i didn't read all the posts but i have to say i HATE the crack between my range and the countertop. all kinds of crud falls down there and it is very difficult to clean. i would go cooktop and wall oven all the way!

my kids never attended montessori but i've read several good books about methods and i feel that they go hand in hand! in my home we have lots of interesting things out all the time but there's no way to have a tray with tiny beads and cups and tweezers sitting on a shelf. but if i put it in my k's workbox and he spends some time on it, as long as he likes, and puts it away. the 'kit' aspect is what i'm thinking of, i use felt rectangles as a tray and he works the activity there and then puts it back in the box. if you're trying to have a free flowing school day, it won't work, but as a way to experience sensory activities, self-contained activities, i find it very simple to execute.

funny enough, we just started using both of these 6 weeks ago. the reason i chose both is because i have a k,3,5,7 and wanted to make sure i had enough challenge for the olders. the main difference that i see between the two is thatmchenry has more in depth coverage, more reading for each topic, and is more independent (at least how we use it). the rso is completely teacher led and very worksheet, finish this section oriented. which is nice because we're using it in a very small co-op group. it works out well for me as we do the rso together, then have a day with the group experimenting, then the olders read in the mchenry book on the same topic and do a few of the activities. it takes a little shuffling since the chapter topics don't match exactly but chem is chem so they work just fine. and my kids love the atomic chef/kitchen!

betsy's wedding- it's a beautiful perspective on /courting and marriage. there's also betsy and the great world wherein betsy explores europe and has an italian beau. it's very - what's right for me? what do i want out of life? in a simple, interesting and clean story. my girls have both read them from age 5 or so, and still do at 12/10. i'm very cautious about their reading, so thanks for the heads up about julie of the wolves. i was just trying to decide about that last week and have NEVER heard a thing about it!

attraction is all in your mind. if you find reasons to be attracted to your husband (no matter how *attractive* he really is) you will feel it. he may even be unappealing because of habits or changes, but again, it's all in your mind and how you perceive it. going over and over in your mind all the negatives just breeds dissatisfaction, and why would you do that to your marriage? eta: been married 16 years and we were 19 & 21, so there have been a lot of changes over here.

i've been looking at classical writing but can't seem to get a handle on what that would be like in real life. i know i don't want iew. i'm now checking the others to see! it's really helpful to hear what others have used and how it worked for them. thanks! any other suggestions?

we tried writing strands and she hated it. i've been cobbling together my own course but since i'm expecting baby #6 i've decided i'd better find something less time intensive! her writing experience is patchy but she has a lot of ability. she's not as organized as i would like when writing. she is a great reader - college level. terrible speller, but improving since we started the natural speller. any suggestions for me?

this is a valuable topic. i think it is important to recognize that many homeschooling families have a hard time drawing a line between excellence and burn out. in my opinion, excellence is quality in what you do, not in quantity of exposure. for my family, i focus on excellence of morals and habits more than scholastics. we discuss doing your best, and working through difficulties, but i find the lesson best learned through chores and family situations. my sister's children were ps and all were very high achievers, and happy too, but the busy-ness of their life is not one that i want to replicate. there are certain areas that may not be common that i expect excellence in. my kids are discouraged from reading 'fluff'. we don't bring them home from the library or the thrift (or any!) store. they read good books aloud and alone from the time they are young and i see the corresponding intelligence and thought from them. i also expect excellence from their time. we don't have any video games and very limited computer time, and no television at all during an average day. sure they will be drawn to these things as they grow older but i intend to set a pattern of useful pursuit in place of mindless technology ( i say as i'm online). my oldest is 12 and we haven't had trouble yet with any of these issues - they have so many creative things to do with their time as well as a few sports, the days fly by. the moral excellence we model as well as reading scriptures as a family, attending church meetings and having weekly family meetings where we discuss moral and religious issues that my husband and i feel are pertinent.

i suppose i am considered a relaxed hser. my third grader does 5 workboxes a day. he's usually done by lunchtime. he reads for about 2 hours too, but i don't count that. we do history twice a week, usually. we do science twice a week, usually. math every day, writing/penmanship every day. we don't do grammar everyday. i decided a long time ago that it was better for my family to do less and enjoy ourselves than try to keep up with an artificially imposed schedule. besides, there are 5 of them and they learn from each other all the time. if you are feeling stressed by keeping up with the work then you are likely passing it on to your child. and i feel that my son needs lot of lego time, basketball time, drawing time which don't fit into a 'schedule'.

if it were my children i would just begin all with ancients. then you have a simple path ahead of you and no confusion. whatever overlap from their previous work won't matter, and they are all still young enough to go through the cycle again. try to feel faith in yourself!

my kids loved i, columbus

traditionally we've used the white cigar/pencil box that i found at michaels. it was a big deal to decorate with stickers and drawings on the first day of school. this year, there are none to be found! i don't like the plastic 99 cent boxes that snap shut, and want some kind of a box, not a case, as we stack all 4 of them in our hs closet. just curious about what you have found to work for your family!

