I agree with Lori D. that TT is well worth consideration. It is a great program! It is NOT too easy if you do the pre-testing and place your child at the right level. Please don't dis a program based on hearsay. Many, many families use and love TT, and it is a wonderful fit for students that need an interactive component. We have used it for the past two years and it has helped our dd a great deal. This year we are combining with LOF to add a variety and mix to dd's math instruction. (Adding LOF is for fun, not because TT needs more.) TT is one of the recommendations in TWTM and it is used as the primary choice for Sonlight curriculum. I truly doubt that it would be a low standard choice based on those recommendations alone, and they are among many others. Blessings, Lucinda P.S. BTW, I am not a TT rep or an affiliate. I receive no perks whatsoever for recommending this program.

It looks like you are off to a really good start! I applaud you for making this very courageous decision. In the big picture of life, I doubt you will ever regret it. I brought my dd home after 2nd grade, and we have never looked back. Blessings, Lucinda P.S. We used WS one year and dd did like it. Combined with your other LA choices, yours should do just fine.

Sorry if I'm side railing here... My dd is an avid reader, but she is not always the best speller. I remember threads last year with discussions about this, and there were many dc with the same issue. BTW, TWTM recommends using VFCR with SP if you don't use a spelling program that includes vocabulary. SP is only about spelling and it needs the supplement, contrasted to other programs such as Spelling Workout. TWTM also recommends VFCR as a strong stand alone vocabulary program for logic stage. We have done books 5-6 this year. Next year we will be in Book A, which is for 7th grade. It is helping dd a great deal, especially since she convinced me to hold off on more Latin until high school. For the OP, I see no problem with starting with Book A or B because they are pretty fast paced and you could easily do two books in one school year. If you want to work on words with your ds, this would be a good way to make sure he has all middle school vocabulary well in check. Blessings, Lucinda

You will need a teacher's manual, and a pupil textbook at the minimum. We also use the extra worksheets and chapter tests. You can buy these combined in a set here for a very reasonable price. My dd is doing fabulous with R&S this year. I agree with TWTM that it is a very thorough and complete program. I also have to say that the TM is very user friendly, yet if you want to let your kids work independently their textbooks are pretty much open and go. Blessings, Lucinda

I usually start planning a year in advance, and I keep a running list of possible choices in hard copy in my teacher notebook. The list then carries over to a spreadsheet that has columns for 1. curriculum choice, 2. price, 3. sources to obtain and 4. a link to their website. Each column is divided in rows by subjects in bold. As I start purchasing the curriculum and setting them aside, I mark 'PAID' in bold in the price column. Using this method works for me, and as I look at my list for next year's curriculum, I'm smiling because I'm already 3/4 of the way finished! Blessings, Lucinda

I'm checking my memory from college courses, but it seems to me that the e-mail you send finds its way to a slot that is actually online with the host rather on the server, which is actually a computer. Even if the server is down, the mail still sits in a queue waiting for the "gate" to open. I could be wrong, but my guess is that your e-mail addresses may be outdated. We also have connections in Japan, and I know that it is becoming more and more the trend there to have a cell phone that e-mail goes to, and that means a change of address. Even so, I would try again in a day or two anyway. Blessings, Lucinda

I LOVE my prime account, and have had it for the past two years. It's just about time to renew and I don't even have to think twice about it. It has paid for itself over and over again, especially since we don't have good library service here and we depend on other sources to find the books we need for hs'ing. Blessings, Lucinda

I have no idea how I ended up with another post here. Sorry!

Here is what I'm planning so far. Some are solid choices, others are still subject to change. Bible: Explorer's Bible Quest, Words of Wisdom History/Literature/Geography: TOG Yr-2/Units 3&4 through Yr-3 Unit 1 (and hopefully Unit 2) Grammar/Writing: R&S and TOG/WA Spelling/Vocabulary: SP and VFCR Math: TT Pre-Algebra and LOF Science: Apologia General Science (co-op) Foreign Language: The Learnables French Logic: Thinking Toolbox Art: From my studio (added to co-op) Music: Guitar Master course PE: (co-op) DD will also continue with horse riding lessons and youth worship team at church. Blessings, Lucinda

I agree with the others in that hs'ing in OR is pretty painless. When I asked about reporting test scores when I contacted OHEN (OR Home Education Network) last year, they told me to file the test results and have them handy if we are asked for them, but NOT to send them to the ESD or school dist. The lady explained to me that we are required to test, but not to report. Of course we all know that state laws could possibly change at any time, so we need to be prepared just in case. For now, we live in a state that is supportive of home education. I can live with that. Blessings, Lucinda

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Our 6th grade curriculum choices for this year are in my siggy. We are having a great year! Blessings, Lucinda

For anyone that decides to go with WA's, I highly recommend getting Marcia Somerville's two Writing Workshop audios that are available for download or on CD from the TOG site. I listened to them and found them to be very helpful. We're using WA's along with the TOG assignments this semester and are finding it to be pretty good. We also use R&S, which has more writing assignments (I do not like EG at all) and together I'm finding it is a thorough program. Like others have posted, you just have to find what works best for your family and go with it. I wrote about learning to be a better writing teacher in my last blog entry, as this has been on my mind recently as well. Blessings, Lucinda

