Hi. I imagine that most of us who homeschool, integrate health education into our daily lives. However, I am wondering if anyone has come across a fun program that they would like to share? I prefer secular curriculum and of course am only looking at elementary level programs so far, but any and all programs you have seen, tried, liked, disliked I would love to hear about! Thanks!

When mine were 4 we used Hooked on Phonics. The K-2 Learn to Read program took us just over a year to complete. I did not feel that it was repetitive and the included books gave them a chance to apply what they were learning right away, thus reinforcing the desire to learn more. However, in the end (2nd grade level)felt that it was not complete... that there was more to learn about phonics, so once we finished it we went to Explode The Code Online. We completed all eight books in about 15 months. They are both terrific readers, and actually LOVE to read. I have never seen any other programs, so I have nothing to compare these to. I just feel lucky that I had two that wanted to learn to read and read "early". I credit SWB/TWTM for encouraging me to go for it and teach reading in P/K. I imagine we would have had a very different first grade experience if we were still heavy into phonics! We had so much more time to enjoy all the other things we set out to do.

We used this after spending the first half of the year "on our own". We all loved it. It was fun and it can be as challenging as you want.

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Thanks for posting about MEP, I have just gone to their site and am printing, printing, printing! What a wonderful, free supplement to our Singapore Prog!

I meant that R.E.A.L was not even an option. LOL, I think I am turning into a curricula junkie! I NEVER imagined I would ever fall in love with learning the way I have since homeschooling! Exactly! Thank you for wording my question so well... my writing skills are only at the first grade level. :001_smile: I'll have to go to their web site again.... thanks for the updated info! I'll definitely take a look. That is helpful to know! I am always interested in what the "Queen" is doing. Awsome! No, there are four years worth of material. Life Science (Animals, Human Body) is what we did this year. I am in the process of comparing programs for next year. I really liked the program and my dc loved it. Thus my confusion/questions comparing RS4K and R.E.A.L Science when I read the new WTM. I would still love to hear other responses and would be thrilled to hear a response from SWB, but as someone else said the collective wisdom of the hive can be invaluable!!

I have just been reading over the 3rd edition of TWTM and have come across the science recs for grammar stage. (for those that want a put together program) Now that I understand that Real Science 4 kids is a different program than Pandia Press' R.E.A.L. science I am curious as to why SWB mentions Real Science 4 kids, which to me appears incomplete, (bio and chem only for grammar stage) and expensive for what you actually get. (ten chapters would not last us a whole year) VS R.E.A.L. Science, which I have used this year after an attempt to put things together on my own, worked out really well for us, lasted the whole year, had great experiments, age appropriate etc was not even mentioned in TWTM. I am of course wanting the "best" program for our family (knowing every family is different) and trusting SWB's experience/reviews and now wondering what is "wrong" with R.E.A.L Science or what is so "right" about Real Science 4 Kids that I am missing. Any thoughts?

Thanks for sharing... that was great!

I am considering this for dc, may I ask what brand you all are using? Any guarantees of mercury free? Thanks!

I'm liking this thread.... thanks for asking this.

My thoughts: We haven't gotten there yet, but I have just received FLL 3 and from looking it over, it seems there will be many opportunities for reinforcement later on. Perhaps this is the first exposure and of course dc will not get it the first time? This was my experience from FLL 1 when we came across a lesson that integrated many lessons for the first time. For example, the lessons on types of sentences (statements, commands, questions, exclamations) we needed some extra work on that, so I just spent a few days pointing out those sentences in their read aloud time and then asking them to identify for themselves after they got the hang of it. Perhaps you could do that with other paragraphs and parts of speech. Putting things together can be tricky at first.

