I am using SOTW IV with a 2nd grader and a 4th grader, no problems. Like Suzanne said, the issue raised most often is that it's a more difficult time period to study, and more disturbing. Personally, I don't see how it's any more disturbing than the wars, plagues, beheadings and so forth in the previous volumes! It is closer in time, of course, which bothers some people, but I find that kids make little distinction between thirty years ago and three hundred years ago. There aren't as many coloring pages and super easy activities as earlier volumes, but that's easy to supplement, or simply have the 2nd grader draw his own picture. My 2nd grader enjoys the map work, they both answer questions and discuss, they both do some of the activities, and the 4th grader does the outlining and reads extra books sometimes.

I'm glad you decided to stick with it. It's impossible to read ALL of the classics, so of course there's a certain amount of picking and choosing. But I do think some books are worth struggling through, enjoyable or not, and I include Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn on that list - - particularly for American students. Huckleberry Finn can wait for high school, though; it's definitely a deeper, more troubling book, even though it's lighthearted on the surface.

Have you asked your son how he thinks he can make it right? I'd also ask the 'victim' for his input. I wouldn't think in terms of things like doing his chores, but rather things directly related to the incident. Can he amuse his brother when he's recovering from dental procedures? Lend him a favorite book/game? It's not right for your ds to rationalize his actions, but I'm sure he was shot through with guilt, fear and horror at what his actions resulted in. I would want to address that, but I'd rather do that in the context of family/parenting, rather than community service. Your son has expressed a fear that other kids will blame him and hate him for what he has done. Multiply that fear a thousand times to know what he is worried about on the home front from you and his brother, even if you have told him that no one hates him and that he's not a bad person. He will probably need to hear that more than once. If he's open to an honest conversation, I'd discuss not cheapening his regret with rationalizations. If he's not, I'd tell him to listen without talking, and just tell him your thoughts on the matter (prefaced with 'no one hates you!') and that you won't bring it up again, but you don't want to hear excuses and you hope that one day his heart follows. Community service? It's great, as a learning experience; not so great as a punishment, imo. More so, I think dragging it out over months could have a negative effect on him, and on family relations in general. I oversaw many teens doing community service when I worked for a non-profit. Hundreds of them. I never, ever saw someone's heart changed by forced community service. The kids who were sorry for what they had done walked in sorry; the kids who were unrepentant remained so. I would indeed separate community service from this incident. Your ds did a stupid, stupid thing that had horrifying consequences. He cannot 'make it right' as he would a simpler wrong. I would go for immediate, quick consequences for this, and address any underlying concerns with a more long-term plan that isn't directly related to this.

Regarding the dvds: It is set up with her as the classroom teacher, standing in front of her 'class' (viewers) teaching the lesson, and there are more explanations and examples given than in either the cd or the teacher's manual. I like the ease of the dvds, and I definitely find the extra details to be helpful.

There's a teacher's manual, which is mostly helpful for quick checking of work, a cd and a dvd set. The cd is invaluable, imo - - it makes vocab practice so very easy, especially if you have a cd player in the car. The dvds aren't strictly needed for Prima, but they make life easy (and, in LC1, I wouldn't want to be without them).

Like Susan in IL, I'd consider taking her out and reconsidering when she is high school age (assuming you have a high school available with many honors and advanced classes). Three years is a very long time to sail by in academics.

Keep in mind that I can only answer from my own perspective - - I personally think 5 is very young to be without mom for several weeks (can't remember how old the other kids are), even if dad is the one staying with her. Neither dh nor I would be away from the kids for that length of time unless it was unavoidable, and as much as I love my sister, her having a baby isn't an emergency, kwim? It's her second one; she's not even a rookie :D Also, dad will be home, but he'll be WORKING. I think that may be more stressful than you guys are anticipating. Instead, can you take a REAL break for a shorter period of time, say a long weekend? Leave dh home with the kids and go to a hotel near by, or a friend's house. Maybe also take a day to focus on dd. Two or three shorter breaks is more doable than one very long one. Then, when your sister has the baby, go to her for a much shorter period of time, a week or ten days.

I personally would not send the picture in a sympathy card - I would focus on condolences only, or fond memories of the deceased if that's applicable. Rather, I would send a follow-up note a couple of days later, saying that you thought they might enjoy seeing the kids.

I'd say that two weeks is very little time to see improvement in anything. It's also possible they need more explicit instruction in forming letters, rather than just copying.

I second Whisperlily: they need a steady trickle of information, not one or two big 'talks.' We answer all questions, and I bring things up when I think they really ought to know (but haven't asked). For example, I would start telling a girl about menstruation starting at 7 or so, if it somehow didn't come up from her seeing commercials or stuff around the house. I have definitely found that the info needs to be repeated - - my kids have made inaccurate comments about things that have been explained to them. Once is rarely enough! In addition to casual conversations that they or I start, I make sure to address various things as part of science class. It makes it more matter-of-fact, just one more thing to learn about. My girls are 7 & 9. So far, I have chosen to NOT hand them books like "What's Happening to My Body?" to read alone. These books tend to cover a lot of ground - - the details on development, etc are great, but they also usually cover lots of 'extras' like body image, eating disorders, dating, and so forth. If you have a child who isn't comfortable bringing things up or asking questions in this area, you might need to do this (but I'd still pre-read).

I don't 'count' days at all - - do you need to? For legal purposes? If so, I'd have no trouble calling that a full day. Schools have heavy and light days. If you don't need to track it, I certainly wouldn't bother!

