I use spiral notebooks and write their assignments either daily or weekly depending on how much time I have...and if we have a super busy week, I do it daily, so I can adjust based on how each previous day went. Some of their assignments are things they complete daily, so I can just write, "daily work," and they know what to do, which saves me a lot of time!

Has anyone used their science books? I may need to start another thread for this, but I started thinking about buying a set of science books. Mostly interested in something for my 8th grader (next year). I can't tell from the sample how good they are or how many weeks they take to complete.

Last year, I used it toward the kids' Latin curriculum, but this year, I'm not sure what we need...

never mind...found more threads!

I'm interested to know, too! Looks fun.

I use it

This is required in my state...I think there is value to learning the topics, but it can happen (and usually does) in normal family conversations (eat your veggies! Don't do drugs!). But, I need to "document" it for the state, so I usually have something more formal just to make the documentation easier.

My kids have 4 "daily" subjects: Math, Handwriting practice, Spanish, and Latin. They do these each day. All of the other subjects are on a rotation. Science/History rotate and All of the language arts subjects are looped with the exception of reading (b/c they do have quiet reading time each day and our discussion is not a "subject," but happens more naturally). "Specials" like art, music, and health are rotated, too. Oh, I almost forgot, we do read aloud as part of our morning basket time along with memory work.

I have an early riser (9yo up at 7am on the nose) and sleeper (13yo!). I NEVER wake the younger because if he sleeps past that 7am mark, then he NEEDS it! LOL! Now, the teen...he's just started the sleeping in thing. I usually wake him by 8:15 because we aim to start school at 8:30 since my little one has been up for over an hour by then. And usually, he's up before that time, but I woke him every day this week until today...I let him sleep and he got up at 9am. I figure that he needs it sometimes and yes, we started late, but like others have said, those are the perks of homeschooling! If mine were younger, I'd always let them sleep.

I truly had no idea that Lingua Angelica was translation! I feel a little silly not knowing that! I thought it was just the Latin music. I'm sure that would be a better fit since, like you said, we're already familiar with MP. Thank for the other suggestions, too!

I am considering adding some Latin reading to our Latin study. We use Memoria Press and I have one son in FFL and one in SFL. Of course, they do have translation pages/sections in each lesson, but I thought that actually reading a Latin story would be more fun and would add some more practice. I know that CAP has readers that go along with LfC. Has anyone used these? Are they good? Or do you have any other suggestions?

Where do you find Galore Park samples? And where have you purchased it from? When I google, I find uk reference and, of course, amazon, but no samples. ETA: I found a sample of the student book on the UK website, but I still cannot find the teacher guide or a place to purchase in the US.

What age is Breaking the Barrier geared towards?

That's exactly what I just did!

We just finished Alice in Wonderland and started The King's Fifth. We are listening to Johnny Tremaine in the car.

Thank you! This is exactly what I needed to know. I'll check our library's copy to see if it has that same forward, but the issues you mention are the same ones mentioned in the amazon reviews. I looked up some of the other books mentioned above and I really like those, too. Luckily, my library has several of them, so I think I'll check some out and look them over.

Thanks. I know that Sign of the Beaver is ok for them to read on their own, but they already have books assigned, so this was on my list of books we'd try to get to as a family read aloud. My 12yo has already read Island of the Blue Dolphins and enjoyed it. Thank you for the links! I'll check out those lists.

The Sign of the Beaver was on my "maybe we'll read this" list for this year. I noticed that it has some bad reviews on Amazon that suggest it is racist and inaccurate. I do want to make sure we get a truthful depiction of the relationships between the Native Americans and the European settlers...even if it's a fictional tale. Any feedback about this book? Or a good alternative? It would be a read aloud for 9 and 12yo boys. Thanks.

One of the reasons I love this forum is that you are all so wonderful! You've given me a lot of great ideas and things to consider. I love history as an adult...because I love the STORIES! My kids are getting there...I think that the controversy adds some interest (at least for my oldest) as Loewen mentions. I agree that we'll never know what exactly happened, no matter how much we read. It's like when my kids argue...I get two different versions and I can use the evidence I have and their info to determine that the "truth" is somewhere in the middle.

I do not sell this, but my neighbor does...Look into Rodan & Fields. It's an at home selling type thing, but I do truly believe in their products. They have different "lines" for different problems and I'm sure they have something for scars. My son gets terrible eczema on his feet and we've tried EVERYTHING (including Rx from his doc). The ONLY thing that really helps is Rodan & Fields. Clears it up almost immediately. The only problem is that it is very expensive and I can't afford to buy it! My neighbor gives it to me at her cost, but even that was $100. Anyway, you can find a local person who sells it. They do have a money back guarantee if it doesn't work.

Good idea.... Regarding the bolded...wow!

You're right...I do think it's all lies now! I don't use Sonlight, but in response to another thread on Facebook, I was looking at their notes for History of US (Core 100) and noticed that they recommend having a high school child read Loewen's book. I remember seeing Zinn recommended on that Facebook thread, too. We use the Read Like a Historian site and we have two Primary Source journals as homeagain recommended. We are just starting History Detective although I'm not sure if that will address any of these things. I just feel like I want to make sure we have the conversations about all of these tough subjects and I will "miss" them because I don't know they're controversial subjects. Everyone loves SOTW, but then someone will say there are inaccuracies. Many praise History of US, but then I hear there are inaccuracies there, too. I would be completely clueless about these things because I was taught the "positive" spin. I start to wonder if our encyclopedias are even correct...ugh... While I'm so happy to be able to ensure my kids won't have the same education I received, it's very stressful to put that into practice. Even the "good" resources have their flaws. I remember SWB mentioning (can't remember if this was in TWTM or an audio lecture) that we can never teach a child ALL of history, but we are teaching them how to study history themselves. Thank you all for your feedback. I will definitely look into the Zinn books and the other Loewen's ones. I suppose continuing to educate myself is another tool!!

I haven't! I just checked and my library doesn't have that one, so I put it on my Amazon wish list. Thanks.

I've just started reading "Lies My Teacher Told Me" by James Loewen. I'm only on Chapter 3, but I keep thinking that choosing history resources (especially for high school!) is so hard! I am not a history buff at all and with my own public school history education based likely on the textbooks he mentions, I now have no idea what is true anymore. So, how do YOU choose a history curriculum that is true? That covers events fairly? Isn't whitewashed? How do you know??? I would read something and assume the book is telling me the truth... I know I can use primary resources, and we do for my middle schooler, but I don't look up (or even find) primary sources for everything. My head is spinning reading this book!

My son and I both get quite carsick and we drive from MD to FL every summer. We have found that ginger chewables help (we get ours at Trader Joes) and we both wear Sea Bands, which are pressure point bracelets. They sell Sea Bands at CVS or other drug stores. I prefer to drive, but when I'm not, I use the above. My son doesn't care for the ginger, but he will use them if he needs to. He just keeps a pair of Sea Bands in my car for all car rides now. Good luck!