things, but it's true, it does take a lot of patience.

"oh, i couldn't homeschool my kids. i love them too much." was she trying to say that i don't love my kids?

well i just tried it again and it worked just fine. boy that gave me a shock! sorry!

:)

anyone?

that i thought i saved! someone very experienced had laid out her logic progression, not all the same publisher. anyone remember where? i've been searching for half an hour! tia

:lurk5::bigear:

i;m picky too about what they choose, and sometimes the choices at b/n or other (even our library) are either classics we already have or books that i'd rather not have cluttering up my shelves, let alone reading. i haven't seen the lists for this year yet since we just finished filling out ours. if you listed some of the books maybe someone can help you decide?

we did this too: i wanted more am hist so we stopped halfway through sotw 3 and did time travelers 19th century and civil war. now we're just reading through sotw 4 over the summer, and maybe a few books to go along and start ancients again in fall. the only 2 of mine that i feel need it are the 14 and 12 yo and i'll just skip most of the modern stuff until next time when my boys are all older.

just off the top of my head were a few things that they remembered... we used our cul-de-sac to draw with chalk the different planets and relative distance from one another. it was a long walk from one end to the other, and they visited it every day till it faded. also we painted/drew planets in relative size and stuck them up on the wall in order so we could remember names/distinguishing characteristics. i didn't have older than a 6 grader when we did this but they all loved it.

bump!

i have to chime in. i have 3 kids in RS now and i am just so impressed with how well they understand concepts that weren't clear to me till i was much older (we're in b, c and e) i'm happy to go all the way through with them because it is working! i'm not going to change it till i have to. isn't the thing about RS, the reason i chose it, is because it is slower, more understanding based than memory based? if you're in a hurry i think it's not the program to choose. i personally love it, even though i do have to sit one on one for a time with each daily. that's the plus and the minus. and, seriously, the games alone were worth the cost of the whole program. sure you could figure it all out on your own, but my brain doesn't work that way!

officially ending 8th year... but IRL i am one of those that say 'from birth' because i like to allow others to understand that it's not like i found a new career the minute my oldest turned 5. i know a lot of 'i'd homeschool if...' or 'i can't homeschool'... families and it's important to me that they understand it's possible. so, 14 years?:) eta: oops, can't count, i forgot kindy. 9 years.

wow, you've gotten some wonderful responses. my oldest is only in 8th but there are 6 of them, so me time is hard to find. however, i have found that the older they get, the less interested i am in following some kind of 'plan' that someone else has imposed upon my mind. there are lots of things that i may do because i don't stop to think about if it's what i want to have happen in our home. so, we do history once a week or so. we do art all the time, but 80% of that is not mom directed. they read constantly. about the only thing i put my foot down and insist upon daily is math. and of course, LOTS of outside time. when my 9 yo son drags, i make him jump around with me or go outside for a time. i'm not dealing with a learning disability but a change of scene/exercise/fresh air makes a huge difference. i would also echo what another poster said: at 9, life should be about discoveries, not textbooks. short lessons of the essential kind only. i serve at my church too but my priority is ALWAYS my family first. when your kids are a few years older, the hands on time for school diminishes and suddenly they are 'big kids'. you'll wish you had more time to just enjoy the fun of being a kid with them, staring into puddles and building legos.