I can appreciate your feeling intimidated. I too, felt that way at first regarding SOTW. However, I have to say, in my opinion, it is not to be missed. I am so incredibly glad we stuck with it and I pushed myself to work out a schedule. (which we often adapted, or took weeks off etc) We have just finished up Ancients and we have all learned so much and it has truly been on of my dc favorite subjects. Once you get a routine down and are a few weeks into it, it gets even better. Here is roughly what we did: Totaling maybe 2hrs a week. We listen to the CD chapter, like a preview of the week to come us, usually on the weekend in the car. Then we break it down into four/five SHORT lessons for the week. (we did not use this at first, until we fell in love with this program) Monday: I read from the book, ask the review questions from the activity guide, and finally have them tell me what was the most interesting thing they learned (narration - which I am writing for now) Then I have them cut out the review card (from the activity guide) and glue it onto a 3x5 note card. (saving them all to make a year end book) This takes 20-30 min at the most. Tuesday: We go to the wall map and then the globe and locate the area we are studying. (pretending to fly from our state) We do the map exercise from the activity guide and the coloring page. (maybe 15 min) Wednesday: We read any extra books and encyclopedia entries. (15 min to as long as you want) Thursday: Craft project (15-20 min) Friday: sometimes review or finish up things that did not get done earlier in the week, or photograph the craft project for the notebook. I was using the tests from the test book, (review only) but have dropped it and plan to use it as a review over the summer. In terms of planning for the extra reading, book suggestions in the activity guide, I did invest some time during the summer before searching my library online writing down selections they actually have and their call numbers on a separate piece of paper. Having that handy, I think saved me lots of time during the year - and frustration over what was available - and I was able to check out about a week ahead of time or put on hold the books we needed. Regarding the crafts, there are several to choose from depending on age and interest. Favorites here were the model pyramid, the Nile River Valley, Hatshepsuts Beard, actually as I think of it.... there were tons of great stuff in there. I really hope you give it a try.... if you do, give yourself several weeks to adjust and settle in to the program. It took me and my dc some time. But once we were into it, they wanted to do history first almost every day. I never would have expected this and I never would have imagined all that they would retain. I was not exposed to most of this material during my own education, so it was new to me too. I kinda feel like if I can do it, so can you. And hey...if for some reason it does not work out, you will easily be able to sell the program. HTH Oh, (this may be obvious) there are 42 chapters, so if you were doing one chapter a week and wanted to keep to a 36 week schedule you'd have to start early (which I will do next year) or change things a bit. I did not realize this at first, (first year hs with a full schedule) but then I saw that there are several shorter chapters that can be combined into one week. And actually, buy the end of the book, my dc were wanting to do more than I had planned, so we actually finished early! I am now holding them back from SOTW vol 2 for a few weeks so that I can plan.:001_smile:

I love reading the replies... maybe this was not a popular title considering the other thread about homeschoolers lowering standards..... if I could edit the title I would add "humor" to the end of it.:001_smile:

At breakfast this AM while my ds is reading the cereal box: "Mom, we shouldn't do school today because it will higher your cholesterol" -ds age 6 (Some days he just may be right. Homeschooling is not for the faint at heart):lol: your turn....

Thanks for the website! This looks great!

Simply frightening!

Hi, I just finished up what you have planned for 1st LA. In terms of time, I used FLL approx 3-4 times per week. (finished early) I skipped some of the copy work, but it really isn't much and some of the activities were just great and made sense to do anyway. Spelling Workout A was very easy in the beginning because we had finished up with phonics. We used that almost every day at first. Once it became more work, and the lists more difficult, we slowed down to two lessons a week. One on Monday, and the other on Wednesday. Friday was a written "test" (I sometimes called it a "spelling challenge" and they could earn points for each word they got right). After each lesson, I gave an oral "test" and having the words fresh in their minds, they often did very well, giving them confidence. On Tues and Thurs I gave the list as a copywork exercise and to make it simple for myself, I used the fonts online option at Zaner Bloser.com and just typed in the words and printed it off. I found this to be simple, take very little time and yes, the workbook exercises did help them learn the words in a fun way. Some will complain that Spelling Workout is busywork, but for us, it is a fun way to learn without the dc knowing they are learning. I deliberately have focused on spelling because one thing I often hear from homeschooling parents who are ahead of us, is that they did not focus on spelling and are now regretting it, or that spelling is their dc worst area on standardized tests. We finished A and are 1/2 way through B. WWE is just great.... At first I followed it the way it is spelled out, but as dc handwriting and stamina improved through the year, we ended up doing two days worth of work in one day, again finishing up a bit early. Reading we do every day of the week. I or dh read to them and they read to us or on their own. HTH! Oh, and regarding misspelled words, I keep a list and once it gets to be 10 words long, we review and study that list before moving on. After a spelling test all misspelled words get written out 4 times each! (I am so mean!)

