Her math background is with Rod and Staff. She loves history, art, music, intrigued by science, but science is not her strength. She has a serious/stotic personality - not sure if LOF would work for her. So do you think that Teaching Textbooks would work?

I once belonged to a co-op for one 8 week session. In order for my children to attend the classes, my responsibility was to teach two classes. I spent the evening before and the day of the classes preparing the educational material and going over my notes. This translates to a "light day" of school the day before and "no school" the day of co-op. When I arrived and dropped my kids off to their respective classes, I noticed that one teacher was ill prepared. She said that the day before was busy for her and she was on the phone the morning of the class, so she quickly copied off coloring sheets to keep the kids busy during the session. In the other class, the teacher did not show up. The next 7 weeks were not much better. All in all, I have never joined another co-op again. I have heard of co-ops that do work, the teachers are great and the children learn multitudes. The parents do not have to agree to teach a class, instead they pay fees. But, if that is what I wanted, I would search high and low for a private school.

I have recently talked to some HS moms who use these programs for Algebra. They really liked Video Text (it has been around for a number of years) and they like the new kid on the block, Teaching Textbooks. Which do you prefer and why? It appears that there is only about $100 difference for two years worth of algebra. Thanks,

Everyone has such great ideas! KSVA, you have managed to save money in every single area! Amazaing! I like all the ideas about cutting back on internet and cable. I just learned that our phone company has a $9.95 package that offers about 40 some channels. This would save over $50 a month from what we currently have. Thank you all for suggesting the cable/interent for an instant savings. I decided to just give the phone company a call and see what they had to offer. The savings is significant over our cable company. And, NO installation fees!

I never knew this! I tried it and it works!! Thanks so much.

My husband works hard to provide for the family and never complains about the way I spend money to take care of the house, kids, groceries, etc. However, I feel it is my job to be a good steward of the money and make wise purchases. I think that I'm doing my very best to save money, but when I read all these posts, I realize that I could be doing so much more. You are a great wealth of information! Keep the ideas coming!

This is a great idea! I really do not have enough for a yard sale, but I have about 7 large items that I would like to sell. Thank you!

These are great! Does anyone else have some ideas?

I'm thinking about a spending diet. What are things that you do so that money does NOT come out of your pocket? Here is what I do: I cut my boy's hair I recently refashioned an old skirt of mine that was out of style. Now it is a knee-length pencil skirt. I really do like it. 90% of my boys clothes are hand me downs. We do our own yardwork. Unlike our neighbors who hire people to cut their lawn. I used to FREECYCLE while living in NJ. I got a lot of great things there, especially sewing supplies. What are some things that you do that greatly REDUCE the amount of money coming out of your pocket? A large amount of my skirts/blouses are sewn. Same with my daughter. I buy some things that I feel are too time consuming to sew, like jeans, jackets, etc. I heavily use coupons to buy groceries and health and beauty supplies. Sometimes I am able to get them for almost free or on occassion, free. I try to keep a well stocked pantry. What are some things that you do to GENERATE extra money? Since we are stay at home women, it is a little more difficult to earn money. Recently, I have sold some hand sewn and quilted items. I took a box of things to our local homeschool store for re-sell. I'm thinking about a yard sale? Sounds like a lot of work. I taught a group of girls the basics in sewing. Looking forward to some fresh ideas from you all!

This very closely describes my twin boys. They were always exactly the same height and weight (even to the quarter pound). However, just a couple of years ago, one of the boys started growing at a much faster rate than the other boy. Essentially, the oldest twin is the smallest and shortest. The youngest twin is heavier and taller. When we go to the bank, the teller will hand a couple pieces of candy to the taller twin and say, "Give one of these to your little brother." The younger twin very politely, but boldly states, "Ma'am, I'm the oldest brother. Thank you for the candy." I suppose most people wouldn't think much about this situation. But, when you have twins, it comes up frequently. They are fraternal twins - everyone probably knew this, but just thought I would put it out there. Every now and then someone likes to ask me if I'm SURE they are twins, because they are different sizes. :lol:

You may want to check out Children's Books in Greenville, SC. It is a large building on the outskirts of town, with almost every homeschooling book you can think of. It is just like a book fair, but with more choices. They also do not charge an entrance fee.

This is why I will NOT be attending. I really wanted to shop in the vendor hall. You would think that the vendor's would WANT people to purchase their books. However, when you charge $25 for entry to the BOOK FAIR ONLY, forget it. I looked into another state's vendor hall entry price, and it was similar. I'm just not going to do it. I'm sure that there will be plenty of people who pay the money. But I will not be one of them.

Jennifer, I am in the same library system that you are. Did you know that you can ask the library to buy the newest edition? Since they already have the 1999 edition, they will not have a problem with purchasing the new one. My kids and I reguarly ask for books, and they order them and we are the first ones to check them out. Go over to the reference desk and they will help you there. I didn't ask for the newest WTM, since I got one at the conference. Best of luck!

At the conference during the Question and Answer session, this question was asked to the panel. Here is what I remember: The logic stage has been expanded to include "how to do an outline" with each grade level. The grammar stage has been updated to remove books that are no longer available or are out of print. Substitution titles were replaced. I have not lined up the 2nd edition with the 3rd edition to learn ALL the differences, but this might give you an idea of some of the changes. Upon closer inspection of the logic stage, I have noticed that some of the Memorization suggestions for this particular stage, has changed from the 2nd edition. Hopefully, others will chime in.

