I'm not certain.... Mom gave me it to me for Christmas 5-8 years ago. I don't think my youngest was with us yet, so maybe 7 years ago? :001_smile:

I have a kitchenaid professional 9 handmixer and LOVE it. It whips cream and eggs quickly at high speed and has a very low setting I use for cutting in butter. Good luck with your search!

When I was a teen and trying to help out, Mom always showed her appreciation. Later, when we were in the kitchen together making cookies or cleaning, she would take the opportunity to train me in how to clean a kitchen. :001_smile: But she always kept a clear division between chore training time and a child attempting to help Mom out. I don't see any reason you can't do the same. Say "Thank you" and give your dd a big hug, then later take an opportunity to teach your dd how to clean a kitchen.

Learning Language Arts through Literature is working well for us. Here is the website of the publisher. http://www.commonsensepress.com/

For me, the line is when the curriculum causes tears on a regular basis. My dc will often groan and grumble for a moment, so I don't pay much attention to the groans. I've also found that changing the curriculum usually doesn't make my children any happier. They'll only be happy if I tell them 'No schoolwork, ever!' Tears are a different matter because no child's confidence should be eroded by a curriculum. In the case of tears, it usually is the approach/method that they are struggling with and when I switch to the opposite approach the child usually thrives. (Although they may still groan when told to go and get their work done. :D )

My children and I ejoy using Learning Language Arts Through Literature.

My ds is at the same point as your dd! The answer to question 3 is actually a combination of material learned in lesson 50 AND lesson 47. Look at p. 178 for an explaination of finding the percentage of a circle divided into thirds. HTH! :D

Congratulations to your son! My best piece of advice is to plan for a lot of walking and being outside for several hours. The graduation ceremonies take place outside and often the marines want to take their family around the camp to show it off. I remember dh taking me everywhere we were allowed to go; he figures we walked around 2 miles. Dh suggests you dress in nice, casual clothing. I wore my favorite pair of jeans and a blouse to dh's graduation and didn't feel out of place. Of course, the only thing I cared about was looking pretty for my husband. ;) HTH!

I put down TWTM because it is the book I always open to ensure everything is being covered, but I've simplified my homeschool and based my priorities off the Latin Centered Education. Math and Latin are the center of my homeschool and ALWAYS get done. History and Science are based off the recommendations in TWTM and moving closer to the recommendations, however they don't always get done when life is hectic.

:iagree: Although, I will let them start with 1/2 lessons for a few weeks if necessary. :D

We're using Latin's Not So Tough with success. It's a workbook program that moves slowly with plenty of drill. Best of luck!

:iagree: It sounds normal for a 5 yo. I will mention, since it's come up with 2 boys I know, that it might be worth checking his vision. One lad turned out to see double close-up (the eye doctor gave his mother some simple exercises for the 2 to do), and the other boy is extremely farsighted. Best of luck!

It took me a few tries to get it up and running; I deleted my file several times so I could start over. Now, HT is working wonderfully for me. I'm only using the assignment grid to track assignments and math grades. Most of the assignments I've filled out for the year and simply reschedule when necessary. Assigned books and writing projects are assigned weekly. I don't use the reading list very often since 2 of my children require a page count in order to complete their assigned reading, so I put it in the assignments folder. I also use the calendar to print up assignment sheets. It will not print memory or reading lists, but does print up a nice table of assignments for the week. Best of luck!

The program is working well here. We're LCC in focus, I work almost 30 hours a week, and I need my English program to be easy to implement. LLATL is very easy to implement and the lessons are short. While I adore the short lessons, everyday I find myself thinking, "That's it?!" lol. As far as supplementing... grammar and vocabulary: there's no diagramming until the 7th grade but grammar is covered. We also cover quite a bit of grammar and vocabulary in Latin and Greek. The writing is on the light side. Again, I don't supplement because the children also write for history and science, as well as during their free time. They love to write stories and letters. I want a program to teach them HOW to write, which is what LLATL does. The same with literature, LLATL is light on their book studies, but Biblioplan has a literature component to it. One child spells wonderfully, and LLATL is sufficient. Two children need more work, and I have them doing Calvert Spelling CD-roms on their own. Another point I've appreciated, because the lessons are short and sweet, I've noticed my children are developing a tendency to go above and beyond the assignments. If they're asked to do some research and write a page in summary, they'll grab 4-5 books and write a 2-3 page report. :001_huh: We all have breathing room using LLATL and I have a wonderful balance with the children.

