Thanks for all the advice, everyone. The question is moot now, b/c dh came home from his boy scout campout and said something to the effect of, "There's no way we're buying another curriculum, when we already have one. You just want to buy books." *Sigh* He knows me too well. I'm still looking at SL for the future, though. I like books. I will try not to be discouraged when we don't get a lot accomplished. My difficulty is that dd is bored and misses her friends. We are starting to get involved in our local hs group. I think that will help her a lot. It will just take energy for me to get up and take her. *sigh* thanks for the group therapy. :)

I was looking at Core 1+2 with advanced readers. I wouldn't mind core 1, but I really think she needs the advanced readers. I did their placement test with her and she started missing words at the 5th grade level. So I would imagine that 4th grade books would be just challenging enough. She likes the pages, too. And when dh did history the other day, they had fun together, even though he said it took forever to get the narration out of her. Maybe I should just turn it over to him. . . And maybe she just needs to get used to doing narration. Thanks for the ideas. I feel like it probably is too easy for her. And it just feels so stilted when we are going through the lessons. I'll look into growing with grammar

So, we just started HS 3 weeks ago. I'm really not enjoying it as much as I hoped I might. Part of that is me. I found out I was pregnant the same week I decided to hs. It's so hard to be motivated to do ANYTHING when I'm pregnant. Especially during the 1st trimester (and the 3rd, and maybe the 2nd, too). Anyway, I feel like part of the problem is that I just plain don't like the curriculum we chose. We're doing: Singapore math 2A (I do like this) R.E.A.L. Science Biology 1 (like this too, when I'm not too tired) SWO C FLL 2 WWE2 SOTW 1 w/AG Unfortunately, FLL and WWE don't seem to be a good fit. dd is bored to tears with FLL. She rolls her eyes and refuses to do most of it. I skip all the copywork and such b/c we have WWE. When it's time to do WWE she really digs in her heels. She'll listen to the stories, but doing narration is like pulling teeth. We usually skip the copywork, and she does the dictation grudgingly. We're not enjoying grammar/writing at all. She says that history is her favorite. I decided that I really don't like the AG, though. I'm not crafty. And I don't like making a lot of things that I'll just have to throw away tomorrow (or next week). Plus, it just seems like we're only getting little snippets about the topic of the week, when I want to go into a little more depth. I've realized that we are not reading NEARLY as much as I would like to be. Our library system is large, but I have to put most things on hold, since the individual libraries don't have a huge selection. It's just tedious to figure out which books we need, place a hold, then make the trek out to the library every few days as books come in. And I'd like a little more hand-holding right now as to what would be good books to read. Sooo. . . with all this in mind, I am considering switching over to Sonlight for history and LA. Is it too early for me to give up on the resources that I just bought a few weeks ago? Should I stick it out a little longer to see if things get more enjoyable once I start feeling better? I know there have been many discussions about SL on this forum, but I'd still like to get advice on whether this would be a better fit for us. I'm concerned about trying to convince dh that we should spend MORE $$ on curriculum, when it may be that HS in general is the real problem for me, not the curriculum. My other concern about SL is whether it is too overtly evangelical for us. I don't think it will be, but it's hard to tell. I'm Christian, but not evangelical or protestant, and I would not care for a lot of overt religion in my school materials. So any advice on SL and why it worked (or didn't work) for you would be much appreciated. Thanks,

I bought the hig with 2A. I haven't used it very much yet, but so far , we have been covering material that is mostly review for dd. I like the resources in the back--mental math, charts that are used for manipulatives, games, etc. But since the material so far has been fairly easy, I feel silly using the scripted lessons in the hig. Maybe when we get to harder concepts it will be nice, but for me it's really just a security blanket. Oh yeah, the answer key is really nice, too. Not that the problems are too hard for me :) it's just soo much faster to compare to an answer key.

No, just buy what you are getting already. Later on, if you feel like it's not enough, you can get other workbooks for extra practice. I would recommend the Home Instructor's guide rather than a tm, though.

Just to be clear, REAL Science (by Pandia Press) is different from Real Science 4 Kids. I got confused between them when I first started looking.

