Just wondering if anyone had input on this. :)

We have the Level 1 workbook and have used it once this week, Week 1, Day 1. So far, so good and I'm very thankful to have it. I need the Level 2 workbook as well and have that pre-ordered. I'm sitting on pins and needles waiting for it to come.

Bumping up to help me decide.

For those that have used Rosetta Stone, is the audio companion helpful or can we not bother with it? ETA: Is there an authorized Rosetta Stone dealer here on this board that can PM me so I can ask some questions?

I wanted to post just to let you know that you are not alone. I waited until early-mid August to order our curriculum and all of the materials we needed so it's been slowly filtering in over the last week or so. We start TOMORROW and I am so nervous. I feel like I haven't had enough time to read through everything and take notes and plan. I feel like I'm not organized enough. I'm seriously going insane here, but something tells me that I'm being too hard on myself and I bet that's the case for you too. My game plan is to take this week by week and get ahead (in my planning) when I can. You really aren't alone though. I'm terribly nervous because I want everything to be organized.

I need RS German. :)

My DS8 was struggling with spelling, but he does VERY well with Sequential Spelling. For whatever reason, it's a logical way for him to understand spelling. He's also still working in the upper level Explode the Code books and I feel that he gets the "rules" from those. It's a great combination for us.

LOVE this! I love the orange wall too. :)

Oh, I can't wait to get my hands on workbook 2. We're starting WWE next week and I am going to move along without it, but I'll be happy when it finally arrives.

We have book 1 of a series called Barnstormers by Loren Long and Phil Bildner and my boys (6 and 8) enjoyed it. There are 2 more books available in the series and Bildner has a few other baseball books as well.

http://www.metmuseum.org/toah/splash.htm?HomePageLink=toah_l We're not too far from NYC and I plan to take my boys into the city for their first visit to the Met this year. As I was checking out their webpage I found the above link which is a wonderful resource for art history. :) Enjoy! I can't wait to go to the Met!

Arrrghhh! I had a great set of bookmarks that provided links to wonderful book lists by grade level and I think I deleted it when I was cleaning up my bookmarks folder. Can you guys share some of your favorite websites that list books appropriate for different grade/reading levels? Thank you!

Looks great! You are very organized. And congrats on the weight loss. You look fabulous.

Terri, that game looks so cool! Thank you for the link. I love the forsmallhands website.

I'd love a rec. too. I ordered these to use with the kids during our "PE" time. I don't know if I'd be committed to a DVD program. I wonder if I could borrow one before buying? What I'd really love is for my gym to offer the family yoga program that they offered this summer. We weren't able to participate because we travelled and would have missed too many classes.

We haven't started yet, but once we do: 1) we are adding foreign language this year (German) 2) we are adding an art curriculum this year (Artistic Pursuits) 3) I am MUCH MUCH MUCH more organized that I was last semester (we only started HS'ing in January)

Good to know!

Great job, mom (and teacher)! I love how you prepared them for the first day with all of their supplies and the tee shirt. I have a stash going for mine as well, although we don't have a cool tee. Your boys are as cute as can be. I need to remember to take pics of my guys on our first day.

If it's not working for you, then I think it's perfectly ok to jump ship. For a straight forward approach to cursive that generates *beautiful* cursive handwriting try Cursive Connections. :)

I've been meaning to add our ideas to this post for ages. Finally! 3rd grade DS: Singapore Math (Challenge Math when desired for extra math) Mind Benders / Building Thinking Skills Writing With Ease (text + workbook 2) Cursive Connections and HWOT (his cursive is fine, we are just fine tuning, but his print needs a ton of work) Explode the Code (finish last few books) Sequential Spelling IEW Poetry program First Language Lessons 3 1st grade DS: Singapore Math Mind Benders Warm Up Writing With Ease Cursive Connections Explode the Code All About Spelling First Language Lessons IEW Poetry program (maybe) Both: Winterpromise Chess SOTW Ancient History A unit study on Austria that I am designing (we are moving there next year) German Trail Guide to World Geography (+ Montessori Maps/Flags work) Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding :hurray: Montessori Great Lessons Artistic Pursuits The Story of the Orchestra and Violin lessons A Kid's Fall Ecojournal (Winter, Spring, Summer as well) + Comstock's Nature book Kids Running: Have Fun, Get Faster & Go Farther Happy Feet, Healthy Food: Your Child's First Journal of Exercise and Healthy Eating

I agree! First, Fall is my favorite time of year. Second, this is our first FULL year HS'ing and I feel so prepared and ready. We start in two weeks.

In my case, I am doing one for each child.

I'm working on mine right now and am running into that problem - not enough room. And I don't even think I'm being very detailed. The way I decided to tackle it was to make two YIR (year in review) charts - one with our "priority" subjects (math, language arts, reading) and one with our other subjects (science, history, art/music, PE/health, German). I love the finished product but the process is making me crazy right now. I'll be glad when I have a beautiful chart in front of me though. BTW, I am making my charts for a 3rd grader and a 1st grader.

Just curious. I think I might be planning a very ambitious read-aloud schedule, although I also realize that it's no big deal if we get behind. :blushing:

This thread has been incredibly helpful. Thank you so much for taking the time to review and discuss Nebel's book. I love the idea of dabbling in ALL of the science disciplines each year. Between the Nebel book and a big checklist of topics (from a Montessori website) I now have an idea of how we will approach science this coming year. :hurray: