That's a hard question. I think regardless of the answer you should make choices to prepare the kids for the long haul. Most days I feel like I could hold up on my end, but my oldest is 7. I can't imagine the person he will be at 17; my mind just can't wrap itself around 3 teenage boys here at home. I feel like I can't imagine the mom I will be then, and I can't make decisions for her (the future version of me, who is hopefully much wiser than this me). I have a son who has special needs. If it ever appears his needs are greater than what I can offer him here, I will outsource if/when it feels necessary. There are so many circumstances beyond my control, but I can commit to continuing for as long as it works. And my faith really won't allow me to believe that God feels differently about homeschool parents than parents who send their kids to school, but I suppose that's a personal factor. ;) I am starting to relax and trust the journey a little more. Boy, that makes a huge difference.

All Through the Ages. Christine Miller http://www.nothingnewpress.com/atta.shtml

Our biggest expense was art camp over the summer, and 3 art classes throughout the year. We spent more for the art museum membership and tuition than for text books. History - most expensive, $100 - 150 if we buy go alongs. Our rural library is new and has a small collection. Not yet homeschool friendly. Math - $35 - 50 per kid depending on if I can find the texts used. Science - We get Discovery Educ Streaming free. I've spent about $35 so far on books about planets, sun, earth. My kids will work together on this. Lit - $50 - $100 in read alouds. Read alouds will be combined. Language - about $75 for spelling, writing, copywork, dictation, phonics. Latin - $50. Another $50 in misc books. So... I guess that's about... $400 in curriculum. Another $400 in art classes. $200 combo membership to local zoo, historical farms, science center.

We just finished Mr. Popper's Penguins (what a hoot, my 6 yo loved this one!) and started Prince Caspian on Friday. We want to have lots of time on that one before the movie comes out in May. My will-be-8-year-old wants to have a "Prince Caspian" themed bday. I think next we're going to do Pyle's Robin Hood or Swiss Family Robinson. I am also doing FIAR books with my 4 yr old, with occasional older listeners who keep shouting, "I remember that book!"

Mine is getting a makeover! Today I posted the mess we currently have, but my beloved Handy Man is working on a wall and a half of built-in bookshelves and I hope to post the transformation shortly. Just keepin' it real today. ;) My blog link is in my signature.

I haven't gotten that far in MCP, we abandoned it in A, only part way in. But it's been my experience through Horizons 3, that Horizons is on grade level for most, or slightly ahead of grade for others. If you know for sure you want to switch (why are you switching?), I would think earlier is better. However, Horizons only goes through grade 6, so either way you'll be changing curriculums again in a couple years. I suppose if I was confident about my switch I would sell the unused curriculum, and roll the funds into the curriculum I wanted. Just MHO. ;)

Just a follow up. He will getting a complete clinical eval from a host of professionals from a big, state children's hospital about 2.5 hours from our house. He will be evaluated by: neurology neuro-psych speech OT a learning specialist And I forgot what else. Depending on the consult, he may be getting an MRI. Thank you all. Like any mother, I am both anticipating this and dreading it all at once. I believe those are answers we need, but probably will not want to hear. Upward and Onward! :o

If it's as resourceful as her Writing Without Fear CD was for me, then I'm raising my hand. I will be attempting Writing Tales I with my 3rd grader, but as a certifiable curriculum junkie this sounds like something I would buy to check out. :o

No, we use Iowa Telecomm. My understanding is that it's not their stuff. They just repackage and distribute it. I manage a NICU Family Support site, so I'm online 4-6 hours a day. So far, this is the only server that's dropping me. I've never gotten that message before. However, our site does have geographical disparities with connectivity. We haven't figured out why. I am on a wireless MacbookPro w/ my area's fastest available DSL; that's not saying too much though. I live in the sticks. ;)

Here is what I am seeing. If you rather that I email you a larger image size, I can do that.

Well, I am still going to reserve the right to change my mind. but I think this is where we are heading. MATH: Singapore finish PM 3b, 4a / IP 3a / CWP 2, 3 Horizons finish 3, start 4 - pull out occasional pages as a supp. SPELLING and PHONICS: Spelling Wisdom dication from SWR lists finish Explode the Code series WRITING/COMPOSITION: copywork narration across curriculum Writing Tales 1 LATIN: (not until ETC series is done) Lively Latin HISTORY: adapted with SOTW 3, AG books in 1600-1850 time period historical fiction, biography,art, architecture, saints, etc. READING: various books from lists like Ambleside, Sonlight, FIAR, etc. Want to finish Narnia and get through the LHoP books. SCIENCE: Earth and Space Trivium Academy's online plans, as a guideline Discovery Education Streaming ART / PE: outsourced

Seems I am getting dropped a lot navigating from page to page. Several times a day I get the message that Safari cannot find the page (whatever) because it cannot connect to the server http://www.welltrainedmind.com. Anyone else getting these messages with annoying frequency? Usually closing out the page, opening a new page and starting over stops it, but it inevitably happens again. I am a web moderator, so I consider myself fairly technologically proficient. Not sure why I can't navigate. Thanks for any insight, SysAdm! :)

We did Alg, Geometry, Alg 2, Trig/Anatlytical Geometry, then Calculus at my public high school. I dropped math at the semester my senior year because I only needed 3 credits of math to graduate in Illinois high schools, and no one told me it was a bad idea. In fact, they said it would be better to maintain my GPA and "worry about math in college" than tarnish my high school GPA and class rank with a C. I plan to get my kids through Alg 1 and turn it all over to my hubby, who happens to have a strong math background. I can only think through Singapore 6b right now. My mind can't wrap itself beyond that. ;)

How have you found reliable trustworthy evaluators? I'm not sure even where to begin. I think I can set up something through the hospital where he was born. Short story: ~32 oz preemie, bilat Gr III bleeds, ROP (vision issues, strabismus, amblyopia from the vent), 3+ years oxygen dependent, failure to thrive (24-25 lb at 4.5 yrs), developmental delays. Will be 5 years old in May. Looks 2, wears 18 mo size clothes. Dismissed on his 3rd bday from AEA's DT, ST, OT, PT as 'not severe enough' delays, and since he won't be attending public school, they don't feel he needs services aimed at "preparing him for the classroom". Since his bleed was so massive, I feel like I should start there. I'm not sure if the information gained from an MRI would change how we treat him. I question things like delayed myelination, or brain injury from birth. The older he gets, the more obvious it becomes that he isn't learning like his brothers did, even age-adjusted. We recently switched pediatricians when we moved and I feel like we're back to square one. How have you found evaluators? How do I know who is "good"? His eyesight is already being followed by a pediatric opth who specializes in ROP, so that part is covered. Thanks for any insight. This child is so beloved. I so fear what his future holds. I do not want him the subject of ridicule. I also feel like I don't currently have the tools I may need to teach him. I also know that I would do whatever it takes to make myself that teacher. What steps have those on a similar path taken? Thanks, most sincerely, for any advice.

We use Singapore as our main program. When we need extra drill, or a couple days off to let things sink in while we drill (like now with 2-3 digit division) we use Horizons as a supplement. It isn't necessary to supp Singapore, esp if you do the program like it's meant to be done: with drill, CWP, and IP along with PM. Some do just PM and CWP. We just really like IP. I'm actually considering have my oldest do the text and IP, and use the PM wkbk as a supp. IP has many more interesting/more challenging problems to work out. My oldest is currently in 3a. My middle son is currently in 1b. HTH. :)

We tried letter of the Week here at the beginning of January. And it was a total flop. Unlike the readiness you all are talking about, mine is not. He will be 5 in May, but developmentally about a 3 year old. He is exhibiting signs of either major developmental delay or dysgraphia. He can not recognize shapes (like letters) to mean anything. Although he can sing his ABCs he cannot recognize a single letter - not those in his name, not even /O/ which we spent 5 days on. I gave up, recognizing it wasn't clicking. I recently bought ETC B and C (still haven't found A for a good deal yet) and we'll begin a preK program in May when he turns 5. This is all new territory for me. My older sons were reading and writing all the letters at 4/5. One started reading right after his 4th birthday. He will sit in for read alouds and anything else his brothers may be working on (he colors on the maps and history projects, though I doubt he gets very much out of them). I hope it all comes together for him. He sure likes to worry his momma.

My WW is up. My blog link is below, in my sig. :)

I am thinking of using the Wise Guide, along with Spelling Wisdom from SCM to get my dictation lists. I already own SWR, so it wouldn't be any additional expenses. I love the idea of SWR... I've just not ben able to implement it. To me, a program shouldn't be so complicated. The closest training weekend for the program is about 3+ hours for me, and only once a year. I love simple. And although SWR is well thought out it is not, in my opinion, simple without a learning curve for mom. As the mom of 3 boys, one of whom has special needs, I don't have the time for that learning curve. Spelling needs to be easy. The words provided from SWR are well-researched. But the process of dictation, as explained by Charlotte Mason, is much more intuitive for me. Who knows if this will be a good thing. I am not a natural speller, and therefore have virtually no confidence in giving my children what I do not have. I suppose if they end up lousy spellers (I pray not) they won't be any worse off than me. ;)

I think the IP is oft underrated around here. We have really liked the IP. We do it one book behind. For example, my son (7) is doing PM 3a but IP 2b. We are still on CWP 1, though. IP has some more interesting problems than the workbook.

Can Sonlight history be bought all by itself? I've found the Sonlight website hard to understand because it seems they try and push the complete package. I also find it hard to find grade levels since they sell cores by letter. If I wanted to do Sonlight along with SOTW 3 for 2nd and 3rd graders, with readers... how would I do that? Thanks!

My 6 yo can do Henry & Mudge-type, and readers level 1 and 2. He also does pretty well in 3s and 4s, needing a few prompts. I tend to be anti-twaddle, but he is head over heels excited about the Star Wars and the Lego readers by DK. He isn't ready for chapter books beyond the very introductory ones yet. He is a young 1st grader, he turned 6 at the end of Sept. If in public school, he would be a older Ker. He also tends to be the type who won't try unless he's sure he'll succeed. He's not a risk taker. It's going to take a bit of confidence building before he'll pick up a thick book. I too am looking forward to independent and confident readers.

Karen, What do you use in in lower grammar for grammar? TIA!

Does anyone have a link to LindaFay's blog about dictation?

I do worry a little about how the number of posts effects a community. On the site I moderate, it turned into more than just, "hey look, i'm a worker bee" but some strange competition of who could post the most. Some posts were senseless, "Yeah, me too," posts, just to bumps numbers. Hope that doesn't happen here. It takes a long time to navigate here, and unlike the other site... I'm not paid to sit here. ;)

I'm a Mac-girl, so I'll try the command click. thank you!