It's simple. It does not matter what denomination you are. The Bible says the same thing. You have to go to the scriptures that clearly spells it out. Romans 10:9 KJV That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him (Jesus) from the dead, thou shalt be saved. The key word here is "IF".

I just purchased "Nature's Miracle" Urine destroyer and it's supposed to work or your money back. My 13 year old dog peed a lake in my son's room last week and I'm just absolutely disgusted. Other than that, sometimes the Arm & Hammer carpet sprinkle for pet odors works well.

These are great history books. I have the complete set since we used them as part of our Sonlight core a couple of years ago. My son doesn't want me to sell them because they became his favorite. I think ( I maybe wrong) that they were originally written for middle-school aged kids, however, we used the books in 9th grade and it was fine. We are Christians, so just as with any secular book we read, we had to talk about the different view points that are presented in the books. With all that to say, the books are well written and more complete than any text-book in ps that 'tells' about history in a boring format. Here's a link to the website: http://www.joyhakim.com/works.htm

Thank you so much everyone! This helps so so much. I agree with you 'Squawky Acres' about turning every subject into a project. Bleh!

So PHP is easier than PAL to jump in to if the child has some knowledge of phonics?

If you had to choose between these two programs (IEW Primary Arts of Language Reading/writing (or) Peacehill Press OPGTR/FLL1/WWE1) what would YOU choose and why? I'm having a hard time deciding between the two. I need a program that will allow me to jump in and start my ds where he needs to be and both of these programs seem like a good fit for that. The program we currently have is too difficult to place him where he needs to be because it jumps around and has no scope or sequence in the teacher guide for me to follow. In order for it to work, we'd have to go backwards to move forwards. What are the pros and cons of these programs? For those whom have used the programs from early on, how is it going for you and your student?

That's what I'm trying to figure out. Does the OPGTR give book suggestions or something? The sample online doesnt give any of that kind of information.

The Pathway Readers are not a sight-reading method IF you use the 'Learning Through Sounds' workbooks (which it suggests to do). It is very much a phonics program. So much so, that it's hard to move forward faster than the student needs because of all the phonics work. Especially if you use 'Climbing to Good English'.

I can't not have a program. I'm the kind of person that gets stressed out when I dont have a teachers guide.

This is what I'm thinking about doing. What books do you suggest to teach reading other than Pathway readers?

My ds is 7 and in between 1st and 2nd grade. We used the Pathway Reader "first steps" with it's correlating workbook last year and he did well. Now that I'm getting curriculum ready for this year, I'm getting overwhelmed at where to start him. I'm trying to take a small (let me emphasize small) step back to fill in any phonics gaps he may have. The teacher guides in PR suggest that one workbook goes hand-in-hand with another workbook, etc. We did not start with the beginning workbooks last year (Learning through sounds, Before we read, etc). I have all the workbooks and have looked through them trying to figure out where I should start him but it seems as if I skip forward to the place in the workbooks where "Days Go By" begin, then he may be missing something in another workbook that goes with the Days Go By workbook. I have Climbing to Good English as well but again, it's an issue of where to start and again missing things in other books. I've been considering The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading and First Language Lessons due to reading somewhere that it's not grade specific and it's an easy book to jump in to no matter what reading level the child is. I dont want to rush him through, but I also read that it's a great book to get your kids reading fluently quickly. Would this be a bad idea to change books? My other question is in regards to readers, what does OPGTR/FLL use for reading? Just the script or does it suggest books or readers? I looked on the Cathy Duffy review website and she didnt seem to care much for WWE. I dont know if I completely agree with everything she reviews though.

I'm jumping in here.... Did you use the entire MP 1st grade curriculum or did you just use the Storytime Treasures?

i do have the "Learning through Sounds" books. You are correct in saying that there is a lot of busy work, but how do you decide what needs to be done and what is just busy work? We like the readers but what I'm wondering is how can I cut down on workbooks but still move forward in teaching phonics? I've been looking in to FLL, OPGtTR, and WWE. I'm curious about how these books work in comparison to the Pathway Reader system.

Many of you parents out there have much more experience with this so I need your input. I have the entire Pathway Reader Grade 1 set plus Climbing to Good English 1. What are your thoughts on this set? Is it missing anything I need to know about? I have been using it with my 1st/2nd grade son (he is in between grades right now) and he seems to be doing fine but it would be really nice to find something with less workbooks to teach him phonics and LA. I looked up the review from Cathy Duffy and she didnt have anything negative to ssay, but it isn't one of her "favorites" either. I really dont think it's necessary to use letter tile type programs either. My son is behind in reading and I'd like to find something that -may- help him move in to fluency faster. Is there a program that teaches phonics, grammar, composition, spelling, etc. all together?

I am using the reading list suggested in the SOW activity guide (which follows the chronology in the text) and as soon as it comes in, I am going to use Reading Roadmaps. I just cant get myself to use MFW. There just isnt much flexibility in their program and it seems to me to be too churchy. That's why I originally liked the idea of SL, because it teaches kids to be "in the world, but not of the world" by using everyday books and then the IG explaining the differences. HoD just overwhelms me. I really like how SOW or MOH is used as a main spine but you can add in what other books you want without having to purchase an entire boxed curriculum. It really leaves things open to individuality. Now, I'm just not sure if I am using the right LA progam for us. There are sooo many workbooks to try to figure out when and what to use. It seems to be working, but I wish I could find something that has less workbooks and covers all that a 1st/2nd grader needs for LA. I've looked at FLL and it seems good, but I am not understanding how SWB's books work together. Maybe I'm just missing something obvious.

