You will love it more when you start to use it! WA is a great writing program. When you get the hard copy version you will be impressed too. It's a very attractive, nicely bound book. Blessings, Lucinda

My dd was in the second grade in ps at the time, and a boy named Daniel told her that Santa isn't real. She was very upset and came home that day with tears, pleading with me to tell her the truth. To be honest, dh and I enjoyed having Santa in the picture and were not going to tell her for AT LEAST another year or so. But when she came home and asked me point blank, I wasn't going to lie to her about it. So I told her that it was a fun game for children, and then we talked about St. Nicholas and the history behind our customs, that it had really been Mommy & Daddy all along because we wanted her to have special fun at Christmas. I was sad though, and from that day on I nicknamed Daniel, "The Grinch". We live in a small town and we see him from time to time as he passes by our house as he goes to and from ps where he still attends. We used to see him out the window and say to each other, "There goes the Grinch!" BTW, Daniel is an older boy and has a tendency to be a bit of a bully with some kids. When he told dd there was no Santa, he was doing it in a mean way and intended to upset her. We have, of course, forgiven Daniel long ago despite this. One day while passing on the street I had the chance to talk to him about how he stole a childhood joy from my dd and he took it well. We've put the Grinch thing behind us, but I still have to laugh over it once in a while. Blessings, Lucinda

Back atcha, Tina! Blessings, Lucinda

Here I come!! See you there, friends! :hurray: Blessings, Lucinda

I wouldn't worry about vocabulary for a second grader myself. If you are following a classical education model then you would introduce some vocabulary with literature and history reading at 3-4th grade level, but it is mostly an introduction even at that age as they learn to use the dictionary. Some spelling programs, such as Spelling Workout, include vocabulary words. That is one of the reasons why TWTM so highly recommends SW. But at this point it sounds like you have a good plan in place without adding vocabulary. Blessings, Lucinda

Yes, do read TWTM if you have not done so already. If you are able to buy the book, it is well worth the money because it is a wonderful resource for your family library. You can also check it out from your local library before purchasing your own copy. I, too, used the book to get started and it gave me a real understanding of how homeschooling works. I continue to use it as a guideline after four years of h'schooling, even upgrading to the newest edition when it came out. TWTM has loads of suggestions for curriculum, so having that latest edition is pretty important. The book does not have all of the curriculum you'll read about here on this forum, but like the other poster said, it will get you started with some great choices and you can branch out from there. Blessings to you and your little family as you start out on the hs journey. Lucinda

I only asked because we live in a rural area that is well out of the city and it isn't convenient at all for people to drive out to our place. There are some things that people would be willing to do that for, but not all. I just wondered if CL would work to increase sales prospects for us if we wanted to market certain things. Thanks for the input, ladies. Blessings, Lucinda

This is our fourth year of hs'ing, and I have never kept grades. I do keep samples of my dd's basic work for each grade level, and I file standardized test results and placement tests we've done. We are not required to keep grades in our state, so I don't plan to do so until she is in high school. Blessings, Lucinda

This may seem like a stupid question, but I don't see any guidelines on the CL site to answer my question. My only experience with CL has been large items with face-to-face purchases with cash. Do those of you who use CL frequently also sell things using PayPal and shipping? Does it work just like the FS transactions here on our forum? Thanks! Blessings, Lucinda

I'll second Heather's recommendation to go with UG. My own dd is a voracious, advanced reader too, but I placed her at UG level last year anyway. She did well there, and we had a good year. You'll find that some units of TOG require a lot more reading than others, and with that you don't want to overwhelm your dc with too much too soon. Like others said, you can advance them later on. For now, just get into the program and create a routine that works for you, enjoy the wonderful books and activities and the new learning adventure you are on. UG level books are wonderful for most 10 yo's. If there are weeks that your dc are ahead of the plan, just fill in with other great living books and you'll be fine. Have a wonderful year! We absolutely love TOG and can't recommend it enough to others. Blessings, Lucinda

Last year we used EG for grammar, but dd was not retaining enough of what we went over. For this reason I did some research and soul searching, and decided to take TWTM's recommendation. We are going to go with R&S 5th grade level, and go back to the basics of language mechanics. Going by all the rave reviews and suggestions I've read I think we'll do much better this year. As for composition, last year we did a combination of WS and TOG Writing Aids. This was great for dd. She did really well with both. This year we are going to stick completely with TOG Writing Aids and connect her writing with our unit studies as much as possible. As for spelling, we use SP at our house. We're going to continue on with that because it really works, and is simple to implement once you get the hang of it. This year I am adding a good vocabulary study along with it -- another recommendation of TWTM. I have VFCR all ready to go and have great expectations for 6th grade. We're also going to go back and do some remedial penmanship practice. I'll be creating worksheets with StartWrite as we review italic cursive once again. Dd's handwriting is still a bit more sloppy than it should be, so this is going to be my last stab at helping her out. Blessings, Lucinda

I just open up the teacher's map on my laptop and sit it next to dd. She looks at that while labeling her own map by hand. As a side note, I'm going to be working with her this year on how to label and color maps so they are nice looking and easy to read. It seems like 6th grade is a good age to work on building those skills. Blessings, Lucinda

This is perfect! I've tried to find book recommendations through Amazon, but could never get these types of results! Thanks so much for sharing the link. You made my day! Blessings, Lucinda

