Thanks! I was hoping you'd post since I'd seen a few of your posts about how much you love it. Do you use any of the BW subscriptions? I'm not sure I understand what they are all for.

The Writer's Jungle/Bravewriter. It's dictation/copywork/narration just like WWE but I am loving TWJ's attitude toward writing. She encourages giving struggling writer's a break instead of making them write everyday, like some programs suggest. She encourages letting copywork be whatever the kids are interested in, even if it's Lego's lists or song lists or from the novel they are currently reading. But the biggest thing for me is that she is less about making writing fit a formula and more about making it interesting. Trying to make what I wanted to say fit a formula drove me crazy in school and I have heard so many kids papers from IEW that bored me to tears that I refuse to do it, even though it's part of Classical Conversations. All that said, I don't actually have WWE yet so I'll wait until it gets here before I decide for sure.

I just posted about how I got TWJ thinking it would be a nice supplement to WWE and now that I've got it, it looks so amazing that I might just use it! Sorry, that's not helping you quit looking :lol:

I got my TWJ in the mail a couple of days ago and have been reading through it and I'm in love! I keep reading passages out to DH after the kids have gone to bed; he politely listens and then goes back to his video game ;) Seriously, I wish this program had been around for me in high school. All of the things she talks about kids saying to their moms, I remember saying to mine. My original plan was to use WWE/WWS as my spine and compliment it with TWJ but now I don't know, I might have to switch that around. Edited to add: How much supplementing do you do for spelling/grammar/handwriting? Anyone want to tell what using Bravewriter looks like in your home?

I know quite a few families that do two complete math programs but they all do summer school to get it done. Some of them do 3 days a week of one and 2-3 days a week of the other. The others do one program from Sept-Feb and the other Mar-Aug. We're going to start doing 2 programs this year and, for now, go with the first option and do both programs each week. I've picked Saxon and Singapore which are completely different so that if they don't understand a concept in one program, they'll have another option to learn from. We do school through the summer anyway so we actually need two programs to have enough to do.

101 Dalmations Chronicles of Narnia The Borrower books Wind in the Willows Winnie the Pooh books Beatrice Potter books Cheaper by the Dozen Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Rescuers Mrs Piggle Wiggle The Princess and the Goblin Cheaper By the Dozen James Herriot books The last two might have the occasional swear word or farm language but I've been able to edit those out easily. Most of them have bad guys so there is some violence, probably similar to Disney movies. Sorry, but we don't use HOD so I don't know if any of these are ones you already know.

Found it! http://www.gettingstartedwithspanish.com/ Now if it only came in German.

Do you have a link for this?

I think I'm going to get this for this year. All the others seem too hard for my kids and Muzzy is too young for my older two. http://www.amazon.com/German-Children-Audio-Third-Edition/dp/0071745033/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370440074&sr=8-1&keywords=german+for+children

Since you like doing both programs, could you keep both and just spread them out so you are doing less each day? It would take a little longer to get through the books and you'd probably need to do math during the summer but I'm pro summer school anyway. Or let Singapore go for a while and add it back in after you've had a break. I'd have a hard time giving up either one too if they are working so well for both of you. Don't worry about an ideal world, just make it work for you. If you need to drop one of them, your DD will still be bright, it's not going to make her stupid :thumbup:

I still wrestling through this too, but I've been thinking about using Saxon(or ABeka or BJU) and Singapore so that they can have the best of both worlds.

JMO but EIW is too formulaic and much too expensive. I think it produces proficient but boring writers. WWE or TWJ are my preferences. They are affordable and customizable if you need more or less handholding, plus you already have both of the teacher's books.

They'd be great if your kids were studying French! Now if they only came in German! I don't usually have the really creative ideas so I'd just probably get them out and let the kids look through them when I wanted to have a "light day". Edited to finish my post.

So glad to hear this! Our director really pushes Essentials but I'm just not sold on it. I really don't like the formulaic system. I love WWE and TWJ so I have a feeling that by the time we get to Essentials it's just going to clash with what we are already doing. And if I did put my kids in Essentials I would just end up tweaking it constantly and that seems like a huge waste of money x 4! Question though... are they doing any logic in Essentials?

This year we're going to do math every day and reading every day but nothing else. That way summer is a break but we aren't so off a schedule that we can't get back to one in the fall.

I tried Cozi but felt like the cost wasn't justified since I already have a calendar on my iphone that syncs with DH's and I have an app for house cleaning that I love. Should I try it again?

Are those check boxes that can be checked off when you complete something?

Would something like this work? http://www.classicalconversationsbooks.com/trtagecy2.html

Would something like this work? http://www.classicalconversationsbooks.com/trtagecy2.html

Is there a benefit to choosing a math curriculum that goes from elementary through high school so that there is continuity for the students? I've been looking at some of the popular curriculums and Miquon, MM, and a couple others are only for elementary. Beast Academy and AoPS look interesting but they don't have all the grades yet and don't seem to have anything planned for K-2nd. TT doesn't start until grade 3.

I'm so glad this doesn't sound crazy! I'm still not sure if it's going to be Saxon and Singapore or some other combination. There's just so many choices!

Kahn Academy is great or you could use a mastery program to supplement if you feel like he's not understanding problems but Saxon will eventually cover all the topics so if it's just because he hasn't learned something yet that someone think's he should have, I wouldn't worry about it.

KnittingHelp is where I learned to knit. A friend tried to teach me but it was so much easier to watch the videos and replay them as many times as I needed. Knitting is stress relieving and I've just found out I have an overactive adrenal gland (read high stress mama) so it's been a life saver for me the past few months!

Well, I'm just glad I'm not the only one who does something to keep their hands busy while they are teaching or during the "waiting times". Since I can knit without looking now I actually can knit and teach, or, as necessary, put my knitting down and use my hands to explain something. And Sudoku's math logic so that's school too, right :thumbup:

All of my kids are littles so they still need constant attention (and I can remember being homeschool during my high school years and I could have used a little more watching!). I've found that if I sit with them and knit that I have more patience. I have been trying to do housework while they do school but they would get distracted easily and when they needed questions answered I would feel like they were interrupting my work. This way they stay focused and I'm ready to answer their questions.