I've been homeschooling for several years, and although I don't necessarily recommend this, I've tried 3 different math curricula. (Case in point that "nothing works for everyone." :001_smile:) After trying both Saxon and Singapore with my older girls, we have finally landed on MUS. My almost 6-year-old ds is loving the hands-on approach and using the manipulatives, and we both love watching the videos with Mr. Demme. I'm not familiar with RightStart, but it's clearly a popular choice as well.

We've (very) slowly been working through WinterPromise's Geology curriculum called "Rock Around the Earth!" It's great -- and definitely creationist. Even if you don't use the whole curriculum, you could select books from the list they recommend.

I love the idea of beginning things (and changing the mindset) on Sunday night. We used to begin every school day with a walk around the block. It's a great way to make a clean beginning to the school day . . . and it burns that extra energy. My kids were always a little subdued after that walk. Thanks for the reminder, Tina! :001_smile:

:iagree: with all previous MUS commenters . . . My 9yo dd has struggled with math since Day 1. After watching her first MUS video, she commented, "This is going to be fun!" Can't say I've ever been happier.

:lurk5:

:bigear: Any how-to sites out there? I haven't a clue where to begin. :001_huh:

I tried SWO for a couple of years with dd7 and nothing stuck. [it's quite possible that it's just my daughter :glare: and the poor thing will simply never be able to spell.] What I found was that she could (and loved to) complete the workbook pages, but she wasn't learning how to spell. It was just busywork. We're currently using (and making some progress) with Spelling Power. Personally, I loved SWO. It was easy, not teacher-intensive, and laid out well. It just wasn't effective for my dd. BTW, dd9 is a natural speller so I couldn't tell if it did anything for her or not. :rolleyes:

:bigear: These are great resources! Is there a site that can teach this "mom-that's-never-ever-done-a-lapbook" a few how-to tips? Truly, I have no idea where to start.

Do you have a Mardel's in your area? They'll even place special orders. I also recently learned of this site: http://www.christianhomeschoolstore.com/index.htm

PTL! :hurray: Thank you, especially, for sharing what you learned through this situation. Lessons I need to be reminded of, too. ;) Blessings to you!

:lurk5:

Not sure how to insert a link (sorry), but if you go to Tapestry's website, to their "Store", you can pull up the "Resource List" and specify which Year, Unit, and Levels, and it will show you all of the books used for those specs. Hope this helps! :001_smile:

These look great (although I'm trying not to add another thing for next year :lol:)! Can they be done independently?

I just switched from Singapore to MUS . . . for this reason (and perhaps it will give you some insight into the difference between the two): Singapore has a strong emphasis on mental math. If you are strong in math, this should not be a problem. If math is not one of your strengths, it is difficult to understand even the teacher's manual. :001_huh: (Math is not my strength, so I would not feel comfortable teaching 8th grade math with Singapore.) My kids have not enjoyed math to this point either, but they are all very excited about MUS (to begin this fall). And I am excited to have someone else (Mr. Demme) teaching my kids math. (I do plan to sit with them and watch the videos. Perhaps I'll learn a thing or two, also! :tongue_smilie:) My only concern about MUS is the apparent focus on one skill for the year, but I'm comforted by what appears to be good and regular reviews of all skills. I also plan to supplement with drilling those math facts. :001_rolleyes: Hope this is helpful.

This is a marvelous list. Thanks to all who contributed. Consider it bookmarked! :001_smile:

If you're doing TOG4, does that mean you've already done TOG1-3? Have you always done the lapbooks? Is this something your son enjoyed? How much time (per week, maybe) do you spend on lapbooking? Anything else helpful that I should know? I'm trying to decide if that supplement is worth the money . . . oh, and do you use the kit or the digital templates? Thanks in advance! :001_smile:

Thanks for these thoughts! (And the link to the free journal pages.) Anyone else out there who could comment? :D

Past and present Apologia users, what do you like (particularly about zoology) and what do you not? Also, is the Notebooking Journal a valuable resource? (read "worth the money") And I'm assuming I would need one for each child? Or is this something we can create at home with a 3-ring binder and some fun paper? Thanks in advance for your feedback! :001_smile:

:bigear: Getting lots of advice in recent days on combining WTM & CM. Would love to hear more . . .

:iagree: We read it aloud as a family some years ago, and I was as equally enthralled as my kids.

Mine's pretty self-explanatory, too. My name is Krista and I live in Colorado. I chose this name before I read the rules about not putting where you live (which might be temporary) in your user name. (Although we'd love to retire here, perhaps I'm being optimistic. ;))

I checked out a book from the library on teaching cursive, copied the letter order, and I, too, made my worksheets with StartWrite. It worked marvelously teaching my oldest daughter, and I plan to do it again with middle daughter beginning this fall. No need to buy a workbook! :001_smile:

because they allow you to copy the student pages. However, it's a really big book . . . and it's difficult to squish under a copier. I would recommend having the binding cut off and having it 3-hole-punched to make that easier. :001_smile:

It's hard, when the weather is nice, to keep them sitting and doing bookwork (unless it's outside ;)). My plan for this summer is to continue drilling math facts and "playing" with c-rods. My dd9 will learn to touch-type. And I really want to do a special summer-long unit study in Geology. (I bought WinterPromise's Rock Around the Earth for last fall and we haven't gotten to it yet. :001_rolleyes:) My kids have been chomping at the bit because it looks so fun. And then, of course, I'll keep them reading with frequent trips to the library. Nothing too structured, though. I take intentional breaks from math books, grammar and spelling, composition, etc.

My dd9 loved it when we introduced multiplication facts. It has some glitches, but I always wondered if those were b/c we have Macs. :glare: Warning: If you are susceptible to motion sickness, this game could cause it. I can't watch IMAX movies or play MarioKart. This makes me feel the same way. :tongue_smilie: