This may seem silly but I'm losing my confidence using BJU as so many in the homeschool world online now appear to be using their dvd/online teachers. I feel like there is a lot less online support for the parent led users than there has been in the past. I've used about one - two BJU subjects per year (history, science or english) as I can afford to buy it. I really like their textbooks. I can't always buy new and it is hard to find the consumables or TM that match older editions so sometimes I have to modify. I don't live in a country that can access DLO and shipping the dvds here is cost prohibitive. So some questions for those of you who like BJU and are current or past users.... Would you still use BJU if you could only get the student textbook? Why or why not? Any tips on how you would use BJU cheaply? (My children are 11 and 15).

ah yes, I see what you mean .... and I completely understand the desire to have a option that doesn't need a lot of tweaking!

I've used HOD's CTC and SOTW but not at the same time. I think it's a great idea to use SOTW on the fifth day. My only caution would be that CTC and SOTW are quite thorough so it would be a lot of history for your ds to take in each week but if it works for him then it would make for a fuller year. We didn't like the books in CTC ... just quickly glancing at the economy package on their website, I can recognise five that didn't work for us! But you said you like the books so that may not be an issue for you. The student notebook is fantastic and was the highlight of our year. I know you were asking about CTC but would you consider doing Preparing with extensions with your ds? Preparing gives a great overview of history and I personally wouldn't want to miss it. HTH

Which ones do you do daily? I already do some cardio exercise but I want to develop a quick routine (5 - 10 mins) to work on my stomach muscles. I don't want to use any equipment or have to pop in a dvd. I would really appreciate links to a diagram or youtube clip if you have examples to share with me.

Exactly! And it took me a very, very long time to realize that's why all my yahoo homeschool groups were so quiet ....

Yes I agree but the part of my personality that is bewildered by technology is getting worse with age!

But I think a lot of groups and companies use facebook to communicate - in fact, one of my husband's church groups only uses facebook to communicate and if you're not on facebook then you miss important information.

I could have written this ... even the bit about pretending not to have a cell.

I'm in my mid forties. I've always been slow to learn how to use technology and I see myself getting further behind. I'm not talking about keeping up with technology for the sake of "keeping up with the Joneses". I'm really thinking about my future ability to pay bills, deal with health care providers, banking, communicating with organisations, re-enter the full time workforce etc. I'm not really looking for advice but just wanting to know if I'm the only one.

DD15 did CLE math up to grade 8 but found it that level difficult and didn't even finish the last three lightunits. While I have been looking what to do next we have been reviewing concepts using ctc math and an old textbook etc. DD11 is using Math U See (alpha to epsilon) and I like the dvd instruction and the way concepts are explained. I gave DD15 the math u see placement test and she placed in Algebra. I know math u see is considered light but I have read that some Moms using it as a pre algebra before moving onto something else so I am keeping that in mind as a possibility later on. Any thoughts on switching to Math U See at this level? Would she miss the main benefits of math u see because she didn't do the elementary years?

I don't see that many reviews for the products Christian Liberty press create to go along with other publishers' textbooks. I'm interested in their teacher manuals, tests/answers keys which match Abeka textbooks (science and literature).

I don't see that many reviews for the products Christian Liberty press create to go along with other publishers' textbooks. I'm interested in their teacher manuals, tests/answers keys which match Abeka textbooks (science and literature).

Thankyou! I'm feeling better knowing I'm not the only one :001_smile:

Good point but unfortunately I haven't noticed an increase in difficulty .... plus we actually school year round so have gotten through a lot of the curriculum already.

I guess I should have known that not everything that is billed as "high school" level is actually high school level .. right? I've homeschooled for almost 10 years but I can't remember wasting so much time in research - and money from buying things - on curriculum as I have this year. Admittedly Dd is not very academic so I have had to choose carefully and I knew that I wasn't choosing the most rigorous of material but still ... some things just don't even seem challenging than middle school curriculum.

For a long time, I have had a system of precooking/freezing partial meals and cooking up rice or sides when it came time to reheating. But I recently realized that my family rarely eat dinner together and this system doesn't really work for us anymore. In addition, people don't seem to eat when I expect them to. Dh has now got an unpredictable job and may be running late from one commitment before rushing off to another ... sometimes he wants to take his dinner to reheat where he is going but sometimes he can't or doesn't want to. The kids sometimes decide at the last minute they want to eat after their activity instead of before (and v.v). They don't have time to cook anything up for themselves. Plus there are a few food intolerances and strong food preference issues to deal with .... you get the picture .... I still like the idea of freezing meals but wondering if I should freeze more complete meals in individual servings so dh and the kids can choose reheat their serving at home when they want or have the option of taking their container with them. Any other ideas?

would you please help me understand how it works? We have only just started and because it seemed very light we are doing two days' worth every day. Neither of us can find the answers to the worksheets within the "Discovery of Design" reading scheduled for that day. Also, I have noticed the questions from the worksheets (at least so far) use the same questions from the book but in the book they are under the heading "for further study" ..... to me that means the authors are suggesting ideas for additional research using other resources beyond just reading the text but that's not how the same questions are presented in the worksheet. There is an answer key but I want to do more than just read the answers out to my student. Am I missing something? Will it be like this the whole way through?

:grouphug: Thankyou for posting the article :grouphug:

I'm interested too ...

Thankyou .... it's interesting you should say that because that's just what I was planning on doing (supplementing). What are some of the other options you liked for middle school/high school science and history? I was attracted to Rod and Staff because it looked like a straightforward and solid base which would allow time for adding literature, videos etc.

I think most subjects stop at 9th grade? I'm interested in some of their books from grade 7 - 9.

Thanks for the example. That is really making me pause ... especially when you consider how much warfare features in history!

Thanks Hollyhock ... I appreciate all that info!

Anyone have anything to share about Rod and Staff's middle and high school science and history? I haven't seen many reviews so anything you could tell me about them would be appreciated! I'm generally interested in grades 7 - 9 for both subjects; particularly in the grade 9's history as it looks most promising at this stage.

Anyone have anything to share about Rod and Staff's middle and high school science and history? I haven't seen many reviews so anything you could tell me about them would be appreciated! I'm generally interested in grades 7 - 9 for both subjects; particularly in the grade 9's history as it looks most promising at this stage.