We have the audio and you definitely could do without it as long as you know your sounds. As for the tiles we have done OPG for a while now without any tiles, they aren't a requirement. However, we just got AAS and I do plan on incorporating the tiles into OPG too! ;)

We just got ours yesterday and I had ordered it Sunday evening, so it took 5 days, but Monday was a holiday.

God. Bible. Following Bible, the next 3 are reading/phonics/spelling, grammar/writing and math.

Ditto, my dd6 still does this as well sometimes.

My dd6 does this and I just keep correcting her as she reads and figure one day it will click and she will be tired of me correcting her short e and i sounds. :confused:

I think it looks great, thanks for sharing! I had ordered the NAC yesterday, so we are awaiting the arrival of Mr. Meerkat! ;)

80's child here :D

We use it as a supplement, we have only done the first few sections to go along with Apologia Astronomy. The cd is my favorite part of it, my dd loves the songs and the songs helped her remember the days of creation and planets.

Woohoo!! :lol:

Great, thanks! :D I had wanted the complete set - Book 1&2, desktop strip and the StartWrite NAC software because if you buy the set, you get $13 off I think it is. Got it today and dd can't wait for Mr. Meerkat to arrive - he sealed the decision lol. :tongue_smilie:

Perfectly normal! As long as he can read the sentence, you just go on to the next. One day it will "click" and they won't need to sound out each letter, etc. My dd still does this, though a lot of words she is now just saying without sounding out and we have been doing the OPGTR since Oct.

Awesome, thanks! :D I've also thought of the gap between finishing the elementary exploring creation series and how Apologia's next is 7th grade science level. If we finish all the elementary sciences in 3 years, there would be a gap of a few years before being able to do 7th grade Apologia science. So I thought of adding in God's Design for Life series along with elementary apologia sciences.......that way she gets in the chemistry/physics as well. I really like to plan long term - so its seems like this plan will work doing 2 a year from now on.

So glad I found this post! Thank you so much for your review and I checked out your ds handwriting and it was so neat! Love it, thanks! ;)

Do you find that it takes you a whole year to do the 14 lessons? Could you not easily do 2 in 1 year? Also, do any of the books cover physics or chemistry? My daughter has been wanting to learn about magnets and use a microscope and such and I'm not sure if I should just take time off and get a book from the library or what. Here is the order in which we plan to finish the elementary books: Astronomy (will finish by Summer) Zoology 1-3 Human Anatomy & Physiology Botany Thanks in advance! ;)

I have done the search as well and it was a mixed review from what I remember, I may do it again and go back and read. Last night I got out a cursive dry erase board I had bought 2 years ago. Without my help dd did the whole alphabet in cursive - I didn't think she would catch on that quick! The board I have is the old style, very loopy - what I liked about the NAC is the clean, easy, neat cursive and that it wasn't so slanted so it would work with left handers better. She could just use the dry erase board cursive I have and no actual program I suppose - that is how she learned manuscript in the beginning.

Whether negative or not, I appreciate the input! ;) My dd couldn't do HWT, her penmanship was horrible with the paper the way the lines were - so I went to normal K paper and her penmanship is very neat now. The HWT caused her tears lol - maybe its because she is left handed? I don't know but what made me want to get NAC was the article on how that cursive would work better for left handers. I'm still not sure, but she does love that Mr. Meerkat when I showed him to her lol. :tongue_smilie:

Here you go: http://www.welltrainedmind.com/store/frequently-asked-questions?___store=default It's the last question on the bottom. Generally, spelling & penmanship should start after Lesson 115 in the OPG. First Language Lessons can start along with Lesson 140 in the OPG, etc.

Anyone? :confused:

We currently have been using Pearables Home Economics and then I'm also ordering Keepers of the Faith Keepers at Home handbook. Christian light also has a complete Home Economics course.

:iagree:

Another here for Apologia - we will be finishing Astronomy by summer and starting Zoology.

I've seen a lot of others use ETC along with OPGTR but I haven't tried them. I found several websites online that have free printables for whatever phonics lesson we are on in OPGTR. Funfonix is one of them and my dd loves doing those. ;)

I'm pretty settled on buying Memoria Press' NAC but wanted to see others advice, opinions and experiences with this cursive program. My daughter has for a while been wanting to start cursive but I held off till she was skilled in manuscript. I plan on buying the complete package deal with the StartWrite software to make my own extra copywork in the future. All feedback is appreciated, thanks in advance! ;)

I may be wrong but I read somewhere in my research on this forum that around lesson 60 you have taught all the requirements of K and start 1st grade level material. Then by 120 they start 2nd grade level, etc. The end of the book ends with 4th grade level words.

I'm not familiar with the math programs you mentioned but Saxon Math K-3 uses a lot of manipulatives and they have a kit you can buy for K-3. My daughter loves it! ;)