When I started I tried to follow closely, but wound up switching curriculum choices along the way to fit better with DS's learning style, and taking a different tack with science - instead of one discipline each year, we do a variety of science from each discipline and will continue with that since it works well for us. What WTM for us is the philosophy and approach, that gives us grounding to build our years around - we do SOTW and do center much of our other curriculum around the period we're learning, our books are chosen each week/month based on where we are in SOTW (along with just for fun books in the book basket) and science/math - basically I try to thread our reading selections through where we are with various subjects. We also don't base everything on books, but include a lot of technology based options into the mix - videos, online resources, iPad app's, games, etc. that I feel build upon what we're doing along the way. Same with our field trips and activities - I try to tie them into what we're doing so they're not just fun, but also relevant.

I think it depends on the school district and state standards? In MO, if I look at the scope and sequence for second grade for math, it is almost up to the end of 2A - the scope and sequence here for math does not include any introduction to multiplication and division by the end of second grade and 2A makes that introduction in the last chapter and adding/subtracting with renaming doesn't go into the hundreds until third grade. Then, looking at the third grade scope & sequence, it's 2B for the most part - so, here by the end of third grade, a child learns (or should learn) what they'd learn through 2B.

If you purchased through eBay, the return policy of the seller doesn't matter if what they told you and/or is in the description is inaccurate or totally bogus. Open it and see what's in the box, what the description says and what the written communication with the seller says....if it's not the same as what you got, file a dispute.

My DS is allergic to both fish and shellfish - sandy beaches can be quite a challenge since he'll react with contact. You may want to get her tested for fish/shellfish allergies to rule it out (or know it's what it is). On the other hand, I have episodes of hives in humidity - doesn't matter if it's cold or hot, it's the relative humidity, so it could be something like that too. One way to determine if allergy testing might be in order is to give her benedryl - if the hives are relieved with the benedryl, it's likely an allergy, if they're not, it's more likely a reaction that isn't due to allergy! For example, my hives from humidity aren't relived by benedryl - they just run their course; DS's hives from contact with fish/shellfish are relieved by the benedryl though.

I just got a new kodak - the ESP 7250 - it was a gold box deal on Amazon and I needed a new one, I got it for $99, though it's now $140. I really like the kodak printers and love this one - two paper trays (one for photo paper, one for regular paper), wireless printing - and the price for ink can't be beat!

During the 'traditional' school year we do a normal, full schedule with planned breaks around holidays and vacations. Basically from early-August until late-April we're doing school work M-F for a couple of hours a day. Reading is the only 7-day a week subject, with M-F doing lessons and Sat-Sun read aloud or us reading to DS. Once DS finishes up the plans for the year and we've hit the state requirement for hours (all subjects aren't completed at the same time I've learned) - then we take a break (couple of weeks) then modify to a lighter schedule until the new school year starts for the "hours" clock again, which is July 1st. For us, this year, that has meant that we do reading Sun-Sat still (about a half hour a day), some math (two-three times a week, about 15-minutes each time), and science as it comes (which lately is a couple of hours a week, DS loves science stuff). With no much in the way of formal lessons, DS does a lot of activities and sports, as well as work on some of his cub scout loops and pins he wants to do over the summer months. Come July 1st, we'll start the clock again to record and meet the state requirement for hours and slowly get back into the swing of things with a bit more formal schedule, still lighter than during the school year, but with some structure and definite lesson plans to get through before we start up with more to do each day in early-August. During the six weeks before we get into the full schedule, we'll do about an hour a day of reading, LA, math and also history-science (depending on what day it is), with reading still continuing Sun-Sat as a daily thing no matter what. We have multiple breaks throughout the year for family visiting, our going on vacation and/or holidays. I don't have a particular number of weeks we do school before breaks, we just do the schedule and break when we have something planned and continuing school work wouldn't work into whatever it is. That said, we also do a lot of "stealthy" learning even when we're on vacation - it's not formal schoolwork, but it is educational nonetheless (like visits to science centers, etc.). I'm only HSing one at the moment, but transitioning subjects to the next level, for us, is simply moving on with the material if it's math, science or reading. If we managed to finish something like history early, I think I'd find something more to do within what we'd finished (projects, additional books to read, unit study, biography, etc.) or just end for the year and pick up something else that DS is interested in. I no longer try to plan by the day, or even the week, well in advance. Instead I have a plan for each subject - outlined, projects, pages to get done, etc. - in progression over the course of the year. With a plan for each subject, I can then more easily plug-in what's next into the monthly and weekly plans I do along the way - doing more where needed, less if we're getting too far ahead and "between-subject" alignment is getting off for subjects where I try to align things to flow together (ie. history and some science areas). During the late spring early summer when DS has pretty much finished up the year's work and we're just doing a light schedule - right now I'm almost done with each subject for next year with an outline, flow-chart to progress through the subject and what I *think* we'll do each month....next week I'll set up our first two weeks of plans and start with that and see how it goes doing it that way, and mid-way through week two, I'll lay out the next two weeks and so on and so on!

