Thanks everyone. I decided (I think lol) on using a free curriculum I found at utterfliesandbarefootlasses.blogspot.com/ I believe the blog writer posts here at times. It uses a bunch of resources I was already looking at. It seems like just what I'm looking for :-)

Thank you Kristie, that might be exactly what I'm looking for :-) That and maybe MOH if I can find used. Thanks all.

I think I'm going to try HOD.. and see what happens. Thanks everyone.

I was wondering if anyone has suggestions for a resource for me to study on my own about how the Bible relates to world history. I've learned things separately, but that isn't how I want to teach my kids. I want to teach ONE story and I want them (and me) to understand the worlds that the people of the Bible were living in. Are there any resources you know about that might accomplish teaching me about these things?

Anything? DD will be 4 in September. She knows a lot of the preschool stuff already but isn't ready for K stuff yet maturity and attention span wise. She knows all the capital and lowercase letters and their primary sounds, can count to about 16 (rote and objects), can add objects, knows colors, shapes, can sort by size and weight, has an extensive vocabulary, decent fine motor skills, can write her name,... I like the organized layout of LHTH but I don't want her to be bored with "school". I want this to be a good "intro to school year" that's fun... but I'd like to know she was going to learn something new. Any suggestions? (Oh and I know there are many free resources however, I don't do very well with those and end up quitting about 2 weeks in because I get distracted... I have ADD and I need as few moving parts as possible). Thanks in advance :-)

Thank you :-) You all have given me a lot of helpful suggestions. I'm thinking I'm going to step away from the decision for now (I have a lot going on at work anyway). Maybe I just need to get my hands on some curriculum.

I like thing simple :-) I also don't like wasted time and effort. I'm a classroom teacher (teaching my last year at least for now) and I have done crafty projects that have taken a lot of time, money ane effort only to realize that the kids didn't end up learning any of the content. I've also done activities that do work to help them to remember. I don't think you need crafts every day, but it would be nice to DO something each day other than read. Maybe create a notebooking page, draw a picture, create a foldable, play a simple game... some sort of reinforcement which I don't see in the SL samples. In MFW I see things that would drive me crazy (dress up and reinact something etc...) sounds like a LOT of work for me. If my kids wanted to do that on their own... that's great but I don't want to organize it. I guess I'm looking for something with OPTIONAL activities so if we feel like it we can, but it's not central to the curriculum. So if we're busy, or moving, or just feeling burnt out, we can have a minimalist week and be okay. SL seems to be the only curriculum I can find that has the ease of use I'm looking for that isn't written for a certain demographic (which I'm not). I don't know if that makes sense.

I'm in a planning ahead kind of mood. The first curriculum that ever caught my eye was Sonlight. I just love the time spent talking about other cultures, praying for other cultures etc. I want my kids to understand that the world is bigger than our little neck of the woods. Being a hispanic family, I also would like a curriculum that integrates our culture, American culture, and other cultures and not just throw them in as some sort of multicultural week or take a year to study other cultures kwim? My issue with SL is the lack of activities. I've considered tweaking, but I'm not very organized and worry that the tweaking won't actually happen without a plan. I've looked at MFW but some of their hands on stuff looks like too much work for me (I did mention I'm disorganized right?). I've also read some reviews about some things in MFW that as a minority, I may not enjoy teaching? I'm not sure, I think I have anyway. HOD looks easy to use (I love easy to use because then I won't get in the way) but there seems to be a whole lot of US History... I don't dislike US History in anyway and I want to teach US History, I just don't want to spend the majority of years teaching the history of 1 country... even if it is the country we live in. Is there ANYTHING that has the world focus of SL that does include some activities (without being over the top?) I feel like there isn't much inbetween. SL has nothing in the way of activities.... then there's stuff like WP that has a ridiculous amount that would completely overwhelm me. **Another possibility is an EASY way to tweak sonlight to have activities that I don't have to spend my time searching, gathering and buying because I know myself... it just won't happen.

I feel like I keep going in circles :-) I wish I had the focus to effectively combine elements of multiple programs to create my own. It's funny, I'm currently a classroom teacher and I'm constantly designing unit studies and what not... but I know that at home, I will fall terribly behind without a "boss" or "curriculum map" to keep me on schedule. Sigh. So when I first thought about homeschooling (I had no kids at the time lol) I found SL and WP. I loved WP... but then I heard a lot of negative reviews. Their website also bothered me (However, I logged in today and it's revamped). How easy is WP? It seems to have everything I want. I like all the books, I like getting all the books, I need a plan/schedule, and I want my dc to know that there is more to this world than the US. Some of the projects in WP seem intimidating. I don't mind doing a big project each week... just not every day kwim?

Thank you everyone! You helped me finalize what I think I already knew. I love the idea of sonlight and perhaps without the ADD I could pull it off, adding stuff here and there. However, when I go through the samples, I get "glazed over" from the overstimulation. I like that HOD has only one day at a time so that what we're supposed to do tomorrow won't distract me. I really do love what I've seen in HOD, but those Sonlight books... sigh, I guess I could always add them in as a "just for fun reading". We'll see. Thanks again!

Thank you!

That's why I'm taking opinions with a grain of salt. I know that for some things it will be trial and error, however, mostly I just want to know about ease of use and lack of prep-time. I'm really okay with lot's of parent time, it's the prep-time, running to the library, gathering materials etc.. that worry me.

Thank you. I don't think we'd mind the reading so much. I do worry about the multiple guides however. When you say "more to it" can you elaborate? Part of me likes the idea that my daughter would be inspired to create her "own" project or activity without me telling her what to do... part of me worries that with mostly reading and not much else, that there would be application missing. I also know you can look up activities... but when things get busy I just know I won't be able to keep up. I'm leaning towards HOD because what you say here seems to be true based on the samples. However, I'm drawn to SL as well.... which I worry about feeling like I missed something (which I will no matter what I choose I suppose). I do have good days/weeks and I'm okay with a little advance prep, but I just worry that if I choose a curriculum with too many moving parts, I'll end up having to quit HS because I can't hack it.

Hi. This is my first post :-) For a first time HS mom... who is a classroom teacher currently... who has ADD herself (but is medicated) and does better with structure/a schedule than without. Which of these 3 do you recommend? I've downloaded every sample. I've narrowed it down to these three for their "open and go" quality. I need something that is truly open and go so that when I'm not organized I can just well... open and go. My child does not appear to have ADD and seems to enjoy hands-on stuff but I worry about my ability to pull that together unless it's all right there for me. KWIM? Anyway... I'm realizing that this is the most important part of my decision because regardless of how I feel about a curriculum, it has to get done ya know? Thanks in advance :-)