What LA do you use?

Good idea! I bought the Mars journal during the sale, maybe I should fire up the printer and start that now.

Writing tales looks great!

Any recommendations for an all in one language arts program that is simple, thorough, and affordable? This would be for an upcoming 3rd & 4th grader. They are currently using CLE LA2. Ideally, we could find something a little more engaging but still straightforward. We’ve used TGATB in the past. I’m not eager to return right now. TIA!

You need Pam Barnhill. Start with her book “Plan Your Year.” You can also poke around her website and get some ideas. She offers a lot of organizational and planning ideas that many people find extremely helpful. She has a podcast if that’s more your style. You may like Pam’s Your Morning Basket plans. With those ages and your bent towards CM, it may be a good fit for you. I have used them in the past and it is a nice way to streamline everything but math & LA. I also have a 6th grader that is a bit behind. The biggest factor in moving him forward has been consistency and clear expectations. For your 2nd grader, explicit phonics. AAR and Pinwheels are great. If it’s too much, go simple. Something simple like Phonics Pathways or Ordinary Parents Guide will do just fine. A tutor can be helpful. I am one, and I know many others on this board are too. Just keep in mind 1-2x a week isn’t going to be as meaningful if she’s not receiving adequate instruction at home/school daily. If you post about her specific LD’s and her reading struggles I am sure someone here can offer more specific advice. I would not add MWC to Saxon. I’d just finish Saxon and the sample MWC next year. Sorry it’s been struggle this year. We were on the struggle bus last year. And then this past fall we got hit with sickness after sickness. It was terrible and slowed us down big time. So I can commiserate!

I’m so sorry! I empathize. Hope you begin feeling better. IMO it’s okay to go into homeschool survival mode when we’re unwell.

I posted or commented about Lalilo on here before and people were not impressed. I think the main complaint was the sight words? Or maybe it was the spelling connection? I like Lalilo! It’s a great, FREE resource! Happy to hear your about children’s reading success! 🎉🎉 It’s such a big milestone

I like it! It reminds me a little of Grammarland.

That particular pack isn’t editable. The child would use their word list to complete the page. This is a sampler for an editable pack. https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Free-Spring-Editable-Spelling-Practice-Activities-for-Any-Word-List-3762599

Would something like this work? https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Spelling-Activities-Practice-Sheets-Word-Work-for-Any-List-998948 Word lists aren’t included in the TPT pack, but for CVC/CVCE maybe you could use the Aldine Speller? It’s free in the public domain. This wouldn’t be completely prep free for you, but once you print the pdf and breakdown the word list it could be put on auto pilot.

I think the problem is that I am in the mood to shop. 😆

Oh boy….. I went to look at Homeschool in the Woods. *falls back into trance*

I just had a day dream flash in my eyes. I’m sitting on the couch with my future grandchild flipping through 4 BOCs I’ve lugged around for 30 years. My sweet little grandchild looks up at me and says “Daddy says stuff like this is why I go to public school Grammy.” bahahaha ok I’m done with my homeschool delusions. This month anyway.

I’ve never really presented the idea. We’ve done timelines on sentence strips or in our Main Lesson Books. Maybe I could just keep a BOC to start with. We do enjoy nature journals but we do them in a scrapbook style since we use No Sweat Nature Study. So basically, I cheat. Sorry Charlotte.

$35 is a lot to spend on a notebook, but their Truth, Goodness and Beauty notebook is summoning me from the cart. This would mostly be used for morning basket time, not as a separate subject. Is the quality of Riverbend Press worth it? Will it really last us 3-5 years? If you’ve purchased their fancy notebooks did you regret it? Side question: when did you start a keepsake style Book of Centuries with your kids? I’ve tried to start them, but we do a lot Waldorf-ish style main lesson books so the BOC is just another thing. But I dream of starting one with each child. Should I invest in a nice quality BOC to last the next 5-8 years? (Kids are headed into 7th, 4th and 3rd.) Or should I just leave the BOC in dreamland? Haha

Number Blocks episodes. It’s basically animated MUS blocks singing & dancing around.

DSS8 is reading The Legends of King Arthur series by Easy Classics. They have illustrations and simple text. Our library has a lot of older choose your own adventure type books all three boys loved.

Nature Readers from Christian Liberty Press. Book list from Veritas Press Kindergarten and First Favorites. Memoria Press has an early reader set. https://www.memoriapress.com/curriculum/phonics-and-early-reading/easy-reader-classics-collection/ The Good and The Beautiful readers. The updated BJU Press readers aren’t too bad. My kids like them. But they also like the TGTAB readers which many seem to find boring, so there’s that. Lol. Green Light Readers series.

I LOVE Peggy Kaye’s books!

Julie Bogart has a free (or it used to be) 7 day Blitz Challenge that has some good ideas in it. Don’t Forget to Write is a book for the educator filled with ideas. Our library had it. One of the ideas was to make a writing fort. Show Me a Story is a fun book too. Heavier on story crafts than physical writing but it might spark some ideas. Fun/Novelty writing supplies are big here. Gel Crayons. Scented markers. Invisible ink.

I use the disc bound system from The Happy Planner and fill it with planning pages that work for me. The hole punch is expensive but once you have it, you can just customize like crazy. I reuse my cover and rings every year or pick up new ones when I spot them thrifting. Before that I used a FlexBinder from Five Star. My favorite planning pages are from School Nest and Pam Barnhill. Again expensive, but you can reuse them forever.

PreK-K faves: Pete the Cat and the missing cupcakes Busytown Airport game Go Fish/Old Maid Gathering a Garden Kids on Stage 1-3 faves: Rummy (my kids are obsessed with rummy right now.) Out Foxed Farkle Pictionary/ Pictionary jr doodle dice Wild Craft Show Me the Monet (modified in a Monopoly style) probably more 2-3rd grade level or younger art enthusiasts Ice Cream Empire

I also use a basket and loop through it. I set a timer for 25 minutes or we will sit there all morning because it’s so enjoyable. I just ordered a new hymn book. It’s Timeless Hymns for Family Worship by Joanie Tada & Bobbie Wolgemuth. Not sure if it’s a reprint since it has Bobbie’s name on it, but it looked beautiful in the preview!

ODSS wants to continue with Oak Meadow. He should wrap up OM6 in early fall, then he will move forward to 7.