I used the HSBC Teacher ID (http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/?source=51921 Its the first item under free resources on the left menu. ) I added pictures and laminated the cards. It also looks great in their school notebooks at the end of the year!

I've purchased a bunch of things through HSBC (Simply Music, ABC Teach, lifetime Clickn Kids, Well Planned Day planners, etc), and I've used tons of their free stuff (field trip database, teacher/student IDs complete with photo!, Carschooling, MS Dream Spark, Lesson Pathways). And I know I'll be buying the American Heritage Series from Wallbuilders by the end of August. http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/?source=51921 If I'm correct, its a series of pdfs so the cd doesn't really offer you anything a download couldn't.

I watched some of it on TV and wasn't too impressed. I recorded them all and then deleted them after watching the first couple. I've decided to invest in the series The American History Series from Wallbuilders, being offered on HSB for about half price. It does a better job of showing the unique nature of our country's beginnings. http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/?source=51921 then go to "History" on the left menu.

I was just searching for this and I found this free trial. Free til the end of August so that's long enough for me to assess where my daughter is. Click Freebies on the left bar: http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/?source=51921

One that sticks with me from over a year ago is Karyn Henley. She spoke about the path of faith and development in our children. Then she began talking about how to solidify that faith - make it their own. It was at Arlington, TX, May 2009. She has podcasts on her website too. Definitely worth a real listen. Then last weekend in Houston we heard Norm Wakefield. Indescribable. Listen for yourself: http://www.rhino-technologies.com/ will sell them to you, but before you buy, do a podcast search. You can buy an entire series (12 messages) from Norm Wakefield for $15 and here's a sample of the free outlines. http://www.spiritofelijah.com/resources/equippingmen/pdf_outlines/ Even though this one is called Equipping Men they say it is very good for couples and groups to do together.

I plan weekly pulling everything into this: http://www.wellplannedday.com/planners.html

A friend and I found TGL at a recent bookfair. If my youngest was just one year older we would have bought it but I'm going to have to wait a year. It was so encouraging to see a curriculum that incorporated all those natural ways of learning things like grammar with the substantive topics like history and geography. I'm really looking forward to it. Because "bible" as a subject is sold separately, I believe it is not intended to be a "Christian" curriculum. Michelle

I'm glad I found your thread. I tried PR for my 5 year old and it just wasn't practical for teaching reading. He couldn't get past "her girls hurry to work early" - there was just no way for him to memorize these phonemes in the abstract - before he's even reading any words! Then looking at some of the reviews... everyone who loves it has older children. I'm going to have to look back over your discussions to see when we should pick it up again. I love the concepts and rules, etc. Thanks.

I posted this message on my local homeschool group and I'm now ordering (so far) 5 planners - and its only been 2 days... So shipping for each person/planner is now only 2.99, because shipping max is $14.95. (BTW, I'm in Collin County, Texas and will be ordering next week if you want to join me! ;-). I'm glad someone wrote that they won't ship until April, so I'm going to hold out for more people to join the order! I can see how shipping would be frustrating. On their website (the planner) it's 8.95 for 1, and jumps to $14.95 for two or more. (that was with entering my zip code) So I guess it just depends on how many you're buying. I'm not sure why Holly Bee is being charged $13.90 for two. Here's the language from the offer page: "USPS Priority Mail at a cost of $6.95 for 1 planner, $10.95 for 2-3 planners, $14.95 for 4 & above." I think the printed one is worth it for the time and energy of printing and binding.

I don't know about you, but a good planner / calendar makes me kinda giddy ;-) The Well Planned Day planner is one of the best I've seen, and I've seen them all. This one's worth buying even when there's so many free ones out there. I bought this year's edition half-way through the year for $6.00 and now I wish I had bought it for the beginning of the school year and used it for all my planning. So now they have it 50% off the regular price if you buy it early through Homeschool Buyer's Co-op ( http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/?source=51921 ) then look under Resources. They also have the Well Grounded Middle Schooler planner and the Well Guided High Schooler (See samples here but you have to buy it from the link above. http://www.wellplannedday.com/plannerswpd1011.html ). Enjoy - I know I will!

We're doing LHFHG and I couldn't get the Singapore books either. Instead I got the Critical Thinking Math A. http://www.criticalthinking.com/getProductDetails.do?code=p&id=06906 It's excellent. I'm very much about letting kindergarten be kindergarten, and this provided great skills without getting too crazy. Occasionally I look at the math box and we do it. It's very simple, but maybe too simple on its own. I have our own Phonics (EPS - Right into Reading), Math, we've almost finished the R&S A thru F, so aside from the Burgess books, we skip the whole right side of the page. When this year is close to done, I'm going to have to think about whether to continue with level B or to go to Right Start which we do with my daughter.

It depends on your relationship, your situation and your motives.

