Hi all... I've been a member of these forums for years and seen it through many incarnations as the internet and forums have changed a lot since about 04 or 05 when I started around the old boards. Anyway - I got on a good roll through elem years and haven't been back much as we found what worked for us and kind of coasted happily through those years pretty content with our curriculum choices. Now that we're getting into the 8th grade I'm back for more research. All the abbreviations are new to me again - funny how sub-cults adopt their own language, isn't it?? So many familiar faces aren't here any more but I recognize many of you. I have a rising 8th grader, 6th grader and my youngest is a late bloomer kind of somewhere around 2nd-ish now. I won't put stuff in my sig because I have no idea what our plans are yet. I am awesome at procrastination since I hope to start back up here in about 3 weeks. Just wanted to say hi, and I look forward to figuring out all the new abbreviations and researching and prepping for high school years. Grateful to Susan & the guys at PHP for keeping these forums going all these years. xo. Darcy

For mine, the AG was what made the program. We did the recipes esp and my boys love maps. I appreciated the extra reading but we like to go slowly and add in lots of resources around the chapters as well. we used this with the Kingfisher encyclopedia (which I don't believe is avail anymore) but there are other great ency's as well.

I thought the 4th year material in SOTW modern was a little heavy for my kids who were 4th, 2nd and preK at the time, so we did years 1-3 twice and then moved on to the 4th the second go around. Also, your children will change so much that you're really just burning rubber if you think about 9-12 at this point. ;) I'd get a good big picture game plan through 4th or 5th then reevaluate as needed or around 4rd grade to plan middle/upper grades, and 7th to plan high school. Otherwise, you'll end up dumping all the plans anyway. truly. :)

I'm looking for a literature guide / course that can work for my rising 6th and 8th graders. Both are great readers, have very little formal writing experience since I wanted to tackle the mechanics of writing (like grammar, etc.) before content writing. We're just starting any kind of writing outside of grammar / spelling education. Here's what I'm hoping for: book list that leans toward timeless classics and boy-friendly reads (11 and 13 yo boys) resources about the author, the author's time period, and some influences either of the time period or location or political culture, etc. questions that will stimulate thoughtfulness while reading comprehension questions writing prompts that will work for new writers (like book reports only more thematic? maybe?) guide about styles of writing or tools the author employed various writings: fiction, non, poetry, etc. I'd like to use this for history AND literature although I'm not looking for historical fiction or non-fiction. Does any such thing exist? Thank you kindly, in advance. - Darcy

Question 4 on the tests asks where Robin Hood lived. On the answer sheet, it claims "Sherwood Forest" is the correct answer. Problem is, no where in the text does it ever provide the students with that name. It says Royal Forest, lush forest, John's forest, etc. but never Sherwood. I marked the test answer incorrectly much to the protests of my 6th grader who poured through the chapter to prove the name is never provided. Either the name needs to be added to the test, or the answer of "royal forest" needs to be acceptable. Just a heads up since it's a battle most parents don't want when kids are upset they got an answer wrong. - Darcy

Thank you for this. This just saved my sanity.

My 9, soon-to-be-10-yr-old son is wrapping up Singapore 4b and CWP 3. We have done Singapore from the beginning and plan to continue. He is a mathy kid (his father's son, doesn't get that from me!). Question is, I am considering ordering Teaching Textbooks math program for the computer - not to replace Singapore but to feed the beast. I had him take the placements tests. He got all the tests right in 4, 5, 6, and 7. By the time he got all the 7 right, I started to get concerned. According to the placement test he places into pre-Algebra. Is TT really that far behind Singapore? I mean how is it a kid who has only done Singapore grade 4 testing into Teaching Textbooks pre-Algebra? We watched the videos for Pre-A and for 7, and his reaction to both was - first he got all the answers right, and second a shrug and "that seems fun." Can someone who is familiar with both curriculum confirm that Teaching Textbooks 7 or pre-Algebra is indeed a good match for Singapore 5? Seems like quite a discrepancy. Thank you, kindly, in advance! Darcy

(Thanks to Jennefer for alerting me to this post!) Congrats on the birth of your daughter. I am so happy for you and your family. Wishing you a quick recovery and at least a little sleep. :) -Darcy (who had to recover a password to remember how to log onto the boards)

