That's true that every child is different in using this curriculum and others. I'm convinced that this has been the reason for much of the mixed reviews TT gets. For some students, it is a lifesaver and prepares them well, but for others it just isn't a good fit. Maybe it has to do with learning styles??? Whatever the case, my dd is just sailing with TT and every year we homeschool I thank God we found it. Blessings, Lucinda

I used to go to the Homeschool Lounge, but people weren't as engaging there and I ended up getting tired of being the person with the most posts. :lol: So anyway, I've been coming here for a few years now and have gleaned a ton of information. I live in a rural area and don't belong to any support groups in real life. The Hive has been the best support group I could ask for, so why go anywhere else? Blessings, Lucinda

The gap between ours is 19 years! If you feel the urge to have another set of children, then do it. I've known at least four additional families that have a big gap between ages of children, and each one has worked beautifully. The older children help a lot while they are still in the nest, and when the time comes for the older kids to leave home then there are still children in the house for a longer amount of time. Some people just don't look forward to an empty nest and that's nothing to be ashamed of. In our case our late in life surprise came through adoption, but the families I'm mentioning here all had their own biological children. One of the families even involved the dad getting a reverse vasectomy because they totally changed their minds. Be fruitful and multiply! Blessings, Lucinda P.S. I remember well the older teen age daughter of one of these families telling me that her toddler brother was one HUGE motivation for her in deciding to remain abstinent from s*x until marriage.

We're using TT Pre-Algebra for 7th. I will most likely add in LOF on Friday's again this year, probably Pre-Algebra plus Biology or Pre-Algebra with Economics. Blessings, Lucinda

You bring up some really great points, Hannah. For one, my family moved to the eastern side of our state ten years ago, and we experienced the same thing as your sister when she moved to Ireland. With the exception of people at church that were warm and gracious to us, we were excluded from other things within the community -- especially employment opportunities for dh and setting up my own freelance business. We were literally black balled from a great number of things and had a miserable time trying to make a living. Social events in the community were quite obvious as well. I'm glad you brought this up, because here are many "closed" communities in the world that can make it very miserable for newcomers. In our case, we finally gave up and relocated again after 1.5 years because we had a hard time making a living and knew we'd never be allowed to fit in. Imagine how miserable it would be to relocate internationally and have this happen. Yikes! Another point that really stood out in your post is that you've learned to appreciate what you have rather than dwell on everything that is bad about the country where you live. So many things are spiraling downward in the American culture, and at times it is hard to do that. Yet, even so, I see that keeping "a glass half-full" attitude is the best response to it all. Blessings, Lucinda

But, Emeraldjoy, you almost live in Paradise already! I've been dreaming of living in Montana for years now - western Montana that is. Blessings, Lucinda

I've been fascinated with learning about the DIVE science curriculum, and am leaning heavily towards that for 8th grade and beyond. Here is a link to their suggested course outline, and it looks like either BJU or Apologia textbooks can be used with their Earth Science course for 8th grade. I really like all the information that is on the entire website and am already learning a lot about science options up ahead. Blessings, Lucinda

Yes, that's pretty much it. But really, I'm looking at countries where there is a good quality of life. I don't care about the American Dream in the least. Blessings, Lucinda

Oh yes, I do agree. Using them as talking points is a great idea. Some Evangelical Christians may not be familiar with the formality of the Catechism and that was my main point. There are basic concepts to all branches of Christianity that can be gleaned for sure. Blessings, Lucinda

My answer exactly!! Nothing beats it. Blessings, Lucinda

Let's say you wanted to move from the US to another country that upheld democracy, religious freedom, the right for parents to homeschool, decent medical care, etc....where would you choose to relocate? It troubles me a great deal that most Americans feel that we are the center of the universe. Although I love my country dearly, I have to believe that there are other great nations on the planet as well. What do you think? Blessings, Lucinda

