Cantering the Country (like GtG except U.S.) comes with a CD so that you can print off the appendix pages and some other helpful information.

Another idea is to take the ACE diagnostic test either online or on paper (the online one is free, but I wouldn't do it if your dd isn't proficient on the computer yet). It'll tell you exactly which areas she's weak in, and you could order the exact Pace #'s that it tells you to fill in those gaps. I didn't choose MUS for remedial work for my oldest dd because of the time factor and my dd's age. Each concept is an entire year-long program, so I went with the Paces so that we could concentrate on just those specific concepts she was missing and keep moving along without being tied to a "whole" program. Developmental Math is good for remedial work, too.

My Father's World does this very thing, but that's in their 1st grade program. Maybe you could use it as a guide or idea starter for your older students? http://www.mfwbooks.com/1st.htm

My Father's World Exploring Countries & Cultures has a very strong missions focus. It's too old for your 1st grader, but you could look at their website to see what books they use and get some ideas there. http://www.mfwbooks.com/ecc.htm However, using GtG will bring missions awareness into your activities, as she recommends using Heaven's Heroes and Missionary Stories with the Millers as go-alongs with GtG. Do you have those two books? Here's a link to the recommended resource pack: http://www.geomatters.com/products/details.asp?ID=266 One of the co-authors of GtG, Loree Pettit, grew up as a military kid and moved around a lot. This is what developed her love for geography, and as a Christian, she combined these two loves by writing Galloping the Globe and Cantering the Country. She's active on the yahoo group for GtG, too, so you might want to plug in there for more ideas and motivation. http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Galloping-the-Globe/

And here's another option at Simply Charlotte Mason... you'd probably want Module 5 or 6: http://simplycharlottemason.com/planning/scmguide/history-modules-overview/

My Father's World, which utilizes a lot of CM methods/ideas in its curriculum, has two American history programs for different age groups. Since you said grades 3 to 4, I'm not clear on exactly what you need as far as depth level, so.... Adventures is a fun, one-year overview for younger kids: http://www.mfwbooks.com/2-8_home.htm#adventures'>http://www.mfwbooks.com/2-8_home.htm#adventures'>http://www.mfwbooks.com/2-8_home.htm#adventures'>http://www.mfwbooks.com/2-8_home.htm#adventures Expl-1850 and 1850-Modern are a more in-depth two-year program. http://www.mfwbooks.com/2-8_home.htm (Scroll down to see the links for these two years.) There are forums on the MFW site that you can investigate, too.

Here's a "who and what is CM" article at Ambleside Online that might be an interesting read for her: http://www.amblesideonline.org/WhatIsCM.shtml

MFW 9th grade starts the chronological history cycle at the beginning with Ancients, so for 7th & 8th grade, you have a variety of options. Two options are: 1. One year of ECC using the junior high supplemental recommendations, and then, since your child is going to have modern history in 6th grade, I'd probably recommend Rome to Reformation for 8th. If it's been a while since he's done any early American, you could do Expl-1850 for 8th instead. (Although RTR will cover that somewhat, too, plus you'd get all that great church history in there with RTR.) 2. Start over with Ancients in 7th grade using Creation to the Greeks, and then Rome to Reformation in 8th, and then choose something different than Ancients for 9th grade (i.e., one of the other high school programs that they're writing... Lord willing, they'll be done by the time you get there. That's the plan, anyway). In that case, you really should call the MFW office and talk to Bret or David about correct placement. They're great at looking on the "inside" of your particular situation and finding proper placement, since there other things to consider besides history such as language and writing skills, research, etc.

How about reading the rest of the series from Bluestockingpress? Penny Candy is just the first one. They also have study guides available for the books. Check out the Bluestockingpress website... they really have a lot available for different age groups: http://www.bluestockingpress.com/

Oh, that was the high school page for MFW... you also asked about junior high. I'm doing a combination of MFW and Ambleside (year 7) with my junior higher.

