Nm

I just messaged you!

bumping....anyone?

I will never stray from Corelle! When we got married we got 8 place settings on beautiful, but heavy dinnerware. Then came kids. I bought Corelle on a Black Friday whim and LOVE it. I will never go back to anything that is heavy and bulky again.

I bought the 8th grade book this year for my 7th and 8th graders. It was a gorgeous book, but I opted for the Memoria Press American history program instead because I just needed a more focused (smaller) book that wasn’t an every day thing. However, I’m seriously considering the 7th grade Western civ book for my 8th grader next year. I love the idea of a total history review before he goes to public high school. I’m not worried about the reading level being too easy or anything. It’s the content that I want to stick and I know that I personally learn better when things are below my reading level. Following for others opinions because I’d love to hear how others are liking this book!

Wow, your first three points really hit home. You know that old kid song 'I won't grow up!"? Well, today I was kind of singing it around my 8th grader...."I won't grow up (I won't grow up), I don't wanna go to school (I don't wanna go to school)...and out of the blue he says "I do". I laughed because he really does want to go. That was my first realization. He would not have a good attitude because he really does want to go. Second, our state is this way. It is all or nothing, which is very scary. Third, I fear that I won't have the time or energy to give him the kind of education he needs. Hence, the online classes. My good friend's son is doing Kolbe and they LOVE it. But she said it costs over $5000. He is the oldest of 7, but then again, as my husband says..her husband is a doctor :-) Alright-I have some thinking to do. Thank you for spelling this out for me. I just love our homeschool life so much, and it's hard to think about my first little chick flying the coop.

So, I am college educated and used to be a K-6 teacher. But. as my 8th grader approaches HS (not entirely sure he's going to PS or not), I am starting to at least think about our options. I feel totally out of my league! Not only am I not really equipped to teach HS subjects, I have 5 other ones that need my time and attention. Not to mention the fact that he wouldn't WANT me teaching him anyway. Which begs the question-how do you all afford the outsourcing? I've looked at things like BJU, Memoria Press, Kolbe. $500-$600 per class for the live classes times 5 equals a LOT of money. And that's just one year. And that's just one kid. Sigh. So, if you are homeschooling high school and are on a budget, what do you use? Is there a curriculum out there that is relatively student driven and independent? Or, what are my options?

I know this has been talked about before, so feel free to link me to any previous threads. Now that the weather is getting colder, I am once again trying to find clean movies that interest my 13 year old all the way down to my 3 year old. Here's what I DON'T want -Children being disrespectful to their parents or siblings -Bad language (inc. idiot, stupid, loser, etc) THIS IS A BIG ONE that really bothers me -sex or any reference to We've already watched a lot of the classics including Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, Red Velvet, Parent Trap, Pollyanna, Wizard of Oz, The Love Bug, Swiss Family Robinson, 10,000 Leagues Under the Sea, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and the safer Disney picks including Finding Nemo, Lion King, Little Mermaid, Meet the Robinsons, Dory, Cars, Toy Story, Beauty and the Beast. Whenever I find a movie that looks okay, I look it up on Common Sense Media and something is always off putting to me. I cannot believe what some of these movies have in them. And my kids notice EVERYTHING so the argument that it will go right over their heads just isn't true. They hear, they see, they emulate. Personally, I'd rather not do the movie night thing altogether but it's one of their favorite things to do on a Saturday night with popcorn and the whole shebang. Is there a grand list somewhere, or what can you add for us?

So, from a financial point of view-my plan makes no sense. If I do IEW with my kids in 4th and 5th, then I'm stuck because I will buy Level 2 Years 1 and 2 (for my older kids). Part of why I didn't mind buying it was because I thought my younger kids could use it (in 6th/7th), which would make it very worth it only to have to buy the additional binder. But now, it looks like I'd be buying 4 years of IEW. That's what I'm concerned about-4 years of IEW. I guess it's only $300 or so, but my husband won't be happy if we don't use it after paying for the forever streaming.