Hope you enjoy it as much as I enjoy mine! I walked through my new edition last night and was very pleased. Of course, I go ahead and tear out several pages before using the book because I only have one student. I also tear out all the shopping list pages, separate and pull them apart so they can be kept all together in a handy spot. I will use this planner all the way through because it works BEAUTIFULLY for what I need! (Sidenote: PentecostalMom, you will notice that the author has a reformed theme throughout the book [i.e. catechism notes] that won't correspond with all denominations, but it doesn't bother me personally at all.) Blessings, Lucinda

I have one student, but have been using TOG for the past couple of years and it works beautifully for us, despite the fact that it was designed for schooling multiple children. Don't be swayed by the design of a curriculum because that isn't everything -- the content is what is most important. As to HOD and MFW, I can't help you there because we've never used them. If you don't get the response you'd like, you may want to rephrase and repost because your real questions seem to be more about the two curriculum choices than about hs'ing one student. Just a thought... Blessings, Lucinda

A good microscope. Blessings, Lucinda

:iagree: I think there is a LOT of merit in these points! Much of what the OP listed in missed questions is stuff that is gained by reading books, magazines, etc. I wouldn't be so upset by my dd not knowing all of the answers to those. Classical education prepares people with essential skills that are lacking in mainstream education, but I do have to agree that U.S. History should be a strong focus at some point. Logically, it would seem that during high school when government and economics are covered you would be involved in heavy duty U.S. History, otherwise middle school. And what about your own state and regional history? Local history? Somewhere they need to be added as a side road for young students too. Blessings, Lucinda

I put other because I consider the Three R's to be the center of it all: Readin', 'Ritin' and Rithmatic! Reading, in our case, would include both literature and history, which is probably the strongest focus in our program. Blessings, Lucinda

I asked my own dd, who just turned 12, what she would love to do with me during the summer that we never have time to do during the school year. Her answer was that she'd like for us to go out and have pedicures together, have lunch or dinner by ourselves in a restaurant and go shopping. We had an afternoon like this a couple of years ago and she loved it. (Since pedicures, eating in restaurants and shopping for fun are a luxury, it's pretty special when we've been able to do all of that.) Blessings, Lucinda

We are in almost the same boat as you, although we've accomplished several things in the house and the yard since moving in our house in 2003, the majority of needed projects have had to wait. I'm in the process of doing a lot of what WendyK is suggesting right now as I set out to do a kitchen makeover. It has to be cheap or free, and that is a really fun challenge. But I have been putting some things away and saving them for this summer when I have the time to pull it all together. Just today I pulled out some hardware for my kitchen that I bought on clearance from Lowe's last year. I was thrilled when I found the sale because hardware is a very expensive item at regular prices, but the sale brought it down to a fraction of the cost. If you watch clearance tables you can often find some really great deals. Once you run across a good deal, stick it away in a special stash for when you are able to do the project. I also pulled out a brand new stainless steel sink from my stash today that we had bought a few months ago at Habitat for Humanity for about $6. Ka-ching! Another huge savings! Last year I also landed a whole load of miscellaneous colored tiles from a decorator that had overages and needed to clear them out of his garage. They were FREE and when I combine the whole lot there are plenty of them to use for all of my counter tops and a colorful backsplash. I'm looking at it as an art project where I get to put an ecclectic bunch of colorful pieces together. Deals like this don't come along every day, but watching Freecyle and going to homebuilder's recycle centers, Habitat for Humanity and places such as that will often pay off. BTW, if you decide to tile over your counter tops, be sure to use strong floor tiles if you want it to last longer. Ceramic tile is beautiful, but it can be very fragile on the surface of a countertop whereas floor tiles are very sturdy. Just remember that using this type of tile will raise your counters by about 1/2" or more. You can often find 12" square floor tiles on sale or clearance for low prices. Another option is to find a special paint that is available that gives a textured, painted finish over the top of Formica. Someone on this forum posted about that sometime back and it was inexpensive and quite lovely. Tonight we're going to a friend's house who owns a number of rentals and because of that does a lot of painting. She's offered to give me any paint that I want. Maybe you have friends with surplus paint on their shelves, but if you don't then you can either buy rejected color mixed paint at your local paint store for deep discounts or check with Habitat for Humanity. You can mix colors together to create your own customized shade. Because I'm an artist, I find this to be really fun. Now if you end up having to buy paint, at least it is not too expensive and it is the one thing that makes all the difference in the world when you need to refreshen rooms in your home. My best advice is to clean with tsp, sand, roughen and use primer. Always use primer! If you are painting with latex over oil based enamels this is especially important -- but never the less, primer is one of the keys to success when it comes to a good paint job. It's going to be a big job ripping up the kitchen and doing all of this, but I cannot wait to get it done. We've lived in our house for 8 years now and I can't take any more of the old decor. It just has to go, and these are my cheap or free solutions. I know there are a lot of other options for other home projects out there too. You just have to be patient and put thing aside as you are able to locate them, then get ready to tear things up once you've gathered your materials. Have fun, and explore! Blessings, Lucinda