I think it all depends on the individual. SOW seems to be working great now and we are adding in read-alouds and readers to the program. I think SL is great for some types of people, but if the child hates it, then we've got a problem.

I know, but I had purchased the IG's and pieced together the cores I really want to like SL but it just does not work for us. I'm done and moving forward .

I just got back from exchanging my books at the bookstore. This is what we are going to try.... Bible - The Picture Bible w/correlating scripture History - Story of the World 1 w/activity guide Kingfisher History Encyclopedia History readers Geography - Geography songs (besides the Geography in SOW) Science - Young Explorers Astronomy w/ jr. notebook Handwriting - New American Cursive Math - Rod & Staff Arithmetic Math wrap-ups w/CD (instead of flashcards) MathTacular education kit L.A. - Pathway Readers set w/workbooks (we love these!) Climbing to Good English Lit. - Reading Roadmaps literature list Art - Artistic Pursuits I already feel better handing the SL books over to them! :party:

I have Cores A and B+C. I have used P3/4 and P4/5 loosely so I thought I'd dive in and move forward with the other cores. I have been on the SL forums but all they have been telling me is to stick with it. No thank you. I can't do it anymore.

I think I have made the big mistake of purchasing two cores from Sonlight and now I'm trying to figure out what to switch to. I can't stand the Usborne books and ds dislikes their Bible program immensely. I think I may just switch to SOW, but I'm not sure. I also have CHOW. I purchased Apologia's Young Explorer Astronomy since Sonlight's science jumps all over the place. If you are a parent that has come from the world of Sonlight and felt the need to change, what did you change to? What Bible program have you found? Please share as I need some direction.

Is there anyone out there that has combined SOW 1 & SOW 2 in 1 school year? I used SOW 1 for part of last school year but I'd like to get my ds caught up with SOW2 by the beginning of 3rd grade so that we can move in to American/U.S. history. Is this a ridiculous task to take on? I've been looking at Sonlight Core B+C because of this very reason but I'm not sure if it would be too advanced for my 2nd grader to take on with no older siblings. I'd love to hear from others on your thoughts. Also does anyone know of a read-aloud book list put together for the SOW series? Thank you :)

I am so new to this I am overwhelmed. We are in Oregon and are starting the process of researching how we want to go about all this. It's happening all so fast. We will be applying for our visa's next week. Meanwhile we are looking in to the cost of shipping our belongings down there. We are trying to figure out what is 'worth' taking with us. We are also looking in to housing and transportation. If anyone can chime in and tell us who (companies,etc.) to use/who to stay away from in terms of moving down there I'd greatly appreciate it.

I attended our local homeschool convention this last weekend and it helped me put things into perspective - again. :p I appreciate your comment because this is exactly what I needed to hear. I definitely have a leg on both sides of the fence. I like that the classical approach is more structured but I agree with Charlotte Mason that there does not need to be so much memorization. Not to say that memorization is bad, I just choose to have my kids memorize as they go, otherwise it makes no sense to them as to why I'm making them memorize facts that they haven't learned enough about. So, I have decided to change things up a bit. As much as ds like SOW, I personally dont like how it jumps around. I have decided that I need to enjoy teaching the book I use as well. We are going to go back to MOH and do more of the hands on projects so he's not so bored as well as take in more suggested age-appropriate literature . I like MOH because it also has a guide that goes along with the Bible chronologically. The only other option I have found that I like would be Simply Charlotte Mason's Module because of incorporating the Bible. TOG is just too much for me both in cost and in time. Here's what I have decided so far- History: Mystery of History 1 (starting in Quarter 2 since we already touched on Ancient Egypt and we already own the set) w/Illuminations (younger students) Math: Rod & Staff Arithmetic 2 w/ math wrap-ups (instead of flash cards) Language Arts: Pathway Readers w/workbooks and Climbing to Good English (we will alternate days) Handwriting: A Reason for Writing "T" (transitioning from printing to cursive) Science: Christian Kids Explore Biology Art: Artistic Pursuits Music: Piano Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone Homeschool Spanish 1

We are looking at Chile and Argentina not Columbia, Venezuela, etc. But thank you for the info. Of course we are following events and yes, spanish is already being taken care of. The nice thing about curriculum for our family is that we don't really use textbooks. We use the Charlotte Mason method and can download living books on a Kindle or tablet if we can't find them in a library. The SCM website has downloadable pdf's for the teacher's guide as well. I'm not too concerned about that aspect of homeschooling. My oldest will be graduating this next school year, so either he takes a break and travels with us, or we find him a school down there after he learns some Spanish. The nice thing about Chile or Argentina is that most in the cities speak English too. I'm leaning on the side of Chile more than Argentina, but it depends on which job opportunity opens opens up. I know for sure that Chile is open right now.

My husband and I are considering a move to South America for work. I am interested to hear from parents specifically in Chile and Argentina as to how things are going for you. How do things work for you there? I do know that in Chile it is legal, not sure about Argentina but I think you can. What is life like there for homeschool families? Etc. Thanks!