I am sort of in the same boat. I almost got TOG, but something still doesn't feel right. I think it is too much $ also. I have finally decided to go with SOTW also. We have used it before, and my girls really like it. You might want to check this out to schedule church history in with SOTW. And these sheets are great for doing your scheduling with SOTW. Katie

I don't recall if R&S 2 has any writing assignments. We are using it this year, but are not that far into yet. I used it with my other 2, but I have slept many nights since then... Anyway, for other levels of R&S we usually read through the "writing" lessons, but don't do the assignment. We do R&S orally anyway, except diagramming. We use WWE or SWB's writing suggestions for writing. Hope this makes sense, Katie

I am doing a diet plan called the carbohydrate addict's diet. It is a slow weight loss plan, about 1 lb per week. I have been doing it for about 10 months. It keeps your blood sugar level and is working well for me. I feel so much better throughout the day. Anyway, the idea is that you eat 2 low carb meals and 1 reward meal each day. My reward meal is dinner. You can eat whatever you want for your reward meal. This works well for me because my whole family can eat the same meal. Then for lunch and breakfast, I make a low carb meal for myself and my family eats leftovers or something they can make on their own. I usually just skip breakfast. It is a win/win for all of us. I would not be able to make myself a seperate meal all the time. Hope this helps, Katie

T-Tapp is wonderful. There are sample exercises on her site. Tons of great testimonials! I finally started working out in May. I can't believe how much better I feel, doing T-Tapp. If you buy her book on Amazon, you get a 30% off coupon for the videos. You still save, even buying the book. Very motivating. I agree with the other poster about using gates for you. Too funny. Mom's health is sooo important. If you don't feel good, your whole family suffers. www.T-Tapp.com HTH, Katie

This is from the book Talking Dirty with the Queen of Clean: Put 1/2 cup of baking soda in the drain. Add 1/2 cup of white vinegar. Wait for the volcano to die down. Cover and let sit for 30 min. Run cold water. She calls this "the once a month drain cleaner." Then here is her "Drain Opener," to the drain add: 1 cup salt (any kind) 1 cup baking soda follow this with a kettle of boiling water don't use for 2 hrs HTH, Katie

Probiotics will help so much. I like Garden of Life brand (called Primal Defense). Dr. Ohhira's are good too. I really saw a big improvement after taking them. I was getting what I believe was Strep about every 6-8 weeks. I started the Garden of Life probiotics and haven't had it since, that was over a year and a half ago. As a matter of fact, we (my family took them too) haven't had a flu or cold in the past year and a half. I order them from www.iherb.com. This is the best price I have seen. They are well worth it. Also, check out Doug Kaufmann's (sp?) site www.knowthecause.com. We are big fans. I had some health issues and his recommendations really helped me, amazed the Doctors too. He has a health show, and you can watch it online. I like that he doesn't sell anything but his books. He chooses guests for his show if he really likes their products. Neat guy! Katie

I have 3 girls going through R&S english (2, 4, and 6). We do it all orally, except diagramming or a paragraph puctuation type assignment, etc... I agree with other posters that there is something magical about the whiteboard, lap size is great. They feel so special getting to use one, I guess. You could use a spare large picture frame with a light colored piece of paper in it for a white board too. I thought it would be tough to do all 3 orally, but it is not bad at all. I have found over the years, that it is quicker to just do it orally than it is to have them write it out. By the time you have stayed on them to get their work done (depending on the kiddo), graded it, then gone back over their mistakes with them, you could have done it orally, twice. You also better see where they need help. It is so much better to catch their mistakes early, than after they have done an entire lesson incorrectly. :banghead: Rod and Staff does repeat every year, just gets more in-depth with each level. We love it here, but my girls weren't 'feelin' the love' when they had to write those lessons out. We do the tests too. Katie

Understood Betsy is great. Katie

I totally agree with you on the staring thing, or asking rude questions. Manners these days are terrible. But the comment above quoted above seems extreme to me. I try to avoid buying things from China because that doesn't support american jobs. I want to support each other here, keep Americans working. Some things made in China have had poisonous chemicals in them, so they, some manufacturers, do have a bit of a track record for this. But this has nothing at all to do with your daughter. I don't think you should be offended by comments like this. China is such a broad topic, you surely can't take offense to a comment that is made about the country as a whole, just because your daughter was born in that country. Please don't be offended by my comments, I just wanted to throw out my thoughts.:001_smile:

I have an old HP laserjet 4L. I LOVE it. The cartridges are only about $20 and print 2000 or 3000 pages, I think it is 3000. It is only B&W, but I use it for printing their work. Katie

Thank you Stacy!

bump please

Hi, I was wondering about the Wordsmith series. The cover of Wordsmith says a creative writing course. Is it a 'creative writing' course or just a course taught in a creative way. Does it teach the structure of good sentences, paragraphs, and papers. I was thinking SWB recommends it, but she also doesn't want to force children to do creative writing unless it is natural for them. When I say creative, I mean make up a story. So, can any users tell me what this course teaches. I am looking for more of a structure of writing, and Wordsmith seems to appeal to me. Is this what I am looking for? Thanks so much, Katie

