Here's my plan: Math: CLE Math 500 LA: CLE LA 500 Reading: CLE Reading 500, plus lots of other free and directed reading Writing: IEW All Things Fun and Fascinating and selections from Write from History (Ancient and Medieval) Latin: Prima Latina (with younger sibling) Spanish: The Fun Spanish Bible and History: MFW Rome to Reformation Science: Apologia Astronomy and AIG Human Anatomy (in conjunction with MFW)

Oh, this is great! Thank you!

I'm debating between CLE's LTR and Memoria Press' First Start Reading for my rising kindergartner. She's nearly 6, can already read CVC words and has a decent tolerance for writing. Any thoughts on the pros and cons of either of these two programs? (We already use other CLE and Memoria Press products with our older children.)

Minn from Minnesota Summer of the Wolves Kirsten and the Chippewa (and others in the Kirsten series)

Off the top of my head: On the Banks of Plum Creek Paddle-to-the-Sea (in part) The Betsy-Tacy series Will keep thinking!

Definitely a plain Jane Kindle!

I really wanted to like W&R; it really appealed to me but my son's writing didn't improve much at all. He needs more explicit instruction. We're off to try IEW next. I do use WWE with a younger son and he enjoys it. :)

I have a Blendtec and LOVE it. I blend food for my son who is tube-fed and everything has to be ground extremely finely so as to pass through the tube. It's been fantastic for that. In fact, it's been a lifesaver (literally) for him. I love it for my smoothies, too. :) My only complaint is that it is very loud!

So sorry to hear this. We lived in Ecuador for a time so her story has special significance to me.

I used ECC this year with a 2nd grader and a 4th grader. The second grader enjoyed it but my 4th grader got much more out of it. You can easily modify it by choosing book basket books at her level. It is a great year!

If I were to choose a box, I'd probably go with Memoria Press.

I grew up attending AWANA and it was fantastic. I loved the memory work. We tried it with my boys, though, and they didn't enjoy it. I wish they did!

I always had homeschooling in the back of my mind but DH wasn't on board. I read TWTM years ago and it always resonated with me. About 3 years ago, our family went through a traumatic period with a new baby's life-threatening health issues and frequent hospitalizations. This had a major impact on our then-5 yo son and he developed anxiety and depression. He did fine in ps kindy but the transition to 1st grade was extremely difficult. I had to carry him kicking and screaming into school and he frequently made disturbing comments about hating his life. He was getting lost in the midst of his little brother's crises and just needed more attention. Counseling had little impact on him. My MIL (a retired principal/teacher) recommend we homeschool him and initially, I thought there was no way I could do so. We decided to enroll him in a virtual academy for 1st grade and he was a completely different kid -- much more carefree, happy and thriving academically, well above grade level. At the end of the year, we opted to withdraw from the VA and homeschool independently for more flexibility. Meanwhile, our oldest son had completed 3rd grade in ps and I was concerned about the quality of his education. He was not challenged in school at all. When I picked up some curriculum I'd borrowed from a friend (MFW's Exploring Countries and Cultures), he looked through the books and asked to be homeschooled, too. This is our first year homeschooling with both boys and it's been great! We are implementing many elements of both Charlotte Mason and classical education into our school days. Both of our older boys have asthma and we have all been much healthier since they've been home for school. We also have a 5 yo daughter that I planned to send to ps K for half-days next year, thinking that she'd love it. She's my social butterfly and adores her preschool class and teachers. But when I toured several classrooms, I was shocked at how much kindy has changed just in the few years since our older boys were that age. While I'm all for academic rigor at older ages,I didn't want that high-pressure environment for my daughter. I wanted her to have time to paint and do playdough, play outside and generally enjoy learning. As it turns out, she's already reading and would be bored in a kindy classroom. So we're homeschooling her, too. :) Our 3 yo boy has Down syndrome and is now doing fairly well, although he still requires home nursing care for his complex medical needs. I am not sure what we will do with him -- we'd planned on special ed preschool for the fall, but I am now re-thinking that for health reasons. He has ongoing respiratory issues and even a simple cold can send him to the hospital so we may be doing either homebound instruction or homeschooling preschool, too.

This was our first year and CLE Math and Language Arts have served us well. We'll continue with those next year and probably add CLE Reading, too. WWE has been great for my reluctant writer.

Does anyone know about how long it takes to get results back from BJU?

Having been through a long and traumatic NICU stay, I'm sorry. It is so hard!

We are doing Animals right now and it'll take us about 16 weeks. We are adding in a lot of related books since my kids love animals, though.

We like Song School Spanish for that age.

:(

I'm considering Write from History as an easy way to write across the history curriculum.

They choose their own books, reading nightly before bedtime as usual. I may do a read-aloud or two. We'll do a few audiobooks, too.

Ditto the CLE recommendation. We are using it for 2nd and 4th grade and have really appreciated how thorough (yet manageable) it is.

I use CLE with my 2nd and 4th graders and supplement the 4th grader with Writing and Rhetoric. We're on Fable now and will move to Narrative for 5th grade. For the 2nd grader, we are supplementing with Writing with Ease.

I can't stand them myself, but my youngest son has a feeding tube and so he gets them regularly because they're so healthy and taste isn't an issue for him. :)

We went through similar issues with my DS2 when he was 6. Our family had been through a very traumatic year with his little brother's frequent life-threatening issues and DS2 felt lost in the shuffle. He was running away, saying he didn't want to live anymore and generally acting out. He was extremely anxious about school and any new kind of activity. We got him into counseling with a Christian therapist but what helped most was spending lots of quality time one-on-one with him. It's actually what led us to homeschooling. He is doing better now, but still has his moments ...