Ok, so I can totally wait for SWB's creative writing! Yay!!!!

Hoping for a suggestion here too! I do not want to give up WWE since I see the value in it. And ditto on Rod and Staff English...I can't let go of the thoroughness of it.

The Narrow Gate Academy

Ok, so I GET SWB's view on writing...I do. We use WWE, Level 1. But I am doubting this. My dd seems to be the creative writing type...like myself : ) We read "Sarah Morton's Day" for history last week, and after that she went off to her bedroom and told me not to bother her. About half an hour later, she emerged with a "book" she had written herself, titled "Sarah (our last name's) Day." In this book she told about her life and her family, and the things she does during the day. I know that SWB doesn't say to hold them back from doing those things, but if my daughter has an interest/bend towards something, I feel like I should nurture that. I have been looking at Sonlight, and I know there are so many complaints and downsides to their LA, but I feel drawn to their creative emphasis. But could never deal with the lack of formal grammar (we use Rod and Staff and I LOVE it!) Any advice for me? Thanks!

I did drop AAS and sell it because I felt it was overkill, but now I am questioning that decision, LOL : ) Go figure!

Hi, we completed MFW K and MFW 1st grade. I guess I always thought it was a "complete" phonics program, thus I would not have to continue with phonics instruction beyond that. However, I am now wondering if that is true...dd does read chapter books, but still needs help sounding out larger words. When I think about it, I don't think we really learned all the phonics we should have. Can anyone suggest or share what they used after MFW...or is my experience with dd the norm? If I help her sound out words, will she eventually "get it", or is more instruction needed? Thanks!

Well, I am throwing in the towel with MFW. I wanted it to work, really I did...I LOVED MFW K...couldn't stand 1st grade...but toughed it out looking forward to Adventures. But, Adventures isn't working for us either. It is the repetitivenesss...I was looking forward to a year of learning American History, and it seems like moving ahead it is mostly a study of the states. I have done/would need to do so much tweaking, that it is simply not worth it for me to invest in.

I'd say they are essential, and very good quality. It is tabbed, and that is a huge part of the method of learning those facts. They are well worth the money spent.

Thanks everyone! I am so over-inspired now with all these awesome sites and ideas! And I am thinking it will be so neat to have my older dd be able to help do "school" with the little one!

Ok, I am not looking to teach my little guy to read or anything fancy like that!!! : ) : ) I just feel like he gets swept to the wayside too often, and I'd like to add some structure to his day. I am horrible about getting stuff like that done unless I have a box to check : ) Anyone have suggestions for an easy, fun, and free curriculum appropriate for an almost 2 year old? Something to work on colors, shapes, fingerplays, songs, Bible, stories...themes? Thanks!

Giving you a bump and wondering the same thing myself. Anybody? Please? : ) I currently use MFW Adventures with my 2nd grader, and plan to do ECC next year. But, I am thinking of moving to TOG and doing 3 rotations with it to take us through. I LOVE the look of it...the detailed teacher's notes...how the subjects are so well intertwined.

I am looking to start a blog about our homeschool. But I am tech-challenged, and I need something that is easy...has options to make it look nice that are easy...easy to upload pictures...and free! Any suggestions for me? Thanks!

Yep, exactly...how can you apply Christianity to something if you don't even know it, or the truth about it? I did enjoy the Doug Wilson books, and there was another I read too by someone else that drove home the point that a Christian worldview was not an inhibited view. So true. Glad I'm not alone....or a bad Christian.

HI there, I am guessing I may be opening an ugly can of worms here, but I seriously want to have some others to discuss this issue with and try to come to terms with exactly how I feel. I am a Christian. I started out homeschooling largely because of religious reasons, feeling that dd would not get the Christian education in school that we wanted her to. However, that quickly became overshadowed by pursuing a rigorous classical education. Not that those two things cannot fit together...but my priorities did change in a sense. I have issues with curriculum that I feel decides what the end result should be (glorification of God) and then rather than presenting all the info there is, only presents the information that points to the end result. An example of this for me is saying that Columbus came to America to preach the gospel. After finding out the truth about many of the things Columbus did, I personally feel he was a thug. I was left wondering why we devote a day to celebrating a person who did awful things to other human beings who happened to be here before him. Another example is saying that this country was founded on the Christian religion. From what I know, Pilgrims came for religious freedom - the same thing granted in our Constitution. I guess I just don't get why as Christians it would be necessary to view everything through rose-colored glasses in order to glorify God - if we believe that God is Almighty, he is Sovereign - then doesn't everything speak for itself...all things then happened by the will of God. Does this make sense to anyone? I also chose a science that is secular. I just couldn't stomach the sciences that did the same thing...presenting only info that leads to the end result they want. I feel comfortable teaching both sides...and saying let's explore what makes sense...let's explore how our faith plays into what we believe. Seriously, I am not trying to put anyone down...I am somewhat confused about feeling this way, since it feels like a battle between education and religion within myself. And at times, I do wonder if feeling this way means I am not really a good Christian after all...

