Already mentioned above...but I suggest you put these on top of your list: All of a Kind Family Understood Betsy Also: Miss Hickory by Carolyn Sherwin Bailey Philomena by Kate Seredy (one of my favorite authors) Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan Sarah Whitcher's Story by Elizabeth Yates In Grandma's Attic by Arleta Richardson Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John

Well, it was my Dh who quietly handed me a small brown package one evening last year. "I bought you something." What I thought would be a nice chocolate treat turned out to be a pregnancy test. I immediately took it and was positive with baby #8. I cried and he laughed. "I recognized the signs." I think I was feeling like I had the flu and we just got rid of our 3 year old's crib and baby clothes. Baby is four months old now and so precious...Anyway, I am happy for you and your family. Congratulations.

Could these be done with just the teacher's editions...kind of like MCT?

And just to add another well done art DVD series: http://www.creatingamasterpiece.com/index.php I first saw these art DVDs at Simply Charlotte Mason. I love SCM. http://simplycharlottemason.com/

http://www.blackbirdandcompany.com/

This is cute. It reminded me of the time when my daughter, three years old, was watching her grandpa draw with sidewalk chalk on the patio. Grandpa asked, "What would you like me to draw now?" "A Viking in his ship," she immediately answered. "A...Viking?" (Three year olds are fun.)

Set up a midday "get out of bed to alarm" drill...and practice this when you are fully awake... http://www.stevepavlina.com/blog/2006/04/how-to-get-up-right-away-when-your-alarm-goes-off/ Seems silly but I just might do this with my children. :-)

A small ikea BILLY bookcase near the front door... We use Mondays as our day to return books, pick up our library holds and renew. Keeps our huge library book stash manageable...books always due on Mondays.

The Book of Beasts (Dragons) by E. Nesbit Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIHM by Robert O'Brien

I like to use watercolor pencils to write the phonograms for my children to trace with a wet q-tip. It's a simple and yet creative way to practice both penmanship and phonogram sounds (we say the sounds as we trace). Enjoy that 4th edition.

Wonderful, Halcyon. I think you definitely achieved your goal to make a cozy homeschool area. I love the soft rug, the round wood table, the "keep it simple" motto on the shelf, the microscope in the cabinet, and your owl bookends.

I recommend Rod and Staff Spelling as well. And I just realized that you can order R&S from Rainbow Resource now (free shipping for $50 orders) if you have the item numbers from the catalog...or order over the phone.

Today I gutted our hall closet, put only our current school texts on the shelves, and boxed all the rest of our unused curriculum for a special shelving unit in the garage. This gives me a bit of wiggle room on our living room bookshelves. We are using this cool system called workboxes for the first time...ever heard of it? ;-) We put that together (stacking drawer units) for six children today (yes, my older children think it's all the rage with their stacking Walmart drawers and velcro numbers). Maybe we will finally do school this year or something...that's the idea anyway. :-) I am so proud of myself for removing that clutter dragon from the hall closet today...so proud...so amazingly excited. Have fun storming the castle!

These are the threads I have saved: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/348864-my-evaluation-of-numerous-writing-curricula/ http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/455439-my-comparison-of-wws-to-ltow/ http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/350368-8-fill-the-heart-and-angela-in-ohio-and-anyone-else-question-from-the-writing-thread/?hl=%20classical%20%20writing%20%20literary%20%20analysis http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/455129-andrew-kern-on-youtube/

I just found a box of 7 empty, warped, old binders. How'd ya exchange them? You get credit $ at Staples, right?

You both look beautiful and especially in purple (love the purple flower on Lyla's hat). Congratulations! Welcome Home, Lyla Fae.

Love them ALL...just love them ALL...so... We are doing The Lost Tools of Writng right now (dd15, ds13, and ds11)...will move dd15 to CW Herodotus and the boys will finish Diogenes. How did I decide? The Lost Tool of Writing works well for a group. We watch the instructional dvd's together. It's a whole to parts study of the basic essay. I enjoy Classical Writing because it feels like it overanalyzes everything which I seem to specialize in. ;-)

To answer your question: Yes, you can do Maxim without having done Aesop/Homer. I do like the instruction for the six sentence shuffle in Homer though. And to give you unsolicited advice: I own CW (Aesop/Homer for Older Beginners, Diogenes, Herodotus, Plutarch), WWS 1, WWS 2 Beta Version, and The Lost Tools of Writing...and I am trying to implement them all at the same time. I am learning the hard way that it is okay to just pick ONE writing program. They each are complete programs all by themselves.

My children love AOPS here. I would suggest Foerster's Algebra as a back up which is MY favorite algebra text. I also like Harold Jacob's algebra text. (Yes, I own Jacobs too. Was in a "I can't decide which algebra text!" myself once...)

A month ago I bought a blue trash can with the recycling symbol to have a permanent place to corral give away items. I keep a roll of trash bags, a ball of yarn, and child scissors in the trash can underneath the current bag so I can immediately process the give away (tying a bit of yarn to the bag to identify it as give away and not trash...replacing it with a new trash bag). My dh is faithful about grabbing bags on his way into town for the Goodwill. We have removed more items from our home this month than we have in last three years (one time it was a full trailer load). In the recent past I used to throw unwanted items or bags of hand me downs my friends gave me in the garage to deal with later...now everything is dealt with immediately using this blue recycling trash can.

He looks like a Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to me.

The only people who achieve much are those who want knowledge so badly that they seek it while the conditions are still unfavourable. Favourable conditions never come. ---C.S. Lewis from "Learning in Wartime" Never, in peace or war, commit your virtue or your happiness to the future. Happy work is best done by the man who takes his long-term plans somewhat lightly and works from moment to moment "as to the Lord." It is only our daily bread that we are encourage to ask for. The present is the only time in which any duty can be done or any grace received. ---C.S. Lewis from "Learning in Wartime" And that ye study to be quiet, and to do your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you ---1 Thessalonians 4:11 Happiness is as a butterfly which, when pursued, is always beyond our grasp, but which if you will sit down quietly, may alight upon you. ---Nathaniel Hawthorne

When I have trouble focusing, I like to change my workspace for another area in my home to reactivate my brain. See if rotating to different work surfaces helps...from her desk to the dining table, the table to a cozy seating area (like a couch or bean bag using a sturdy clipboard), and then back to the desk. Her lessons could change with each workspace...math at the desk, writing at the table, spelling on the cozy seat. This movement may help to make your small area feel less cramped. If a distraction presents itself, simply use that as a transition to move to another workspace and new school lesson. (Also use a small dry erase board to do some lessons to add another level of variety.)

I didn't see the brown curtains when I posted. I love the brown curtains best too.

I like the first blue curtains. Do you ever open the garage door. I would think that it would be nice to open the door for fresh air sometimes. Maybe inexpensive window blinds that attach to the top and bottom of the blinds at each window would allow you to freely open up the garage door.