Wow! Thanks for all the suggestions, fellow Hive members! I will head over to Amazon and take a peak. We have the entire Thoene collection and both dh and my mom have read every single one. They LOVE these books. I will have to read them myself, but I think I'll hold off until winter. Blessings to all, Lucinda

We'll give these a try. Thank you! I'm scratching my head over the idea of Hank H. (The Bible Answer Man) being an author of historical novels because he is such a character, but what the hay. :D Blessings, Lucinda

My UG/D level student will be reading SOTW2 with TOG this year. Last year we added it to the rest of the reading and it was great. She is a voracious reader and at upper range reading level for middle school, but SOTW is still very interesting to her. BTW, do you mind me asking? Why would you choose a curriculum written specifically with a Christian world view if you don't plan to teach from that perspective? I'm just curious... Blessings, Lucinda

I'm a native Oregonian and was born and raised about an hour south of Eugene. Tap,tap,tap and Ali both said it all very well. Eugene is the home of U of O, which is very large and dominating in the area. Yes, it is very liberal -- but that doesn't mean you won't find like-minded people and churches if you aren't a liberal. We are very laid back and casual in Oregon, so you won't find people dressing up as much as they do on the east side of the continent, even for dining out and going to church. The lifestyle is similar in a lot of ways to western Montana. You won't find many old style buildings and architecture in Eugene either, it is pretty new compared to the places you have lived. But there's plenty to do and see, and the great outdoors is worth it all. We have tons of recreation here, which is wonderful for families. Another thing is that Eugene is right on I-5, so it is very easy to hop on the freeway and head north or south. Yes, hs'ing in Oregon is easy-peasy. You are pretty much left to do as you want. And when you get the testing done you just file it away in case you are called on. There is no requirement to report it. Blessings, Lucinda

I suggest starting out by buying the books that are used longer than 1-2 weeks. Several books on the list are used throughout the year, i.e. The Usborne Encyclopedia of the Ancient World for your UG level students, while others are used sporadically over the year. You can look over the book lists for each level and find those books and buy them first. From there, you can purchase books by the unit, or you could prepare in advance to check out books from the library to have ready for your students to use on the weeks that they will need them. This can all be done by keeping your resource book list handy at all times. I have chosen to buy the books we need by the unit so we have them when we need them, but I don't go broke at the beginning of the year. This way I don't have to worry about library issues. I've been able to re-sell the books that we don't want to keep quite easily by advertising on the FS forum here and on other sites, but since you have multiple children to share the books with, you will want to build up your own library to draw from as the younger children move up to higher levels. You just need to plan ahead no matter how you get the books. It sounds like a lot of trouble perhaps at first, but when it is all said and done it is well worth it. TOG is an outstanding program. Even buying the books as you go, by the time a family obtains all the books it is still dirt cheap compared to private school or even some other curriculum choices. I cannot believe how much my daughter learned last year when we did YR 1. I love this curriculum and will stay with it long term. Blessings, Lucinda

We love, love, love TOG at our house, so that covers history, literature and composition. I cannot believe how much my dd learned last year!! It has been amazing for us both because I'm enjoying learning with her, and found it such a joy to watch her download so much information and be interested in it. As for math, it has to be TT, hands down. What a lifesaver for my dd and our family. Blessings, Lucinda

Anybody read these books and know the authors enough to make a recommendation? Thanks, Lucinda

The authors are a married couple by the names of Brock and Bodie Thoene (pronounced Tay-nee). Here is a link to their website with a list of all the books. They are just amazing stories, and like I said, very accurate in their account of history. The question is for my husband, not my dd. I'm looking for good books suggestions for him. Thanks! Blessings, Lucinda

I've got a good question for the Hive, as I know there are many readers here. My dh has voraciously read all of the books by Brock & Bodie Thoene in the past year and was just fascinated by the accuracy of history woven into meaningful stories. Now that he's read ALL of the books by these authors that he could get his hands on, he's at a loss on what to read next. Has anyone read these novels? If so, do you know of any other authors, books or series of books that would be as inspiring and interesting to him as the Thoene books have been? Thanks in advance for your input. Blessings, Lucinda

We did Yr. 1 Units 1-3 last year and it was wonderful for my dd and I. She was at UG level and we did the history, literature and all the core PLUS the SOTW readings. It was a little heavy at the beginning, but well worth it. We didn't have a problem following the schedule at the pace of a week's plan in one week. It really isn't hard to do at all, especially for LG and UG level that don't have to have socratic discussions. I would encourage you to start out with the history and then add in one subject more after the first couple of weeks if you don't want to jump in with all subjects right at the start. Your 6th grader should do really well with the UG readings and assignments, but you might want to add one subject in the D level for your 8th grader and then gradually add in more as you adjust to TOG methods. Have fun with TOG! It has really opened up a new way of learning for us, and I've been more than happy with how much my dd has learned in the past year. I hope this helps. Blessings, Lucinda

Field trips! Lots of field trips!! At the end of the year as some subjects are completed for the year, we fill in the time with more relaxed activities. This is the time to check out history and art in museums, go to the local aquarium or zoo, check out some of your local history by visiting nearby attractions, the historical society, etc. Have them write papers about what they saw and learned. And if nothing else, just breath in and relax for two weeks with less school work on the burner. Personally, I think dd deserves to end at a slower pace after all the hard work she puts in during the rest of the school year. Blessings, Lucinda

How cool is that?!!! :thumbup: I think my dd would be all over that one!! Thanks for filling me in. I thought we were going to end up with a small ocean aquarium in the house with a mini eco system, LOL!! Blessings, Lucinda