Is there a time frame for misbehavior at classes? Awana is usually in the evenings and children are more likely to misbehave when they're tired. I know I'm not at my best in the evenings! :D Since he had a great day, could his behavior be simply because he was tuckered out from the day and lost what remained of his control? If so, my recommendation would be to avoid taking him outside the home in the evenings until his stamina has built up. Best of luck!

My understanding, of the passages for each lesson, is they were chosen for their literary quality but it's not necessary for the child to read each and every book chosen for the lessons. So I don't actually require many of those books to be read since the children have literature from history assigned every week. The book studies are different though, I do require my children to read the books before we complete the studies. :001_smile: Hope that helps!

You won't be ruining your children if you use textbooks instead of living books. :001_smile: Actually, I've been reading articles on titus2 (author of MOTH) about how their family switched to textbooks and am tempted to do so myself. Best of luck!

I like to start school by 9 am. Having a deadline to start helps to jumpstart us in the morning. What I've found works the best, is to start my older children on independent schoolwork while I sit down with my youngest. Once he's finished, he runs off to play while I sit down with dd9. We spend 30 minutes going over all her schoolwork and then I send her to play with youngest while I work with ds10. After 30 minutes, ds10 runs to play with youngest, dd9 sits down to finish her work, and ds 12 and I sit down to work together. Youngest son gets time with all his siblings, all children have time to finish the basics (English, Latin, and math), and I have time to sit with each child individually. At this point, 11 or 12, we do history or science as a group using programs that allow me to keep everyone together, but with grade appropriate assignments. I've also learned that I do best aiming to get a tiny bit done every day consistently rather than trying to accomplish a lot on any given day. We never get a lot done without driving me insane, and the children make better progress doing a little everyday. :D Best of luck!

Latin's Not So Tough is another option. My 11 yo is able to do it with minimal help.

My 4 and 5 yos have always done 1 page of PP a day. The few times I've attempted to move faster, I've usually regretted it because the child seldomly retains the phonics as well. It took my oldest a year and a half to complete phonics pathways, but he was reading on a 4th grade level starting 1st grade. My youngest is following in his brother's footsteps. He's on track for taking a year and a half to complete PP and for being at a 4th grade reading level completing it. What I'm trying to say is PP is well worth the time to take it slow and steady. :001_smile:

:iagree: We're doing exactly the same thing. I spread SOTW over the week for two reasons. The first is that 2 chapters is a lot of reading in one day, and the second is that my children adore SOTW. They cheer on the days we're reading from SOTW. :001_smile:

I'll give a shot at answering a few of your questions. :) First at 9, she's a young 5th grader. She's writing a lot like my 5th grader, who's 10 turning 11. My advice is going to be... don't push, but rather reinforce what she knows and give her practice. Go ahead and do WWE level 4, and concentrate on details. Using an easier level will allow her to concentrate on punctuation, spelling, and content without overwhelming her with new writing instructions. You might want to use WWE level 3 for dictation practice alone, again so she can work on details. She's doing well, just needs to learn to focus on the details. So use an EASY program and work on the details. :D Oh, and do a little everyday. It's amazing how a weak subject will improve if you work on it everyday. HTH!

My 6th grader: Math: Saxon 87 Latin: Latins Not So Tough 4 & Lingua Latina Greek: Elementary Greek 1 English: Learning Language Arts Through Literature Tan History: Biblioplan Medieval through Renaissance (Includes some fine art study) Science: Christian Kids Explore Biology Extras: Swimming, karate, piano

She's doing fine... it takes time for a child to learn to read fluently, even 3 letter words. She'll likely continue to slowly sound out 3 letter words for quite a while. It's normal, at least for my children, and will get better as she becomes more comfortable reading. She'll learn to read. :001_smile: That being said, my youngest has been motivated by chocolate chips and raisins to complete a PP page. Usually, I give him a snack after he finishes a page. When he's having trouble, I give him a raisin for every line or word. Whatever it takes to complete the page. I've also backed up in Phonics Pathways. When a child is struggling to read the words, and getting frustrated, we back up to a point the child finds easy. The bookmark goes in the book at that page, and we start moving forward slowly from there. I've found it generally takes about 1 1/2 years to complete Phonics Pathways but around p. 120 the child starts reading independently.

Practice...:lol: The first time I attempt to tear out a page it was horrible. :glare: Since then I've learned the pages are easiest to tear out by the group, so I grab a handful of pages and pull 'em out. Some glue often sticks to the pages, but that doesn't damage the pages on an individual basis. I usually pull out all the pages in part one at one time. Later, when we start part two, I'll pull out all of those pages. The pages go into the child's 3-ring binder until we use them.