Okay, I feel really, really dumb. Somehow, in all our book buying, I failed to purchase the Landmark book. The book I'm referring to as providential is the Peter Marshall book. Maybe if I but the Landmark book, all my problems will be solved. :)

I've been away from the boards and have just now come back to check our my thread. Thank you all for your responses. The reason I haven't jumped on board the Landmark book is because after my first cursory perusal I thought it was a little too "providential" for my taste. Now I see that maybe I need to reconsider. Another thing that makes Sonlight so difficult is that my girls read a lot and read fast, so the daily schedule is crazy-making for them and me. I think I'll ditch it and just let 'em read.

We use R&S and put lists on Spelling City for tests.

Up until this year, we've always used SOTW, more or less as TWTM suggests (though not as thoroughly). I decided over the summer to spend this year and the next doing American History with my girls and purchased Sonlight to do it. I'm not loving it, though. My girls are voracious readers, and it's painful (really, downright impossible) for them to spread a book out over so many days. Plus, I don't like not having a nonfiction spine. I have the Maestro books and have started using them alongside the Sonlight readers and history selections, but basically all we do is read. (I'm not using the Marshall book as a spine because I'm not crazy about the approach it takes.). The point of this ramble is to get some feedback about what, exactly, I should be doing for output. Narrations? How? Just read the books , discuss, and call it good? If someone has a wonderful approach to history, I'd sure love to hear it!

We'll, we loved Ginger and Pinky Pye, too, but I THINK we first listened to GP as an audiobook. I ended up loving Moffats, but the first time I tried to read it (alone), I just didn't get the appeal it has.

ByGrace3, your link doesn't work. I'll head over to your blog and search. . . Thanks for the help!

I purchased Sonlight Core D and have attempted to get started with it, but I'm honestly just not feeling the love. :glare: I don't exactly regret it (I already had a bunch of the books and my girls are avid readers, so it's no biggie), but I'm still struggling with how to pull it off. What I really need is a nonfiction spine, and I realize this is a very common complaint/want/desire. I do have the first several of the Maestro books--American Story series--and am currently planning to use those and then use the Sonlight books for the girls' reading assignments and our read-alouds. What I need now is a rough schedule of HOW to use the Maestro books so as to NOT drag this study out forever, which is what will happen if I don't follow a plan. Anyone know of one out there before I reinvent the wheel? :bigear:

I purchased Sonlight Core D and have attempted to get started with it, but I'm honestly just not feeling the love. :glare: I don't exactly regret it (I already had a bunch of the books and my girls are avid readers, so it's no biggie), but I'm still struggling with how to pull it off. What I really need is a nonfiction spine, and I realize this is a very common complaint/want/desire. I do have the first several of the Maestro books--American Story series--and am currently planning to use those and then use the Sonlight books for the girls' reading assignments and our read-alouds. What I need now is a rough schedule of HOW to use the Maestro books so as to NOT drag this study out forever, which is what will happen if I don't follow a plan. Anyone know of one out there before I reinvent the wheel? :bigear:

I haven't read all the replies so this one might've already been mentioned, but Thimble Summer is just such a sweet, simple, entertaining (funny!) book. Elizabeth Enright is not to be missed!

I haven't read all the replies so this one might've already been mentioned, but Thimble Summer is just such a sweet, simple, entertaining (funny!) book. Elizabeth Enright is not to be missed!

I distinctly remember being d.o.n.e. with school with my then K-er sometime maybe a month before my now 3 year old was born. It's okay. I don't think you can mess up kindergarten. You have the Hive's permission to just let it go. :thumbup:

Yeah, I'm pretty sure with my limited memory that I couldn't do the dictations! I've been off the board for weeks, and I just discovered SWB's updated (?) recommendations. I'm looking at Kilgallon right now. Thanks for the input!

