Some montessori sites that I have found helpful. http://www.montessorimaterials.org/ http://www.montessoriforeveryone.com/ http://www.alisonsmontessori.com/New_Arrivals_s/33.htm http://ebeth.typepad.com/serendipity/ The Serendipity blog has a lot of neat ideas for hands on using Montessori and Waldorf ideas. Montessori materials is all free downloads and has a lot of neat stuff that you can use to make lapbooks. Alison's sells Montessori materials which tend to be expensive but if you are creative you can make your own versions. Hope this helps. :)

My big lesson learned this year was to listen to the needs of my children instead of how great this or that curriculum is. Just because a curriculum is great doesn't mean that it will fit the needs of my children. We are having more fun now.:)

We have a playgroup where our kids get to play on the playground and have fun while the rest of us talk. We've made a lot of good friendships this year because of this. And we just started an enrichment club where we read stories and then do another activity like show and tell, music, crafts or games. A lot of the kids are the same for both groups so it has been nice. In the past we have tried to make friends through church, outside activities, classes and co-ops but we couldn't seem to make real connections. The playgroup is wonderful.:)

That was really cute.:)

Glad to see you back. I always enjoy your words of wisdom.:)

On the local level I am seeing a trend of more secular homeschoolers and people checking out homeschooling when their children are very young (2 and 3 years old). Also, homeschooling through high school rather than putting the children in school in 7th or 9th grade seems to be happening more and more. When I first started locally there were between 2 and 4 homeschool graduates a year. Next year there will be I believe 20. Dual-enrollment is something we are hearing a lot about and some of the community colleges are hosting homeschooling events and coaching us on transcripts and such because they want our students. I worry about regulation because of all the people flooding into the homeschooling landscape but I don't know enough about it to have an opinion right now. Personally, I am seeing homeschooling becoming more of a mainstream option.

For the Google question there is: G is for Google by David Schwartz and Can you Count to a Googol by Robert E. Wells are both great books on this subject. Of course G is for Google covers other fun math topics as well. You'll find these in your nonfiction section of the library. Have fun!:)

Lots of groups to join around here. I belong to one that has a statment of faith, a Christian group that is open to all and I help put together some programs for families who do things a little differently--secular, foster/adoption, unschooling, etc which is starting to develop into its own group. So I checked Christian and Secular.

If you have snow you could fill up two cups at the beginning of the program one with water and one with snow. Mark the levels on the cups. At the end of the program check the cups again and find out what the levels the water and snow are at and talk about what has happened. This is from the HOAC lapbook on snow. We wanted to do this one but we really haven't had snow this year.

I put maps on the walls in my dc rooms. At bedtime we talk about places on the maps. Often my dd will ask me "what is it like in XYZ?" And I will tell her what I know about that place. Sometimes, we will recall a book and I will show where the setting for tha book was on the map. If there was a journey in that book I will take a crayon and trace the journey (laminated maps here). I also give my children puzzles of the world and the US. My oldest seems to know where most things are and what it is like in many of the places we have talked about. My youngest is just getting started on this journey.

Our plan is to homeschool all the way through. Our goals--to help our children to be self-motivated independent thinkers who have a life-long love of learning, and put God and Family first in their lives. :)