My Father's World: http://www.mfwbooks.com/highschool.html

We've used MFW Adventures, Rome to Reformation, parts of K, and are beginning ECC tomorrow. (Long story why we've gone out of order... mostly due to coming into it late. But that's okay... oldest will get it chronologically in high school.) Obviously we like it quite a lot, because no matter what else I look at or try to supplement with, we keep coming back to MFW. I recently asked my two oldest girls what their winners and losers were for this year, and they both had MFW on the winner list. They like the books, the activities, the notebooking, "the way they do history", the Bible lessons... and so do I. ;) I do tend to get carried away with the amount of books we get from the library, get overwhelmed, want to chuck it all, and then have to stop and take a deep breath and remember that MFW provides all that's *needed* (the basic necessities) in the purchased packages, so I could drop the library altogether if I needed to. I also have the option of purchasing more go-alongs. The author wrote the curriculum with the library in mind for most one-income homeschooling families, but she also realizes that many families can't or don't want to use the library. Thus, she has asterisked the titles in the Book Basket list (there are over 400 titles in each TM) which are her recommended purchases if you prefer to do it that way. Everything you get in the purchased packages is scheduled into the weekly lesson plans. Everything in the Book Basket list is completely optional. MFW is very strong in their biblical worldview and discipleship of our children... and the parents, too, because dh and I both have learned a LOT through MFW.... even though dh has a Bible college degree and 18 hours of seminary! :tongue_smilie: I was going to say something else, but I'm a bit distracted by the t'storm that just arrived simultaneous with pizza delivery at the door! :smilielol5:

MFW ECC with junior high recommendations AO Year 7 Science: First half will be a mish-mash of things from ECC and AO; second half (when we're through with ECC), we'll add either Abeka or Apologia Math: First half will be a mish-mash of things that she's working on now; second half will be either TT or Saxon. LA: LLATL Green Wordsmith and/or Writing Strands I don't think we'll be doing formal Spelling or Vocab this year. We'll have enough spelling and vocab with everything else! Bible: MFW and AO recommendations Music: Piano lessons; composer studies and music from MFW and AO Art: Artpacs; art with ECC; and I'm not sure what else P.E.: Not sure where we'll be living after September, so I'll think about this subject later. She'll also be starting Latin and French, but haven't decided what with yet.

We haven't used CLE math, but they do have a Calendar book with weather and season activities which is a pretty neat little tool. It doesn't feel at all like the Saxon Meeting Book, like a redundant unnecessary time-consuming "requirement". It's just a fun little tool for doing calendar activities, and it's cheap. It's consumable, so you'd get one per child.

Yes, thank you, Julie! Traditional college as defined by the government certainly is NOT the only way our daughters can have good futures. Why, after all, are we homeschooling if we don't want more and better options for our children than what the government says they need? I think our goals ought to include being different than the status quo... not assuming the worst for our children's futures and saying "this is an absolute must".

LOL, Melinda, if you stay with Saxon, I assure you that he won't have any trouble with retention! ;) Saxon will go over *everything* again and again and.... again. I assume you're doing level K? Or 1? Doesn't matter. He'll get the same stuff a lot more next year. :D

