If by "ill" you mean amazing, then yeah. I get it.

I feel like if we had a dedicated homeschool room, we would dump everything in there and it would be a pain to keep up. We live in a two bedroom apartment, and if we don't clean up all of our school stuff when we're done, we won't have a functional living space for the rest of the day.

HSLDA just posted this on facebook: "BREAKING NEWS!!! The Romeikes can stay!!! Today, a Supervisor with the Department of Homeland Security called a member of our legal team to inform us that the Romeike family has been granted "indefinite deferred status". This means that the Romeikes can stay in the United States permanently (unless they are convicted of a crime, etc.) This is an incredible victory that can only be credited to our Almighty God. We also want to thank those of who spoke up on this issue--including that long ago White House petition. We believe that the public outcry made this possible while God delivered the victory. This is an amazing turnaround in 24 hours. Praise the Lord. Proverbs 21: 1 "The king's heart is like a stream of water directed by the Lord, He guides it wherever He pleases." ~~Michael Farris" I'm shocked, to say the least.

Handwriting without Tears. Tried it, hated it. My daughter had such a hard time forming letters and I had a hard time with the fact that they only have a bottom line and a middle line, without a top line. Unfortunately, 6 months later my daughter pulled it out of the closet and started doing it for fun. She loves it now. I still have to draw in the top line to satiate my OCD.

Happy Phonics.

All the creationists we know use Apologia.

Hits -Reading Lessons Through Literature -Life of Fred -Math Mammoth (even though we've had our rocky moments with it) Misses -The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading -Telling God's Story

Thanks! I just purchased Living Memory and Reading Lessons Through Literature 2 with the GETIT25 code.

Thanks! I bought the PDF, the text, and the audio when it was on sale for Thanksgiving. That's a great idea, having my son do the coloring pages too. I never would have thought of that. Thanks! I'll try to remember this. Thanks! I'll try to remember that next year.

Can I ask which Usborne Internet linked History Encyclopedia? I googled it and quite a few came up. I love the idea though!

Hmmm...it seems that I was under the impression that people added a lot more. Thanks all. This is a relief to hear. I don't want anything too heavy for 1st grade history or science.

Sorry for starting yet another SOTW thread, but I need some help! We're going to be starting the first one soon and I have no idea what to buy with it. Our library stinks, but I also don't want to spend too much on 1st grade history (if I did, I would have gone with ToG). Any advice?

We struggled with OPGTR too. My daughter made so much progress but she hated phonics/reading. We've been doing Reading Lessons Through Literature for the past two weeks and it's been a breath of fresh air for us. I wholeheartedly recommend trying something else.

Sorry, double post.

My intentions were to do a year of American history with Adventures in America before moving on to SOTW in 1st, but we were doing it less and less until it just stopped completely. And I think I'm okay with that (even though I loved the program). Homeschooling is a marathon and we have 12 years of history ahead of us. So I vote for just starting SOTW in 1st.

Has anyone used Calvert's Discoveries in Music? Is it worth the money? If not, what would you recommend? I have an almost 1st grader who has shown no interest in music, but I want her to have some exposure to it.

We're starting the spelling lists on Monday, even though I'm still not entirely sure how they work. Does it look easy enough?

We just started Reading Lessons Through Literature after a year of OPGTR torture (Okay, that's a strong word. It just didn't work for us). I'm excited. :hurray:

I gave my daughter a Free Day off of School coupon in her Christmas stocking, which she used today. I'm surprised she did two whole days of school before using it.

We're almost done with Apples and we're completely in love with it. It IS weird and random, but for us, that's a plus. I've learned so many random things from it (we learned about the Titanic today). We would never do it on a daily basis, but our Fred Fridays are priceless.

I forced a friend to tell me what happens and now I refuse to read it.

I forced a friend to tell me what happens and now I refuse to read it.

Thanks! You've been very helpful. I think what I'm going to do is try the sites you listed and do a special shopping trip. If I have a difficult time finding multiple items or the prices aren't reasonable, I may try Noeo or Nancy Larson.

I did see the list. I don't have a lot of the items, and a few are foreign to me (wouldn't know aquarium tubing if it was staring me in the face). I guess I'm just being lazy because there are already so many things to plan and print out that I didn't even think of doing a science program without an experiment kit.

Is it worth buying without the kit? I was going to do Biology for the grammar stage with my daughter, but the experiment kit isn't available and won't be for a few months. Should I pass on it and try a different program or is the kit not all that necessary?