Just throwing out a few ideas here. I have an only at home and I think we'd love to do any of these things together: • Spend one of the weekends in a hotel in the city. While there do cultural things, go shopping and hang out at the pool a lot. • Spend time with extra focused teaching on home arts such as cooking, baking bread, sewing, redecorating a room together....all "girl stuff" everyday, morning until night. • Did I mention shopping? • Enroll in summer classes through your park & recreation district. • If you can't go camping away from home, set up a camp in your backyard. Dig a fire pit and have campfires every night. Get sky maps and stargaze together. • Plant a garden together. I'll keep brainstorming and come back with more if I can. Blessings, Lucinda

Well, I'm one that really appreciates the beauty and the style of this book, and when that is handsomely paired with outstanding utility - that makes it a real winner as far as I'm concerned. I LOVE the colors and the swirls and they do not get in the way for me in the least. In all of the day-to-day work that I must do, having something beautiful at my fingertips makes me, well, happy! :laugh: I have been using TWPD for the past two years and have a brand new one on the shelf ready for the coming year as well. I think it is worth the money because it's laid out exactly as I want it to be, and for me, that means less hassle tweaking something to make it work. I use the shopping lists, the calendars, and the school specific forms, etc. but most of all I use and appreciate the lesson planning pages. They are laid out perfectly for what I want. I only have one student, but it could easily be used for 2-3. There are so many good things about this planner that I can't even list them all. If you go to a convention where these are sold, pick one up and take a look for yourself. You will see both beauty and function. Blessings, Lucinda

Have you considered something like TruthQuest as a foundation to use as you create your own lessons ala TWTM? She could do outlining 1x or 2x per week and use the weekly history and literature as subject matter for her essays, reports, etc. It definitely would allow you to tie composition with her history studies. I know it would require a chunk of time for you to pull it all together, but this way you could customize what is needed for 8th grade before moving on to your high school plans. I will be in a similar boat as you in a year and I've decided to either use Biblioplan or follow the idea I've mentioned here. Either way, I know it will do the trick. FWIW. :001_smile: Blessings, Lucinda

Well I agree with what your parents are saying too. Your siblings are their responsibility, not yours. What I meant really was you helping them out, like being there with the kiddos while Mom is working and making sure that they do the assignments that have been laid out for them in advance. (That is what we do at our house, but it's my mom that is there with my dd when I go to work.) You are so awesome to be willing to help your family out this way. Your parents have clearly done a great job of raising you, and your unselfishness is a beautiful thing. Blessings, Lucinda

Praying with you and trusting God for answers. And I have the same question as Mama Geek. Would it be possible for you to step in and watch over the little ones while Mom goes to work? As long as you keep your eyes on the Lord more than on the problems, you WILL get through this trial. That has always worked for me and my family. Blessings, Lucinda

Well if it were free then, YES!! I believe TOG is a stellar program of study for K-12. I do believe, however, that it would be more practical for a family with two or more children to begin when the oldest is in 5th grade at UG level, then bringing in the youngers at LG level so everyone is studying the same time period at their own level. Starting at UG would be a great way for mom to learn how to use TOG and for the oldest too, also for the oldest to start gearing up to the D and R stages, and for the family to start working together in the TOG style. Until the oldest is UG, I would not buy TOG unless, that is, you as the parent want to self-educate in preparation for your dc up ahead. Blessings, Lucinda