Right now my only goal is to survive the next 7 months. When I'm not pregnant anymore maybe my brain will work again and I can start developing it. :) But seriously I want to start reading classic literature. I've always had a hard time reading the classics. I get bored if there's no love story in the plot. :tongue_smilie: I know it's silly. I don't read "romance", but I'm a sucker for o good love story, even if it's only a subplot. If anyone has used The Well-Educated Mind, I'd be interested to hear how it has helped them.

We just started using REAL Science (biology 1). I like it b/c 1) it's all planned out for me, 2) it has lots of experiments and 3) it's inexpensive. They now have sample pages on their website, which was a big factor in helping me decide. I also seriously considered NOEO. It looks really good, but it was more $$.

The FCAT is one of the big reasons I pulled my dd out of school. They are pushing EVERYTHING way early for the sake of the test, but not teaching the kinds of things young children are ready to be learning. dd wasn't scheduled to even start FCATs for another year and a half, but she had an FCAT practice worksheet every week. And she would be in tears when the worksheet told her to "analyze" and "draw conclusions". TWTM really resonated with me when I read that children her age should be absorbing info, and not analyzing it until they are older and better equipped to analyze. I can't say what the reason is for teaching algebra so young, but I think it's a misguided attempt to give kids a head start. Maybe if we introduce it to them early and keep pounding it in, they will get it. IMO, it just leads to frustration and makes kids hate the subjects that they can't understand b/c they're not developmentally ready for them. I do agree with the above post that algebra can be taught earlier in a more concrete way, but I worry that kids aren't getting a good base when things are pushed on them at younger and younger ages. Ok, I'll get off my soapbox now. :)

I can only chuckle in sympathy. My dd never listens to ANYTHING. We have had many "discussions" about this. 50 layers of patience is probably a good start. :) I have also had her start to listen to books on CD in the afternoons during quiet time. Right now she's obsessed with Disney Fairies books. I know, not great literature, but it's fun for her and she listens really intently. Maybe it will help her develop listening skills. Maybe it will help her develop her ability to tune out anything that *I* say to her. I don't know yet. :)

I wouldn't buy the manipulatives from Singapore. They're overpriced. I did get a base-10 set from Rainbow Resources for $25. And I was pleasantly surprised when I got my Home Instructor's guide (Standards 2A). It had all the cards/charts in the back for copying. I also bought a Saxon manipulative kit from Rainbow, but I probably didn't need to. The kids have lots of fun playing with them (it keeps ds3 occupied during math time), but so far, the only thing I've needed is the base 10 set.

Oh, that reminds me, I need to return some books tomorrow. :001_smile: When I was in college, our library had $1/day/book. I had a neighbor that was a day (one day!) late and owed $40.

Another option to consider is signing up for an independent study course. Of course it would be more expensive than just finding a book that you could use. Here is one that I am aware of. It's offered by BYU Independent Study. I'm sure there must be others out there, if you're interested in going that route.

One of my favorite books in elementary school was "Straight Along a Crooked Road" by Marilyn Cram Donahue. I don't know how widely available it is, since it was written by a local author.

Doesn't WTM recommend starting Latin in 3rd grade? (I loaned out my book so I can't look it up myself right now). So, it seems like you could start as soon as you're ready to. I'm looking forward to starting it next fall when dd turns 8.

Thank you! I had been debating whether or not to buy a science curriculum or just piece something together myself. After downloading the sample pages, I've decided that this would be a great curriculum for us.

I trekked off to the "big city" today and spent 4 hours in IKEA :001_wub: I'm coveting the Billy shelves. And the line they mix with is BYOM.

I think I ran through all of the brands with my kids in an atempt to get them to take bottles. Personally, I didn't like the ones with liners b/c there were just too many pieces to mess with. Esp. with a crying baby in one arm. My best friend doesn't use anything else, though. You may want to buy 1 or 2 of several different kinds and see what you like best. At one point I bought the expensive Medela bottles with orthopedic nipples (really odd-looking). They weren't worth the money. In the end my favorites were the cheap Gerber ones with silicone nipples. Stay away from the brown nipples, they get all yucky with time.

