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Vanna
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that you like or dislike?
I bought some AO Lifepacs for History and Science...um..strongly dislike. We won't be using them.
I bought some printable discs for using when making your Book of Centuries from Hold That Thought and they are absolutely wonderful. I also bought the Old Testament disc. My son loves these. They make notebooking SOOOO easy and fun.
Hold That Thought Website
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MaryM
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Vanna wrote:
| I bought some AO Lifepacs for History and Science...um..strongly dislike. We won't be using them. |
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Please expound - why didn't the Lifepacs fit for you?
We haven't really bought anything substantial this year - I'm trying to stick with what I have already from years of homeschooling. Though I took the plunge and just ordered Rainbow Science for my jr. high student. I'll have to let you know when we get it.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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Vanna
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It was a terrible fit for my son. I think the overall philosophy of intergrating God into each subject is wonderful but I (and more importantly my son) did not like the delivery of the subject. It felt really, really dry to us. Also, maybe it's because the books aren't Catholic but I wasn't too sure about some of the wording. It wasn't anything big but some of it made me a little uncomfortable.
One of the questions on the first history assignment was...The only true way to salvations is to be _________ (fill in the blank). The answer book said the answer was "born-again". I don't know. I just didn't feel right about it. I think it would work great for some families just not ours.
If anyone would like AO History/Geography and/or AO Science for 7th grade. It's yours. I just hate to see curriculum sitting in the closet gathering dust.
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italianalaskan
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We are doing something in the same family as Lifepack but on the computerwith my 6th grader this year: Switched on Schoolhouse. We love it. It's a perfect fit for him and he can finally be indipendent. There is mention of God, but just as Creator and leader of our History. It doesn't go into religion too much at all.
I think we will continue with SOS next year as well.
Simona
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folklaur
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Dislikes:
Sonlight 3 was just too much for ds
Sonlight LA as written was too much for everyone
Likes:
Artistic Pursuits for both
Math-U-See Foundations for ds
Explode the Code for dd
Indifferent:
Noeo Science (we could just do experiments, but it is okay.)
Prima Latina
Image of God
Not sure yet but looks very neat:
Noble Knights of Knowledge Math for dd6
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hylabrook1
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We found many of the sorts of things Vanna mentions. Very evangelical protestant answers, but I think that is their target audience; for some families that degree and type of religious approach is what they want. Generally, we found them to be very fill-in-the-blankish. The 3rd grade History/Geography sounded like a great approach, going around the country and learning about the regions of the U.S. through the lives of children who live in those regions. As it turned out, a lot of time (at least too much time for our taste) was spent on things like the church the children attended on Sunday and the people they met there that they could then pray for. Not that that's a bad model of what to do for someone you meet who is struggling, but it doesn't help my child learn about the regions of the U.S. On the other hand, we have used some Computer Skills Lifepacs with high schoolers that did a great job of teaching what they said they would teach, totally without including a spiritual agenda.
Peace,
Nancy
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JodieLyn
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mostly I've bought books.. on science (weather and astronomy) and on history (some saints, some fiction, some fictionalized but true stories, some non-fiction)
and we've started Senquential Spelling. I think it's going to work well. It's building the confidence of my oldest (the one that could likely spell but if she wasn't dead sure would wait and ask  ) and the next two are picking up the patterns. But we haven't been using it that long yet.. priority mail took WEEKS to get here 
all pretty safe choices this time.. especially since i don't tend toward full curriculums even of single subjects and the ones that I do use (Singapore math and Easy grammar) we're happy with.
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G-18, B-17, G-15, G-14, B-13, B-11, G-9, B-7, B-5, B-4
All men who have turned out worth anything have had the chief hand in their own education.
-Sir Walter Scott
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LisaD
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Since this is our first year learning at home, it has been very interesting to me to see what works and what doesn't.
Likes:
Teaching Textbooks 5
Holling C. Holling books for geography
CHC Spelling
CHC Language of God
New American Cursive
Dislikes:
Abeka Arithmetic 2 (I think it's fine, ds hates it)
CHC Little Stories for Little Folks
CHC Science 2
We still haven't found anything we love for History, so we've just been using bits and pieces.
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Mama to dd(99), ds(01), ds(03) and ds(06)
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BlessedMommy
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OOh, I like this thread, I love to see what people use and what they like and dislike. Some things listed
Likes:
Ambleside Online/Mater Amabilis
MODG History - with my own twist plus Our Island Story/50 Famous Stories
Clavert's Gods of Greece and Famous Americans
Singapore Math (we liked Math U See too, but DC like Singapore a bit more)
Noeo Science
Prima Latina (I can't believe how much fun my DC think this is. I must agree, it is a great program and I got the DVD to go with it.
