My DD is in 7th and naturally wonderful at LA- i began CLE this year. I liked that spelling, grammer, handwriting etc were all together. I did not bother with the "testing" and ordered grade 7. Well. only 2 weeks into it i am ready to just cross out the diagramming and keep everything else!! I LOVE so much about it and she is on level with everything else, but the darn diagramming!! She's in 7th grade and diagramming sentances with 18 words in them- and for one day!!!!! then tomorrow she's diagramming another type of crazy sentance completely!! I am really at a loss here and do not know what i will do. If i go to a lower grade, the other parts- ie. spelling etc will be way too easy. So, if 7th is any indecator- there is always a lot of diagramming. That being said- as nuts as it is now... maybe after a month or so, she'll get it down and never need another stitch of grammer again! If i could do it over i would have started the program earlier with her. My boys (9) got the grade 3 la from CLE this year and that lasted about 1 week- too much for them, even at 9. I just feel like everything else out there is sooo light on grammer ( LLATL, or Queens which we used and loved- i just felt like it was time to 'put the hammer', down so to speak- and get my 7th grader doing something a little more challenging). I have found nothing else like CLE - BUMMER! Let me know if you find one!! Feeling Your Pain, Dawn

MOH has my vote for Jr High. It is awesome!!

My oldest (dd11) used foundations and intermediate, she needed it and liked it-the younger 3 (dd6, ds8, ds8) started with the primer then began the foundations ( classic) and after about 1/2 the year protested that they "hated the boring pages". We looked at tons of samples and THEY chose Abeka 1 & 2 and LOVE it! My oldest finished both levels early (found & Int) so i got Horizons 6 for her to use as daily skill practice to finish out the year and she LOVES it. She could not have handled it early on. I think MUS gave her what she needed- but she started older and moved faster in the classic version, so that alone helped her with concepts. I really think things are taught too young in other 'spiral' curriculums... that being said, i cannot believe how much we never even touched upon with MUS that she is doing in the first 6 weeks of Horizons! But, like i said, i still think MUS gave her the tools to figure much of it out on her own. She is loving Horizons, but it ends this year- so where to next i have no idea?!~ Dawn

I am iusing it for my 6 year old dd who has already begun reading. I LOVE them and so does she. The TM is necessary and wonderful!! There may be a story and then you have activities- they spell words, read, draw nd learn sight words ( Star words they call them). I have 5 children - 4 i have taught or am teaching to read so far ( one is only 2 yrs old). i have used LLATL Blue Book, The Reading Lesson, Reading Made Easy, MFW grade K & 1, Teach your cild to read in 100 EZ....... and the list goes on and on!!! This is the LAST thing i found and of course it is our favorite!! It is wonderful! I am a CM, Mont, Waldorf hser and don't care for workshets etc- but dd LOVES them!! That's why i got it- and she is thrilled to finish a LU and start another! Good luck, Dawn

I guess you are probably right about them being more 'world oriented' i guess i meant that particular time in history that would be covered in those texts. Is that what would cause an issue for me if i used the WP notebooking pages? That would make sense and is i guess what i needed for info. So with WP i would onlt=y be teaching American History and would be teaching nothing of other things happening throughout the world? I guess that makes sense and still for some reasn i assumed they would all be siilar, (WP, & SOTW). You answered my questions re "Hideaways in History' last week!! Thanks again! Dawn

Hi there, I am hoping someone can give me some advice. I am planning on doing American History next year, but can't decide how. I have 5 kiddos ages 11-2. I was really loving wp's notebooking pages for 'American Story 1' but not sure of using the entire program. i had purchased the "Ancients" set a few years ago and promptly resold it. It was a little too all over the place for me. My kids were alot younger then also. Anyway- if i chose MFW 'Exploration to 1850' 9don't have) or SOTW 3 + 4 (which i do have) would the NB pages from WP work or are they really made to exclusively fit the WP package? I would appreciate any ideas. I would really like to incorporate them i think. My oldest dd is using Sonlight 6 so we are all listening to SOTW vols 1&2 on cd and the youngers are doing the map work, coloring pages ets. Do i continue with Sonlight 7 and just keep them doing the same thing? I just liked how MFW and WP really included everyone. Wp has quite a heafty price tag for the "all American ' set though, and i really wasn't sure if MFW would have enough happening for activity pages- my kids LOVE activity pages!! We are using MBTP for our morning lesson and then other subjects follow. I have never been a worksheet, cut & paste, project person but that is because my most of my kiddos werent. Now suddenly everyone loves it so i added MBTP and it is a good fit- but i can't see myself doing it next year AND hist etc. again. So, any help would be much appreciated! Thanks!! Dawn

I am 37 years old and never learned my facts, add or mult. I have some memorized and i go up or down from there. It is a very right brained trait. You can drill as much as you like, my oldest dd 12 and is that way as well. I have other children who have their facts down in 2nd grade. We, however, can not! One of the best things I ever bought was the MUS skip counting songs. She uses her fingers but is able to skip count to get answers far faster than i could at her age. Is your child a great reader? Artistic? Look into some right brained activities- another way for these kids to get facts down is with the 'addition tables the fun way' ' mult the fun way' books etc. Still, don't expect an answer in 2 seconds- our brains translate into pictures which can take a moment. My oldest dd who counts on her fingers and skip counts to music is now an ace at math- (not until she turned 11 however) and beginning Algebra in 7th grade. Development......it's a crazy thing!! Take care, Dawn