I adapt curriculum that I like to meet the needs of my children. Around this time of the year, I look at curriculum and resources and decided what I want to do. I buy the materials I want to have on hand (free, used, new when time for looking is done.) Then I take a few weeks and start to sketch out the year with these resources in mind and build units. Each month I update the unit that is coming up next to make sure that it will work for us and where we are at. This is when I make my photocopies, gather my worksheets and make sure all my notes and resources are together. Resources include texts, books, manipulatives, etc. Math: Singapore is our base and I schedule it in monthly units that is really do the next thing but I do try to do subjects like geometry and measurement together. To this I add Rhythmic drillwork (bascially rolling/tossing a ball back and forth while counting or doing tables outloud) and we take some time to explore math hands-on each day like in a science lab or I tell math stories. Language Arts: I use SWR as my base but with K and 2nd we just use the phonograms and spelling rules. For K she justs listens in. For 1st I introduce the letter and sound and read a fairy tale that has that sound in it. For 2nd we use Aesop's Fables. For composition, I read the book Composition in the Classical Tradition by D'Angelo and took lots of notes to develop my own curriculum that meet the needs of my children. For Grammar, we will be using Ruth Heller's books next year as a base to making a personalized grammar guide. But I will sneak KISS grammar worksheets into their review books. For History: We have used SOTW and TOG and did a lot of different things with them. For example one semester we only did Greek history from SOTW and filled in with Greek Myths and learned the Greek alphabet but we did history every other week. It went very well. Currently, we are following rabbit trails and reading the American Girl books and other books about the period that these girls lived in. Mostly we are reading D'Aulaire biographies and Holling Geography books. For Science: We follow My Pals are Here Science books and I add in kits and non-fiction books as needed when we don't have a science curriculum. For art/handcrafts: We find books that are truly a pleasure to view and inspire us to create. This is where we are most inspired by Waldorf. Reviewbooks: These binders are filled with math, language arts, mazes, search a word, puzzles, coloring pages, etc. I tear up old workbooks, print off free worksheets and subscribe to Dover Samplers for things to use. I put all of my resources into file folders by type--Math has number values, dot to dots, large numbers/place value, addition, subtraction, mixed problems, etc. Language arts includes phonics w/o writing, phonics w/writing, penmanship, nouns, search a word, decode a word, mazes, coloring pages, etc. Each week I go through my dc books and put in new pages that are mostly too easy (stuff we have already done), a few on things we are currently doing, and on or two that stretch their limits. I mix it up and add in lots of fun stuff. I honestly just hand these books to my kids and they do reams of worksheets on their own and have fun doing them. (These are kids who would be in tears doing most of these worksheets during school time as seatwork.) Telling them do whatever you want with these seems to trigger it as something fun to do. My writing reluctant child is even doing cursive and loves spelling now.:) I've probably given you too much information but I do tweak and rewrite a lot.

If someone tells you that they do not have days like these while homeschooling then they are lying. We all have bad days. Sometimes it is hormones, illness, growth, whatever. Bad days happen. If it is just a bad attitude day--I cut things short or if really bad cancel all-together. This means I have to rework my schedule but that is ok. If they are happening a lot I take a look at what we are doing and fix it with the workload/curriculum. If it is a transitional period from one growth stage to the next I will relax school immensely until the period is over but these are often accompanied by inability to remember how to do anything sometimes. As far as socially, it sounds like you have a good balance and it will just take her time to get used to not being around other children all the time. Hang in there. We've all been in that spot and the first year is the worst for that as everyone adapts to being home and working together. :)

My weekly report is up. We had a fun school week and made lapbooks on opposites and snow. I have pictures of them up. Just click on the link to my blog in my signature line. Thanks.:)

I am a very organized mom who likes to plan. We tried TOG last semester and while I love the program and will probably use it for High School, we found that it was too much for K and 2nd. What we like better for this age as far as history goes is to just read good books at bedtime like the D'Aulaire biographies, the American Girl books, a lot of the recommendations that you see from Sonlight, TOG, Beautiful Feet and such but if the book doesn't click or hold interest by the second chapter we toss it and start something else that does click. I loved the ideas TOG had for composition and word study and such but it was too much--really a lot of work. So I decided to take the Notebooking route here and we use Ruth Heller's books on Grammar, make a notebook page for each part of speech as described in the books. And then I throw in pages from KISS grammar (a free online grammar program) into my dd's review book for her to work on when she wants. Bascially, I love TOG and think that it will be great for High School but for early elementary it is just more fun to follow rabbit trails and really see my children take ownership of their knowledge. Good Luck.:)