I haven't seen any hints. But I can't keep up with all the posts on this site! Just to be safe, I went to Amazon and bought an old library copy of the 1999 Kingfihser encyclopedia. Technically, I don't need it yet, and it won't be totally current when we do use it, but I love having it! My dad spent several days of his Christmas break here flipping through the pages. :)

Here's what SingaporeMath.com says about the difference Primary Mathematics Standards edition is an adaptation of Primary Mathematics to meet the Mathematics Contents Standards for California Public Schools, adopted by the California State Board of Education in 1997 for grades 1-5 as one of the approved textbooks. It is similar to the US edition but has some rearrangement of topics and some added units, primarily in probability and data analysis, negative number, and coordinate graphing. The standards edition components are not interchangeable with the US or third edition components. So it looks like they are pretty much the same. And not interchangeable. I'd stick with what you've got, too.

Wow! My dd does this too! I'm always on the verge of strangling her b/c of her inablilty to listen. It's good to know she's not alone. And I need to remember to practice patience. She's a deep thinker. . . Actually, I think I do this, too. And so does my dad. It just takes a while to process things aurally. I'm very visual. I can read a 500 page book in a day, but I cannot think on my feet at all when I'm having a conversation. My mind goes blank when I try to think of how to answer people. Then several hours later I think, "Oh, that's what I should have said."

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Can anyone compare/contrast 100 easy Lessons with OPGTR? I am about halfway through 100 EL with my ds(5) and I'm getting a little tired of it. He just doesn't seem to get it as easily as dd did (I know, I know, I shouldn't compare my kids--she's naturally more verbal and he's more. . . you know, a boy). I'm just wondering if OPGTR might be a better fit for him. I'm also wondering if it would be better to stick with what's familiar rather than switching mid-stream. Because he IS learning to read. Just kind of painfully right now.

Thanks for all the great advice. I was glad to see the comment about it being easier to HS with a new baby than to get kids off to ps. One of my bigger reservations is, will I be able to deal with morning sickness and HS? I'm still very early in my pregnancy with #4. I also especially like the doses of reality posted above. I think it's important not to get my hopes up about how perfect everything will be. When is like EVER perfect? A little background: my dad and I don't talk about things :) When my mom was still living, she would call and we'd talk for an hour to an hour an a half. More than once a week. I'm an only child and she just needed the contact. Now my dad calls every few weeks and we never stay on the line for more than 20 min. And I think we're both ok with that. I can't imagine us ever getting into a "fight", though. Neither one of us handle confrontation. He may not agree with what I'm doing, but he'll just express his opinion and leave it there. When I talked to him last he mumbled something about "socialization" and I just shrugged my shoulders because I hadn't really formed an opinion on that yet. So, here are my real reasons for wanting to HS. I've had plenty of practice talking these over with dh and convincing him that this will be best for dd (we haven't discussed weather or not it will best for ds's yet--dd is our guinea pig, I suppose) 1. She does not learn a the same rate as the "group". She sits around doing nothing half the day, waiting for the rest of the class to finish an assignment, but consistently misses recess for not finishing other assignments. 2. She needs individual attention, especially in math. She's just not getting it the way they approach it school. 3. Our relationship is suffering when she's gone all day. She leaves at 7 am, comes home at 3pm, and then she's just exhausted and grumpy. (I'm hoping that our relationship won't suffer when I'm her teacher. I think that this will either be the time when I learn more patience or a time that we realize she's better off letting someone else teach :001_unsure:) 4. There's a lot on negative socialization at school. I've already noticed that what so-and-so thinks is more important than what she wants. Ugh! Can't she be social and learn to relate to other people in normal situations, rather than just conforming to what so-and-so thinks at school?

Help! I just sent in my Letter of Intent to HS dd. Grandpa will be coming into town this week and has expressed negative sentiments when I told him I was "thinking" about HS. Well, now I'm not just thinking about it and I need lots of positives to bolster my confidence when I have tell him! I'll start. Now, this is certainly not my main reason, but living in FL, summertime is the worst time of the year to go outside. I'm looking forward to having school all through the summer so that we can have vacations when it's cool and dry and beautiful outside. And maybe we could even visit a place that has snow this winter. . . .