Julie, how many IU's of Vit. D are safe to take? Should I look it in a certain form (liquid, solid, etc.)? Buying a 'happy light' fell off the end of my to-do list this summer and I had forgotten all about it! I'll get one ASAP, as I was meaning to all summer anyhow. I don't follow a traditional arctic diet except for moose/caribou meat & Chitina salmon. I wonder how much of this could be alleviated by just taking better care of myself.

This is already in place, but apparently needs some tweaking. Finding the right Rx (even natural) can take a long time. Not sure what's up w/ me, as I feel alot better in the last couple days. Probably b/c I made a decision, even if tentative. I usually stay away from posting such personal things, but at the moment I didn't really care about that. Feeling quite embarassed now.

Beth, when I read your response I cried; you hit the nail right on the head. Thank you all for the kind words, support, and suggestions. I decided not to make any rushed decisions - I'm going to keep on w/ this homeschooling "adventure" for now. Thank you all for helping me see the gray, I don't know why I was only seeing things in black or white. I've ordered up some Abeka stuff for my guys and we'll start on that as soon as it arrives. At least then if my energy goes south, I have something easy to fall back on. On good days I suspect we'll do alot of it orally and I'd love to keep WWE & FLL... Also, Abeka is the curric. the local private school uses if ever it does come to that - smoother transition. I suppose being well and being there w/ the kids is way more important than *what* we're using to get it done. Again, many, many heartfelt thanks.

Thanks for all the tips, ladies. I'll call Abeka tomorrow about that seatwork curriculum book - if it's just a schedule of when to assign what pages, I may try to do w/o (unfortunately I have to keep $ in mind). I do plan to use the main LA & math curric. guides for the lessons and the student test books - it's the teacher test keys I was unsure of. Thanks again!

For 1st & 3rd grade LA, and 1st & 2nd grade math, do I really need the following? Letters & Sounds Teacher Key and Test Key Language 1 Teacher Key Homeschool Writing/Seatwork 1 Curriculum/Lesson Plans (I'm using manuscript Writing With Phonics for 1st, so I won't be using the penmanship lessons from this manual. Do I need this to know which pages from other books to assign on which day or is that easy to figure out? Is there more to this manual than that?) Arithmetic Teacher Edition, and Arithmetic Test/Speed Drills Key - easy enough to grade by just looking or w/ a calculator? Reading 3 Answer Key Language 3 Answer Key Thanks for any help you can offer. :)

:lurk5:

I'm about ready to tote my sons over to our local private Christian school and sign them up. I called yesterday to see if they'd allow them to attend just for all language arts & math; continuing science, history, and "extras" at home. I'm waiting for a call back to see if they'll allow that - they used to do that years ago. Even if they don't allow part-time enrollment, only full-time, I'm still thinking of enrolling my sons. It would be harder on my littlest one going full-time, and that makes it a harder decision. Anyhow, the whole reason I'm thinking of doing this is *for their own good*. I won't go into the details, but a mess of things including depression & insomnia make ME a problem in our homeschool. I've got wonderful intentions, great plans, and truly want the experience and outcome of homeschooling, but all that is inside me. What happens in reality is not alot. Inconsistency, lack of sticking to any schedule, and things like that are what happens in reality. My older son is doing the last 1/2 of his 2nd grade math b/c he needs more practice w/ some things before moving on, but really b/c I just didn't do school enough w/ them last year. I figured OK, finish up what he needs to cover in the 2nd grade book and we can finish the 3rd grade one by Sept. of next year, no big deal since we're homeschooling year-round now. No big deal, unless the same old patterns continue. ETA: His math is an example of how the rest of everything has gone. I go back & forth between being ready to just hand them over and put them in school; and to keep pushing forward and trying at home. It seems to be a cycle. My heart is really, truly in this (homeschooling), I just can't seem to overcome my own issues. What should I do? I'm afraid if I continue "trying" to hs, that the same-old-same-old will happen and they won't learn as much as if I enrolled them; even falling behind more. Lately I've thought maybe their education isn't something for me to try to tackle all on my own (I'll always be involved one way or another). Maybe this is not the area for me to try to overcome my own issues in. They're paying a price for it. I make it sound terrible - things aren't irreparable, but will be down the road soon if something doesn't change. Please don't flame me for failing my kids, I have enough grief over this of my own.

