Heather, that was a great reply. I have used IEW off and on through the years. My boys needed that extra handholding (dress-ups) to learn to write, but now we don't try so hard to include them in their writing. Now we look for conciseness and clarity. Thanks, Maria in TX

My son read this on his own for fun!! He would just laugh at some of the outdated information. It did give him a good 'over-view' of geography. I wouldn't use it as a stand alone geography book, but as a supplement and enjoyable read. HTH, Maria in TX

Quo Vadis is a very good book! I read it in just a couple of settings because I couldn't put it down! That said, it is a love story. I would recommend only using the one published by MOODY. (I think that is the one you have?) The adventures and descriptions in the book really keep interest in the story. Like my son said, "It should be a movie". Well there is a movie, but we didn't want to watch it for the simple reason of the 'love story'. I hope I made sense. I would recommend that you read the book as well, either together or you read it ahead of time. HTH, Maria in TX

We refer to this book before even going to the internet. It is invaluable.

The Cat of Bubastes is really good. Or find one set in the time period of history you are currently studying. We love these books!

Not until we began HS did my dh read much. Now we go to him for History discussions and current events. He loves reading American History and about different war times. It's great. And he never complains about buying books, he buys more than I do :001_smile:

My husband is most blessed when he can come home to a nice, clean quiet home. The kids and I have worked very hard over the years to accomplish this 'simple' task. Some days are better than others. We have also been trying to have more 'date' nights. Sometimes it means just shutting the door to our bedroom and chatting. Other times we'll go out for coffee and go to Half-Price books and browse.

ETC primer series for him (Get Ready, Get Set and Go for the Code a, b and c) and Get Set for School (Handwriting without Tears). We started HS my daughter when she was 3 (her brothers were 10 &12). She wanted her own books. So I bought her the MUS Primer workbook along with the books mentioned above. She was happy!! One thing I did with the workbooks was to put the pages in sheet protectors and use a grease pencil. This way we could reuse the workbooks again when her FM skills were a little stronger. HTH

We liked Artistic Pursuits and the curriculum by Barry Stebbings, I Can Do All Things.

We read the Henry and Mudge chapter books and the Nate the Great series. My boys loved them.

My husband and boys went to see this movie on Christmas day (my daughter and I saw Bolt). Although none of them were exactly excited about TC, they all do enjoy history. They really enjoyed the movie and learned some stuff as well. I'll have to wait for DVD.:)

Thanks for sharing. I used to question our decision to use MUS, but my dh has been the one adament about using MUS. He's has a Chemistry degree, so he took lots of math in college. He says if he would've learned by Steve Demme, he probably would have done better in those math classes :)

I hope your encouraged by the sharing of other's stories. When we began homeschooling my oldest son (now almost 17), he had just finished 1st grade at a private school. He was a struggling reader, and I was quickly frustrated. He and I would be in tears most days. Then for some reason, I decided to have his eyes checked. Well, after getting a pair of glasses his reading improved. The doctor said my son had 'weak' eyes that were being strained. He grew out of the need for his glasses in about a year. That was such a relief to all of us. We also did a lot of reading out loud. HTH

We've been using MUS for the last 9 years, and I'm really excited about the changes. They just keep getting better and better. Now I just need to decide if I should sell what I have and go with the new. My boys are in high school, so they'll just finish with what we have, but I have a daughter in the 2nd grade.

G. A. Henty's Christian Historical Fiction books. My boys loved these. Especially my oldest. The vocabulary can be challenging, but the adventures kept their attention. We started out reading them out loud, but my older son got tired of waiting on the rest of us, so he started reading them on his own. HTH

I only have 3 kids, but I know that checking work can be a nightmare. Over the years I've done different things. What works for us now is that I have a place in our home set up as my 'office'. They each come to me and different times of the day and show me their work. The older ones check their own math and science work (except for tests). My younger daughter is usually with me at my 'desk' so I can pretty well keep up with her throughout the day. Other times I am more of a 'project manager' where the older ones come to me once or twice a week for a conference. They bring all their books and work they've completed and we go over it together. Then we set goals and schedules and I send them back to work. HTH

You could still continue the weekly activities to reinforce what been read, and also read some great historical fiction books to go with the time period and different events. My boys remember most of their history because of the books we read. Enjoy!!