I remember her stating that the student would still apply to colleges and upon acceptance, would then request a year of deferrment. (She also said that this varies from college to college) I'm guessing that if a student took a year or two off and THEN applied, they may not be showered with scholarships, like their fresh out of high school counterparts. Having said this, we are still not sure what we will do when our children are ready for college. One of our sons is very interested in the military. His two years off before college may very well be spent in the military, (earning his GI bill) and then off to college with his military scholarship. Our oldest son took this exact route. Once he served three years, he then took his GI Bill and completed his Bachelor's Degree last year. Susan said that there is such a difference between the 18 and 19 year old students in her freshman class. The 18 year olds have a "give it to me" (education) attitude, but the 19 yo was eagar and ready to do their part in obtaining their education. My husband tells me frequently that two of our children would benefit from going straight into college, but the others ones would be served best by having time off between high school and college. Just depends on your child.

I also met Nest of 3 and her cute little boy! She is super nice and her son is wonderful!

Yes, I remember you! So nice to actually meet other like minded people! Best of luck to you and your family. Who knows, the military is really quite a small world, we may bump into each other again! I'm so happy with my new book! Of course, I still managed to purchase close to $200 of other books! Joyfully, Mary

Absolutely beautiful! Job well done!

The conference was fabulous! Each and every session was beneficial and worthwhile. I even attended the "How to Teach Your Child to Read," even though my kiddos are already reading. Susan and Jessie did an OUTSTANDING job! Jim Weiss touched my heart with his story telling. My kids have many of his stories on old cassette tapes and recognized his name. The very last story telling session, Jim said, "Well, now I am off to meet my wife for dinner. I have not seen her in two weeks, because she has been at homeschool conferences in Alaska." One of my twin boys said, "What? I thought he was married to Mrs. Susan Wise Bauer." :lol: A few of the many things I learned: I CAN teach writing. Susan made it sound so simple. I have been making writing too complicated. I'm backing off of my "way too serious writing curricula" and going back to Susan's recommendations in WWE Hold off on sending a young home school graduate to college. They are more mature around 19. "No name" colleges are just fine. No need to go into serious debt for a big name college. Nap time (quiet time/in their room time) will be re-instituted in my house. There is no wonder that I have felt like I'm on duty 24/7. I'm building some quiet time into my day. I will hire tutors for those subjects with which I feel inadequate to teach. No guilt. Limit outside activities (sports, co-op's, etc.) Limit screen time (computer/television) for the children. Make a schedule for the child to follow. We may not necessarily follow it to the "T" each day, but it allows the child to see what is next on the list. This will save much time through the day, so that I am not their constant verbal prompt. Susan and Jessie are people just like us. They are very real. Susan's two older boys were there to help, and they are so polite! One of them helped with slides while Jessie presented. Another one was frequently at the book table. At the end of the conference, they presented their mom and grandma flowers. I lost it. I wish I had someone like Jessie Wise to encourage me, uplift me and assure me that my kids will be alright. However, for this past weekend, I felt like she was my personal encourager. She shared from the heart, told what she would do differently if she had the opportunity. You should have seen her tutoring young children in reading. She is absolutely the most patient person I have every seen. Others have said this, but I feel I need to say it again. The conference was excellent. In the ten years that I have attended various state and local conferences, this was by far the best. Oh, the best part! I won one of Susan's newest editions of TWTM!!!!! There were five envelopes randomly placed around the conference room and my husband was sitting in one of the chairs. He so kindly gave me his envelope! Susan and Jessie signed my new book! (Just a quick look through the book, and I see she has added quite a bit of information in the logic stage) We are just getting back, and I need to do laundry and look through all my goodies from the conference. It was nice meeting some of you there!

I used to live in ND. I pray you and your family remain safe. I hope that the damage in minimal. So sorry you are going through this.

Just for reference, mental math starts in 4th grade with the Rod and Staff Math. Thought you may want to know so that you do not buy anything extra! There will be exercises during oral drill, that is listed in the teacher book. For example, you would ask the student: 5 + 2 X 2 - 4, etc., and then it continues to get progressively more challenging throughout the book and into the higher grades.

I think I know what you are trying to ask. I remember the Farmer's barn with the animals. Can't remember if it was the 1st or 2nd grade. Look in the teacher's book and it will explain the scenario using the barn animals. I seem to remember that the lamb (the smallest animal) was in the 1's column, and I can't remember who was in the 10's, maybe the pig? Then the horse (the largest of the barn animals) was in the 100's column. If you follow the scripted lesson plans, it will direct you through what each animal stands for, and how to use the chart/barn. Best of luck

I'm curious as well.

Not a fan.

I just recently found a local bakery that mills their flour daily. An added bonus, they sell me their freshly milled flour. I bring it home and bake it up within a few hours. They sell their whole wheat bread for $4.80. They can bake 18 loves at a time, so that helps. I do not know of anyone who bakes from their kitchen and sells bread. I wish you the best. If you sold bread for less than $4.80 a loaf and you lived near me, I would pay you for home baked bread that was made from freshly milled wheat berries. ETA: There is a cost analysis on one of the bread baking websites. It states that it costs $1.04 a loaf to make the bread. She even calculated the electricity that her mixer and oven used. She wasn't sure about the 1 tsp. of salt, so she decided 1 cent would do!! Another site did a similar cost comparison and came up with 83 cents. Both of the above cost comparisons assumed you already owned a wheat grinder, mixer and bread pans.