My son has done Wedo at co-op. it was through an outside company and I didn't teach, so I'm no expert but, like the other commenter, I am curious to know more. In my son's group there were multiple (3?) sets for 12 kids. They worked in teams. There were multiple loops in the room, not sure how necessary they were though. I'd love to know more, hope someone can better answer your question!

OK, I haven't used this yet. My oldest is in first grade. I sat through an hour presentation by the vendor at a conference and I am quite intrigued and I'm planning on ordering it once ds gets a bit older. http://www.totallanguageplus.com/main.htm It is a book-based language arts program. Sorry I don't have any actual experience with this, I figure one iffy answer is better than none, right?:D

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/28/technology/for-an-edge-on-the-internet-computer-code-gains-a-following.html According to the above article, programming is such a part of modern life that everyone needs to know how. As it happens, I am a programmer and now I'm wondering when to introduce programming. What curricula is out there now?

Funny, so often I think curricula is geared towards girls but I can see how sotw might not be super appealing to girls. It is my son's favorite, I have to keep it until the end (no history unless you finish you math). We don't do a lot of the related crafts. Perhaps those could draw her in? Or history pockets, those appeal to my DD 4.

I have no experience with Abeka and I am def. not a seasoned homeschoolers but...I bought HOP K and 1st grade on the clearance rack at Borders years ago. I started HOP K with my oldest when he was 5 and he finished 1st grade HOP before he turned 6. I think he is a pretty typical boy; not a terribly enthusiastic reader. He is reading at a 3rd grade level now and this is still his 1st grade year. I just started DD 4 on it. Is there something better? Probably. But so many beginning phonics programs are so similar that I dont think it much matters (there are only so many ways the fat cat can fan the man). We have done Explode the Code online too. After we finished the 1st grade HOP we started reading easy readers. The lesson-based phonics books were getting pretty boring so I didn't want to seek out the next level of HOP. Since you already own it, I'd say try it. Or, if you are planning on doing Abeka anyhow, buy it and see. I always opt for starting things early so you can take breaks as needed and don't feel any pressure (like, say, from your MIL) on finishing at a certain time.

I'm in Southfield. We do a big co-op in Ann Arbor: http://www.explorershomeschoolassociation.org/ There are a couple of others. Palestra (not a co-op) has classes in Livonia and there is COVE which I think is also in Livonia. I have heard rumor of a Classical Conversations group in Dearborn but I'm not sure they are still around. We also belong to a Catholic group with occasional field trips and get together, I'd be happy to forward you that info if you want. There is a book fair with workshops this weekend, sponsored by Homeschooling Works. They also sponsor our Cub Scout/Boy Scout Troop (pack? Den? I'm still working out the terminology): http://homeschoolingworks.com/Homeschooling_Works_Detroit_Michigan/Homeschooling_Works_Detroit_Michigan.html This website lists many of the happenings around town: http://homeschoolingindetroit.com/ HTH!

We're almost through SOTW year 1 and I'd like to start selecting our music and art appreciation pieces (which, until now, have been pretty random) to correspond to our history lesson. I know that this will be nearly impossible until at least the first millennium ad or later. Does anyone know of a website with historical art and music suggestions by year? BTW, I have SOTW 2 on order but haven't yet received it. It just occurred to me that the info I'm looking for might actually be in the book. Either way, I'd love to hear about any resources you might know of. Thanks!

I love everything said above but I always bring along a "filler" activity just in case. I only had to use it once in 12 weeks, but I can't imagine what we would have done w/o it.

I make my own with the free ZB worksheet maker That way I can reinforce what we are working on. They get punched and tossed in a 3 ring binder. BTW, we actually use HWT for handwriting but that hasn't bothered DS at all.

My son is also not an independent reader and I wouldn't be surprised if he had a very similar reaction. I am not terribly familiar with the series. How bad is it? Is it gross or just silly?

Wow, maybe we should do Indonesian as a third language! :D:lurk5:

I agree! Thank you for that post. I also really enjoyed your inclusion of Arabic, so often that gets overlooked.

DS finished the HWT 1st grade book but, like you, I didn't want to go on to 2nd quite yet. So we are either writing a letter or doing copywork every day. He likes the letter writing best!

I can send you one if you PM your email.

I LOVE Pinterest! And I really love all the fun new HS ideas I've found there. http://pinterest.com/cholderby/ myeightkiddies - pm me your email and I'll send you an invite (and prepare to be sucked into the void)!

We bought a seat on Explode the Code online when HBC had a special (I always wonder on just how "special" their specials are). DS likes it quite a bit, although it is not our only reading/spelling source. Its main emphasis is reading, but spelling is also covered. Because it is online, I think it counts for typing too, since all spelling responses are typed. Heck I'm going to count it as an intro to computer usage too. ;) We did HOP through 1st grade. I bought the sets on clearance at a bookstore and suspect that they are older versions of the program than what everyone else is using.

The same thing happened to us. We started CLE math 100 first. We're also using FLL, which I swear has 32 lessons on nouns. I like it but it is def. not "fast". DS is halfway through 1st grade and handwriting is his least favorite (and least advanced) subject. We won't be starting cursive until much later. He loves science and we've been doing different unit studies for gr. 4 and up. Mostly I read the book portions out loud, but he does the experiments.

Wow - that is quite a list. Thanks for taking to the time to list all that!

I just bought this book: http://www.amazon.com/Savage-Thunder-Antietam-Bloody-Freedom/dp/0689876335/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1318771627&sr=8-16 A Savage Thunder: Antietam and the Bloody Road to Freedom [Hardcover] Jim Murphy (Author) which has many glowing reviews. I'm a bit apprehensive to read my little kids a book with both "savage" and "bloody" in the title. We'll see.

We started out with RS A last year. My son has non-hyperactive ADD (although we didn't have a diagnosis last year) and I was sure he'd love the games. He didn't. We tried Singapore (he wasn't a fan of that either) and settled on CLE. I think he likes knowing exactly what is in each lesson up front, which is obvious in workbook format. He also likes that the same concept is taught in different ways in each lesson (straight worksheet, story problem, missing number problem, graphically, etc.) I probably wouldn't have guessed that CLE would be a good fit for him but it was. Plus its a cheap one to try, each workbook is something like $3/piece and you could easily skip the teachers manual at first (you'd have to make up the story problems, but it would be fine for a week or two).

Thanks for posting this thread! I will def. be using some of these great suggestions.

We will be visiting Antietam in a few weeks. My husband is really interested in the Civil War but my kids know nothing about it (we're in SOTW year 1). Does anyone have a good book resource for introducing the civil war to kids that young? I'd be interested in a video too, but it would have to be geared towards young children. There is no way they could sit through even one episode of the Ken Burns series.

Thanks! We're going to Antietam in a couple of weeks and will def. check that out!

Though I've had my co-op teaching assignment for months and months, I am just starting to plan out my class for this fall. Any of you know any good geography resources for 1/2 grade? I don't have enough cash to buy a curriculum, but there must be something out there that's free (I hope). Instead of focusing on different countries the entire semester (the co-op runs 12 weeks), I'd like to do something on different geographical features (1 class on rivers, 1 on deserts, etc.) and then move into countries. I also have to come up with a related snack...:tongue_smilie:

I've heard rumors that we're getting an iPad for Christmas...so I don't have one yet, but I am really intrigued by an app I saw on an iPad commercial that has a kid trace letters to "write" with his finger. DS would have really benefited from something like that...maybe the littler kids would like it. Anyone know what that is called?