Some ideas. A lot of the phonics books are dull, dull, dull. What we are doing to make it more fun and colorful. We concentrate on 2 phonograms (letter or combination of letters that make certain sounds) per week. I make up silly sentences that incorporates all the sounds for that phonogram and draw a picture to go with it. We use the silly sentence for copywork as well as to help trigger the memory as to what sound(s) a certain letter combo makes. Example--for "oo" our sentence is "Cook good food." I do review of letter sound quickly twice a week with flash cards. BTW I use SWR phonograms and spelling rules in 3rd grade we will begin the WISE list. On my blog there is a list of links to websites that have phonics worksheets. A lot of these are fun. I mix mine up add in some math, mazes, word decodes, search a words, and coloring pages and give my child a binder each week to "play" with. She loves it and picks and choses what she wants to do. Also, http://www.starfall.com/ is a lot of fun with little books, activities and movies. Once he shows signs of taking off on his own. Drop everything phonics related for a few months and stick him in a corner with too easy to read books and let him read on his own for 15 to 30 minutes each day. You go and do something else where he can ask you if he needs help with a word. If he wants an audience pets are great. This method has worked for my oldest and several other people I know get their kids off and reading on their own. Oh, and it is ok to take a break from your phonics program and do something else for a few weeks and come back to it again when he seems ready to move on. Hope this helps. :)

I thought it was cute when my oldest was playing with her tiny rabbits and was having them ask "quis es?" and the rabbits came up with various correct responses for who they were supposed to be. :)

Creativity--I give my children access to paper, pens, markers, crayons, colored pencils, pencils, etc. They start making books in preK. They will draw pictures and dictate to me the words/sentences to go along with the pictures. For K--just learning letter sounds and how to print is enough. For 1st--we learn about nouns and verbs but mostly just talk about them in everyday life. Phonics and penmanship is still the focus. 2nd--Phonics and penmanship very at the forefront. We talk a little about other types of words but don't do a lot of grammar worksheets. Easy Grammar Daily Guided Teaching and Review for 2nd and 3rd grade is nice for this age if they child wants to do it. We read fables at this age and analyze them according to Who? What? Where? When? Why? and How? Then I have my child retell the story in her own words in a shorter version which I write down. For 3rd--we are going to use the Ruth Heller books for grammar concepts and make our own notebooking pages for the different parts of speech so we have a nice little guidebook. Phonics will change to spelling and manuscript to cursive. I am hoping that she will be able to write paragraphs on her own and not just dictate them to me at this time. Hope this helps.

Singapore Math and Science is something that consistently works for us. My oldest is mathy and working in level 3 now and my youngest is unmathy and doing just find with earlybird as long as I go slowly. SWR/WRTR phonograms and spelling rules--they work for teaching reading and when we are ready we can work through the lists or use them to back up any sort of spelling lists we decide to do. Fun Review Books--an idea from a friend but she calls them "Round-Robin books." I make up individualized workbooks filled with fun stuff (mazes, decodes, search a words, coloring pages), easy stuff (math and reading that is super easy) and some hard stuff (math and language arts topics that we have just learned or are still trying to master). I use worksheets off the internet, old half-finished workbooks and cheap workbooks. They are all mixed up in the books and the child can do whatever they want and I replace the finished pages with new pages every week. It's been a big hit here, they love it and don't know that they are learning and reviewing.:)

For 1st we like to concentrate on the 3 r's. The tried and true here has been: Math: Singapore Phonics: Spell to Write and Read Phonograms Penmanship: HWT or copywork where I write while she is watching then she writes and move into she copies what I have written. For you I would recommend: Stick with your math. Find some online phonics worksheets--I have links on my blog for scads of sites for these. Mix them up and let her work on them at her own pace. Continue to read good books. Drop the HWT and just use lined paper and have her write about what she wants to write about. My ker likes ponies and princess so I make up sentences about these things. You can use sentences from books like science, math facts, history or whatever. For history--following their interests works wonderfully in the early years. Currently we are reading about Felicity the American Girl at bedtime and it is a lot of fun and we are learning about the colonial period. For Science--if you have a science child especially one that likes hands-on you may want to look into just getting kits every so often and having Science fun weeks. Hope you have a great first grade year. We are headed there ourselves for the second time.:)