After frustrating the heck out of myself trying to find a science curriculum, I'm doing my own this year since nothing seems to fit quite right with DS's style of learning, nor where he is with his knowledge - what's out there is either too advanced at this point, or too little/easy for him....can't quite find that "just right" program, so I'm cobbling together things myself, and it's time-consuming, but worth it! For other subjects I'm pretty happy with what we're using, so for me, it's just one subject - I can't imagine having to do them all!

When I first started HS'ing DS, DH and I considered the third-grade entry into public school (or private) as an option, but have since abandon that idea after learning that our state ranks 39th overall in education in the US, our district lost funding due to overall poor performance, that even though the elementary school DS would go to does well, it feeds into a larger middle school that, well, sucks (eighth graders tested - math 18% proficient or advanced; reading 32% proficient or advanced); the high school the middle schools feed into is even larger and worse (if that's even possible); and our state has openly admitted to lowering standards on the state tests to try to improve its rank and scores! No thanks!

With this our first year and no requirement to test, we did the CAT since it was DS's first standardized test and available to do online, that and it gives us something to add into his portfolio to "show progress" for the year for the state if I ever need something. I wasn't exactly impressed by the material tested - it seemed very easy and I was a bit surprised by that. While I don't think it was all that useful, it gave DS a testing experience and us something to work with for the future to use as comparison, showing proof of progress. Next year we'll either do the CAT again or switch to the ITBS since in third grade I want DS to also do the ITBS with the CogAT.

We switched from Saxon to Singapore - for a couple of reasons; first was the death spiral for DS - he hated the constant repetition of concepts he knew cold; second he is a very visual kid and I've learned, really prefers colorful texts, workbooks and other things when we're doing bookwork. The question you may want to ask yourself is, is it just the B&W pages, or is your daughter bored with the work? It took me a couple of weeks to hone in on that DS is bored with the work & spiraling more than anything else. I looked at both Horizons and Singapore and opted to go with Singapore since it doesn't spiral much at all (Horizons does sprial, much less so than Saxon though) and I like the flexibility to supplement or not as needed. I did pick up the Horizons workbooks though and we occasionally will use pages as supplement if I feel DS needs a bit more work on something (in addition to the SM WB, IP and/or CWP). While I don't use the HIG for SM (I'm pretty mathy and feel comfortable not using it at this point), I've read good things about it, so you may want to look into that to use. Also, the SM textbook is very clear (IMO) with detail about how to do the concept, so you may or may not need the HIG.

Our town has a "Teacher's Store" so it didn't limit itself to just targeting homeschool families, but advertises to families who homeschool, those who afterschool or want to do more enrichment with their kids, and, of course, area teachers who need supplies, posters, etc. In addition to a huge selection of workbooks, texts and such, they carry bulletin board packs, manipulatives, paper supplies, educational games, a good selection of readers, things for scouts, art supplies and a pretty good selection of Melissa & Doug, HABA and other high-end toys. They do really well.