Ok, *phew*. After going through all the responses here I'm relieved b/c the above is what I already do. On the note in question, I spelled most of his misspelled words back to him correctly in my responses. He reads pretty well; going through the student reading sections in OPG easily and reading easy beginning readers such as Nate the Great, etc. I've not seen any indicators of dyslexia, so unless & until I've taught him spelling & we're still having these problems I won't worry about that. Here's how the complete note went, w/ my responses to him: C: I im hunge Me: Hungry? C: Ca I et Me: Can you eat what? C: sumtheng inetheng Me: something anything (with arrows pointed to his corresponding word) Me: When Miss Janelle is done talking we'll go see what's here. C: Liv in Noth Poll Me: North Pole is south of Fairbanks. C: Is three u sch theeng as south pole Me: There is not a city named South Pole. The real South Pole is in Antarctica. (whispering about penguins ensued) So... I guess all is not lost - I do let him write in his playing w/o making it miserable for him by turning it into 'more school'. I do pick up those papers and copy words he's misspelled onto a personal spelling list for him to work on when we start spelling, which is now today. He's not aware that I do this. When he writes for school, we correct immediately. I'm starting him in AAS today since we have it. Thanks for the help & input!

Here is how he spelled the following words in a note we were writing back & forth to eachother in church. His spelling of the word is first, mine next in parentheses. He is 6, in 1st, and has not had a formal spelling program yet. I've been waiting for him to get to lesson 140 in OPG before starting that. ETA: My other 2 dc never spelled this poorly at all which is why I am a little panicked, but then I used a totally different approach w/ them (Abeka w/ all of its worksheets). three (there) u (a) sch (such) theeng (thing) im (am) hnge (hungry) ca (can) et (eat) liv (live) noth (north) poll (pole) sumtheng (something) inetheng (anything) Thanks for any help evaluating this.

Lol, no. Luke Wilson & his brother (also actors) are pretty goodlooking, too. ;) Would you think less of me if I told you instead of going through the long, drawn out bedtime routine we're currently stuck in around here; last night I was too lazy to do it so I just put the 2 youngest in bed w/ me (dh had to work)? Or, since that one didn't sound too bad, how about this: Would you think less of me because yesterday evening, when the dc wanted to play board games, I had to vaccuum a square of carpet just for a decent enough area to play?

I would LOVE to find this too (American Hist. in SOTW format), but at about a 3rd grade level. Would the spines recommended thus far be appropriate for 3rd grade as well? We're using Winter Promise American Story 1 and it uses The American Story: 100 True Tales... eh, I'm searching for a spine. If I can't find a good narrative one, I wonder if KingFisher, Usborne, or DK makes a US Hist. encyclopedia?

Thanks for all that detail, Jennifer! I was thinking I'd probably need them, but wanted to be sure before shelling out the dough.

Ok, I did search for my answer before making a new thread out of this. :D I'm using Horizons and want to supplement w/ Singapore math (SM is the abbreviation, right? Let's pretend it is.) for both of my sons. If I am only supplementing with it, will I need the HIGs? I want to add Singapore Math because my guys like to "play with numbers", figure out math ideas further than they've been formally taught, and I think they'd really enjoy it. I also want to expose them to more ways of thinking about how to solve equations. With those intentions in mind, do I need the HIGs?

Stripe, I know this is a very old thread, but since you seem to understand the topic well, can you shed some more light on it? I just came across sgbox . com and realized what you wrote here - that they claim Singapore is no longer using any version or edition of Primary Math. Is this site legit? Is the math curricula they are selling really the one(s) being used in Singapore now? Anyone else know anything about this?

Where is the best place to order Singapore Math from? Singaporemath dot com? Sonlight? I've already got a few US edition PM textbooks and workbooks but no HIG's, so to match what I already have I'd need US ed. HIGs, right? Or can Standards ed. HIGs be used w/ US ed. textbooks & workbooks? I've been ho-humming around about using SM as a supplement since January, lol. I bought a couple of things used & liked it, so I'm ready to implement it - just need to know what to get. Is there a manipulatives kit sold for Primary Math? To throw another wrench into the mix, I've seen some Singapore Math items labeled "3rd edition". Where does that fall between US and Std? Is it just another name for one of them, or ___?? Thanks!