it's not that i wasn't organized...it's that there are a lot of them and only one of me. so when the second grader was done, but i was still helping the fourth grader, he waited around till i could help him with the next thing. also, we have a very small house (at least for 7 people) and i have to stash things where i can. so having all the items for a science project preloaded into a box the night before is easier than gathering them to the kitchen, or having the workbook, teacher book and story book in 2 different places. we're just starting this too and using the file method with the older two but it is a relief to me as it solves a few problems.

i vote for ballet. my girls were interested in both (started at age 5) but i felt that a certain kind of ballet can provide a life-long benefit which i haven't seen to be true with gymnastics. i find that ballet has given them a grace and strength, and they are both very comfortable on stage. that said, our studio does not require expensive 'recital shows'. we perform the nutcracker with a small costume fee ($10) and the recital in spring only requires a certain leotard color. you may want to find out if your prospective studio does the same. i think that if you look for a studio that is not so much about performing but classical ballet training you will not run into the ridiculous expenses. our studio is classical and while they have a lot of fun, its clear that it is a discipline. since we've been going to ballet for 7 years now, i am very pleased with the choice we made.

we turned my coat closet into our hs closet. dh put shelves in so the kids keep their pencil boxes and books on their shelf. the lowest shelf holds those cheap $1 boxes stacked for: crayons, stamps, markers, letter writing kit, painting kit.... i've done that since my kids were little and is one of my favorite things. we use heavy cereal boxes to store workbooks, paper etc. and a really great idea from a friend, a giant laundry detergent box for construction paper. the upper shelves are for teacher manuals, extra supplies and my 'teacher' stuff. i stuck a pocket shoe thing on the inside of the door for random stuff i want to keep track of, glue sticks, etc. then i shut the door and if it's a mess, no one has a clue!

californians, we start with spanish (powerglide) and this year the olders are starting german. very excited!

polar opposites here. my 12 yo does her 7/6 in 1/2 hour or so. my 9 yo doing 5/4 could take 3 hrs...lots of other important things to think about..so we do the lesson practice orally and only the last section written. it shaves off a bit of time. also, i don't often have time but if i sit by her and work some problems with her she's much quicker. my 7yo is finishing 3 and it never takes more than 45 start to finish...but that's because i am doing it right alongside!

assuming you're rotating the la and math items, it looks a lot like our schedule for new 7th grader. we do add piano lessons and ballet, and do a little less of the other 'extras'.

calvin and hobbes 24/7. encyclopedia brown. boxcar children. nonfiction of any kind that covers dinosaurs. edited to add: clearly i have a boy. but my girls were more advanced at 7, already reading little women etc. when they were younger, they loved mrs. piggle wiggle, betsy-tacy by maud hart lovelace, little house series, and pippi longstocking (there are several titles).

oops double post. tried to edit, i'm lame.

we are late risers at my house. i get up at 7-7:30 and none of the kids are awake yet. the kids usually play a bit before we do jobs which must be done before breakfast and we're usually done eating by 9:15 or so. then it takes a while to get teeth brushed and whatnot. so we generally start between 9:30 and 10. though my oldest will sometimes have math finished by then because she wants it out of the way!

i will share a comment that someone shared with me when i had only 2 young ones with a 3rd on the way (4 and 2 yrs). she hugged me and told me to 'enjoy this time when you can stay in your pajamas all day'. i thought i understood it then. but now i REALLY know what she was telling me, and my kids aren't even teenagers yet. there is such a small window in a child's life to be careless and free. i thrive on routine and children need it but structure can sometimes be very stifling. think about what you want for your children when they are older, 12 or 15. do you want them to be driven to learn from their own curiosity and love of learning or to be driven because it's 'what they should be doing'. i struggle with the balance myself. i personally would rather err on the side of learning for fun rather than because we 'should'. i admire s.b. and all she's done and though i loosely follow WTM my reality is that i have 5 kids under 12 and we need to enjoy life. spending so much time working can be deadening.

wow, great list iwka! i was able to get quite a bit of help from these..thanks!

i can't say about right start but keep in mind that with saxon for the k-3 there is a fair amount of teacher involvement and if he is a slow worker/thinker you could be spending 45 minutes easily every day. the meeting book, review, page of math facts to do, plus the lesson.

i only have 4 this year but here's what we do: we all learn the same scripture every month. that's easy to review a few times a week at lunch. for poems, they each have their own waldorf-style plain paper notebook. the pages are very a nice thickness and the covers are different colors so they can tell which is theirs. at the beginning of the year i pick 6 poems for each child. i actually loved that part, i looked through several books to find poems that seemed to fit each personality, and went along with the seasons or interests. i typed them up on one master document for my own reference. i print a copy of their poem, then they copy them neatly into their books, at their own pace. they get to illustrate them with nice colored pencils when they are done, and they really look forward to it. i find that it takes them several sessions to write the poem out and color, and they generally remember the poems well without any other practice. we do read through the books before we copy a new poem in, and they love that too.