The day when we realized sending DS to K based on age was not going to work for him, that waiting another year to start K meant he was going to be bored silly in K, that sealed the deal for us! Before that we were doing things, but I didn't consider it "homeschooling", just life here in our home....since starting K though, there is a purpose, goals, and schedules to do, specifics to learn and do, etc., so now we "homeschool"

I've traveled a lot with DS - he's such a great road warrior! We'll see how well baby does in October when we do our first major road trip with him. With DS, it's fairly easy to keep him entertained throughout the trip - things I do or have done: 1. Have stopping points laid out in advance, especially stops at children's museums and science centers. An annual pass with reciprocal admissions across the US is invaluable for this! 2. Road trip gams - license plates, car colors, A-Z find, I Spy, 20-questions, Name that Tune, etc. all pass time nicely 3. Storytelling - DS and I will orally build a story, taking turns to add to the story and then the other - this is one thing he absolutely loves doing when we're traveling....we've made-up so incredibly silly stories, many which he still tells people 4. iPhone (and now iPad) movies, picture books and a ton of songs works well for some quiet time in the car 5. Audio books, like SOTW and almost anythiing from Jim Weiss collections 6. Stained-glass windows - washable markers on the back passenger windows is a ton of fun, cleans easily and keeps DS occupied for well over an hour at a stretch! One thing I do is put some blue painter's tape along the bottom of the window, where it goes down into the door, so that doesn't get marked up. 7. Arts & craft supplies and a lap desk are great, as are mini activity books by Dover.....along with stickers, pipe cleaners, and floam 8. Small "gifts" along the way - something new (inexpensive) that DS wants/likes that he doesn't have

LOVE this idea!

For us, the examples and problems are worked out on a lap whiteboard, the review questions are selectively transfered into a notebook for DS to do on paper. I don't have him do every review question, just enough to be sure he's got the material down. The IP seems to me to be aligned with the work in the workbook, just a tad more difficult maybe. DS does write in the WB, the IP problems are done in his notebook though since I'd like to be able to use it again with baby-DS in a few years; same with CWP's - notebook, although we'll often do many of those orally and with the whiteboard.

Academic/ School goals: -Be able to write a paragraph by year end -Improve reading fluency; by years end reading independently -Memorize multiplication tables -Know where on map all US states are + key countries around the world -Improve attention to detail and focus -Plan, design, do + record simple science experiments Around the house goals: -Independence with snacks -Help with folding laundry & putting away -Help with clean-up after dinner Character goals: -think before do My goals: -more consistent breaks in schedule -consistency with history each week

Last summer I had a similar experience while shopping the AOP booth at an expo in Chicago - DS was frustrated with Saxon, so I was looking at Horizons and Singapore, both level 2....the AOP lady said his frustration wasn't due to the methodology of Saxon, but that the content was above his level....ummm, no, the problem was the death spiral....and was quickly resolved once we switched to Singapore - I did pick up Horizons also and we use it for supplement now and then....but I was kind of flustered by her comments though since I was new at HSing and at that point did wonder if she was right. I now know for sure she wasn't, but still....

:iagree: That said, I do parallel a classical approach a'la WTM with the Core Knowledge sequence - basically keep an eye on what Core Knowledge has listed within the various grades and, where appropriate, include it in what we're doing. I've also added more American History and more geography than WTM includes. For American History, I include it as a separate subject with the WTM rotation the other - we do history three days a week and two are WTM, one American History-state history-civics-geography (basically social studies). I also don't adhere strictly to the WTM science rotation, but for grammar am doing a wider look at all the disciplines each year with the WTM discipline as the main focus, with other bits here and there all year.

