The Ordinary Princess, by M.M. Kaye any of The Squire's Tales, by Gerald Morris (King Arthur stuff w/humor) The Saturdays, by Elizabeth Enright Ballet Shoes, by Noel Streatfeild Island of the Blue Dolphins, by O'Dell All of a Kind Family, by Taylor of course, Caddie Woodlawn, by Brink -if you aren't using it for school :) also - my daughter enjoyed reading Mary Poppins, and seeing how different it was from the movie. We just borrowed it from the library... Hope this helps,

Writing / Latin / Art Writing & Latin - I agree with what everyone else has shared... Art - It always gets pushed back, and rarely gets done. I've let it be an extra subject, rather than a priority.:blush:

Hang in there, and don't give up! You've gotten some great advice already, and I just want to add that besides Teaching Textbooks, Math U See offers a lot of support through their yahoo group. You can always post a question, and a MUS rep or another parent will help you, usually within 30 minutes (during the day). We've been using it for three years now, from Primer through Geometry, and it's working well with my math brains and my challenged visual learners. This is just my 2 cents, but I hope you stick with it... You just might surprise yourself! Blessings,

:iagree: SGC is fine (a very good resource), but the actual experience of giving speeches, and debating on a team is invaluable. You really can't do it justice at home. Try to find a group near you :) Whether or not they love it at first, they will definitely benefit from it. Blessings,

I so understand... and I hope you've been encouraged, at least realizing you're not alone! I really like the suggestion of making a list, and then looking at what you can change. I struggled with one of my kids, and it took my hubby to point out that I was letting him engage/discuss/argue with me over most everything. Talk about draining! We then changed our approach, and took big steps to change our bad habits. School isn't perfect, but it's much better now. Following through with consequences consistently is what we needed, and it has helped. Sometimes this child just needed 'hug-time' with me on the couch.... the 'I love you always no matter what' time has made huge strides on our path to peace. (he didn't always want the long hug, but it always made it better) :grouphug:

Everything is in our schoolroom... One wall is bookshelves, filled with SL cores 1-7 (grouped by core, with the color stickers on the spines), the globe, Latin, art, individual workbooks in nice magazine files, and reference books. SL IGs are with the corresponding cores, while my teacher books are on my desk. I have another wall of cabinetry that contains all my MUS, copy, lined, construction, tissue, & card stock paper, science supplies, etc. It holds the copier and tv/dvd player on top. I like having the doors & drawers to close and appear free of clutter! I also have a tall file cabinet for curr. catalogs, report cards, and completed work from previous years. I think I would go nuts trying to find things if we didn't keep it all in one place! We don't do all our work in the room, but it all goes there when the day is done.:D

I've bought new & used from Sonlight, and after all the work trying to piece things together, decided that new is the way to go. It frees you up to do other things, like spend time with the kids instead of watching an ebay auction. Because I love to add in activities, I've bought a few from WP each year to correspond with our SL studies. If I added up the hours I spent searching for the best deals, my time would negate the savings. I learned a lot, but missed out on reading, playing games, crafting, sleeping, etc... On top of everything, buying new gets you the discounts mentioned previously, as well as tremendous support through their forums. I don't recall who they give to, but SL also donates a portion of their proceeds. Hope this helps,

He buys it all... He sells clothing, and has wonderful taste, and I sometimes find myself asking his opinion, just so I won't have to make yet another decision :)

Mandarin oranges, pineapples, and toasted almond slivers on half a (toasted) bagel. Reading this thread has made me hungry!!

My 2 cents... It's thorough, time efficient, offers support through their website & yahoo group, and works with math-a-holics (my firstborn), visual learners (my second), and special needs children. My children watch the dvds (nice, short lessons) with me, and are generally always ready to apply what they've learned. We've used Primer through Geometry, and are about to begin Algebra 2. I couldn't be happier :) Hope this helps,

Why is it so addictive? I can only let myself play it 2-3x/year because I won't stop for 3 hours! Too much fun :D