It's so easy to get bogged down in the details of curriculum and "which works best". Case in point, read homeschoolreviews.com. You can read the reviews for a curriculum and find that they run the gamut. The helpful reviews are the ones that tell you what specifically they did or didn't like because you may feel that is something you actually like about a curriculum or that works for your child. But wait, what do you like in curriculum and what works for your child????? Well, honestly, I've found that only with some perspective will you discover this, and then as they grow your perspective and experience grows and then you change your mind... So where do you start?? Personally I found the best place to start was with a good foundation of understanding for myself why we were homeschooling, and knowing that we were following the Lord's leading in doing so. What guided me through this was an amazing guide called Educating the Whole Hearted Child http://www.wholeheart.org/whitemdetail.php?itemid=6 The reason why it was helpful was because it helped me figure out my unique why's of wanting to homeschool and what our goals were. If our goal was to get a child to a certain school level by a certain time, their education and curriculum would look vastly different than if our goal was to disciple that child and give them a Christian view of the world. It also has a brief section (that should be investigated more) about educational philosophy that I feel is essential. The well trained mind does this as well. Charlotte Mason books extensively cover Philosophy of Education. It sounds a bit high-minded, but the reality is, even if you've never really researched it, but you've homeschooled for any period of time, you've based your curriculum decisions and your homeschooling day upon a philosophy.

I am using both right now: Adventures and Little Hearts. I think they are just about the same with their integration of biblical themes and lessons in science and history and even art. I could be wrong with my limited perspective but I think that as you go up in level, MFW keeps more with a theme being that of missions and impacing our world for Christ.

I used 1st grade last year, and Adventures this year. If you are drawn to the bible notebook, its for good reason. The bible content in 1st is excellent - and I say that even with my daughter not being crazy about the drawing stuff. I wouldn't depend on it for phonics (a little weak, but dd is still a decent reader, I just don't think she will have a good foundation for spelling). I would say though that I would turn to WWE 2 to get a better instruction on guiding a student to creating a summary statement. We did all of 1st grade and dd's eyes still glaze over when I ask her to summarize what she read.

:iagree: And I hear its a pain to program a website to print a custom card. Our group has one, but its in the midst of being edited... enter homeschool buyer's co-op free ID.

Teacher filebox boasts 50,000+ activities for $60 (ends today at Homeschool Buyers Co-op) Teachervision is $40 for what has to be over 20,000, but that what their website says.

Can that Homeschool Fairy come this morning teach my kids... :lurk5:

Sometimes reading reviews helps when you hear why they liked or disliked. And its not so much their conclusion but the details they may give. http://homeschoolreviews.com/reviews/curriculum/reviews.aspx?id=527 It sounds like you liked Headsprout and that its a full program. I switched Phonics between kids for a couple of reasons but mostly knowing that my second child doesn't learn the way the first did. I don't want to sound like a salesman, but Homeschool buyers co-op has both Click n read and Explode the Code. If you do Headsprout as your main program, then you coul let your child do one of the online programs as reinforcement and being able to see it from a different angle. You really can't miss with the click n read because the Co-op has it for $29 for a lifetime, and then they even let you sell it when you're done. I've been considering this and I need to get on it because it ends today. http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/?source=51921

I've looked at the mocha site and the podcasts, but are there any that a younger child would actually do?

Wow - I looked at it on Homebuyer's Co-op (I'm loving their stuff right now) and saw this: ClickN' READ Phonics retails for $59.85 but by purchasing through the Co-op you save a bundle (scroll down for our current savings - the best price anywhere! $29.99). But hold on to your hat - this product is a LIFETIME Subscription AND it is fully transferable when you are done using it - with no extra fees! That's pretty good and transferrable means you can sell it when you're done... http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/?source=51921 Happy Shopping!

These are pretty good deals from Homeschool Buyers Co-op (the Rosetta Stone one is the best retail price you can get). They've got other good deals that you get just because of the high volume they can purchase. http://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/?source=51921 The Homeschool Buyers Co-op is pleased to announce a Special Offer for Rosetta Stone Homeschool Language Learning Curriculum. By joining this, our first Group Buy, you will get: Up to $100 off (depending on the product; in all cases, we give you the biggest discount permitted -- 14% -- under Rosetta Stone's reseller agreement) FREE shipping! Up to 4,500 SmartPoints that you can use to purchase other curriculum through the Co-op. All in all, we think this is the BEST DEAL ON THE PLANET for Rosetta Stone Homeschool Language Learning Curriculum! The Homeschool Buyers Co-op is pleased to present...an exclusive Group Buy for powerspeaK12 online Foreign Language Curriculum (formerly known as Power-Glide) from K12! K12's powerspeaK12 offers homeschoolers interactive online foreign language courses that make learning engaging and effective. Course offerings for Grades K-12 available. We are delighted to introduce this new product offering to the Co-op via EXCLUSIVE member discounts just in time for the new school year! Thank you, K12!

While I think Texas is one of the best states to homeschool in (no one in the school system even knows my kids exist...) I think that the difficulty at some of the B&N's is simply due to the person behind the counter - regardless of the corporate policy. Some "stores" have given homeschoolers a hard time, some haven't. Maybe if you walk in there prepared (thanks for the corporate policy!!) and knowing that you know what you are doing, then they can't say much. How many times have you heard the question: "So, does someone review your curriculum?" While review and oversight happens in some states, it doesn't happen in Texas and a few other states. And it just shows the institutional mindset of education in America. Or how about the dreaded socialization question... Anyway, I hope the free id card helps!

If you don't have a support group that provides you with student ID cards, then get one free at Homeschool Buyers Co-op with a sign up (free account). I printed mine and qualified for the Office Depot teacher discount and the Barnes & Noble - and they can be a little snooty. Just thought you'd like to know. in Training

Bummer! Thanks for the clear answer!