I know Gilcrease Museum in Tulsa has a lot of Native American art, but I haven't been there in many many years so I don't have any specific details about it. It's at least worth checking out their website to see if it's what you are looking for. Sorry I'm not more help!

Yes, AAS has the lessons planned out for you. They are clear and easy to follow, but require the teacher's involvement for the entire lesson. There is no part of the lesson that the child does independently (at least for level 1, but I think it's true for all the levels.) AAS is a great program, but it was overkill for my DD. She simply didn't need all those steps. She hated the letter tiles and the tokens. She didn't need the cards. It ended up being an expensive list of spelling words for her. I would still use it again for a student who needed it, but if your child is a somewhat natural speller I think AAS is unnecessary.

We worked on them for a little while and then moved on to the next lessons. She wasn't horribly handicapped because she couldn't rattle them off from memory 😉. Even now (we're in 2A) she can't tell me what the number bonds for 10 are, but if I ask her "what are all the ways you can make 10 by adding 2 numbers together" she has no problem answering. One thing that made Singapore stressful for me as I was figuring out how to teach it last year were the many prompts in the HIG to "have your child memorize this" or "she should have these math facts memorized before continuing on to the next lesson." My DD was always ready conceptually to move on in the book before she had the math facts memorized. I finally realized that it is ok to work on both at the same time. It's ok to move on in the book if your student is ready, even if he still needs practice in certain math facts. I now treat math fact practice (memorization) and math lessons (Singapore) as 2 separate subjects in my mind. And keep in mind that the curriculum is a servant (or tool) not a master. It's so much harder for me to remember that when it comes to math!

We just finished our first year with Singapore a few months ago. I used the HIG, TB, and WB and feel like that was enough for 1st grade. I definitely need the HIG in order to know how to teach "the Singapore way", but there are people who don't use it and do fine. The only thing I found I needed to add to the TB and WB work was extra practice with math facts. There is not a lot of practice built in to the books . There is more of an assumption that you as the teacher will work with your student on that until the facts are mastered. once there was conceptual understanding of the material, we moved on in the book, and continued to practice math facts separately (similar to what AttachedMama described). It can be easy to feel like you need to do more with Singapore because they have SO MANY options for additional practice. I've finally settled on starting with the basic package and seeing how it goes, knowing that I can always add more later if there is a need.

For my young 2nd grader (will be 7 in September) I aim for about 1.5 hours of work time, where she is working on skills of copywork, math, and reading aloud to me. Then we have another 30-60 minutes of read aloud time (not all at once), but she can play quietly or color while listening.

I bought mine on Amazon. I just made sure they were one of the manufacturers listed on the NASA site. I ordered them about a month ago though. They might be harder to find now.

I agree with the PPs. It sounds like she's simply not ready for that next step. That's okay. Blending is a developmental skill, and just turned 4 is a little young to be able to do that. If she wants to continue with reading lessons you could repeat the CVC lessons you've already done, which would be good practice, or you could use something like Bob books for reading practice (the early ones have mostly CVC words). I found that the progression in OPGTTR was somewhat awkward at times, so I would skip lessons and come back to them later if necessary. But if she's not expressing a desire to continue lessons then I would put it away for awhile and simply read lots of books to her.

Yes, you should be just fine. Simple copywork is perfect handwriting practice for that age. You won't need a teacher's manual.

Usborne books publishes some unabridged illustrated classics. I haven't seen them in person but I would think the font would be a decent size. I don't know if they have the titles you are looking for though.

I used the Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading. It can be used with a 3yo (the lessons start out with letter sounds) but also your 5yo. I'll admit, I didn't love it but it served its purpose. it's easy to implement. The lessons are scripted, so if you need help knowing what to say that is provided. I preferred to put things in my own words. The practice sentences seemed a bit bizarre to me at times and were a distraction for my DD. I ended up using the lessons to introduce concepts and then using a combination of Bob Books, Abeka readers, and the Sonlight readers for reading practice

Our local music stores have a list of teachers for various instruments. If there is a university nearby that has a music department they also will have information about private lessons.

We really like the magic tree house nonfiction books (Fact Trackers/Research Guides). I think they are great for new readers. And letting kids read books that are "too easy" helps develop fluency, so good choice! The same thing goes for rereading the same books over and over again, that's a good thing too!

Yes. My rising 2nd grader has "reading practice" with me and also required free reading time. Reading practice she reads slightly more challenging material that I select. Free reading is for a set amount of time and she can read whatever she chooses. currently I'm not requiring the free reading because she's working on several summer reading programs. I think at the age of your twins it's important to still make them practice reading even if it's not enjoyable, at least for a few minutes each day. They are simply too young in their education to be done with learning to read well. They're also too young to have decided definitively that they don't like reading. They might not like it now simply because there are a lot of fun things that a 7 year old could be doing! 🙂 If you were paying for music lessons, would you make them practice? It's ok to make them practice reading.