Me too : ) I don't "get" it either. We are using CLE this last week after never settling in with MM or Singapore...and all I can say is dd is getting it. Is she memorizing her math facts? Yes. But that doesn't mean she ISN'T getting the idea behind it. As a matter of fact, CLE has been the only curriculum that has laid it out for me in a manner where I can explain it to her in a way she gets it. We will still add in MM or Singapore for extra practice, but CLE has gone so smoothly, I can't deny it's impact in our homeschool. I kept telling myself I COULDN'T do CLE because it's not "conceptual", but after reading Liping Ma's book, I realized that for me...I can try to add in explanations and extra activities to form a conceptual view. But, you need a solid foundation to build on.

We are currently in a hodge podge of a mess : ) trying to figure out what DOES work. In my current selection is: CLE, Math Miquon, Math Mammoth, and Singapore. Right now we are using CLE as core and just kind of adding whatever to get the conceptual thing down. Also playing math games.

Another fan of LivingMath.net here!

Couple of good books..."How to talk so kids will listen and listen so kids will talk" and "Kid Cooperation."

Love ours...not sure what brand they are exactly. We do have a dog who scrambles/slides across them and no scratches. But when we rented a place with real wood floors, they were scratched like crazy. That was a huge selling point for us on the laminate. Easy to clean too.

Hemmorhoid cream...not kidding! Hey, it reduces inflammation!

Mine is 21 mos, but he pretty much destroys the house, climbs on the furniture and tables, tries to gain access to the bathroom to throw things in the tub/toilet....rips the cookbooks out of the cabinet. I think all he does with his toys is take them out of the bin and throw them around! He does like to read books, but he'll only sit still for a little while. I would love to implement some more things for him to do, but they all seem too difficult. I feel horribly saying that, but it seems all my energy goes to hs'ing dd...

Has anyone used this program as is for their American History? I am considering using it as our program for my dd who recently turned 7. Any input as to whether or not it is appropriate for that age? We are using MFW Adventures, but the spine is kind of dry...and looking ahead, I don't feel that it gets into the history as in-depth as I would like to. Guesthollow looks like the perfect combo of the things I love about SL and WP...I have lusted for WP forever, but due to all the issues I have heard I will have to pass. Any input is greatly appreciated!

I realized last week that I haven't even cracked open the Instructor Text, as everything seems to be in the WWE 1 workbook! Wondering if someone can tell me where you get the lecture on Elementary writing by SWB...I keep seeing it mentioned and would love to hear it!

We LOVED MFW K!!! I did it when my dd was an older 4/younger 5. It was very gentle and fun...not overwhelming. We were able to add extra books for reading and additional activities as we had time for them. But we had plenty of weeks where we did just the minimum, and it was still productive. The reading instruction is phenominal! My dd is a very strong reader (she just turned 7 and reads pretty much at a 4th grade level after doing K and 1st from MFW.) If you can't tell, I HIGHLY reccomend it!

It more than likely is related to the fact that I am overall unfulfilled in our marriage, and feel like I have no importance whatsoever to him. This is what irritates me...at the apple orchard last year as a family. His brother calls, he answers it, and proceeds to talk on the phone to him for half an hour about nothing important. While the rest of us stand around waiting for him. We are at the store, shopping together...brother calls and he proceeds to talk for half an hour...nothing important. I tell him it bothers me...he tells me that he answers his phone and talks whenever he wants to during the week, why should it be any different on the weekend? Hmm..because we are your family, and you have been at work all week, and now it is our time together! Come home from work and he is on the phone with a friend, doesn't acknowledge me, and continues his conversation late into the night. Never asks about my work, how my day was...nothing. In the middle of a heated "conversation" about our marriage...I mean, this was a point at which I was ready to throw it all in...and his buddy/guy he works with calls...dh answers the phone, has a half hour conversation with the guy. There were maybe about 2 minutes of that conversation he needed to have, but he continued it on just BS'ing with him. If it involved work, there is no reason he couldn't have told me that he needed to talk to this guy, but would make it quick and then resume our conversation...but nope.