Ah! Financial Peace! Yes, there is peace, but I tell my friends that the 'peace' part doesn't come until the end! Seriously, Dave Ramsey has helped so many people. He really helps put everything in perspective. My husband and I have been through Financial Peace twice. We are still working on being debt-free, but in the meantime we are learning how to do this together. My encouragement to anyone out there is not to give up. We have seen so many of our friends be blessed in such huge ways!! We've committed to not giving up, and I know our turn is coming!! Be blessed.

Phonetic Zoo gets my 'thumbs up'. My son (now in 11th grade) was a horrible speller, but a very good reader with very high comprehension. We started to use Phonetic Zoo when he got to Jr. Hi. (wished I had found it sooner). His spelling finally is up to speed. I think wearing headphones to do the lessons helped greatly. It kept him focused. HTH, Maria

I will probably stay with designing my own. All 3 of my children are different and I like to tailor the curriculum, so each of them is learning best using their learning styles. With this said, though, as they get older, High school, then I'll have them be more structured. They have to learn to sit through a class and conform so to speak. Bottom line, I want them to know how to learn and not be afraid to get out of their box.

I'm curious why you think Apologia Biology and chemistry are too easy for HS? I've heard this from another mom, too, but she couldn't explain why she felt that way. My husband, who is a chemist, loves Apologia. He thinks that Dr. Wile has done a great job of making science understandable for the student. We also have a few friends whose children have taken the Biology CLEP test and passed only using the Apologia books to study. All that being said, I would evaluate your goals for science. Do you have a science-oriented student who plans to study science in the future. (you may not know yet). We took the stand that our kids would be exposed to science as if they did decide to study engineering or science, they would be prepared. (so far, we have no scientists in the making!) Where is your student in terms of math? Dr. Wile says that when your student begins Algebra 1, they can begin Biology. This may also affect your decisions. Sorry for the long-winded response. Hope some of this helps. Maria in TX

We have a couple of card games we play to drill math facts. My boys always enjoyed these and didn't feel the 'drill and kill' factor. Race to 100. Using the red 100 square (on for each player) and a deck of cards. Divide the cards up evenly and then turn over one card at a time. Each time you turn over a card you place that number block on your red square. (Ace's are 1, J,Q, K are 10). The idea is to fill your red square with one or two blocks to make 10. (This is hard to explain in an email!) Each player continues to turn over their stack of cards and fill the red square until they cover the whole square. This helps with the math facts, making 10. (EX. 1 + 9, 2+7, 3+7, 4+6, 5+5, etc. ) Another game with playing cards is also a "war" type game. After evenly distributing the deck of cards (fo two players). Each player turns over their card. (You decide ahead of time what operation your drilling--addition and multiplication work best). The first person to say the answer out loud wins that hand. You continue to play until one player has won all the cards. Sometimes I would not compete with my child, I would just have him give the answer. If was right, he got the cards, if wrong, I got the cards. We would do this until he got all the cards. Math U See also as an online drill where you can set the parameters. My kids liked this as well. We have also used Calculadders. The timing always frustrated my boys, instead of setting the timer for 4 minutes, and having them try to beat the clock, I would just time how long it took to complete the page. I would log the time on a sheet, then they would continue on the same sheet until they beat their own time and finished within the required time limit. (hope that makes sense). I had one son who got so nervous knowing he was trying to beat the clock, that he would have trouble focusing on the sheet itself. So by reversing the way we timed, this seemed to relieve the pressure. Hope some of these ideas help, but I do agree with others that consistency is key. Drilling everyday really helps. We have used MUS for 10 years and now we're starting over again with our youngest daughter (she's 7). We love MUS, but to be successful with any math you have to know your facts.!!! Happy Drilling, Maria in TX

This is awesome!! We, too, are using IEW and I think it really works for those who 'hate to write'!! Keep up the good work! Maria in TX

There is a yahoo group for IEW. In the files section there is great information as what to do with 1st and 2nd graders. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/IEWfamilies/?yguid=288662788 HTH, Maria TX

I have 3 children 16, 14, and 7. I still use the site for my older kids. We've used the maps mostly for the older ones, but sometimes the other info is helpful, especially if we just need general info about something. this is my 4th year subscribing! Maria in TX