CLE 4 & 7 here..... 4 takes 30-45 minutes depending on how she's "feeling" CLE 7 takes up to 1 hour to do - again it depends on how he "feels" and if he knows it already or not (I still make him do it)

My dd is 10..... yes we just started with Year 1 Unit 1 TOG.... but she's at UG and she asks some good questions and comes up with some cool facts by reading and doing the art projects. I found a lot of the books at the library which is very helpful She LOVES the Bible book she is using.... and she likes the colorful pages on the Usborne books - I found her just studying the pages and probably only 1/2 reading them...but she's finding things that are interesting. Stick with buying the literature books... and maybe finding some at the library. But like I said - MY daughter LOVES the colorful pages on the Usborne book which is the main spine book right now - I don't see her "getting into" SOTW vol 1... it's just not "exciting" to look at. We are using the optional Fine Arts book - and it's OK but not great. She did make an Egyptian Goddess Doll out of model magic yesterday and is having a blast doing things like that - so the book is fine for the moment.

We are using CLE 7 and it has grammar, spelling and all that stuff - but we added in Writing Strands... next year (fingers crossed) we will be adding in IEW instead....

Even being Catholic - I try and teach from different perspectives. This has been one issue that drives me NUTS with a lot of programs, I find them too one way or another and not letting ME be the judge of it. I looked into this when I was looking at TOG and I found that there are a lot of Catholic users out there and I have found that a lot of them seem to like that it covers "world religions" in a general overview and then you can supplement and add on etc.

My son ----- gets by ;) My dd - will walk around and find the next book and sit and do what she is supposed to do and then "forget" to stop some days.

I am using 2 kitchen tables (1 in the kitchen and the other is in the "game/family" room)... I sit in the game room on the couch when they need oversight....and to do my work.... they have desks - just don't use them...

I am loving CLE LA 7 this year (we just started it after the holidays).... I got the answer keys and that SEEMS to be enough right now... DS likes it all in 1 place... but I am having him do Writing Strands as well right now and then HOPE to do an IEW class next year..(budget allowing!)

See this year we are doing Seton Earth Science and they use Abeka (an older version) and it works well for him which is why I was looking at Abeka again (not through Seton)... he reads, answers questions, takes the tests and is done. Now I am debating also with LifePacs (though they don't get good reviews for Biology - he might like the workbook approach)

Thanks for the question AND the answer!! That's very helpful -- especially from someone who has a child who took the next step :)

I used a form from donnayoung.org for my kids and I type out their work for the week... That's my daughter's schedule for the week. She checks everything off and then keeps it in a binder with her work in a sheet protector. At the end of the week, I take it and file it in my folder so I know what we did. On the weekends, we go over what's coming up and now they are helping me plan. I print out a blank sheet for each child and they put their assignments where they want them.... then I make it pretty ;) and print it out for them to have in the front of each of their binders. Well phooey - it didn't want to show you unless you click it and open.... It's on my blog from yesterday as well.... http://saccoschool.blogspot.com/2010/02/we-start-tapestry-of-grace-tomorrow.html

I haven't seen the TG's - but I have level 5 and find it pretty easy to explain and my kids (I use these for my PS foster kids right now) have no problem with them....

Even with just STARTING TOG.... my stress level is down because I was able to study the teacher notes for the week and I now feel confident enough to speak to my D-level student as well as my UG-level student... this was HUGE for me. We can delve in as deep as we want or move through it quicker. Neither kid is excited about Ancient Egypt so we won't stick with it for awhile - but DS has already shown an interest in Ancient China.... I also am able to find stuff pretty easily to supplement for my son - he wanted an "arts & crafts" thing and I found a wooden sphinx puzzle for $15 he can put together as a project. He looked at me funny at first until I showed it to him and he realized it wouldn't be 6 pieces - LOL...

I printed out the reading list for UG & D for the 1st unit.... then I reserved the books for weeks 3+ already. Some are in - and some we are still waiting for....some I'm using the alternate instead because they have that one ready to go. I plan on buying Unit 2 or the rest of the year around the 1st of the month. I already looked up the books and started reserving them as well. I'm buying most of the literature books - as those I feel will be the most important. Even for the 1st Unit though - the History Core for D changes to the Bible after 3 weeks.... so why bother buying the book? It's a small book anyways!! ;) I bought the UG core only because my daughter LIKES the internet-linked Usborne books... she thinks they are cool.

