I'm considering using Dr Wile's video on demand recorded classes for both dd (Physics) and ds (Chemistry). I'm looking for any input from others whom have used them in the past. Is it worth the $99 for the yearly access to one of the classes? I can't find how long each video is about, but it looks like they're about 45min-1 hr based on the total time I was able to find? Any input on if your student enjoyed them and found them helpful would be much appreciated. I'm torn on whether to spend the $200 on them or not :/

I was going to suggest Veritas Press self-paced history. We used it for several years and the first couple years I had my kids do it together. We would hook the laptop up to the TV and watch it all together on there. They would take turns doing the games and such. They also have literarure packages for each time period and they offer two different levels for the literarure (or they did when we last used it). You could then assign the literarure to your kiddos since they have different levels. I actually really enjoyed when we did it as a family versus when they broke off and did it independently later on! I loved being able to learn along side with them and have discussions. My 3 year old at the time also picked up the history songs and loved joining in for parts of it.

My soon to be 6th grader has been using Apologia Young Explorer books since 1st grade. We had planned on Chemistry and Swimming Creatures this year, but I know how she always dreads science as the year goes on. She often gets bored studying the same topic, and so I was considering switching her to Dr Wile's Science in the.....Series. My question is, should I start her at the first book (Science in the Beginning)? Or since she's older, would it be better to start her on a different book in the series? Also, can this series be used for middle school? My older two used Apologia for middle school (General and Physical), but considering something different for her.

I'm having a very hard time deciding between using CLE Learning to Read or All About Reading 1 with one of my dds next school year! I used AAR for several years for my older kiddos, but it has been about 7-10 years. We use a lot of CLE material and so for my next kiddo coming up, was planning to start CLE from the start. I'm now second guessing everything and am completely torn on using CLE LTR (which I have never used.....earliest we've used is RTL 1) or AAR 1. I do remember dreading those fluency sheets though 😅. So, looking for any input and would love to know if you'd choose CLE LTR or AAR 1? 😊 **My other kiddos will be in 11th, 10th and 6th, so they work very independently. I currently have an 8 mo old as well though, so will need to take that into consideration**

Thank you😊

Dd will be starting 9th grade and I plan on her using Sharon Watson's Power in Your Hands. I have read online that the program can easily be spread over 2 years. We already have the material in hand, and it does appear that it can be used over a 2 year period, but I don't find any mention of that in the book. My question is specifically about scheduling . Do most people use it over 2 years versus 1 year? If so, how have you scheduled the material out? Do you go in order of the book? My concern was that there are several chapters on persuasion in the beginning.

I was looking into DO math and while I was able to find samples of the online videos, I couldn't find any samples of the student workbook and the homework worksheets. Does anyone know if there are samples online somewhere and if so, where I could locate them at? I am specifically looking for Algebra 1 and Pre-Algebra. I feel like I'm only getting a small snipet of the program by viewing the videos only and not be able to see the workbook and homework worksheets. Thanks!

I'm needing some help deciding which level of Atelier Art to purchase:/ I have dd (11 yrs- 6th grade) and ds (will be 10 in Sept- 5th grade) that I will mainly be using it for. My almost 6 year old (1st grader) will tag along for fun. The kids have had some art exposure here and there, but nothing intense. My son (the almost 10 year old) has some fine motor delays, so art has not always been something he has loved (as he wants to create a piece that looks exactly like the model). So, which level would you recommend?

Thanks everyone! I appreciate the input. ..it helps tremendously! :)

Which of the 3 art programs do you like best? My kiddos are 1st, 5th and 6th grade. I know Atelier is quite a bit costlier, but if price weren't a factor would you choose Atelier?

Thanks. .a friend of mine said the same thing about it being too wordy. I was also concerned about us getting 'burn out' from studying one topic all year long.

Apologia Young Explorer Series or Science in the Beginning series...which would you recommend using with a 1st, 5th and 6th grader?

I'm looking for input from anyone who has used RS4 Kids Building Block series. I'd love to hear your feedback on it! I'm considering Book 1 for my 1st grader (also have R.E.A.L Science Odyssey level 1 Life here to maybe use), and Book 5 for my 5th and 6th grader (or was considering trying Apologia).

I haven't been so good about doing read alouds with the older 2 kids this year due to a new baby. I'm thinking of looking for audio books instead to do for now (our library has a huge selection of books on cd). I'm looking for read aloud suggestions for upper elementary school age....dd is almost 11 and finishing up 5th grade and ds is 9 years and finishing up 4th grade (but I've always brought him up to dd's level for them to work together). ETA: I might as well ask for suggestions for my 5 year old (kinder) too:) She reads at about a 2nd-3rd grade level, but need to find some good read aloud for her as well! TIA!

Looking to supplement writing with our CLE LA. I was looking into EIW and WWW for both dd and ds. I would put both in Level/Grade 5 for both. It looks like the first half of EIW is grammar, so we'd just skip that part and start on the second section. Any input on the two programs?