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:grouphug: So sorry to hear about this, and I will pray for you all. Another issue to consider might be age discrimination. Keep your ear to the ground, especially if they hire another janitor any time soon and it is a younger person. Do you have a family attorney? Even if you don't need one in the long run, it may be wise to have someone in mind to run questions by. I agree with Terri about calling the Labor Division in your state. Blessings, Lucinda

That's all very interesting and helpful. I'd say 90% of the time is pretty good, considering. Thanks! Here are a couple more questions for you and for others: Are there certain companies that have good or bad reputations? If you know of any that we should watch for, would you mind pm'ing me with that info? How difficult is it to get into dispatching? Dh is in his late 50's and that may be a great option for him. Where did all the boardies go that were talking about this last year? Blessings, Lucinda

Yes - a good point! What a tragedy. When I read the first line I immediately teared up. Saying prayers, Lucinda

Me too. I buy yeast by the jar and keep it in the freezer. It NEVER goes bad, and I've been doing this for years now. Blessings, Lucinda

I've noticed that there are a LOT more listings for job openings lately both on craigslist and Monster than there have been before. I'm curious to know what the shift in this is coming from. Fewer imports? Hmm. That's good to know. Dh had understood that days off are not always guaranteed to fall when you are actually at home with family, but could happen at any time, even when you are somewhere out of state. I suppose that varies from company to company. We would hope to find a company that is family friendly. Thanks for your input! I hope others will chime in as well. Blessings, Lucinda

I remember last year sometime there was a really great thread here about hs families with dad/dh on the road driving long-haul, but I can't seem to find the thread again. I've been wondering lately how many are still on the boards and how having your man out on the road long term works for your family. Is he able to be home with you and the dc often? My dh is a CDL driver with a clean driving record and works for a great company. He sometimes has to be gone overnight, but the work is mostly regional and he is usually out for the day and back. The problem for us is that his work is seasonal, and this has been very hard on our family. Right now we are doing everything we can to avoid the foreclosure of our home because of a job layoff last year (from his previous employer) followed by winter reduced hours (present employer). We've been in a tough situation for quite a while and something desperately needs to change. We've been discussing the possibility of him applying for long-haul positions so we can finally get ahead. I have mixed emotions, but am trying to keep an open mind. We have my elderly mother with us and I hs our youngest as well as work part-time. We are committed to continuing with a Christian education for dd and also keeping Mom at home as long as possible, so full-time work is not an option for me since I need to be close to home the majority of the time. I already feel quite stretched and don't know what else I can possibly do to help increase our income. We don't have the option at this time of owning our own truck, but it looks like there are companies that provide their trucks. And we've heard that there are some really bad trucking companies out there, so it's kind of scary to consider dh changing jobs at all. We're also not excited about having him gone a lot, but we just may have no other choice. If someone was considering this, what kind of advice would you have to offer? Blessings, Lucinda

I chose 'other' because the dog sleeps with dd in her room, on her bed. They are practically inseparable. Blessings, Lucinda

I understand your concern and agree. If a person shares insight from their own experience it has a lot more weight with me than a simple endorsement. It may not always be easy to detect the difference though, so I think we just have to carefully check out the recommendations we get here, follow our instincts and do the best we can. Just for the record, I am an affiliate for one company because I wanted to put the cool button on my blog. I never make money, and that's fine with me. I'll advertise for free because I value the product they sell and don't mind letting others know. It would be fun to get paid, but it certainly isn't necessary. Blessings, Lucinda

I am in my fifties and still going strong. I not only raised three sons to adulthood, I also have grandchildren AND a late in life surprise. My youngest is going to be 12 in May and my oldest grandson is 11. God does have a sense of humor, doesn't He? :lol: Blessings, Lucinda

Caroline, Power Glide does use a lot of audio in their teaching, so I expect that is included with the online course no matter which of the three options you choose. The lessons are not live though, and with the teaching option that comes with #3, my take is that your personal guidance would be via e-mail. What you may need is an actual tutor rather than an online course if you want to have interaction with a teacher. Blessings, Lucinda

Powerspeak (formerly Power-Glide) has an online course designed specifically for middle schoolers. Here is a link to check it out. You'll see that they also have high school courses, and both are designed with three options: 1. just the course 2. the course for credit and 3. the course and a teacher. Although we've used the older version Power-Glide French for Children and I'm not all that impressed so far, I'm interested in the newer online courses offered through Powerspeak. I've read numerous opinions of Power-Glide and a lot has not been so good, but I've yet to get any thoughtful reviews on the newer Powerspeak versions. Since I do not speak a foreign language, I find that some of these foreign language programs are very hard to implement. We may possibly sign up for a semester of the Powerspeak course next year just to see if it is a good option for dd. The cost is relatively comparable to RS, Tell Me More French and various other courses I've looked at. I've poured over a number of French courses, think I make up my mind only to change it again. This happens over and over, and I just can't seem to grab one and go with it. The more I read about learning foreign language, however, I am realizing that using more than one curriculum might be a good thing -- along with reading books, playing games online, etc. Anyway, let us know what you think. I'd love to hear a second opinion. Blessings, Lucinda