Yep. Several of our homeschooling friends have college degrees but still choose to outsource some of their high schoolers' classes, and they do so for a variety of reasons. Whether or not a parent is "educated" should be no indication of how one chooses to go about handling their particular situation... from an observer's POV, I mean. We need to be careful not to be judgmental and arrogant about what we see others doing and why WE think they're doing it. Especially if we don't have children of our own at that stage of life yet. Since this thread was directed toward Christians, how about some scripture discussion? What I'm mostly seeing referenced is Proverbs 31, but if we back up and read those verses in context, we see that the "Proverbs 31 woman" wasn't even a *real* woman. King Lemuel had apparently spent the night carousing or some such thing with an ungodly woman, so his mother was reprimanding him and explaining what sorts of things he ought to be looking for in a woman, as well as addressing his own character and the hazards of drinking too much, what it would do to his reputation, and the kind of judgment and speech that a king (not queen) ought to have. This included seeking a wife that would bring him a good reputation and honor... but the discussion wasn't so much about a woman and her ability to make money (which is what it sounds like this thread has turned into), but the man's wisdom in choosing a wife. Yes, it then goes on to describe many different virtues a godly woman ought to have, but among them is humility and grace... not just income potential and independence. Proverbs 31 isn't a passage on economics or political correctness. Could she have been independent? Possibly, but that wasn't the point. In fact, culturally, a woman wasn't expected to be independent. Women were always protected by a man, if not her own dh (should she be single or widowed), then her father, brother, BIL, or other male "protector", usually a relative. (The story of Ruth, Naomi, and Boaz is a good example.) There are far more examples of what a godly woman looked like in scripture -- women with real names and families -- than just the Prov. 31 woman, who either wasn't *real* (but was just an example of what the "ideal" might look like for the sake of King Lemuel, who may have had a drinking problem according to context), or was nameless and therefore not significant in the Bigger Picture. It was a mama's heart talking to her wayward son.

How old is she? We like Word Roots on the computer, and also English from the Roots Up. We use both the book and the cards for EFTRU, but I have two doing it, so one uses the book for copywork and the other uses the cards (simultaneously), and then we use the cards like flashcards for daily review. Word Roots has workbooks, too, so you could do it on computer OR in the workbook, or both if she needs the reinforcement. It's put out by Critical Thinking Press.

Come to think of it, that's how the Swann's had such an accelerated education. They were totally focused on nothing but schoolwork for those 3 hours a day. Nothing. And the mom, too.

I read somewhere recently that "successful CEOs don't multi-task."

Yes, Sandra, "as we can manage". And I have to confess that my girls happen to enjoy math, which THRILLS me to no end because it was my worst subject growing up AND as a homeschooler. It's only been within the past year and a half or so that we've really started to become "math-friendly", so to speak, and I attribute that to reading Ruth Beechick's books. I finally figured out how teach math! So now we really don't mind it at all. I can also see the sense in the Latin Centered Curriculum for the math reasoning, if nothing else.

My 12yo is currently doing ACE, Singapore, and Key To books. She's working through all three programs at a couple of pages a day (per series). We're doing this to fill in specific gaps to prepare her for junior high math and science. (We did too much curriculum switching over the years.) She likes Singapore and Key To, but hates ACE. She does most of it independently, and then we go over any trouble spots that I discover when I check her answers. We'll soon be working in Ray's Arithmetic, as well. When at one time I believed in doing as little math as we could get away with... I now believe in doing as MUCH as we can manage. I'll be following the same path with my two younger girls.... more (math) is better. ;) Even if that math comes in the form of games and "living" math... bring it on, sister! :lol: I haven't decided yet whether we'll move into Saxon or TT next year for junior high and Algebra.

Okay, reading farther down the thread... I agree completely with Farmwife. Lord willing, if our dd does go into nursing, there will be an appropriate school close enough to home so that she can live with us. I know two different families who moved their entire families -- one within the same metro area and another halfway across the country -- just to live near where their oldest dd would be getting further training in her gifts, so the dd's could remain at home until they married. (One does Christian ballet dance, and the other does sign language.)

I haven't read all the responses because when I got to this one, I stopped. I like that... "The Educated Mother". :) Having 3 dd's here, and me not having a college education but wishing many times over the years that I did, we're encouraging our girls to choose a field in which they can be both employable (if need be) and a helpmeet to their husbands. Our oldest is now interested in the field of nursing, and we're totally in support of that. Whether her dh is a truck driver, a doctor, a missionary, a janitor, a lawyer, or a soldier, her having a nursing background will serve them well.... even if she has children and becomes a SAHM.

Simply Charlotte Mason has a new planner and DVD available now. http://simplycharlottemason.com/books/planning-your-charlotte-mason-education/