Whenever I'm tempted to do that, I just remember my business training: Never allow a sunk cost to affect decisions. That money is spent, no matter what. You need to evaluate potential science programs on their own merit, without considering what you have spent in the past. Persisting in a bad decision (using curriculum that doesn't work for you) won't 'save' you money; that money is spent and gone no matter what. Don't consider not buying something new to be saving money - - that only 'saves' money if you ignore your original goal (having an effective science curriculum). The money has been spent; it is gone no matter what you do. If you persist in using something that doesn't work, it's just wasting time and energy as well. The only way it should affect you is to remind you to investigate curriculum as thoroughly as possible before buying in future, to reduce the chances of a dud.

I think that 9, 11 and 13 is quite young to be left alone for two evenings a week, particularly until after bedtime. I have a 9 yr old, and we leave her with adults only - - we don't consider young teens capable of truly adult supervision. Others will disagree, but when push comes to shove, it only matters if THESE kids are emotionally and developmentally ready to deal with your particular situation. Your need for adult and 'off-duty' time is understandable. Their reluctance and difficulties are understandable as well - - many kids don't like being home alone. This is not an issue where I would be comfortable insisting on compliance; if a child says or indicates they aren't ready to be home alone or with near-age siblings, that would be that. The benefits do not outweight the dangers, and it's common for kids to have trouble articulating their specific fears, insecurities or concerns. Sometimes kids are embarrassed to admit to 'silly' fears, or reluctant to rat out a sibling whose behavior is making them uncomfortable or afraid. We all like to think that OUR kids know they can tell us anything, but it's not always true. One thing I would do is begin to slowly work towards more independence and quiet time on their part when you ARE home. This builds their own confidence and lessens your stress. There are several things I'd address when it comes to leaving them alone for alone or couple time. I think that twice a week is a lot, so I'd probably dial that back to begin with. If you feel that it's needed, what others factors can be changed? I would consider: *coming home before bedtime *taking the phone calls in stride until they have more experience *taking a few hours in the day on Saturday or Sunday - - dates don't have to be at night! *hiring a sitter or having them go to a friend's house, rather than staying home alone *having one of the times be date night, and the other time be alternating alone time for you and dh (with the other staying with the kids) *asking the kids what would make it easier for them I would also take a long hard look at outside activities. It sounds like a lot of time and energy goes into dealing with their sports teams, which perhaps aggravates the feeling of being over stretched and in need of a break. I would decide if the activity was important enough to consume that many family resources, and if the family as a whole can deal with the demands in good grace. If the answer to either question is no, curtailing or quitting some activities may be part of the answer. Kids are not a grateful lot in general, ;), and their emotional needs are rarely 'reasonable.' It can indeed be frustrating when they seem unable to respond in a loving way to OUR needs and desires, but that immaturity is one of the reasons they are under our protection.

We used Prima and are now in LC1, using the dvds for both. You don't need them for Prima - it's simple enough - but it's a very easy way of ensuring that Latin gets done, and my kids enjoyed them. There is religious content, in that you memorize prayers and listen to church songs, but there isn't a religious viewpoint. What I mean by that is that the prayers and songs are presented without comment; there is more a sense of reciting a prayer rather than 'praying,' kwim? They are not religious texts in the manner of Seton or Rod and Staff. I don't know if this holds true all the way through LC2; maybe someone further along can answer.

I would stick with books and activities that can be easily picked up, dropped, and picked up again at this age, rather than linear curriculum - - reading lots of myths and stories is a better choice than SOTW, for example, and a variety of science books are better than a biology course. There are two main pitfalls to curriculum at this age, imo. One is that it tends to crowd out the far greater need for tremendous amounts of active play and concrete learning. Trips to the zoo always beat books about animals, kwim?The other is that it is very, very hard not to push a tiny bit when an active, able learner becomes reluctant. The nature of curriculum is that you move forward, and it's very hard to not nudge a capable child who suddenly doesn't want to do the seatwork. Quite a few kids read at a young age, but early reading does not equate to academic readiness, especially seat work and formal curriculum. It's fine to have lots of books and workbooks AVAILABLE (my oldest dd did so many workbooks at this age!), but I would not have a formal plan of any sort. Enjoy this time! She is always learning, I promise you. And when she's nine, like my oldest, you'll think back wistfully to the days when you didn't HAVE to do formal schoolwork.

Both of my children learned to read without a set curriculum. Each of them used a phonics program AFTER they were reading fairly well (Saxon Phonics for my oldest, OPGTR for the youngest). Worked for us!

This is much, much easier to see if you use fraction tiles. I highly recommend a set; you can get them at teacher education stores or many places online. I suppose you could make them as well, but they only cost a few dollars.

Look at it this way: it is the topics that aren't intriguing you, and the topics are NOT going to change by changing programs. If you have had good luck with SOTW, I'd certainly be reluctant to change programs. I plan to use audbile.com to augment SOTW 4. I can't quite think of the name, (history in brief? something like that; just search under history) but they have short narratives available on various events in history. The ones I saw were priced at a dollar or so. What I really like is that it gives a short summary of the event coupled with actual audio from that time. For example, the one about the Apollo fire had part of President Kennedy's speech about landing on the moon.

I wouldn't worry about it, honestly. She's four, a young four. I'd give her plenty of opportunity to write and practice motor skills, but wouldn't go with a formal curriculum for now. Rather, I'd provide her with some cheapie workbooks that she can do IF she wants, lots of fun notebooks and pencils, and lots of activities for building those muscles (play dough, etc). Many four year olds are not writing or coloring well. I wouldn't sweat it. Some parents choose to adapt certain programs for the child to do orally, and others just wait for the motor skills to catch up a bit. She's so very young, you really won't go wrong either way. I would tend to err on the side of waiting. The formal school work comes along soon enough, believe me.

I would call the school district and ask for information. My dd had speech therapy via the local school; it cost us nothing, the teacher was wonderful, no problems whatsoever. If you can do that, it's a very simple solution.