We've been using CLE LA (along with CLE Math and Reading) for a couple years now. I'm starting to think I may need to supplement and use a different spelling though. Both dd and ds just finished up the 400 level of LA. DS (15 mo younger) is a bit of a better speller than DD, so I am thinking mainly about her as I try to figure out if I should use a different spelling program. We've used AAS in the past, so I don't want to use that. I was thinking a rule-based spelling would be best. DD really does well on things she can do somewhat independently, so nothing too teacher intensive. So, give me suggestions on what you would use for spelling with CLE :) Also, always have struggled finding a writing I really like :/ The kiddos are getting older (5th and 6th grade next school year), so I feel like I really need to step up our game perhaps in the writing department. Suggestions please on what writing you'd use to supplement CLE LA :) We did some of IEW this year, but we had to stop as the kids (and I) were really not enjoying it. It seemed to be taking the fun out of any writing with all those keyword outlines! TIA!

Thanks! My concern was also how I would take it so frequently without dairy lol. I was told or had read not to take the iron 2 hrs before or 2 hrs after consuming dairy as the calcium prohibits the absorption of the iron:( Cereal is my go to breakfast (I think eggs are in this category too).

I ended up finding some locally! yay! One of our stores carried the Country Life brand of it (w/ the Ferrochel ferrous bisglyncibate chelate). It was 10.99, but I would have to pay $10 shipping on Vitacost (and even iherb).We're usually always exampt from free shipping here in Alaska :( I took my first dose this evening. Fingers crossed it works! I'll work up to twice a day if all goes well. It's 25 mg in each pill so that will give me 50 mg. It's not the 60-80 mg my doctor said, but not sure I want to take 3 pills a day:/ Perhaps if I tolerate it well I could try.

Thanks! I just called my health food store, and they only had one brand of it.....and it has other things in it which I wasn't really wanting since I'll probably take more than pill :/ We're in Alaska, so our options are very limited here. Oh how I miss living in Southern CA lol. Anyways, I looked at Vitacost (never ordered from them before but a friend recommended them), and they have their brand of chelated ferrous bisglycinate iron (Albion Ferrochel) that is only $4.99 (with buy one get one half off!). Seems like a great price, so I may try just ordering that one :)

Thanks so much everyone! I'll be heading to our local health store later today to look into the chelated ferrous bisglycinate :) From what I read, it has a great absorption rate. So, if my dr is wanting me to take 60-80 mg of elemental iron, would I not need that much then with the chelated ferrous bisglycinate?

So, I'm currently 32 weeks pregnant. About 3 weeks ago I found out I was anemic and my doctor wanted me to start taking iron supplements to bring my levels up. I started taking just the regular iron pills (65 mg elemental iron) of ferrous sulfate and was taking it twice a day I started having some tummy issues and within a week had horrible indigestion type pains and started vomiting really bad from it. I was told to stop it and try another one. They recommended Floradix to me (as did a friend), and so I bought some bottles of it (very expensive locally here...yikes!) and started that. I was taking 15 ml twice a day. I had no tummy issues from it or anything. Well, I had my 32 week check up yesterday and was told by my doctor that there is no way the Floradix will give me the 60-80 mg of elemental iron that he says I need :/ So...I went to our natural health food store and explained my situation to someone and they recommended Freeda brand of Ferrous Fumarate iron and to take it with vit c supplements (as I can't drink OJ since it irritates my bladder). Last night before bed I took my first dose along with a snack and started having indigestion again last night and woke with some tummy issues :( I am thinking this is not going to work either. I was doing a lot of research online for iron supplements that would be gentle and easy on my stomach. I came across two: Slow Fe and also Vitron-C. My doctor had mentioned the Slow-Fe, but I dismissed it because he said he's seen where his patients just pass most of it because it's slow releasing and they don't really absorb it? The Vitron-C has the one type of iron my doctor also mentioned may be easy to take (carbonyl iron). I"m wondering if anyone has any experience with either of these? I really need to find an iron that works (Will up my levels) and at the same time my stomach can handle. In the mean time I have been adding lots of "iron rich" foods to my diet as well.

Thanks for the input everyone!! I think I'll order CLE and we'll try going through them slowly and at her pace. All else fails, I'll stick them in the cupboard for later and use some Kumon books or take a break until she's ready for CLE :)

I'm just not a fan of Horizons honestly. I used it with YDD in Kinder and didn't plan on using it again for any of the kids. We happened to be at our homeschool book store to pick up a cheap math workbook (Since she wanted her own "school book") and they had the Horizons book 1 for free (as a few pages were used). So, I figured I'd just get that for her to use for now. I have curriculum hopped enough with the other two with math (unfortunately) to finally use CLE math and realize it was a great fit for us and I loved it :)

So dd is currently 4 years old and will turn 5 the very end of August. She had expressed strongly about having her own "school" work like her older brother and sister. We have tons of math manipulatives I bring out all the time and we play with, but she also wanted a workbook (like her older siblings). I picked up (for free) Horizons K math book (1st book only), and she's been working on that and is about half way finished. I'm trying to figure out what I want to do for next year. I know my plan is to move on over to CLE for math, but they don't start with their math until first grade. I considered starting her on CLE 1st but just going very slowly (maybe finishing 3-4 light units throughout the school year). I have been looking at other math curriculum for kinder, but am having a hard time with anything :/ Many math kinder curriculum look like they would be way too easy for her, especially since she's been working on Horizon K already. So...suggestions?? Should I start her on CLE 1st and go slow? Go with another math curriculum? If so, what would you recommend that would be appropriate for her for where she's at?

DD will be 5 this summer and I'm looking for a good history/social studies series of books for that age. I found the "Let's Read and Find out" science series which I really like, now I'm trying to find something similar for history/social studies.