We spend $100-125 week just for groceries. Incidentals are usually extra - but I have started couponing and I'm really working at it. We currently have 6 ALL big eaters - holy guacamole my teen foster girls (size 0/1) can EAT!! We do raise beef, pork, lamb, goat, chicken, & have chickens for eggs.... and I can't WAIT to start growing veggies again!! Last year was awful for canning and freezing because of so many different factors. Now I have started meal planning - 2 weeks in advance. We don't eat meat on Fridays..... I try and make a lot from scratch but some days I don't get to it. I'm working on making bread most days - at least in the bread machine. Plus breakfasts (oatmeal, muffins - things like that).... My new thing?? I close the kitchen down in between meals EXCEPT for whatever I stick out on the counter...it's been colorful cauliflower this last week ;) They LEARNED to like it and would grab a piece as they went through the room. I've had to over-spend the last couple of times I went out because of the awful snow storm... we didn't expect to be stuck in this long (we just got out yesterday for the first time in over a week)... I'm planning on cutting more out as well as I look around the house and in the pantry (now that we have gone through so much - I can see in it!!)

from bookshelfcentral I came up with $355 for all the LG books for all over Year 1. Some books (like coloring) you might want 2 copies unless you copy the pages - I even got 2 coloring books for both my kids in UG & D because my dd would be ticked off if older bro got a coloring book and she didn't!!

I'm not sure of the cost - but they would both be at the lower grammar level at those ages. If you go to the TOG website you can get an idea of how much it would be by selecting "Store" then "Resource List" - it will give you the price of the books new - retail. Just for Year 1 though (some books WOULD carry over into other units and years but I'm not 100% sure which ones because I didn't dig that far) for a UG & D level (2 kids) it was about $1000 all new for every book including the alternate books. Now - I just started with TOG (we officially start day 1 tomorrow) and I just logged onto the library and requested all the books they have for the next 9 weeks. I was able to pick up a bunch of them today and they think they rest within the week. I'm spending about $80 on books that they didn't have or ones I wanted to go ahead and buy now....plus I'm waiting on some through paperbackswap.com

Excellent to know!!! I wish it was sold on iTunes though since I have $$ in there :)

So - how do you all protect these gorgeous cards and store them? I have sets coming in (ok - I got 2 sets so far on the 1 day we got mail this week)..... and I'd like to keep them nice so they will last awhile! I saw someone who had them in I believe 5x8 binder sheet protectors - but I can't seem to find those inexpensively online.... Anyone have suggestions? Laminate??

Hmmmm - I wasn't able to get the stuff for unit 2+ for year 1 - it told me that I hadn't purchased it...

Karen- I just spent 20 minutes on your site looking at the workbooks! Now I have something else to do over the weekend!!! They look great and so organized - I can see how it would make life so much easier!!

I liked the link :) One of the things that HAS been fixed is the duplex printing which was actually a big concern for me. I also liked something she noticed - it's worth more if you have multiple kids at different levels. Having a UG kid for the next 2 years and a child who will be in D and then in 2 years they will both move up to D & R I think it's a huge to be able to stay consistent. Also - note that the DE version seems to be very easy to navigate to me - not that it has links to various websites in an interactive way, but that I can find what I need quickly (I've been playing with it for 4 days making sure I CAN figure it out)...I'm thinking that it's been updated since they asked it to be reviewed? I was looking at the DE version like this: you are not supposed to sell AOP's switched-on-schoolhouse.....it's in the terms of agreement. I think that they are protecting themselves from people still using it and then reselling it while still using it. That is something we don't like to think about - but it's the way life is and people are so the company is protecting themselves.

The problem with the resource list is that it will only give you the list for what you already own - not for the next unit or anything. So if you haven't bought the unit - you can't get a list of the next books needed which is why the Bookshelf central site I think is used by people.

Also some books are used for 1 week..... for that I would go to the library instead. If you look at the bottom of each of bookshelf centrals listings, it tells you how often you will have to use it.

For me - I went directly to Bookshelf Central and clicked there - I'm requesting books now through paperbackswap.com for Unit 2 since I have Unit 1 covered..... But I LOVE how they put on there how many weeks you will be using it - if it's 1 week - I'm checking the library for it.... 3+ I'm getting it to own but will look for used first.

I bought the foundations book ($50) and then found most of the VP History cards used.... I plan on using it along with TOG. I believe I have officially talked myself out of joining CC (many reasons - but the day of the week is a huge one)