my3boys... I think you're right, that often it is better to press on. Carry On, Mr. Bowditch was like that for us. The kids had a hard time getting into it in the first half of the book. But in the end we were so glad we kept at it! What a gem of a book. On the other hand, we ditched MFW mid-year a few years back... and I've been so glad we didn't keep trying to make that work. It's so hard to know sometimes!

LDIMom, we're in western NC... so who knows! Maybe we'll meet in the middle sometime. That would be fun. And yes we should definitely compare notes as we go along this year. This will be our first year fully utilizing the SCM handbook across all my kids, although we've been using SCM for a while now. I'm excited. Sounds like you're ahead of me, we don't start for a few weeks yet. 

I did think about putting Skylark on my kindle. I may do that. But I'm like you, I prefer to have a book in my hand.

~ Jenn

We started Sailing...and didn't finish it. I let the dc choose something else and that was okay, but I wish we had just kept going. The other choice is/was really good and should've worked but I had stopped midstream (which I don't like to do) to start something else. I have decided that for us it is usually best to just finish something because the more we change the less likely we are to finish the next "whatever". I know, I know, we're suppose to stop the madness and move on if something isn't working, but sometimes it's just thinking the grass is greener some place else (isn't always true, and doesn't always work).

Best wishes on your last minute decisions, JennNC.

I have children 8th (almost 14), 6th (12 and ELL), 5th (10), two 1st (7 and 6) and little DD is 2.

We are enjoying Sailing. I found it used (and cheap) on half.com Mine does have the illustrations. I am reading it with all of them, but I let two 1st graders work in their journaling (half lines, half blank) with their Draw, Write, Now books at the same time. DS, 7, is fascinated by boats and airplanes so he really pays attention.

We started Master Skylark today. I plan to keep reading it, but mine didn't love the first two chapters. However, the writing is impeccable and we talked a lot about how the writer was setting the scene. I asked them as I read chp. 1 who they thought was coming to the town and they all guessed "a king" (which it wasn't but this reeled them in for sure).

BTW, I got it FREE on my kindle (if you have one might be an option): http://www.amazon.com/Master-Skylark-ebook/dp/B008485BDQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1343791760&sr=8-3&keywords=master+skylark (no illustrations though)

Sailing is available on-line free here: http://www.ibiblio.org/eldritch/js/saaw.htm#illus (some illustrations are good; some not so good). I like a real book though. I dunno.

We do not use the GOAL Bible study b/c we attend a weekly Bible study class through Community Bible Study and our DC go to the homeschool classes. It is quite in-depth. Last year, we studied the Book of Acts the entire year, year before that the Book of Revelation, and this year we're studying the Books of 1 and 2nd Kings as well as the Minor Prophets. I study the same books right alongside the children, so this works really well for our family. We attend the classes Sept.-May.

BTW, JennNC, we are both doing Moduel 5 with a bunch of kids LOL! We need to keep in touch and encourage and motivate! I assume you are in NC? We are your neighbors to the West in TN. Wish we were a bit closer!

Thanks!

I got mine at Barnes and Noble...

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/stowaway-karen-hesse/1101228581?ean=9780807210048&format=audiobook

I think it is available at Amazon as well, as an Audible recording. But I prefer the plain mp3 format at B&N. 

HTH :)

@JennNC, where did you find the mp3 of Stowaway?? I have the book, but audios are always good, too. Thanks.

Thank you Sarah, those are good ideas for my littles -- I forgot about Your Story Hour.

I read through the first bit of Sailing today and I think my older kids will actually like it. I was concerned initially because it seemed several people felt they needed to replace it... but honestly it looks like a good read to me. So I think I'll go with it for now. But I followed your recommendation and picked up the mp3 of Stowaway for my middle boys, I think they'll like it.

And the jury is still out on GOAL. 

Thanks for your help! :)

Well I will just tell you what we are doing with ds8 & dd5. We do not use any of the above 3 books. I checked into them and I didn't think they fit well for my children's ages. I may use them the next time we do module 5. We are doing Stowaway as an audio book in the van, stopping it every 10 min. or so for son to narrate. We also listen to other extra audios: Your Story Hour history titles that go with our topic and Mara Pratt American history from LibriVox. They also like to color in the Dover coloring books.

I'm finishing up gathering materials for Mod 5 and will have kids in 10th, 8th, 6th, 3rd, and 1st, plus a 4yo and a 2yo. Trying to keep things simple enough to be doable this year but meaty as well, and need to decide about:

Master Skylark is listed as an optional family read aloud. Would it be engaging for my age range? High schooler would only be there if he wanted to be.

GOAL Bible Study... trying to decide if we should just read/discuss the Bible chapters as listed in the handbook, or go ahead and order the GOAL book. Does it add a lot to the study of the various books?

Last one, Sailing Alone Around the World... noticed when I searched the forum that several people replaced this with Stowaway. What would you do with my age range?

~Jenn