That was my big realization in October. We were trying to do TOG with SOTW as a spine, Anne's School Place Bible Curriculum and add in a science curriculum on top of that. The middle ages were of no interest to my dds and I felt like we were trying to do too much. So now we have relaxed it--just the 3 r's at schooltime. We are reading good books like the D'Aulaire Biographies and fun history books like the American Girls at bedtime. My oldest requests My Pals are Here Science but I am happy just getting a kit every so often and having experiment week and checking out books about animals and such from the library as we want to learn about something. The last three months have been wonderful and there are no more tears at schooltime.:)

I call my style "Classicaly Waldorf." We use a mix of classical, Waldorf, Montessori and Charlotte Mason methods and ideas. Charlotte Mason brings us short intense lessons perfect for the wiggly child and a search for good books that speak to us as Living Books. Waldorf brings us art and creativity which is perfect for the VSL and stories for my child who learns that way. Montessori brings manipulatives for hands-on learning. And Classical with inspiration from TWTM and LCC brings us Latin, grammar and good solid mathematics study. Most people would say we are eclectic.:)

Thanks, I forgot that was on. My girls loved it last year and I will now remember to turn it on for them again this year. Those kittens and puppies are so cute!:)

I was waiting for you to clarify before I posted. As far as organizing completed work for the subjects we use binders for each subject so that we will have a nice book when we are finished. So for science: My oldest has a binder that is divided up into sections: weekly weather pages, birds, mammals, and botany right now. I put all her papers and observations there. For Grammar and Composition: She has a notebook that has tabs each part of speech, phonograms, spelling rules, her compositions and her completed works. There is a binder for copywork as well and a larger binder has her worksheets from Latin, observations from our math labs and anything else we want to keep. As far as papers that are waiting to be used: I have a file system with worksheets seperated by language arts/phonics topics and math topics. We put these worksheets into their review books that they play with in their own time (they don't know that they are learning). I have binders for copywork master pages, copywork pages to be used, Notebooking pages divided by language arts, science and other topics. I have two binders of science topics/ideas/notebooking pages, 1 for math, 1 for drawing pages, 1 for art/handcraft ideas, 1 for seasonal poetry, 1 for grammar, 1 for composition, 1 for ideas to use with SWR, 1 for ideas arranged by grade (what we should/could do each year), and then I have sample binders of programs that I have looked at that I share with other homeschoolers. My sample binders include 1 on just Latin programs, and 2 that have a mix of math, language arts, history and science. I have my history books organized into 4 boxes according to period. I have a shelf on my bookshelf each for math, language arts, science, arts/handcrafts/music, and foreign language. I have another bookshelf that has all of the readers going from Bob books at the bottom to 4th grade readers on top. And then there is a bookshelf filled with picture books arranged by author. Does that help any? I probably overloaded but I find that keeping everything organized and easy to access makes it so much easier to find things when you need them.:)

On a budget here and so I buy used and spend a lot of time searching for what we need and want at a good price. If I just bought from the publisher/Rainbow Resource we wouldn't be able to have near as much enrichment items. What has really helped me is deciding to use curriculums/guide books that I can use for many years. SWR is a K to 13th level Composition in the Classical Tradition is a great book on writing that I interlibrary loaned and was able to write my own writing curriculum for my girls. Copywork is free--just costs us paper or the downloads for new pretty papers to use. My biggest expenses come from: Singapore Math (at least I can pass the texts down) Singapore Science (it is inexpensive and again I can pass the text down) Latin (Minimus wasn't too bad but not looking forward to the typical $100 a year price tag of most programs) We do like living books and try to rely on the library but sometimes you just have to buy the book and I always try to find it local or used online before buying new.