My dd has used the 5th grade MR alongside RS E this year, and it has been wonderful. It has given her some extra practice on certain concepts and has introduced some things that RS E doesn't cover. She likes the colorful pages and the critical thinking approach of this text. I am planning to order the new 6th grade book for next year. I am trying to decide whether or not to do RS Geometry with the MR book next year. If you are using RS Geomentry by now, I'd love to hear what you think of it.

I would love to read more opinions on this as we are researching this for next year.

I am using Town level right now with my dc, ages 10 and 8. We are using each MCT level over a period of a year and a half. We are able to take time to enjoy the books and not have to feel rushed. My 8 year old loves Town and is keeping up with the 10 year old. I may have her wait until she is older to do some of the later Paragraph Town assignments, though. So you may want to buy Town and just spread it out over more than a year. If she loves Island, she will enjoy the storyline in Town. If she's not ready for the writing assignments, just do Paragraph Town a bit later than the other books. I am using Sentence Composing for Elementary with my 10 year old. I have her do a section or two per week (2-4 pages of the book). I plan to spread this book out over two years. Using it alongside Town has been good for her because of the focus on phrases. I am not using Kilgallon with the 8 year old but may pull it out when she is older.

Yeah, I think that this might bother me. Why not change, just to be on the safe side? Hospitals are full of all kinds of nasty germs . . .

You are not being too sensitive, and the movie is rated PG-13 for a reason! We are very careful, too, about what movies our children watch, and this would definitely upset me! Furthermore, our opinion is that worship time should be family time, so even if there is a "children's church" offered, the worship service should not be rated PG-13. The minister at our previous church used to show similar clips during the sermon, and it was one of the reasons we left and found a new church.

I would not buy a house that was in a flood plain. BTDT, not fun.

I would love to know what you have decided. We are heading into RS E as well, and I'm not sure what we'll use after that . . . Thanks.

I read Judy Blume books when I was in elementary school. I do remember aspects of them. Some of the content was . . . eye opening. My mother actually complained to the school librarian about one of them. I think that it was the only time she complained about a book. I am gently steering my daughters away from them, for now anyway.

Hugs to you, as I know that this is difficult. You've received some great advice. I think it's really important to listen to your son and show him that while you empathize with him, you and dh feel that this is the best decision for your family and for him. Make sure ds knows that you have made this decision because you love him. Preserve and build your relationship with ds through this. Perhaps your ds thinks that he will be staying home doing schoolwork all day, every day now that he will be homeschooling. Let him know that he will actually spend less time on school now -- if he works hard -- and will have more free time than before. Listen to his concerns and reassure him that you will provide plenty of opportunties for him to visit with friends. Once he gets used to the idea of homeschooling, perhaps he can help you select some of his curriculum, giving him some ownership over his studies. Also, when we pulled our dd out of ps, I tried to make homeschooling extra special for her. I was concerned that she would feel bad when the other kids went back to school. So our family created a "Homeschool Celebration Day" that we now have every year when we start school. I put together games, surprises, and special gifts for the start of our year. I surprise my children with a cake that introduces the theme of one of that year's subjects (I made Egyptian pyramids last August, for example :001_smile:). I decorate the school area. Some families celebrate homeschooling by taking their children out for breakfast on the first day of school. We also celebrate "Box Day" when new books arrive. Finally, the other thing that we have done --especially when we've hit a stumbling block in our homeschool -- is to pray over this endeavor. I pray that God will work in your son's heart and will draw all of you closer together through homeschooling. I pray that He will provide some homeschooling friends for you all, to encourage you. It sounds as if ds may have been surprised by your homeschooling announcement, and with time and encouragement, he may come around. Many blessings to you as you embark on this new journey! Lynne

We used MFW Adventures, and it was one of my favorite years of homeschooling. It doesn't specifically address health. Does your state require that you cover it every year? Adventures does include science. During Adventures, you choose your own LA and Math. Everything else is pretty much included.

:iagree: This was our experience. Even though both of my children were early readers, they learned a lot from MFW K and 1st.

In our experience, MFW K was just right, and we did not need to supplement. My dc found that MFW K provided enough activities and new ideas to ponder. Kids that age need plenty of playtime and learn just as much -- if not more -- from playing. So enjoy this year and make happy memories!

I just e-mailed GHC about this. I cannot imagine why anyone's personal views should prevent him or her from selling a writing curriculum and speaking at a homeschooling convention. I heard Julie Bogart's talks in Memphis last year and left completely inspired. She was one of the best speakers I have ever heard, in any venue.

My dc really get a lot out of the MFW book basket. The books reinforce what we read together as a family. It works well for us because I'm able to obtain many of the recommended books through our library or through interlibrary loan. My dc enjoy having several choices for their book basket time.

We are really enjoying Spanish for Children and Rosetta Stone. It's a good combination!

