Both of my boys learned cursive in 1st grade. We used Cursive Connections with great success. http://www.montessoriservices.com/store/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=100_139_3201

I have a son in 4th grade, son in 2nd grade and daughter in "kindergarten."

Hello! I'm not new to TWTM forums, but I need to change my status a bit. I homeschooled my boys in the States for half of school year '07-'08 and all of school year '08-'09. That was our first experience with homeschooling and it was fabulous. We are a military family and we are now living overseas (again) and we have decided to send them to a local private school for language immersion (German). They have very reasonable school days and I've decided that I'd like to also do a little afterschooling with them for a few reasons. We plan to do spelling, writing/grammar (SWB curriculum) and SOTW. I'll also being doing some reading instruction with my 5 year old daughter. My boys are actually very excited about both - school and afterschooling. My plan is to start this coming Monday. They've been in school for 2 weeks and I wanted to give them some time to adjust to this new schedule. Luckily, their school never gives homework, so their afternoons aren't bogged down with extra work from school. Just wanted to pop in and say hi to this new group! Kerry

Quote: Originally Posted by Orthodox6 One point made already is that "an accurate history" does not exist which pleases all people ! For example, I never had heard of "providential history" until I started homeschooling. It took only five minutes to realize that I never could teach such a perspective to my children, even though it and some related viewpoints dominate the homeschool publishing field for history and geography. Nor could I teach a Marxist view of history to them, a "white means right" view of history, a "morals are naught but relative constructs" analysis of historical events, and right on down the bookshelf of choices. To study history is to analyze the record (including what is NOT recorded by omission) of people, societies, and events. Just can't do that without applying ones social/cultural/religious/whatever "filters" to the data. Agreed. :iagree: Excellent post.

JoyfulMama, I LOVE Primary Phonics and bought the whole set when I discovered it. I found out about it from a Montessori school as well. The workbooks are okay, but the little books are wonderful! I'm starting to use them with my youngest child now and am so glad I have them as a resource.

Excellent!! Doesn't that feel like an amazing accomplishment? I did my first half 2 years ago and was so proud of myself for finishing it. I still don't consider myself a passionate runner, but I've done two more half-marathons since then and LOVE doing that distance. Great job!!

Quote: Originally Posted by Heather in WI :iagree: I have all three editions and wouldn't part with any of them willingly. :-) Me too. :001_smile: Add me to this list. :D

I spilled an entire can of soda on my WTM, 2nd Edition book and it took forever to dry out. It sounds like yours will be ok. Ha ha @ the Well Caffeinated Mind. WCM. That's me every day. Anyway, the stained pages of my 2nd edition were enough of a reason for me to quickly snatch up the new 3rd edition. :w00t:

Thank you for the tip on RS Latin, Penny!

Singapore!!! It's the only program we've tried (started 18 months ago and going strong) and I think we'll keep it. :D

Oh, I like that and the price is right! I am going to order that to supplement what we are doing. We are using Rosetta Stone, homeschool edition and my boys LOVE it.

WWE has worked for my children. We use the workbooks and I like that I do not have to plan. We just open the book and do the next lesson and it all gets done in a timely and logical manner.

:party:

Just curious. We haven't made the leap into Latin yet, but I am seriously considering starting it with my 2nd and 4th graders in the Fall. They will also be learning another language at the same time (by attending a local school in another country for part of the day) and I don't want to overwhelm them and I don't want to set us up for failure. I haven't even settled on a program yet. If you do Latin and don't mind, could you share which program you use and how much time you devote to it daily and weekly? FTR, so far I am considering Lively Latin and Rosetta Stone Latin. Thanks!

I ordered RS4K at the WTM conference. I ordered the pre-level Chem and Bio for my 2nd grader (next year) and the Level 1 Chem, Bio and Physics for my 4th grader (next year). I figured that I could use the Level 1 Physics book with my 2nd grader and just simplify it if I need to, although I'm not sure I'll have to. In fact, for the level that my 2nd grader will be at, I would feel completely comfortable working with both boys out of the Level I books. I bought the pre-level books "just in case," and because I have a rising Kindergartener too. I was very pleased with the content and layout of the books. If I remember correctly, Dr. Keller mentioned that they are working on an Earth science program too. I think. Can someone else confirm that? FYI, RS4K allows you to now look through every single page of their books online. :thumbup1:

Interested to hear how you guys are integrating these.

This is me. I reheat my coffee mug all day long. I wouldn't say I HAVE to have it, I just like to have it. I'm not cranky if I don't drink coffee though. That said, I LOVE Dunkin Donuts iced coffee and I drink more of those than I care to admit to.

FTR, I tried the 2 hour rest period yesterday and today and it worked like a charm. :thumbup1: Yesterday I did it from 4 to 5:30 while I made dinner, so I didn't necessarily rest, but making dinner was SO nice while it was quiet. That and I find cooking to be relaxing. Today I did the rest period from 3-5 and I snuck in a little nap. My children all played alone in their rooms quietly and were so pleasant when it was time to regroup and move on to your next activity of the day (gym for me and two of my kids and T-ball for the other w/ daddy). I highly recommend trying the mandatory rest time.

I've been a Lenore Skenazy blog reader for quite a while now and I can't wait to get my hands on her new book. My cousin is going to a book signing in Brooklyn, NY next week and invited me to go. It's a bit of a trek for me to get into NYC, but I would love to go and meet her. I asked my cousin to pick up a signed copy of the book if I don't get a chance to go myself.

Mary in NJ, your notes sum up how I felt about the conference. I too was teary eyed listening to Jessie and Susan's final presentations and loved when SWB's boys presented them with flowers. Attending this conference was such a treat for me and a gift to my family. I was seriously blown away by the amount of useful and practical information I took away from the conference. I'm so glad I went! My husband could not be there, but when I called him on Saturday night to check in I told him that I was walking away from the weekend empowered and enlightened. The conference was very well run and flowed so well. I attended just about every talk and was still hungry for more! The literary analysis session with the older children (Beowulf) was fabulous! Mary, if you are who I think you are, I met you when we were in line on Friday morning redeeming your prize copy of TWTM 3rd edt. I was the military wife who used to be stationed at Ft. Bragg and is now in CT and we talked for a little while. That's so cool that you won a book!'

I am doing one last load of laundry and writing out some instructions for hubby (he's staying home with our little one). My boys and I have a long drive tomorrow, but I don't care how long the drive is. I can't wait!

I am subscribing too. :lurk5:

Enjoy the relief! And for what it's worth, we use FLL and it's a hit in our house.

I was going to jet over to the Norwich Tea Party after the Hartford one, but my kids were ready to go home. :bored:

I was impressed with the crowd size! I went to the initial Tear Party in Hartford back in February and there were maybe 200-250 that day. It was cool to see the increase in support in just over 7 weeks.