thanks! I'm checking into the homeschoolshare.com and FIAR.

My homeschool group is starting reading groups for the kids and I volunteered to do the youngest group, for non-readers and emerging readers. I need suggestions on books and I'd really like some kind of guide to the book. Or maybe a unit study or something I could print out. Thanks!

My dad has donated aphresis for a few years now, every few weeks. They do take the blood out one arm and put it back into the other. It takes an hour or two. But it's a nice relaxing setup with the movie and all. I think it's definitely worth it.

First of all, why teach Latin instead of Spanish which would be useful in today's world? Second, what age did you start and what curriculum did you use?

I've never done them so I don't know, which is why I asked about them on my other thread. ;) Is the only reason you don't like them because they are like busy work? I'm trying to decide if they will be beneficial or not. I will say that my dd (turns 4yo next month) needs stuff to keep her busy and I think this may help. She is a budding artist and sat and colored the front of her folder today. LOL The other thing I am thinking is that my ds7 might enjoy making a book more than he enjoys doing the workbook pages. We're using Abeka and he's just getting so bored with it that it's a fight. Thoughts?

I haven't made any file folder games in awhile. http://www.preschoolprintables.com/filefolder/filefolder.shtml has some good ones for preschool age. I also have a lot that I downloaded or got from a yahoo group that I could email you. PM me.

wow, that's a lot of info. Thanks! Is lapbooking at all like file folder games?

do you do them? how do you implement them? how could I use them with my 7yo, 5yo and 3yo? I've never done any so I'm looking for any and all info. Thanks!

Thanks!!! I just feel like there's so much information regarding the trivium and I'm having a hard time soaking it all in. LOL With the history, I think I have been focusing more on "my child should know about this, this and this" instead of just learning as much as we can regardless of whether we learn what he's "supposed" to learn. Like the Abeka teaches about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln. And he knows about them, but I don't know if he knows enough. KWIM? So is it really more about just reading and learning as much as we can without worrying about how much we cover? I have looked a bit at the Singapore Math and is thinking maybe it will be a good fit. Thanks for the suggestions! We're attending the state convention in May and I'm excited about looking at all the different things. It'll be great to have a list of curriculum ideas to look at so we don't get overwhelmed. Pamela, I have gotten to the point where I'm crossing out sections of the workbook pages just so he doesn't have to do as much busy work.

I've just started reading TWTM. I read most of the Grammar stage part tonight, although some of it I only skimmed. So if my son is starting 3rd grade in the fall, would I start in ancient history? Or should we just start now?

Hi, I'm Melissa, mommy to three, their ages are in my siggy. We've homeschooled from the beginning using Abeka curriculum. My oldest is in the 2nd grade curriculum now. My other two are doing all-in-one type workbooks. We didn't start Abeka until first grade. I'm just now starting to get interested in teaching with the trivium and am unsure about how to go about things. My reason for starting with Abeka was that I was very insecure and nervous. It was a great starting point and I've definitely built my confidence in the last 2 yrs. But we're ready for something more. My son is starting to hate school work because it's mostly boring workbook pages. Writing about stuff he couldn't care less about. And the math is way too easy for him. He reads well above his age level. He can easily read out of the KJV Bible and he's read part of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe which we just started. We haven't used any curriculum for science, history or geography and those are areas that I feel are lacking. After reading through what the grammar stage is, I feel like I've lost the first 2 yrs because we weren't studying ancient history. How do we switch now from a curriculum like Abeka to a more trivium-based approach? Also, I need suggestions for a more advanced math. Abeka is a lot of review which he doesn't need. He's ready for a new math concept every day and he remembers pretty much everything with little to no review. Thanks in advance!