Hi, So, to make a long story short, I needed a "get er done" writing curriculum for my 7th and 8th graders, to take them from a sorry state of writing ability-to a pubic school ready state. We chose the new Structure and Style by IEW, Year 1 of level B. We are in week 6 and are loving it so far. Seriously, it's so easy for me to monitor and I love the DVD teaching by a teacher that is much funnier and clearer than I could ever be. Mr. Pudewa is quite entertaining and I hear my boys laughing from the other room quite often. I know I'll get Year 2 next year for my then 8th grader. They will probably be off to public high school. My questions revolves around my 4 younger kids coming up the line. They are in 4th, 3rd, 2nd and a toddler. I had planned to do the progymnasmata program from MP. We use mostly MP and while I adore the curriculum, I'm just unsure about this method of writing. We have Fable and I had planned to start it, but something is holding me back. Maybe it's seeing how easy IEW is for my older crew? Maybe it's the fear of spending the $$$ on online classes when I need to outsource (which would likely be from 6th on up for every kid if I stayed with their progression). That's some serious cash. So...if I looked at IEW for the long-haul, I just don't get it. My 4th grader could do Level A Year 1 and then Year 2 in 4th/5th. But then what? Move on to Level B Year 1 in 6th? I see that it's constant review so it's basically teaching the exact same thing, just at different levels. In fact, I just watched the sample video for Level A and lesson 1 is exactly the same as Level B-with a different source text. I'll leave my question open-ended because I'm not sure exactly what I'm asking. Why would one stay with IEW the whole way? Wouldn't it get repetitive? Where would I break away? Could I someone do BOTH the progymnasmata and IEW? Please tell me your plan if you love IEW. Thanks.

I forgot to mention that I'm trying to not drink as much pop. My big puffy heart love is Cherry Pepsi.

I'm just wondering if you are rethinking that plan at all? My son really wants to go to High School, and that has always kind of been the plan. (Although now that I'm homeschooling 8th grade, I feel that HS is totally doable whereas it scared the bejeesus out of me before). However, my husband is doubtful that the world will be back to normal by then. Remember, we're talking a year from now. And I'm realizing that the curriculum choices I chose for him this year are not the same choices I'd make for him *if* he were to stay home for 9th. But, it seriously never occurred to me that we'd still be a potential mess next year at this time. And maybe it won't-who knows. So, is my husband the only one thinking that far ahead?

I don't drink coffee, and that's what most people I know have in the morning to get going. I emerge from my bed (even after a shower) pretty half-asleep with no desire to get things rolling. And yet, i need to emerge fresh and energetic (or at least that's the dream!). OR, around 3:00 when I feel like I need a nap-maybe something then would help me? I don't really want something unhealthy per se, just something with some natural caffeine or something to get me going-for the love of God. So, hit me with your favorite good-tasting drinks that give you some energy.

Hi, I could use some advice from those of you juggling 4-5-6 or more kids. I will be schooling 5 kids plus the 3 year old. Here are my biggest concerns that I really need to change this year, for my own sanity. 1. Chaos and noise. This is the biggest one. It seems like my house is very chaotic from morning until night, and the older I get, the more it's starting to drive me batty. I need order and calm at least some of the time-especially when I'm teaching someone 1-1.. I have 6 kids constantly mulling around the same two rooms distracting each other. 2. My two older kids (6th/7th last year) came home from public school and their work last year was mediocre at best. I know it's a learning curve but it didn't seem to get any better as the year went a long. They "got it done" but rarely was their any real thought or quality to their work. WORK ETHIC. Seriously missing. And sloppiness. I know it's all in my expectations, but we had so much to do and so I let some of it slide as I just tried to survive. I do NOT have this problem with my next 3, who have been homeschooled since the beginning. 3. The older boys only like to do their work in the living room, which is the heart of the chaos (open concept home). They do have desks in our sunroom, which is off of the kitchen. My husband just suggested bringing their desks downstairs so maybe that will take care of that? 4. I need some kind of routine to our day. I started last year with this grand plan, even telling them WHERE they had to be at any certain time of day. That fizzled out quickly. We had kind of a rhythm to our day, but this coming year it is crucial that we have a routine. Do you all have a routine/schedule? Anything in particular work? 5. Just overall attitude and mood. My oldest boys (7th and 8th) are good kids, but they like to complain. I hear about it if they don't want to do something and it's grating on me. It's "why, no, i don't want to, why do we have to do that"...all the time. The don't see why we're studying grammar, Latin, or why they have to do a second page of math. Honestly, it's everything and a terrible example to set for their younger siblings. I would appreciate any advice or suggestions for how to make this year better.

I'm looking at using this next year, but just can't find very many people who use it. Right now, we mostly use book guides from MP. I like doing a few of these every year, but also like the variation that I see in anthology type programs. I'd love to hear your experience if you've used it-to sway me one way or another. Also, if anyone has any to sell, please let me know. This is one expensive curriculum!

I'm thinking through my Spelling options for next year, and can't seem to make a decision. You see, I'm not content with any spelling options I've used/seen thus far. We have been using MP's Traditional Spelling for 1st and 2nd (and like it), but those are the only two grade levels they have. MP recommends you continue on with Spelling Workout, and I'm just not jiving with that. I've also considered Building Spelling Skills from CLP, but not sold on that either. And so, I'm looking at the 6 levels of AAS that I have on my shelf. I used this with my older kids when they were the only 2 doing school. Now I have 6 and I need something for my upcoming 2nd, 3rd and 4th grader. Putting them in 3 separate Spelling workbooks would be a lot of correcting/spelling tests for me, and we're already doing quite a bit of workbook type learning. And so, I'm considering using AAS, but wondering how/if they would work with those ages. My 2nd grader is at a much different level than my 4th grader. But then again, if we started near the beginning then they could all get those foundational skills/rules learned. Pros: Could teach them together, not a workbook, nothing to correct Cons: Teacher intensive, can't meet them at their level Would what you do?

