So, I've listened to every audio of Andrew Pudewa I can get my hands on. I've watched his YouTube videos (he cracks me up!). I went to his online conference via HOTM Online Conference and got to ask him some questions. I've googled. I've searched this forum and read everything I can think of. I've stalked WTM members and bloggers like Michele and Beth that use IEW successfully. Yet, I'm still breaking into a mild sweat. I have buyers remorse and I have even clicked the order button. That price tag is just - well... I have to work lots of hours to pay for it. (Thanks to my GD clients! Love yas) And I'm still not sure I can do it. But he sure is funny. I want him to come live at Mill Creek Academy and teach my boybarians (who are off making forts right now). Okay... I feel better having gotten that out. I'm still sweating though... off... to.... push... ORDER. *gulp*

Jenn - from that page, click on the style that you want on the tabs located slightly above and to the left side of the screen: Zaner Bloser, etc. Then there are links on the right side to click and download. *hugs* -Darcy

Definitely use my 3-hole punch and clipboards each and every day. But can I add a third? Lots of manipulatives to keep my littlest busy during school. But now I'm thinking I should get an electric pencil sharpener. So many people have mentioned it. :001_huh:

Where did you find the chore chart, Jess? It's a great idea - simple, visual and effective. Can your kids reach the top? Or does it just look tall in the picture?

Myrtle's icon made me laugh outloud. My 8 yo is doing: Singapore math ETC phonics PLL language SOTW 3 (boys usually love the map work!) Spelling Wisdom Space and Earth science reading and in a couple weeks/months we'll fold in either IEW or WT1 and possible Minimus. I originally bought Lively Latin - but it's advanced for him. We'll do it next year (and I wonder if this is the big think book Myrtle was talking about?). I still need to update my blog, but you can see some of the book choices down there. \/ :)

Hi Jane, I got your PM. I haven't completely assembled all my books, but I used the charts created by Laura in China and... oh my goodness.. Michelle, I think. Gracious, it was such a helpful list. I hope she'll speak up - and I apolgize. I deleted the email and now I can't remember. I'm sososo sorry! Laura's is on her blog - on homeschool blogger. Anyway, I will be listing my books, but I haven't gotten there yet, so I'll probably list them as I use them on my blog. Mine are 2nd and 3rd grade... so I know that doesn't help with your jr high student. :) Good Luck!

I second (or third or fourth) Adoremus books. Free shipping over $25. It usually gets to my house in about 2 days.

Hi Jen - It looks like you are going to have a great year! Ambleside Online has several great works on their site, if you want to print some of the art for examples of styles or artists. You've inspired me to look up some of those logic programs.

I'm am here - and must say, if you ever get a chance as a mom and a blogger to come, it's a fun opportunity. It's such an interesting group of women. There're even a handful of (brave) men here. Mostly women. Mostly moms. The coolest thing so far? I got to meet Grover. Yes, that Grover. ;) I'll look for Shannon - and keep my eyes out for other homeschool bloggers.

MizBooshay? There are at least 1000 women here for this convention - I was hoping some of you might be among that number! I'd love to hear who's here or in the neighborhood. :)

Laura - Yes! Thanks! I found it and I'm adding it to my list of resources. Thanks so much for sharing. :)

They are completely different styles of learning, so it will depend on you. Singapore is mastery - see it, do it, learn it, drill it, done. Horizons - visit and revisit and revisit (and revisit!) material. I used Horizons to pace my oldest. Singapore is our main program. I would pull out Horizons pages as needed to reinforce, add to, or just some of the coloring type ones to break the monotony. Some kids can't learn like that (mastery) and need to revisit the material (spiral) to soak it in. Some kids (like my oldest) see the repetition as unnecessary busy work and revolt. Personal preference: Singapore Text, PM, IP and CWP 1 book down (no need for EP with Hor!) Horizons (just the student books, and not all the pages.) but if budget were a concern: Singapore Text, IP, CWP and make drill worksheets from Schoolhouse Technologies and skip PM, and Hor all together.