I think several of the listed reasons may be contributing factors. My friends and I drove 6.5 hours last year to the Memphis Convention, and we had a wonderful time. The speakers and the vendor hall were fantastic. The hotel was nice. That said, the hotel's food was REALLY poor and REALLY overpriced. Same thing for the convention center's food offerings. We walked to a nearby restaurant one evening, and we felt unsafe. And to echo previous posters, parking was a huge pain. As we went to get gas on our final morning there, we noticed 8 or 9 bail bonds places within a few blocks of the hotel. Frankly, we felt like it was a strange part of town for a homeschooling convention. While I would love to go to another GHC, I would really like to try one in a different city. Our family considered making the drive to Cincinnati this year, but our budget is shrinking with the economy, and the high price of gas doesn't help. Also, since I was able to go to a really nice convention last year, we decided we should wait at least another year before spending that kind of money on travel again. I really wish that GHC would host a convention in the middle region of the country -- Kansas City or St. Louis, for example.

We have used MFW K, 1st, Adventures, ECC, and CtG. We'll be starting RtR this July. So we're obviously fans of MFW here. To answer your question -- I think that MFW 1st is more age appropriate for 1st grade than CtG. MFW 1st uses Biblical history to help 1st graders learn skills like reading and narration. It's a wonderful year in which the children create a Bible Notebook containing their narrations and illustrations. (The Notebooks are precious keepsakes for Mom in later years, btw!) MFW CtG assumes that the children are a bit older and are capable of reading and narrating well. CtG includes mapwork that would be difficult and unnecessary for most 1st graders, imo. Also, some of the content would have been upsetting to my sensitive children when they were in 1st grade. Personally, I have really enjoyed using it with older children. MFW does an abbreviated first cycle of history using 1st (Biblical history) and Adventures (American history). Then ECC is designed to provide a good overview of geography and world cultures before starting the 4 year cycle. Now that we are finishing CtG, I can see that my children benefited greatly in doing ECC first. All year, they have understood where these countries are located and who the people are. CtG has built on the knowledge gained in 1st and in ECC. CtG has deepened the skills learned in all of the previous years. I also want to add that we really LOVED MFW K. The lessons learned that year were very sweet, and my children still refer to them several years later. It is well organized and meaningful. I hope that you will find something that fits your family's needs. Best of luck to you as you look at all of the options! Lynne

We love MCT's poetry books! They are inspiring. We also do "Tuesday Teatime" as suggested by Julie Bogart of Bravewriter. We have tea and treats, and each of us reads several poems aloud. This is a magical time for us each week!

When our dc were preschoolers, we did a lot of research and chose to buy a house in a highly regarded district in our area. Eldest dc went to kindergarten, and we were disappointed with many things that took place that year. The thing that pushed me over the edge was that the teachers showed movies almost daily from November through the end of the year. My child was tired and grumpy, and she wasn't learning very much. So our local school is the first reason that we looked into homeschooling. We have found that this learning lifestyle is a wonderful fit for our family, though, and our dc are thriving. We are all learning so much and are thankful for the time we spend together on this adventure. We are probably one of three families in our district who homeschool, so when people ask, I often respond by talking about the positives of homeschooling and not the negatives of our school. I don't want to offend or isolate people who are just curious. At this point, we would choose to homeschool no matter what our local ps was like.

We are doing CtG this year with 4th and 2nd graders. We have really enjoyed it! My children have learned a lot from the program. We've especially enjoyed doing the Old Testament feasts that MFW schedules. I am looking foward to doing ECC again during my eldest child's 8th grade year so that my children can use the junior high supplement with it. I think that they will gain a deeper understanding from doing it again at that level. Lynne

We have used MFW for 5 years and RightStart Mathematics for 3 years and counting. We're very happy with both! This is our second year of using Classical Academic Press resources (Spanish for Children A, Song School Latin and the Greek Alphabet Code Cracker), and we are really impressed with all of the programs. I think that we will be sticking with that company in the forseeable future. Next year will be our third year of using MCT for language arts. I think we will continue with at least parts of that program, too. We've used a variety of resources for the other subjects.

I completely agree with this response! This is beautifully and sensitively written.

My Father's World - I am very sentimental regarding the lessons learned during the MFW K year; it was a wonderful introduction to homeschooling. We have used MFW for 5 years now and have enjoyed each year. Because it's well organized, varied, and includes time in the Bible, this curriculum inspires me to keep going. My kids enjoy it, too. and I have to add a 2nd curriculum . . . RightStart Mathematics - This curriculum has taught this math-phobic mom a lot and has given me confidence to facilitate my children's elementary math learning. My children understand math so well -- much better than dh and I did at their ages. RightStart has been a huge blessing to us! Now I am trying to figure out what to use for junior high math . . .

I think that seeing a speech therapist is a very wise idea. My daughter sees a therapist who specializes in stuttering, and he has been a real blessing to her. If you can find someone who specializes, you may want to consider that.

The Way We Were and The Notebook are tear jerkers for me!