I LOVE Singapore Math, and I am using the US edition with no immediate plans to change editions. I found the HIG very very helpful because this program teaches math in a completely different way than I was taught. While the format and spiral binding in 1A and 1B was super, I must say that it is not that way for 2A/2B. It has a regular backing and the page layout is not a nice IMHO. I "complained" to Jenny at SingaporeMath.com but there is apparently no planned changes to the US edition HIG's. I know the HIG's for the standards edition are spiral bound with a nice format, but standards edition vs US is a whole 'nother ball of wax. It is all a lot to sort out, but keep asking questions and trust that eventually you will find what works for you!

We have just gotten back from our trip and I have to say that the Metropolitan Museum of Art was the highlight for our studies in ancient history. They had an excellent ancient Egyptian wing with the Temple of Dendar, statues of Hatshepsut, and many more exciting things to see from all three kingdoms too numerous to list! They also had an amazing Greek and Roman wing complete with an Eutruscan chariot! Adults were 20.00 and children under 12 are free. I can highly reccomend this! Thanks to everyone for your suggestions.

Writing With Ease: Can I, May I, Mommy Please? -from Dd age 6

Thanks for sharing.... I have enjoyed reading others experiences!

Thank you everyone for your responses. Yes, ordinarily I prefer to choose secular programs and teach religion separately. I have been searching for a Latin program that I can start sooner vs later and that is academically strong. I still have some researching to do, and can't wait for the new WTM book to arrive to read SWB recommendations/reviews and see what has changed. Thanks again for your responses. I think I will be starting some Latin sooner now though because we had lots of tears in our house over the fall of Rome. When I mentioned starting to learn Latin, the language of the Romans, there were lots of smiles - a way to keep Rome alive!

I am looking for other parents who have been given a sensitive child to raise. My ds6 appears to feel things more intensely than the rest of the family and even decided to become a vegetarian shortly before turning 5, because he believes it is wrong to kill animals for any reason. Well, we have been finishing up with SOTW1 and there were lots of tears with the death of Julius Caesar... "he was my favorite character in history, and he was killed by his FRIENDS!" Well you can imagine the tension building up inside me as we approached the fall of Rome, and yup, more tears. I make sure to allow him lots of space to feel his feelings and let him ask questions. I tell myself that perhaps one day, those deep feelings and motivations could perhaps lead him into a career where he is doing a lot of good in the world. (he told us last week that he wants to be a trash collector when he grows up so that the earth will be a clean place) Mind you, we are not vegetarians or strong environmentalists. This sort of thing just resides inside of him and I am looking for other stories of similar dc. Thanks!

I am starting to plan out our Latin studies and I am hoping for some feedback about my expectations/timing. I should first say that my dc are reading well, and will have likely finished FLL 2 before we start this. They are both already wanting to know the meanings and origins of words and I'm thinking that this will help, even though I expect it to be slow going at times. 2nd grade Prima Latin 3rd grade LC 1 4th grade LC 2 Oh, I have also studied Latin, but that was in ancient times. I am not terribly afraid to teach it, but like everything in this business of homeschooling, I reserve the right to change my mind and complain about it later! So, is this completely unrealistic? Anyone else attempt this? Success, horror stories.... Thanks!