I'm so sorry for the loss of your nephew. I wish we had answers. 1 in 8 babies is born too soon in America. If 1 in 8 died of SIDS or 1 in 8 got cancer, perhaps more would get done to research the whys and hows. Talking about infant and pregnancy loss makes people terribly uncomfortable. But mothers and fathers need to talk about their sons and daughters. They need to hear their names, to have those precious lives acknowledged. I work in NICU Family Support. We see this every day. Every. Single. Day. And no story is ever easy to hear. Another heartbroken family, another baby here too soon. Too many times, a goodbye just when you've said hello. Stridor, I invite your family members to a NICU Family Support community. People there have dealt with premature birth, birth defects, infant and pregnancy loss - and grief of all sorts. I know sharing online isn't for everyone, but if you think she might find comfort in those who have walked a similar path, please let her know about the site: http://www.shareyourstory.org It's created by the March of Dimes. It's free and you can create a confidential nom de plume and share anonymously. It's a soft place to land for so many. To the rest of you who have shared your stories - I'm so sorry. You've all been tenacious through some really hard times. I'm sure your children are very proud of you. Warmly,

I'll play. I am envious of those of you who have perfectly healthy kids, who only see your child's pediatrician once-a-year instead of a team of -ologists, weekly therapies, the guilt of your child's early birth, his massive brain bleed and the fact his life is forever different because of his birth. I envy those of you who go where you want to go, any time of year, never considering the contagiousness or illnesses of people who are there. I envy those of you get really big and pregnant in your third trimesters and give birth to whopping 7+ pounders who come out screaming and pink. I would love to feel confident about having more babies. But I'll never put another child through the NICU again. So my 3 are all we'll have. We're so lucky to have all 3. I am grateful for the husband that most women dream about... who loves me, provides for us, is a strong daddy and a good man. He built us a beautiful home, works his tail off, and has made our life comfortable and secure. I am so thankful for 3 beautiful boys. Great thread.

Georgia is free.

Oh no. Do I need more stuff? ;) I'm looking for supps for American history. Your enthusiasm is contagious! I swear I need to stop coming to these boards! You all make everything sound so fun. Can anyone who has implemented this for a year or so tell me how you used these CDs and projects?

I can't jump in about your oldest, but I do have 8, 6 and 5 yos. Your 8 yo's schedule looks full, but doable. If you do both languages, I would stagger them. Wait 8-12 weeks before starting the second. Your 5 yo's plans seem very advanced for a 4, not quite 5 yo. Spelling and FLL aren't necessary (or recommended) in K. Can he really do that math? My son turned 5 at the beginning of May. Granted, he is developmentally behind, but he is working on letter recognition, letter sounds, counting to 100, identifying numbers, cutting, pasting, etc. Most of his "school" will be sitting in my lap with books. He won't even pick up a pencil this year. It's hard to imagine a brand new 5 yo doing all of what you listed. He must be a precocious boy! Most of all - doing it yourself will give you a huge sense of accomplishment and control. Picking your own materials allows you to have enthusiasm for what you picked, and knowing it's a good fit for your family. It's a leap of faith but one that is well worth it. I wish you the very best this year!

I came to post Real Learning and see that my friend Jessica beat me to the punch. It's a pretty quick read, I recommend it.

And check out Zaccaro, too! Abbeyej recommended these books awhile ago saying they were fun. I adore her advice, but I'm not mathy, so I didn't really believe her (sorry Abbey - I believe you now!). My son is mathy, so I got it. Turns out it's been a really fun supplement, and way to break up our math studies. It's very application-based, practical and fun to do all together. Even my 6 yo can get the first 1 or 2 levels of each subject, but no one can get the Einstein levels, so I feel like we'll get a few year's mileage out of the program! Good luck! :)

back again to clarify - The way Singapore is meant to be used - by those who created the program - is that CWP and IP aren't a supplement but part of the program. Here in the US, many buy only part of the program (just PM) and that's it. But if you read about the Singapore methodology - you'll see that not only is it thorough, but it's producing kids who really get math. "Doing Singapore" really means: PM text, PM workbook, IP, CWP and drill. it's very thorough. I argue that if you only do part of the program, you'll only see part of the results.