I always love to read those posts with 5 yos doing pages and pages of phonics and math. Tee hee. My 5 yo, admittedly, isn't a typical 5 yo. He can now name 5 letters of 26. He cannot identify any numbers yet, although he can count to 20 or 30 most times. He also understands a 1-to-1 correlation, and more and less. He likes to color - and colors on the maps and history sheets (somewhat randomly, but occupied and focused in his seat) his big brothers do. He mostly spends the day playing legos and wearing costumes. He is learning to be self-sufficient in the bathroom and getting his own drinks and snacks. We are still conquering life skills: getting dressing, brushing teeth, washing hands, etc. We've done all the read alouds from b4FIAR, FIAR and many from the popular reading lists like Simply Charlotte Mason, Ambleside Online, Sonlight, etc. He likes the HWT shapes and does a pretty good job of mimicking the shapes he sees to make letters, faces, shapes, etc. He does NO pencil work, writing, or workbooks, etc. he cannot write any letters or his name or numbers. Although, he can now make most of his shapes (recognizible but not perfect): circle, cross, square, triangle. he can also color in the lines much more effectively than he did at this time a year ago. While it's not perfect, it's definitely more intense inside the shape than out. he does a page or 2 from HWT preK. I make several copies of each page so he can do them over and over and over. He can cut strips, but still struggles with shapes. He can hold a crayon correctly, but will go back to a fist if you're not watching carefully. So there ya' have it. No tales of long division and Shakespeare here... But he has a sweet, sweet heart and is such a good boy.

Well, I was in the ring. But I was removed; the button slowed down my site. So, if you'd like to stop by: http://www.lifewithmy3boybarians.com Wishing you a quick recovery!

I recommend This Country of Ours and pace it to go along with the time periods. There are some outdated vocab issues in TCO - such as calling Natives "savages". Since I am doing it as a read aloud for a 5yo, 7yo and 8yo I can substitute as I read. But I know my 8yo would be able to handle a discussion about ignorance and terminology and still get the value of the stories. Also of interest: Starry Messenger Pocahontas The First Thanksgiving (~early 1600) If You Lived..... series: Time of Squanto, Colonists Horrible Histories... series: Colonists The Courage of Sarah Noble (~1700) (i've only read this, we're not there yet, so I can't tell you what the kids think) If you Were there.... series: Signed the Constitution (i've only read this, we're not there yet, so I can't tell you what the kids think) I can't offer any more, because that's as far as we've gotten... and you've asked for tried and true.

Well, my son is developmentally about 3 - so I thought I'd weigh in. :) He is getting Lego Mars mission stuff and Lego City stuff. He wants to be just like his big brothers. While he is quite mature enough to assemble all the small peices, he has hoards of willing assemblers here to help him. ;)

Peace Hill Press is on the (enormous!) list of vendors coming to the Midwest Homeschool Convention April 16-18 in Cincinnati. EEEEkkkk! I've never been able to go to a convention where they were represented. Midwest Homeschool Convention is sponsoring a give away on my blog. You can win a family pack of tickets (worth $75) so you can go, too. Details here: http://www.lifewithmy3boybarians.com/2008/12/lwm3b-give-away-homeschoolers-this-ones.html I would love to know which WTMers are going! I've only ever met Jennefer at Smooth Stones. But I have many of you on my blog reader and have gained much from your posts. It would be fun to meet any of you going. Warmly, Darcy

-Multi-level: acceptable for 4th grader, but adaptable for special needs/preKer -Old earth -creation & adaptation / or evolution (I can ad lib!) -Prefer secular over Christian, but see above -Lots of reading lists, sources for read alouds -scientist bios as well as experiments -has a kit with everything I'll need already in it. I am willing to consider any topic, but son is leaning toward something with experiments (he's been watching too much Time Warp, methinks!) This is for all boys. They won't enjoy drying/pressing flowers or journaling. They want to "chuck balls" and "blow stuff up" (their words, not mine). thank you, thank you, thank you!

This may seem like the obvious answer, but I am using SOTW as our spine. We really focus on lit go alongs. So I pull all the lit choices from sources like Sonlight, Veritas, Good Books list, other bloggers I respect, All Through the Ages. We aren't protestant, so I have to edit a bit for some of those resources' recommendations if they overlap with church history. We also add saint bios and church history that is compatible with our faith. Currently, we are also using This Country of Ours (with some of the "bad words" edited) and starting SOTW3. We are in the early-mid 1600s right now in our rotation. Incidentally, our "history the WTM way" is likely to take 5-6 years, rather than 4 - esp this first go around.

May I ask you all? what font style did you use before WWE and how are your children liking the font in WWE? I loved OPGTR but the font was awful. We had to do everything on the whiteboard. Just curious if PHP had fixed this since OPGTR. Thanks for the feedback.

Are you asking specifically for language? My brand new 7 yo is doing: Singapore Math 2a, 2b History from 1600-1850 (SOTW 3, This Country of Ours, Kingfisher HE) narration across curriculum ETC 4, 5 and 6 (maybe farther?) Primary Language Lessons He is not ready for writing, either mechanically (lefty who still struggles with pencil work) or mentally (can't spell well, isn't ready for it). He is a great reader, and his lit and book choices are on my blog. For writing, we will be using both IEW and WT when he is ready.

I flew all the way from Iowa to Texas to hang out with Jennefer from Smooth Stones. She is even more amazing in person. I am hoping for an even bigger reunion, errr... union? with some more kindred spirits. I have worked with many WTMers on their blog makeovers, so I feel like I know them. And I think some of my local hs'ers are lurkers. But I don't know their screen names. Maybe they'll come forward? Any other Iowa lurkers?

