Does anyone have a suggestion for a good family devotional? I'm looking for something that really focuses on God and not just morality stories. We've been using Discovering Jesus in Genesis/Exodus by Susan Hunt in our homeschooling and love it, but would like something similar in a devotional format. Hopefully I'm making sense.:confused: I'm finding it hard to describe what I want, but I just know I haven't found it yet.

Just wanted to let others know about a neat homeschool opportunity. We had a wonderful time studying the Iditarod last year. Registration begins Jan. 9th for the eIditarod Project. I also wrote a series of blog posts on our study that might be helpful for anyone planning their own Iditarod study.

Yes, when our kids were younger we used First Catechism (and still review it occasionally), but now my oldest is memorizing the Heidelberg Catechism for church. They have to memorize half of it each year. I wish I'd had this kind of training (as well as Scripture memorization) as a child. Oh, and for anyone else using the Heidelberg, please try to find a copy of the book Three Men Came to Heidelberg. It's a great background story to include in your Reformation readings.

This question comes up every now and then on the MUS yahoo group and threebundles opinion seems to be the most common -- not necessary for Alpha-Zeta, but helpful for the upper levels. If you have any problems with the old TMs, you can always use the live support, found on the website.

Two of my kids had a maple syrup smell in their urine -- and it was very distinctly a maple syrup smell, not just sweet. We were already seeing a metabolic specialist and she was never able to determine anything significant about it. I've asked various specialists over the years about the smell (always wondered if it might have something to do with my son's autism), but never found any useful information. It eventually went away for both kids.

Well, our Thanksgiving started not with a train wreck, but a small car wreck. My husband and I took separate cars to church for our church's Thanksgiving service Wed. night, and I was in a near panic when he finally showed up half an hour late. Thankfully, everyone was okay and the car isn't too bad (I think). The other moment was when we called my 90 year old Grandmother. My son (who has autism) was having a very pleasant conversation with her (I was so proud of him), but then said, "I hope we'll see you soon... if you're still alive then"!!! :o

I have always used vitaminlife.com and their shipping is pretty reasonable too ($5.95).

Thank you, ladies! You saved me a lot of time and worry. :) I think I will go ahead and buy the journal for the older one because it looks like it has some fun extras and he loves anything to do with space. But I'll use some of the freebies for the younger one.

What do you think of the notebooking journal? I'm interested in it for my 4th grader, but wonder if it would also be useful for my 1st grader. But that seems like a lot of money. Are there any free notebooking pages? Thanks!

Well, technically it is the next week now, but here is mine. :001_smile: Week 5

Skip my report if you're looking for great ideas and tons of helpful information. We were not super-homeschoolers this week. :lol: Week 4

I was on my way to a leaders meeting for Bible Study Fellowship. It was a 20 minute drive, so I turned on the radio to a Christian station and they were praying like something really bad had happened, but no details. And then it went straight to music! So I started flipping through stations and then found out what was going on. Just before I got to the meeting they were reporting a fire at the Pentagon too, but had no other information. As I walked up to the church I saw our Teaching Leader who had not heard anything and I just burst into tears as I told her. After the meeting I picked up my oldest from preschool and took both kids with me to wait in line to donate blood. It was the only thing I could think of that might be helpful. We waited in line for 4 hours, and everyone kept commenting on how well-behaved my kids were. I still find that amazing because this was just months before my son was diagnosed with autism and he was normally very difficult in public places, but he just played with his Thomas trains the whole day.

Hey, it's me, who sometimes comments on your blog and sometimes just lurks. :001_smile: My oldest just recently finished Zeta and went through it much quicker than Epsilon. Once you learn some of the concepts with fractions, learning it with decimals is pretty easy. I think if your son has really mastered Epsilon he will do fine with Zeta. So if I were in your shoes I would stay with MUS through Zeta, and then if you want to switch you will be at the same place in the scope and sequence as most other programs. As far as planning for college... I'm right there with you, just a few years behind. My son has started talking about college too, but I just have no idea what he's going to be capable of by then. I have found myself focusing less on college degrees, and rather on something that he might be good at that doesn't require a four year degree. I have a cousin with learning disabilities who has done very well for himself -- he knew he wouldn't be able to do a 4 year degree, but got a 2 year degree in golf course management and now runs the golf course in his hometown. He loves his job, which is more than I can say for the majority of people I know who have 4 year degrees! You're doing a great job, so just continue the course, and (as you said) keep trusting that God has a plan for your son! Psalm 138:8 "The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me; your steadfast love, O Lord, endures forever. Do not forsake the works of your hands."

I'm a late reporter too! Now I need to find some time to read all the other weekly reports. :001_smile: Week 3

Could you take 2 cars -- let your dad stay to watch and you take her to the store? Then at least your kids know someone stayed to watch and your parents are both getting to do what they want. I know it's a waste of gas, but it might be worth it.

Thank you, both! That is exactly what I needed to know. :001_smile:

My oldest daughter is going to a classical school and is using Saxon 76. Parents are expected to check their homework and work on any missed problems with their children. It is okay for us to have a teacher guide, and I've decided I need to have one to save me the time. So do all the versions have the same material? Hers is not the homeschool version and I'm having trouble locating a used TG that goes with the version she is using. Can I use the HS version?

I couldn't get the comment thing to work, but I just wanted to say those Renoir reproductions are beautiful, and I love the solar system you made.

I've never posted in this thread, but I'd love to participate this year. Week 2 in Review

We had the same thing happen, but finally after about 4 months they stopped calling. Probably not the answer you were looking for...

Yikes! Why do I read these threads? I just bought Level 1, so I'm going to pretend I didn't read this (or the other thread that had some not-so-great experiences with MFW Adventures).:banghead: Seriously, it is good to be aware of the possible negatives of any program, so I do appreciate everyone's responses to the OP.

Looks like plenty of people have done fine starting early, but I thought I'd just let you know that we didn't start FLL with my son until mid-year 1st grade (because that's when we pulled him out of school) and he caught up easily by the end of 2nd grade. So you don't need to worry about getting behind. Now with my youngest we are doing OPG, FLL, and WWE at the same time, but that is because we only have about a month left in OPG and we just want to be done with it (but I mean that in a good way). :001_smile:

So for copywork do I stay with WWE 1? In the past I've just picked copywork on our own, and he's been doing longer and more complicated sections than what is in Level 1.

Can you have a child in two different levels of WWE? The book says to try out the year-end evaluations to decide where to start in the series. My son did the Year 1 evaluation this week. He did great with the copywork and horrible with the narration portions. I expected this to be his area of weakness since he has autism and struggles with both the comprehension and expressive language. (He is very verbal, it's just hard for him to narrate). So should I just focus on the narration portion of Year 1 and move on for the written stuff? Just for reference, he has done great with the FLL series and is just starting FLL 4.

Web Design for Kids (...and Curious Grown-Ups) I haven't used it yet, but I decided to give it a try after reading this review: Dawn's review of Web Design for Kids