I loved the SOTW AG, projects included. 1 projcect per chapter was my goal - at times easily met, and others spilled over into the weekend. Once you find where to buy air-drying clay (for some reason my store had it well-hidden among unrelated items), you'll be set. Making a nile river model was a hit here, too; as was builing pyramids out of homemade clay bricks, writing in wet clay, writing in heiroglyphs, making up their own code of law like Hamarabi (one of which is still hanging on their bedroom door), etc. I don't think we did anything for the Africa chapter (the one w/ the Anansi stories), but we read every single Anansi book our library had - my sons enjoyed them & asked for more. Recently we found an Anansi movie there & checked it out and it sparked discussion of what they learned about Africa last year. I think it does help cement the basic story-line. Projects probably won't help w/ alot of exact information, but for my guys it becomes a reminder of something that stuck out to them from that chapter.

The conspiracy theorist in me says ignore and shred. But as I read through all the responses, two things came to mind. One that's already been mentioned is lobby for use by your family of some of the perks that your tax dollars already pay for (library, the free vision/hearing/etc. exams/testing if you want it/etc.). Another thought is that the kids in ps are going to be our children's peers in the world someday. If the system improves for them, it improves the future peers of our children, in a round-about way. I would def. not put any identifying info. on it. I am suspicious of their motives. I wouldn't go into great detail about religious or political reasons for homeschooling. I do find it offensive that the tone of the survey seems to imply that hsing is not a stand-alone viable option, but rather something some have settled for.

:grouphug: Oh Sue, I'm so sorry you and your family are going through this.

Looking at the subjects you're covering, could you assign light homework for the review of vocab words & spelling words? Could any of the reading or writing be assigned as homework? I'll leave the evaluation of whether that's enough time for middle school, etc. to people who've done middle school. :) I'm just reading & learning.

The only one I can think of not already listed is Jim Arnosky (author). My kids love his artwork, and we read alot of those last year during life science.

Thanks Brenda. That's what I found when I googled it. It says the TM's are only available when purchased w/ a PO or school credit card. How have you gotten around that? I'm still ho-humming around in the back of my mind about whether to really switch - wondering if a different spelling program will really help us get around to doing spelling. :D

People have different thoughts on phonics in 2nd grade, but from my experience I agree w/ SWB. Go ahead and finish up a full phonics program even if the child is reading well. That will prevent the "4th grade slump" when reading material gets harder, words get longer, vocabulary more complicated, etc. They will have the decoding skills under their belt to tackle harder work. Spelling, grammar, penmanship, writing, math, science, history, reading,... looks like a decent load to me. I 2nd the "start slowly" method, adding a couple things in ea. week until you find your limit. Start w/ the most important subjects, and/or ones your dc is already used to having. Then add the others. All the "extras" (non-core subjects) in my signature line get rotated and done in the afternoons as 'tag-ons' to our schoolday - most are done anywhere from 1-2x per week to only 2x/mo.

Wow, I hadn't thought of adding a formal curriculum for reading! That's funny to me b/c I have every part of LA separated out w/ curricula for ea.; I'm trying to get away form that and find a more cohesive way of doing LA. Right now, my 1st grader is doing the last half of OPG for phonics instruction 1x/day, reads begginner's books for practice in fluency out loud to me 1-2x/day, 1 section per week from a 1st grader reader, and reads on his own (probably skimming past words he can't decode yet) during his free time. My 3rd grader reads at-level books for history and science content (many Magic School Bus chapter books), 2 sections per week from a 3rd grade reader which he finds easy (this only takes about 10 min. per session), and is reading The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan out loud with me. I say "with me" because there are words he truly doesn't sound out correctly and some he can read but doesn't know what they mean. I'm using this to stretch his reading level. It's the first above-level chapter book he's really been interested in tackling. How I wish he'd tolerate this with a more classic novel. I feel that if I don't do this "stretching" with him, he'd stay at the same level indefinately. If it were up to him he'd read comics all day long, haha. Those may be read in his own, completely non-school time. Even "free time reading" for school cannot be used on comics.

Thanks, Laura. This would be my 3rd grader's first time using this program so I'm still trying to figure out where to start. I'll google SWO to see if there's a placement test or if the publisher has a site w/ more info. The 2 editions sound like they're the same in content, so I'll go w/ what's cheaper and get the newer ones. The older sports-themed cost more at RR and amazon. Thanks for the help!