Awesome ideas, we are doing SOTW 2 this year as well.

I bought the Kindle book after reading recs on here for it. I really like it and I'll be using it for my 3rd and 5th graders this fall. And hey, $10 including free online pronunciation files. Killer deal! :laugh:

YES! It IS a right handed world and there are a lot of concessions we lefties have to make. Let him have this one. :closedeyes: I cross right to left as well.

If you can't find it through your library, Rainbow Resource or Amazon. I'd check both and see which one works out cheaper.

My 8 year old is fascinated with the Dr. Frankenstein's Body Lab app, http://us.dk.com/static/cs/us/11/features/apps/drf/ as well as the "Squishy Human Body" kit http://www.smartlabt...human-body.html (we bought ours at Barnes and Noble).

Lit and curricula we buy used whenever possible. Our local library is pretty small, and used is better for the budget than buying everything brand spanking new.

Trying to come up with a list for my soon to be 5th Grader. He read the Chronicles of Narnia last year and really enjoyed them, but for the most part the rest of the Great Books Academy list we went through were pretty boring for him. He plugged through Little Women, The Cat of Bubastes, and a number of others, but he wasn't especially riveted by them. I think we will be going a different direction for next year. We plan on The Hobbit (he loves it already) but I would like ideas for some others. Stuff to really fire his imagination and get him to enjoy novels like C.O.N. did. He'd be thrilled if I assigned him Diary of A Wimpy Kid, but.... well.... you know. I don't mind current/popular novels, but I do want them to be well written stories and not marshmallow fluff. He can (and does) read fluff on his own time.

Thanks for this. I was looking for good books for my rising 3rd grade boy. He read the Little House series last year and really enjoyed it, especially Farmer Boy. OP, I know you've got gobs already and probably don't need any more recommendations but I think Shannon Hale has some great books for girls a little bit older than yours (Princess Academy and The Books of Bayern series). Might be worth looking at in the future.

While dance and gymnastics classes are short at this age, don't discount that as a valuable social opportunity. There may not be a lot of time commitment, but having something she looks forward to each week counts for a lot. Are there any specific kinds of group lessons she is interested in taking? Could be a good carrot to dangle. It helped a lot when my younger son started scouts and had that something to look forward to once a week. He stopped asking to go back to public school after that.

Taking 3 classes in an 8 week session would be the equivalent of taking an 18 credit hour semester. (Assuming they are all 3 credit classes) So, not impossible, but difficult if you have lots of other commitments. For me, too, it would depend on what I was trying to learn in that time. Art History? Cake. Biology? I'd be crying to the heavens for a mercy kill. YM and difficult subjects MV. :glare:

We switched once and I'm pretty determined to stick with the new program.

Great thread. We hacked through it via audiobook this year with my youngest son and even I didn't like it. The narrator's Miss Rottenmeier was shrill and obnoxious and I could hardly stand listening to it.

I used these when my oldest son was that age. He loved them. Very sturdy. http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Pattern-Blocks-Boards/dp/B00006JZCG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369334647&sr=8-1&keywords=melissa+and+doug+tangram

Don't be too jealous. :) Our local library is shared with a very small school and is itty bitty. I had to go to a large library in a big city several hours away to find them. I'm not a landowner in that city so I pay a premium to belong to that library. Still worth it.

TT- never thought I could teach math without having to "teach" it SOTW Lego WeDo Robotics And for all-around homeschooling planning and advice, WTM and Cathy Duffy's 101 Top Picks.

I'm listening with interest. We aren't doing this in a co-op, but I did use SOTW 1 for my boys this last year and I don't want to do a chapter a week for (what is it, 42 weeks?) Last year we did a chapter a week at first and then accelerated to 2 per when we realized we'd be working well through the summer with it. To do 2 chapters we did reading on Monday and Wednesday and then activities on Tuesday and Thursday with Friday off or review or special activities.

Yes. I wish they were too. I was able to track them down eventually at a big city library, but that took quite a few visits and reserving them.

Good to know, thank you. My boys still love cartoons (as well as all the live action superheroes their Dad can show them :closedeyes: ) so luckily I don't think that will be a problem for me. OP, this is a great deal so thank you for posting it. I think I'll pick it up as well as Carmen Sandiego. :hurray:

Stack the States (and Stack the Countries- it's great that we can use it in French!) Dr. F's Body Lab (good for learning anatomy and a big hit with my boys.... it would have made me squeamish as a kid) Cookie Factory Sushi Monster

For those who have used Liberty's Kids, what age range do you think it would appeal to?

I began homeschooling both my kids last year after they spent all their early elementary years in the PS system. My oldest has never looked back. He loves the flexibility HS offers him. My younger is having a harder time. I think he misses his friends that he doesn't get to see as often, despite my best efforts. I value his input, but ultimately, I made the decision that we would continue homeschooling because it works best for our family situation. I will do what I can to help him enjoy this decision more, but at this point, I feel it is mine to make.

There are a couple of separate links in that thread, make sure you go through all of them. One of them has a list of audiobooks that are completely free once you "purchase" the free Kindle book; and another is a list of 99 cent titles once you purchase the free Kindle book. I think you have to be an Audible member as well, (they are always having new member specials) but once you purchase the books they are yours to keep regardless of whether you are a current member.

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/456019-free-books-audiobooks-from-amazon-audible/page__hl__audible#entry4924324

We love the Lego WeDo Robotics set, which we will be using again this year with expansion packs. We'll likely be moving on to Mindstorms next year.

That would annoy me as well, though I wouldn't lump DH in with the rest of the lot. Fortunately, we don't get a lot of it, as I live in a remote area where homeschooling tends to be viewed as a little less "fringe" than you see in some areas.