I'm a hopper and a junkie! The worst part is ... I need nothing! I buy and sell curriculum like mad. Now I have vowed to stick to used curriculum because i can at least get my money back! So many things seem to work for a while or work for one but not others. Ie: loved Sonlight 1&2 with oldest- now she's in Sonlight 6, which i hated in the beginning....now love it but ditched core 1&2 and have the youngers just listen in on core 6. Why did i love it before and not now???? Maybe because older dd loved it, and now ds, ds, and dd don't! Loved MUS for her- others DETEST it-I love it too, but the younger 3 declared mutiny and switched to Abeka math. Can you believe Abeka math!!! That was the first thing i got when i began hsing with first dd and swore to never but it again!! Yet, here i find myself using Abeka math with smiling children. I have had every phonics, reading and math out there! I decide i'm CM one year and but every book out there, i decide i'm waldorf the next and but every book & curr out there, then classical ( you know where this is going!!) Now i am a CM, Mont, CL, Waldorf mix and so are my kids. Want to find a curr that fits us so why not try them all! LOL! Well the spending freeze has hit- temporarily- so i'll have to be more careful with choices this year!! We Love Queen's language lessons, and this year oldest dd likes Horizons math, but.... it ends after grade 6, which is this year for her. Here we go again.................................................... Take care, Dawn

If you put the time in in the beginning- meaning keep your pup with you! Naturally they become amazing!! We have always had 2 dogs; labs & golden, now a goldendoodle and a cockapo- non shedding!! Even the cockapoo against all warnings from others they are sweet, gentlke affectionate- stay in the yard when let out etc. Now, it did not happen over night- but my approach to dogs is the same as my children, we are together always and they learn naturally. Cats on the other hand............................................................................................... Go for it!! Dawn

Thanks for the replies.... i knew i couldn't be the only one!! It is simply my intention to try to make sure it does not happen to any one else, although i'm sure it will as long s we continue to use paypal's services. I saw another blog about it recently from another mama and decided that since i wasn't going to get any satisfaction through paypal- i would at least put their policies out there. Their policies are really terrible- you pay a fee to an unnecessary middleman (paypal) and they dictate these unfair policies. So, moving on in life, feeling better to have warned some! I think the lesson is that although convenient, there are other more trustworthy options out there! I had just always felt that i had protection through paypal- the reality is you DO NOT! Take care all!! Dawn

try on the greentaramama yahoo group- they would know i'm sure! Dawn

I thought i'd share my latest experience with paypal to you all. just an FYI- I just sold some books via paypal and sent them media mail. I had a recipt with the buyers city, state, zip code and the date i sent the package from the PO. Needless to say- it never arrived and I (the seller) had to pay the buyer back as well as all shipping charges etc even though i was the only one who had a recipt that proved i sent it. Because there was no tracking, paypal said " they could not prove that the PO lost it" , rediculous i know- i argued for over an hour with manager after manager. How, with proof i ended up paying that is beyond me.. but thats how paypal works. I thought as a 'confirmed' customer i was protected if a package was lost- not so. Paypal removed the funds from my account- nothing i could do. So, ALWAYS send your packages with tracking at least or YOU ( the seller) are responsible for the loss. I detest paypal myself but it is convenient!! I can't be the only one with an experience like this, Let me know what you think...... or any other helpful "know how's' re paypal. Thanks, Dawn

Hi Sorry to be nosey- i am also thinking of using 'hideaways' with my 3 middle children next year. They will be 9,9 & 6. Looking at samples i thought it looked WAY too advanced for 1st grade but would be fun for my kiddos. i guess i just want someone to tell me that i'm not taking the easy way out and it WOULD really be appropriate for them. I was also thinking of 'animals', but i think that might get teedious after a while. Thanks for any opinions!!! Dawn

We use main less. blocks and books for school. I second the person who wrote that daily math is practiced, as well as reading. There are also math blocks for introducing new concepts in an artistic and imaginative way- then when another block begins ie. language, the daily practice begins. It is amazing what children get from this way of teaching/learning. I have 5 children and it has changed our lives! No more hurried mom, more is covered and more is internalized and remembered. I have done Anc Hist 3 times, and this last time (using waldorf) was by far the most fun and productive. I add a lot more literature than a true waldorf teacher probably would. a great book to get a hser familiar with waldorf is 'the curriculum overview for homeschoolers' from Christopherus. It is not one of 'those' waldorf books and speaks to real life hsers. One of the few books worn out at my house- the others look pretty on the shelf! Dawn

I have looked at the math by hand on many occasions., i opted fopr A Little Garden Flowers 1-5 math book. Just curious what you think and is it organized into lesson blocks? Thanks, Dawn