I need recommendations for a science program for my kids in grades 2,3,4 next year. For obvious reasons, I want to combine them and do one program. Here is what I’m looking for- 1. 2-3x/week max 2. Christian but not in your face YE 3. low teacher prep time 3. minimal experiments Things I’ve already ruled out are TGTB (gives me a heart attack when I look at the supply lists!) and Nancy Larson. We’ve dabbled in Mystery Science but want something a little meatier and book based. Thoughts?

Hi, It's been awhile since I've sold anything on Paypal, and I have a question. I just sold a few things, and got an email that the buyer paid. However, the money is listed in my account as "pending" even though it's been several days. It has a button to "verify" or decline the payment, which I don't ever remember doing in the past. I do have a credit card linked and I usually just keep the money I make in my Paypal account, which is what I want to do this time. But my account says I have a zero balance, even though 2 people have paid. What am I missing? Did the money get transferred to my credit card? (I can't look because I don't have online access). How can I get those monies to be in my PP account? I do NOT want to link bank information, which is what they're asking me to do to verify. Thanks so much.

Interesting. We have only done up until grade 6 and I wondered if 7th and 8th started with the literary elements a bit more. But, I also want my kids to really delve into reading all of those classics, and with the slow pace of MP (and I get why the slow pace), it seems they're pretty limited to just the 4 books a year. Mostly because my kids just aren't going to pick up Sir Gawain and the Green Night or something like that, and understand it without my involvement. And being that I have 6 kids, it's hard to find the time for that you know? That's why I considered CLE (and Mosdos actually) because if it just gets done, than that's better than nothing I guess?

I'd actually like to hear more about this. What do you mean when you say "their nonresistant views"? That is one thing I'm concerned about and I'd like to know just how it presents itself. We are Christian, but not of the same beliefs as them so I have wondered how much that would filter into the reading. I'd love to hear you elaborate on that if you have the time!

We are doing the lit guides from Memoria Press this year, and while I like some aspects of them, it's getting pretty rinse and repeat. I'm looking for something deeper-somewhat varied/creative activities instead of just answered 5-8 questions every day. Nothing too crazy-but just something that introduces literary elements and gets them ready for high school. I've considered CLE but the reviews there seem to be mixed. What gem is there out there that I haven't found yet?

My husband just returned, and they are now under a mandatory "self-isolation" for 2 weeks. Just curious if other companies around the country did the same.

That is a good point. I've been so focused on closing the holes that I saw that I haven't given him much input into school at all. He's just not that academically motivated. He's not into science or math at all, and doesn't seem to jive with history either. He loves to fish, farm and cook. Oh, and be around anything that breathes. So what could I offer him that would fit into one of those categories? And I've searched and searched for a local farm that he could work or volunteer at, to no avail.

Well-the only thing he's getting to do because I'm not paying private school tuition, is Farm camp. I do run a pretty tight ship (kind of have to) with 6 kids, so I admit I'm pushing him pretty hard academically and he knows it. After 2 years in school, he had a lot of holes. He kind of resents any kind of grammar study (says public school kids don't have to learn it) and then there's Latin, which *I* can see is doing wonders for all of my kids, but again, he doesn't see it. When he was in school, he literally loved it. He couldn't see any drawbacks-he loved being gone all day and never had a negative thing to say. He's the type of kid that wakes up early and has to be busy busy busy all day every day. i'm the opposite, so I just can't understand that kind of extrovertism (if that's a word?). One thing we did this year was buy a ski pass so there were a few times that he went early, around 2:00. But not very many because we just don't get done with school that early. We have gone on some field trips, but again, that doesn't really do it for him. I'm not sure what else I could do? He would love to get a job so that may be an option when he turns 14. Next year is his 8th grade year, and I have him enrolled with 1 online class which I think he'll love. I'm hoping after he gets a taste for it, maybe he'll see that taking 2-3 online classes could be acceptable. He's also doing a literature discussion group which I think will have the same flavor.

I went through this "sweetening" thing last year too, and he's not buying it. I even offered Disneyworld! But like I said, he's doing fine being homeschooled but sometimes I think he's just biding his time. I actually think if he did 1/2 the day in HS, he would be fairly satisfied. Gosh, idk. I just had someone tell me I was crazy that I wouldn't consider HS because after all "I went there" and I"m fine. (We live in the same city as I grew up and it's the same HS). But obviously, we know how things have changed.