I'll be eager to see the response you get for this. I have a special needs learner - I'm actually learning toward using Horizons with him. I love love love Singapore math. But it's intense, and is mastery rather that spiral. I think a spiral program will serve my hard-to-keep-focused child. It gives him several chances with the material, repetitive, over time. I feel like he would be more successful with all the repetition. Again, it's only theory at this point. He doesn't even know his numbers and is no where near being ready for math books.

If you're going to use Singapore on its own, I think it's a mistake to plow through it. And I'm sure I sound like a broken record on every Singapore thread, but I can't say enough about Intensive Practice and Challenging Word Problems. In my opinion (just an opinion), if you're going to do Singapore without anything else, these are a must have. I don't buy the extra practice problems, because I think the IP books are richer. My oldest also really enjoys Zaccaro's Primary Grade Challenge math. This is very supplementary, and fun. Really. Fun math. I'm not mathy, either. I also recommend skip counting, speed drills or games - we use Timez Attack but I wouldn't recommend it to just any child. The troll really freaks out some kids. If you get the full-paid version, it's actually less scary and more creatures (robots, etc.) the free version works perfectly, and some love beating the scary troll. View it before you show your kids. Schoolhouse Technologies has a free worksheet maker that we use for drills. I make a 12x12 blank times table for my 6 yo every week that he fills in. I still do it about 1x a month for my 8 yo. How it works in our house: Text with mom. A few practice problems together. Manipulatives for the youngers, sometimes with the older. Independent workbook, and 1 page of CWP (1 book behind level). next day, matching IP pages, 1 page of CWP. start all over. It takes 2-3 days for each chunk of the text book. They don't always do all the PM workbook. If the IP workbook is better (often is!), we'll do only the IP and CWP. Somedays, I'll just turn him loose with the IP and let him do as much as he feels like, some Suduko and we'll do Zaccaro together as a family.

Here is mine: http://www.lifewithmy3boybarians.com

Thanks Beth! It was perfect! Your hard work was fantastic! Re Biblioplan - I like the *idea* of Biblioplan, but their church history choices wouldn't work for my family. I'd end up customizing anyway. But gosh, for the families who are comfortable with their version of church history - what a great resource to have everything all assembled and planned for them! Has anyone tried these resources? (1.) America The Last Best Hope, Volume One -From the Age of Discovery to a World at War, 1492-1914 by Wm J. Bennett (2.) The American Reader: Words That Moved a Nation edited by Diane Ravitch - a historical anthology of Americans speaking their minds contains more than 200 poems, speeches, songs, letters, and other expressions arranged in chronological order. (3.) The Reader's Guide to American History by Kathy Artner: This is an excellent outline for a living books approach to American history. The Reader's Guide to American History includes eight units covering America's pre-history through the present. Included in the guide: -Reading Guide and Booklist for grades 3-8 -Basic Fact Sheets and Optional Activities -Tips on How to Find Great Children's Books -Poems and Songs for Each Historical Period Thanks again for jumping in!

My not-professional advice: Pitch the spelling. Focus on phonics and lots of read alouds. Pick up spelling again in 3rd. FLL is grammar - not phonics or spelling. Plan on it being 5 min only 3-4 times a week. Anymore than that and you'll crash and burn by Jan. 6 yo's don't need a lot of grammar, IMO. I would add in copywork - 1 sentence. 5-10 min a day. Definitely do CWP. Buy book 1 and start about 3 mo into your schoolwork. This is worth it! But stagger it out a few months to let your student get used to Singapore. And I think you should do 1a anyway. It'll be a quick run through, and it'll build confidence while learning how the program works. The confidence and "I can do this" spirit gained may save you months of agony later. 1a may be simple, but it's a smart program and it builds on itself. Even if you skip PM 1a, do IP 1a along with the text. You'll be glad you did. I've only done 1st grade with two boys, so I'm not an expert, but I'd reduce your time. 6 year olds needs lots of time to be 6. 20 min math daily 15 min phonics daily 30-45 min read alouds and lit and tons of books choices daily 15-20 min of History 3-4x a week 5 min grammar 3x week 5-10 min copywork daily 20 min of science 2-3x week First grade shouldn't take more than 2 hrs, broken up. Really. You're going to have a GREAT year. :)