Hooked of Phonics has been a favorite of all my children!
Explode the code series
Catholic Mosaic
Spelling Power (unfortunately I don't follow all the instuctions to a T, for instance your supposed to do it 5 days a week 15 min. a day and ummmm....that just doesn't work for us. We do it 2-3 days a week and I do have them use the 10 step method to correct the words but I have it fit into our schedule, not the other way around.
Grammar Ace
Primary Language Lessons (finished last year)
Intermediate Language Lessons
Lingua Mater (moans and groans before we do it, but then get really into in-LOL!)
When I intergrated subjects with with montessori materials/methods (still a progress in learning) the children LOVE it!
Montessori for Everyone CD
Artistic Pursuits
Dislikes:
Calvert (except Gods of Greece and Famous Americans) too structured and BLAH!
Sonlight LA - I agree with Laura, it's TOO MUCH!!!
AVKO Spelling
The in betweens:
Apologia Botany- enjoyed it at first and then got kinda bored of it.
Beautiful Feet Geography Though Literature - LOVED the stories but not so much the Teacher's Guide lessons, so we just did the maps.
Learning LA throught Lit
I think that about covers it.
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BlessedMommy
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MaryM wrote:
Please expound - why didn't the Lifepacs fit for you?
We haven't really bought anything substantial this year - I'm trying to stick with what I have already from years of homeschooling. Though I took the plunge and just ordered Rainbow Science for my jr. high student. I'll have to let you know when we get it. |
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Mary,
I know we just started 6th grade, but I'd love it if you could share how you like Rainbow Science. A possible buy for next year. 
God Bless
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MaryM
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BlessedMommy wrote:
MaryM wrote:
Please expound - why didn't the Lifepacs fit for you?
We haven't really bought anything substantial this year - I'm trying to stick with what I have already from years of homeschooling. Though I took the plunge and just ordered Rainbow Science for my jr. high student. I'll have to let you know when we get it. |
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Mary,
I know we just started 6th grade, but I'd love it if you could share how you like Rainbow Science. A possible buy for next year.
God Bless |
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I will update when we receive it and get into it. Remind me, okay, in case I forget.
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Mary M. in Denver
Our Domestic Church
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italianalaskan
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Like:
Sonlight 1 History & geographyfor dds in 1st and 3rd grade.
Easy Grammar 3 & 6
Sonday System for spelling.
Switched on Schoolhouse History 5 & Science 6
Teaching Textbooks 6 (my son is loving math again!)
Dislike:
Saxon 7/6
Simona
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Tina P.
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BlessedMommy wrote:
The in betweens:
Apologia Botany- enjoyed it at first and then got kinda bored of it. |
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Curious as to how old your kids are. The kids I purchased this for are in 6th and 8th grade. Keep in mind that all my kids are naturalists. BUT, I purchased Biology I for my 4th grader ... I'm wondering whether I should wait.
One thing we REALLY like is Real Science 4 Kids Chemistry 1 (for the 6th and 8th kids). We are doing this first trimester and Botany 2nd and 3rd.n They love the experiments, which can be conducted with household items.
Though we use CHC spellng and grammar in primary grades, I'm finding that as the kids get older (6th - 8th), we shuck off all CHC.
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Mary's Muse
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BlessedMommy
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Tina,
I 2nd-4th grade. I think they wouldn't of gotten so bored of it if I had mixed up the science a bit with something else. I can say whatever they learned from it they DID absorb! I'm even worried that as much as they like Noeo Science (Chemistry 1-year course) going to mix it up a bit with none other than Apologia Astronomy.
HTH!
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CKwasniewski
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Loved:
All Year Round, Celebrating the Christian Festivals-- we have been implementing this and it has brought some sparkle to our days!
Elsa Beskow books: Pelle's New Suit, Flowers Festival
Explode the Code
Monarch butterfly larvae
First Eucharist coloring book from OFH
Disliked:
Seton, Religion 5 (I wanted something that would go over the 10 commandments, but this was too repetitive)
Christopherus Animal legends, good enough-- but not worth the $$!
Holy Traders--some of the images on set 2 were cartoony and even Star Wars looking  a glowing saint floating in space; Set 5 was beautifully done with old masters, but they are too small
ck
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teachingmyown
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So far:
Love:
Teaching Textbooks
Like:
Language Lessons for the Elementary Child (however, it isn't working for the child for whom I bought it!)