I just watched all the videos for the first time about a month ago. I definitely thought they were worth it. I anticipate rewatching them (maybe annually?) as my children grow (my oldest is a rising 2nd grader). I even think DH would enjoy them. Neither of us have English degrees though. We're both in the medical field, so our training in literary analysis is a little lacking 😊

I think your plan is ok. 😊 I started my oldest with AAS about halfway through first grade (because we had a new baby at the beginning of the school year, so we kept things really simple then). It's a great program, but was way more involved than what she needed. She's a fairly natural speller, so she just didn't need all the steps that AAS includes (and we skipped a lot of them). So I dropped the formal spelling program and now just address spelling in the context of copywork. This works for her but obviously wouldn't work for a lot of kids (it certainly wouldn't have worked for me!) If you find that she needs more direct spelling instruction you can always add it at any time during the year. It's not like you have to wait a whole year to start something if you don't start at the beginning of first grade.

I think the resources and curricula you have already identified are all goods ones. They certainly won't be a good fit for every student, but nothing is and I don't get the sense that you assume that. I disagree with the "this isn't a plan it's a list of curricula " idea. There are hundreds of planning threads on this board where people list out their plans for the upcoming year, and what do most people list? Curriculum choices. For many people deciding what curriculum they will use for a particular subject is a huge part of the planning process. It sounds like your DH needs to know what is available for homeschoolers to use. He needs to know that there are resources available to provide a high quality education at home for your children. I don't see anything wrong with that. Giving him a list of such curricula might be just what he needs, especially since he's gotten a bad impression of homeschooling from his cousin. Another approach would be to appeal to his logic and reason. You are pulling your 12yo out of ps because it was not providing an adequate education for him. Why does he believe homeschool is adequate for your older child but not your younger? Does he anticipate a different outcome with your daughter? As a PP suggested, having him listen to some of the curriculum developers might be really helpful. After my DH heard Michael Clay Thompson and Andrew Pudewa speak at a conference he was much more confident about our ability to provide an excellent education for our children.

I've never used Rosetta Stone so can't comment on that. Our family does use Pimsleur in several languages (we're dabblers in foreign languages 😊) If you're wanting an initial exposure to a language and have the goal to be able to SPEAK it, Pimsleur is an excellent program. There is lots of repetition and review built in, but not in a drill-and-kill kind of way. It is only an oral program though, so no textbook, reading or grammar instruction. It's also geared towards adults. If you don't want your kids learning how to order alcohol in German you probably don't want to use Pimsleur 😊

We skipped the rhymes too. It seemed easier to just learn the letter sound, and DD hated the rhymes.

I am so sorry for your loss.

I started using claritas materials a few months ago. I really like the 4 year cycle instead of CC's 3 year one. Claritas lines up very easily with SOTW. I also like that the weekly memory work includes a hymn and a Bible passage (CC technically has Scripture for each cycle, but it's not included in the weekly work and is not on the audio CDs). The science, English grammar and math are very similar for both programs. The only things I like better about CC materials is the Timeline Song and the fact that their memory work is both spoken and put to music (on the audio CDs). Claritas only has things put to music, which works well for my musically inclined DD but not for every kid. I think the reason we don't hear much about Claritas is because it was put together by a group of parents in order to use with their kids. It didn't start out as a business idea. They do sell the materials, but I get the idea that it is still mostly a parent-led operation, done out of a desire to help other parents rather than grow a profitable business.

Homeschool Buyers Co-op has back issues available at a discounted price. I forget how much exactly. They have a good selection available though. And I think their Brave Writer materials are almost always on sale there, maybe 40% off?

Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis comes to mind.

My DD started at 5 a year and a half ago and has done really well. She still loves music just as much as she did before she started lessons, although she doesn't like to practice because she "doesn't like to get things wrong." 😊 I think waiting until age 8 is a little late for a child who demonstrates natural musical ability. Most teachers in our area accept students starting at 5 or 6 years. If she struggles with fine motor control I would probably wait a little while. My advice would be to talk to a few teachers in your area and see what they recommend. If you start her in lessons and she really struggles you can always stop and restart when she's a little older. At that age even 6 months can make a big difference in terms of readiness for skills.

Bumping this again. This has given me a lot of food for thought as I am in deep planning mode for next year. 8fill, your posts are always inspiring and full of wisdom and experience. Thank you for sharing your wisdom with us!

Winnie the Pooh for your 5 year old. My DD practically had the whole thing memorized in K because she listened to it so much. She even started pronouncing certain words with a British accent and would *correct* my pronunciation when we read the book together.