DS6 - curious, silly, independent DS-baby - cute, cuddly, coo-ey

:iagree: We did this with DS for this year when we need to have an offical grade for him - last year he was doing first grade/second grade, so I called him first grade; this year, when he'll turn seven and I need to officially keep records, we've decided he's second grade for 2011-12. He was a Tiger Cub Scout last year (1st grade) and has participated in a wide range of programs and activities for first-to-third graders in the area, plays sports and has lessons based on his being first grade, with no problems being the youngest. That said, if I felt he had maturity issues, I would have designated him first grade this year, but he's totally "with peers" when he's in things set-up for second graders and older....and he missed the cut-off for K by only a week or so, so it isn't a big age difference.

I didn't realize it when I was doing it with DS, but I did a combo of both....we'd say and play things around sounds letters made, while he was learning his letter names too. Example - da,da,da,da-Dee, daddio! or ah-ah-ah-ah-apple starts with A! We came up with one or two different sayings for each letter of the alphabet.

My DS6 is also very mathy and part of his protest with column adding and subtracting were due, I think, to having to write the problems out and write the answers out....he could still do them in his head, so didn't see a need for working them out on paper - until I made the problems harder by taking things to the 10,000 place earlier than SM has it come into play. Now he couldn't do it all in his head and working on paper (and/or white board) made a lot more sense to him and he stopped protesting - for me it was a means to an end approach, to show him why, even though you can do it in your head with the easier problems, that you need to learn how to do it properly for the harder, larger problems you're going to encounter as math gets more challenging! As we're plugging along and the pages in the text, WB, IP and CWP still aren't at the 10,000 place, we do most on the whiteboard and/or me scribing for him rather than make him do the writing - he now does about 20% himself in writing just to have the practice doing it....we'll officially get to the 10,000 place value work in 3A, so not too long from now.

I'm only going into my second year doing this and can totally relate! I tried Homeschool Sedtrack - didn't like it. I reviewed Homeschool Tracker+ - like it better, but not by much. So, I'm back to paper and pen (well, Word on the computer) because I can plan faster and customize more easily - at least I think I can! :) But, I also do use (now) google calendar so I have all the plans available from anywhere I have access to the internet (via cell phone, computer or ipad). I like to have a list for the week, what I expect we'll get done, but also need it to be flexible because things change, sometimes my plans are too much or too little, and sometimes we'll get ahead or fall behind the plan. So what I did this year was first do a year outline - each subject, the texts, spines and such we'd be using, the supplements by subject, books I have, books I'm on the look out for, etc. From that, I detailed out each month by subject on a page or two - what chapters, projects, labs, etc. we should be able to accomplish in a month. So those two outlines, combined, are one document, which I've printed out for reference as I do the weekly plans within each month. To do those, I have another word document I'm working within. It has 52-pages (52 weeks) and each page has a table with six boxes - one for each day Monday-Friday, one for the weekend (2 columns, 3 rows). At this point, I've planned out our first three months, by week and have that on the computer and will print each week's page as needed. Once we finish the week, I'll edit to cut & paste anything we didn't finish to complete the next week and/or cut & paste from the weeks ahead if we get ahead....then print the next week's schedule based on where we left off for the week we completed. What I also do is cut & paste this into my google calendar homeschool tab by day for two weeks - this let's me see what's coming up, what we need to do each day and for the week, especially when we're not at home and I don't have the printed copy in front of me. I have no clue if this is going to be easier or more difficult to keep us organized this coming year - but we'll see!

I don't think it would last a year myself - we've used HWOT to do some letter formation correction with DS, who, when we started it, knew how to write all his letters, but was sloppy and/or making many in poor form (ie. "l" from the bottom up, "o" counter-clockwise type things). We breezed through it quickly and his handwriting and formation improved significantly!

I have it and purchased it through HSBC - I really like it and we do use it. In the past I've purchased the books, but we never seemed to use enough of the material in the books (we're sporadic with doing worksheet type things), so the site, for us, is better since I can hone in on exactly what I need and not have to pay for stuff we aren't going to use. I also like that I can see all the content, in all the books, and pick-and-choose what we want, and that I don't have to stand for hours in the teacher's store paging through the books to decide what I am going to buy!