Stories with a View
Dislike:
Accelerated Achievement (I like the idea and the lists, but printing the books is a pain and there is a lot missing)
I am waiting on a couple of purchases as I keep tweaking, so I will come back to this thread later.
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In Christ,
Molly
wife to Court & mom to ds '91, dd '96, ds '97, dds '99, '01, '03, '06, and dss '07 and 01/20/11
Remembering Today
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LeeAnn
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Of the new materials we are using this year...
Likes: Holy Friends: 30 Saints and Blesseds of the Americas, Classical Writing Aesop
Dislikes: CHC Behold & See science 3 also Universe in My Hands, which I decided to sell before we even started the year. (I didn't like Catholic Stories from Science 2 either last year. CHC's grade 4 science was good though.)
Indifferent: Catholic Tales for Boys & Girls
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SallyT
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I went to our homeschooling conference last spring armed with a curriculum shopping list -- because I thought I needed more structure, planned lessons, etc -- and what did I buy? Literature. And I don't regret it. We're doing our year around good books and letting things just grow out of that reading -- I just did a [URL=http://saintdanielstylite.blogspot.com/2008/10/literature-as-curriculum.html}blog post{/URL] on literature-as-curriculum yesterday.
Of course, we had math and some other basic-core stuff from last year that we're still using.
Other good buys for this year:
Ye Hedge School's First Whole Book of Diagramming and Elementary Diagramming Worktext for my 10yo. We're both having lots of fun looking at how sentences work through diagramming them, and really get a firm hold on that whole usage thing.
He also likes Ye Hedge School's Introducing the Periodic Kingdom to Its Heirs, a little pre-high-school chemistry course.
AND he likes a book called Fallacy Detective, which I bought on a whim at the conference -- it's a fun introductory logic course. Right now we're having a good time working through different kinds of propaganda. In an election year, it's easy to find lots of examples in the media.
I bought relatively little for the high-schooler -- a Barrons Biology Made Easy to serve as a spine for biology, mainly. Otherwise her work is either online (English), in a college class with no text (Latin -- her prof is using an inductive method, with lots of handouts for translation), or using books we already had on hand. We did buy a Teaching Company lecture series -- Foundations of Western Civilization, with Dr. Thomas F.X. Noble -- which we borrowed to use last year, and then bought so that we could use the rest of it this year. That's been another very worthwhile purchase.
I can't think of anything we really dislike. The teenager doesn't like the Barrons, because it's dry, but we kind of need something basic to pull together various other interest-led components for biology (bioethics/life issues stuff, Clara Lejeune's Life is a Blessing, fetology/midwivery resources she's interested in, etc).
I also laid in a lot of Usborne books, which I sell, the last time I had a big bunch of freebies coming to me: Pocket Artist and Art Treasury have been good art courses for my 10yo and high-schooler, and my littles like the various science and nature books we have lying around.
Best secondhand-book buy --
Great Moments in Catholic History, by Fr. Edward Lodge Curran -- great 1930s-era book with a page-a-day format, so it's great to start the morning with. My 6- and 4yos love it. Presumes that the Mass you're familiar with is the Latin Mass, so that you end up learning a lot about it and noticing the elements of it more when you go. You can get a new printing of it on Amazon.
That's all I can think of right now.
Sally
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SallyT
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Dang, I meant to preview and make sure I had the blog link working right. Let me try again. My blog post on literature-as-curriculum
There, that should work!
Sally
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SeaStar
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ETA: We have hit some of the games in Right Start Math, and my ds is loving those. He even asks to play outside of school.
Liked:
Geography songs cd and book by Larry and Kathy Troxel (purchased through Rainbow Resources). Great, catchy songs for learning geography. My dc love to listen to it. Dd does her "Africa Dance"
CHC: Little Stories for LIttle Folks.
I love the short, simple books... short, yet they are packed with words and offer good review as the lessons build on each other. My ds loves the little stories and forges ahead just to see what happens next
Montessori continent boxes... dc love these
Lives of the Great Artists/Composers by Kathleen Krull. I purchased both used, and they are so great for biographies of the artists and musicians.
Big Book of Catholic Traditions.
I found the Year with God book to be somewhat overwhelming (and pricey), but this book is perfect for us right now.
Disappointed with:
Story of the Orchestra. The kids like to look at the pictures and learn about the instruments, but the cd that came with it has some major tracking issues- the volume goes up and down and drives me bananas.
Jury is out for...
Right Start Math. I like it, but it is not ds's favorite. It's still early on , though, so maybe it will grow on him.
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SQUILT Music Appreciation
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4Real Forums : Living Learning
Topic: What did you buy for this year...