Well, this one is a no brainer for me. I pulled a few tricks out of my bag and did my own. Then, I begged my friends to let me do theirs. Almost 2 years later, I made a business out of it. So... I vote for "did my own" and add on, make a living doing it. I LOVE blog makeovers. I find myself much more engaged in the blogs when the author has customized it to fit her personality. This is true even when I didn't do the makeover ;)! I have a hard time investing emotionally in blogs when the blog owner has not. This isn't to say the blog owner needs to invest a lot. Even just adding one's own photos and changing the colors can make a big difference. Simple is good!

Loved this series. It's a mistake to think that because the main characters are mythological that the book is dark or evil or offensive to those concerned about morals. The book was written by a Christian woman (Mormon, specifically) and there is an underlying themes about immortality. While the book is absolute candy, the character development is wonderful. There are real issues that face teens... physical relationships, parenting, trust, sacrifice, academics, values, self-restraint... It's been awhile since I've had such *fun* with a series. This in no way competes with, replaces, or has anything to do with classic literature. But... sometimes it's nice to read for pure fun. And this one is pure fun.

I haven't posted on the boards in awhile... But we've been using Singapore from the beginning. My brand-new 7 yr old (just had a birthday 5 days ago!) is in Primary Math 2a, using the text and the student book. He is also doing Challenging Word Problems 1 - which I recommend doing a full level behind. He is also using IP - intensive practice. I love the IP books. The problems are richer, a little more thought-intensive and really help the pace for kids who are racers. My 8 yo is doing PM 3b, IP 3a and CWP 2. He finally has a good pace using all those materials. Prior, he was flying through materials faster than I could buy them. It is my opinion about Singapore that: - the real beauty of this program doesn't shine until about 2b or 3a. - if you miss out on CWP, you are missing the heart of Sing's benefits. - CWP can be done beautifully with any program. - the program works best when done in its entirety. Many parents do only PM text and student books. They think it's enough. That may be true, but the real strength of the program is PM, IP and CWP and drill. I would get PM 1a, 1b text and student book, and IP. But wait on CWP 1 until 2a. That's my recommendation. :)

I think the pace is perfectly fine. :) The website says the books are for K-4. And while I don't think it will take 5 years, it's for those range of ages. My 6 yo is working in ETC 3. My 8 yo (who started this late) has 10 more pages in ETC 6. My 6 yo does 3-4 pages a day, my 8 yo does 5 pages a day.

That post ^above^ gives me great hope! :)

I thank you all for your responses, for your honesty. I did make the purchase. And it's not that I have given up on Writing Tales 1. I own that (gee, shocker, right? ;) ) too, but it's a little (read, LOT) too complicated for my boys right now. They are math geeks and I so love them for that. Numbers are so uncomplicated. I was hoping this could give us some elementary tools we can use until we're ready for WT1. I ordered the teacher DVDs, the student DVDs A, and I ordered the one with fairy tales, fables and myths. I like knowing that if they don't fit us, we'll be able to send them back. I also realize that I'm feeling a little intimidated. For my guys, it might just be maturity. They are having a hard time with the lessons in PLL. And those are Charlotte Mason-style, meant to be done in under 15 min. Well, I promise those are NOT 15 min lessons around here. It takes my oldest 15 min to pull himself out of a puddle when he sees the length of the copywork in PLL. *sigh* Those ar meant for 7 yos - 2nd graders. He's 8. I have to undo that before any program can be successful. Doing the copy work from Lesson 2 of PLL was enough for him to become unglued. It took him 2.5 hours. No, not in a single sitting. We broke it up. So, hopefully this will offer me some direction. Right now anything that is LA that is above and beyond the workload of, say ETC, sends him into despair. It's a mental block. I'm trying to figure out how to undo it. Being a teacher AND mom is hard some days. Isn't it? Sometimes those roles conflict.

I have them start memorizing a 12 x 12 table in 1b. Back then it's only "skip counting" but the results are the same. My 6 yo can fill out a 12x12 table (now) very quickly. but he did one 3 times a week starting back in January. He is now in 2a, doesn't realize it's the timez tables he knows. For some, he still adds on to the number before it (8s for example) but I'm totally okay with it. When my 8 yo hit a wall with long division in 3a, we took 7 weeks off and played a game using triangle cards that are factors. it's also a good way to cement those facts. We have Timez Attack, too. I think it's yuck, my boys LOVE it. Whatever works. But my main ammo is going to Schoolhouse Tech using their free worksheet maker program and printing out a blank 12x12 multiplication grid. And NO - it's not odd that he's his age and about to start 4a. It's a great place to be. I have a 5 yo who doesn't know his letters or numbers. I have a 6 yo who has been able to fill out a 12x12 grid since right after his 6th birthday. Kids all have their strengths and weaknesses - you're a good mom to go at his pace but to push the envelope. :)