http://www.welltrainedmind.com/articleindex.php forgot the link!

go to this website (for the Well Educated Mind) and scroll down to the section on self-education. There are two articles that address the issue of how to improve your own education. This would be excellent for you to read. The article by Susan is a bit old, so some curriculum ideas might have changed, but overall, I think it is useful. Also, the Well Educated Mind is an excellent book that teaches how to read a book and offers a lifetime of reading pursuits.

definitely the Christian Liberty PRess nature readers. They would be fine for starting at a second grade reading level. Oh, but they are not secular. There are a few references to God. You may want to take a look at them anyway.

I would definitely start at the beginning. Not doing American History until then is not a problem. If she is really concerned, then she could add in some of the D'Aulaire books maybe.

i like hwt for a left hander.

I would recommend going ahead and spending more time on it. You could try to finish it up over the summer, but don't let it stress you if you choose not to do so. One thing I did, was to take a whole week every once in a while and just do history every day in order to make some progress. But, I don't think you really have to do that.

When I had kids that age, I did sotw 3 combined with Truthquest. There was plenty for everyone.

Farmer Boy would be wonderful. I don't think is talks much about the animals, except for horses. It is a great read, though, and really should not be missed. Charlotte's Web is also a great farm story. Understood Betsy is not specifically about a farm, but it does present rural life in a very appealing way. Slightly off the question, but, if you haven't read the Little House books yet, I think you would really enjoy them. The audio books narrated by Cherry Jones are so well done. If you are planning on reading Farmer Boy, you may want to start with Little House in the Big Woods and then go on to Farmer Boy. And, instead of reading it, listening is even better. We always have an audio book going in the car and we all enjoy it so much. It also is a great way to get in some great literature when you are running around!

I am using year 6 with my 11 yo dd who is in 6th grade. She does the reading on her own. I do not use all the recommended books. I don't like some of them, and my daughter doesn't like some of them. I think she is reading from four different books now, and the poetry. She has to do one written narration on one chapter, of her choice, each week. With my younger children, I am using ao year 1. I read their selection out loud to them and they narrate back to me. Again, there are some books that I have eliminated because we did not like them. In addition, I am using sotw 1 with all of them. I read that out loud, we make an outline together (I am teaching the two oldes ones to outline), we do the maps and coloring pages. I have always used sotw as my spine/main program and added in books from ao that I thought would complement it well.

I have done both Discovering Great Artists and Artistic Pursuits, and they are both great. It just depends on how much you want to do.

I got books 1 & 2 done in one year each, but we had to do some over the summer. There are 42 chapters, and that can seem tight to squeeze into a 36 week year. I would suggest taking about one and a half years and doing a more thorough and interesting job that plowing through just to get it done. That is what I plan to do for my second go around with it.

My kids like it a lot.

don't forget erasers! Also, it is nice to have some tissue paper, glue, some tools for the clay, scissors, thin and fat markers. Some fine line black pens, like sharpies or flair pens (by Bic) are great for drawing.

Little House on the Prairie series, especially Farmer Boy Narnia Books Rosemary Suttcliff books, such as The Golden Branch, Outcast, maybe Black Ships Before Troy Titanic Crossing, by Barbara Williams My Side of the Mountain, Far Side of the Mountain, Frightful's Mountain Sign of the Beaver

For a sit down and read type book, that will take you all the way through, you could go with Phonics Pathways, it is very thorough. For a more hands on approach that would also deal with spelling you could try All About Spelling.

Thanks. I actually have pll and I used it with my now 11 yo dd 6th grader. I actually have used fll1 &2 and now 3 for my 10 yo. It was a better fit for him than the pll. He is able to do short dictation sentences now. He also is proficient in narration. He is doing ao year 1 with my 7 yo dd 1st grader. They both narrate for me and that has solidified his skill in this area and given him confidence. He seems to be leaping ahead with regard to his reading and writing skills, finally after so many difficult years. Thinking out loud here, but maybe I need to challenge him a bit with his writing, maybe have him write some sentences on his own and then see where his spelling really is. Thanks, for all your help.

Jessica, I am looking for something for next year when my currnet 7yo dd first grader will be in second. Also, I have a current 10yo ds 4th grader, who has finally learned to read, but who has struggled with handwriting, so only now is he able to do dictation, and I have never really done spelling with him. What levels would I look at for them? Also, will they eventually cover all the necessary spelling rules?

Is there a spelling program out there that would go over the rules, but also include dictation from good quality literature? It seems to me like that would be the best of both worlds.

I would definitely say drop it. Just get books at the library and read them together. Maybe make a simple list of topics for the rest of the year, and just get books from one topic each time you go to the library. When you are ready, cross that topic off the list and go on to next one. No pressure. They are too young to worry about it!

I also have found the Prismacolor to break very often. I like the Ticonderoga and also I have some named Staedtler that I got at Michael's that also seem very nice and are my favorite. Here is a link: http://www.dickblick.com/zz220/05/

I agree with putting the 7 yo into fll 2. The older one could do fll3 or possibly fll4 depending on what he or she has already done. My 10 yo 4th grader is currently about half way through fll3 and doing great.

We just finished week 23 of 36

A couple more ideas: Fabre's Book of Insects - this is an out of print book, but you can find it on amazon used and it is worth the price. It has beautiful, color illustration plates, as well as wonderful, living descriptions of insects. Truly a living book. Also, we leave our guides at home when we go on nature walks, hikes, etc., and I usually just take pocket guides called "Pocket Naturalist" from Waterford Press. They are handy, laminated fold-outs that provide basic pictures and names on different topics: trees, wildflowers, birds, rocks, etc. They are lighter to carry when walking, and we can look up what we find and get more detailed info when we get home.

My kids really enjoy this magazine. It is a great complement to nature study. Also, I do think it would be a great way to get them excited about having a written piece or even a drawing published.

I have used a bunch of different things for handwriting, and I think for that age the cornmeal idea is great. Also, you can use a white board or even a magnadoodle. You can also make letters out of playdough. If he would like his own workbook, I highly recommend hwt. It is very nice for that age. And you definitely can use it alone, without the chalkboard or other hands on items.