My fourth grade dd has hit the wall with WWE 4. She's around lesson 20 and has been through every level of WWE. I feel good about the skills she has learned from the series, but at this point I feel like the frustration she experiences over the lengthy dictations is counterproductive. She writes a history narration (1-2 paragraphs, detailed) weekly and we work on revising it, etc. I'm pleased with her writing over all. I'm wondering now if I should finally, finally just go with my gut and drop WWE completely. Has anyone done this, or did you use something else? (I know that the workbooks were developed by SWB because there was a need for more hand-holding, etc. I guess what I'm asking is if I should pick up some other writing program now.)

Here's ours, which is actually two weeks-in-review. :-)

Thanks, Lisa, for your words of wisdom!

RS Math levels A-E (thus far) Beast Academy (one year behind, for fun review/solidifying skills) FLL 1-4 WWE 1-4 R & S spelling SotW Our library card Lots of read-alouds

I can't say I've actually HATED anything we've used, but a few things got shelved pretty early or were "forgotten" on our weekly schedule: Sequential Spelling, AAS, Song School Latin, Lively Latin.

It's snarky kind of humor--dark, even slightly violent (I think--it's been years since I read them). I think it takes a certain maturity level and even personality to "get" them. The Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place has a similar sort if humor but is much, much lighter, IMHO.

I know this is an old thread, but maybe some of you can help me. My girls have been learning Getty-Dubay Italic, but now they've expressed a desire to learn a loopier cursive. My elder dd can wrote fully in Otalic and my younger daughter has begun making joins, etc. Will it be too confusing for them to switch at this point?

How about something really fantastical and beautifully written, like The Little White Horse by Elizabeth Goudge? Here are my thoughts on it: http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/2012/11/29/read-aloud-thursday-the-little-white-horse-by-elizabeth-goudge/ If realistic fiction is more her thing, you can't go wrong with Eleanor Estes. We've enjoyed the Pye books (Ginger Pye and a Pinky Pye) and The Moffats. http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/2010/09/09/read-aloud-thursday-ginger-pye-by-eleanor-estes/ http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/2010/10/14/read-aloud-thursday-pinky-pye-by-eleanor-estes/ http://www.hopeisthewordblog.com/2013/01/31/read-aloud-thursday-the-moffats-by-eleanor-estes/

I have a rising 5th grader, and I am beginning to see a small glimmer of independence. One thing that has helped me this year actually even *think* about her independence is to actually write on our assignment board her "with mom" lessons on one block and her independent lessons in another. For sine reason actually seeing them grouped like that helped me realize that she's doing a good bit on her own. I'm really benefiting a lot from the discussion. Keep talking. :-)

Thank you for sharing! I've been in an idea slump. I did FIAR with my big girls, but I haven't the energy to do it ALL myself again. I love your idea of letting your artistic child help with the art projects. When do you plan all this? I'm having a hard time getting beyond the thinking phase.

We try to shake things up a bit on Fridays. Today we're doing a quick review of memory work, playing Contig from the Let's Play Math website, having poetry tea time with a pile of poetry and picture books, and doing some history readings. Oh, and reading aloud from The Black Cauldron and whatever else strikes our fancy. My 9 year old has a few leftover lessons (WWE, spelling, typing, and a final copy of her history paragraphs) to finish up. First, though, the girls are doing piano practice and Bible study lessons. Later today we're heading to the library for a homeschool craft and game activity. Do you do something fun on Fridays?

. . . . Only I can't even begin to fake a French accent! (We have enjoyed the audiobook, though!)

No, I don't think my 3 1/2 year old REALLY needs preschool, but he is such a cute, sweet, smart, chatty little fellow who thrives on personal attention and touch that I *think* that it might make our day go better if I could eke 15-30 minutes out of our daily schedule to work with him one-on-one on something--reading together, an art project, or just sitting in the floor playing. I already have my girls taking turns with him while one girl does math with me. I feel like I really need to give him some one-on-one time and not push him away all the time. :-( I'm just at a loss as to how to make this happen given the ages of my children and the teacher-intensive nature of most of our curricula. I *could* do it on the afternoons while the other kids have rest time, but I really, truly need that for my own sanity. I'm definitely not at my best then. Ideas, anyone? I'm all ears!