I don't have much experience to share, but we are using MUS pre-alg starting in a couple of weeks. I am also going to buy Life of Fred pre or beg. alg. It kills me to do this, but I really like the looks/reviews of LOF. We have always used MUS, but it cost me $89 this year (seems like quite a bit more than previous years), and I would really like to find something a little less expensive. It sounds like LOF is good for explaining the "why" of math and letting them see how to apply it to the real world. I am not saying MUS doesn't. I think different programs will click for different people. So, I am going to use both MUS & LOF this year for pre/beg Algebra and see what clicks best. It will cost me more this year, but then (hopefully) I will know which works best for us. Hope this helps, Katie

Your post had me tearing up. I can see how this book can really change our studies and make them more real. I am going to order. Can you tell us how many days a week/how long per day you work on it? I would love to know how best to schedule it in. Thanks so much, Katie

I think you could move on, but come back to those lessons. Maybe 2 weeks of Delta, then do lesson 29, then 2 more weeks of Delta, then 30. I also think if you feel he doesn't need too much review, you could skip the systematic review sheets for lessons 29 & 30. My dd about went crazy trying to do those last few lessons. I still made her do them, we just broke them up through the day more, maybe 1 row of them at a time. That reminds me, I need to have her practice some of those.:001_smile: Hope this helps, Katie

In her audios, if I am understanding correctly, she says you don't need another program. But, I don't know how confident I am in my skills, so we are going to try to work through Writing Strands along side SWB's recommendations. Just to make sure we cover everything. HTH, Katie

Last year I used wwe 1 for my 1st grader and my 4th grader (she was working through 2 levels, skipping through). So, I bought the ebook for level 1. I really liked being able to print off the pages for my 1st grader. But the lines are way to big for handwriting for my 4th grader, so she did hers on reg. paper. So, if you are using it for grade level, you might like the ebook better. I personally like printing just the TM part and put in a notebook with other TM type things. The level 2 book that I bought printed is pretty thick. I think only the 1st half or so is TM, rest is student. I do like though that you don't have to purchase 2 different books, saves us money. I love that they offer us an ebook choice. Just my preference. Not sure if that made sense, Katie

I used 1 & 2 with my 4th grade dd last year. I just skipped through each in order. I had a 1st grader that I was using level 1 with anyway. Otherwise I would think you could start at level 2. HTH, Katie

I think I forgot to mention that I use SWB's writing recs for my 7th grader too. We will be writing so much in history and science, plus literary analysis item per week. So, I don't do the writing assignments in R&S, but we read them. I would also rec. her literary analysis audio too. I have the WTM, but these just explain things in great detail. Katie

I don't know how much help I will be, but here goes... We use R&S for grammar (all 3 girls). I love it, but we don't do the writing assignments. I do what SWB's audios say for writing, and I highly recommend them. I think after listening to them you will feel pretty confident on how to do writing without a curr. I think you could do WWE4 with your ds10. Last year I did WWE 1 & 2 with my 4th grader (about 1/2 of each), just skipping through for her to get the hang of it. I had planned to do WWE 3&4 with her this year, but after listening to the SWB audios and using WWE 1-2, I feel like I understand the goal and how to teach her. I am also using SWB's suggestions for my 6th grade dd. I will do WWE2 with my 2nd grade dd this year, did most of wwe1 last year. You might just buy 1 &/or 2 for your twins to do and then have your ds10 do a few here and there to get the hang of it. I will be doing R&S grammar 2 with my 2nd grade dd this year. It has been a while since I have used it, so I don't remember about the writing. I will skip any writing assignments anyway. We do read them, but don't do the assignments. Also, the only Abeka we have ever used is their spelling. It is very affordable and covers the rules. I really liked it and would still be using it but we don't live near a show to order it without shipping. I just won't pay $8 to ship me an $8 workbook. I wanted to make sure you have seen R&S spelling. If your kiddos are used to Abeka's colorful workbooks, they may not like the R&S books much. Just a thought. Hope I have helped. I would buy the audios now and listen before you make any decisions. I bought all three so I would understand the "big picture." I am a big picture person. I need to know what the goal is, so I can understand how to get there. These did that for me. Katie

I am going against the grain here, but I don't care for the layout of the usborne ency. books. They are very broken up, with little boxes of text. I personally find this distracting. It may not bother you at all though. Just wanted to throw that out there. But I don't know what I would rec. in its place. We have an old set of Children's Golden Book encyclopedias that were my dad's from the 60's, these are great. Maybe you could find something like that? Katie

Aubrey, Do you mind if I ask, did you buy the whole set with the painting lessons and other? I can't remember what the whole/bigger set was called. I was having trouble making up my mind, is it better to buy the whole pack? Thanks, Katie

My 9 yr old says she doesn't care for reading much, but she does say she loved: Pinocchio - by Collodi Understood Betsy - Dorothy Canfield Fisher Katie

Sounds neat. Thanks for sharing. Katie