Yup. Both of mine think homophones are hilarious and often try to incorporate them into riddles and knock-knock jokes. Maybe it is just the age and a facination with language. Not sure if it has anything to do with giftedness or not.

I had the same questions. I am pleasantly surprised that my dc who were only 5 when we started, can retain so much. I have found that they are retaining it because they LOVE it. In the beginning this was not the case. It was new and the schedule was strange. Things have changed! They have recently begun asking to read ahead, and they even incorporate the content into their play. I would have never imagined this when starting out with this program. So yes, consistent, no-pressure work has paid off here! Here is roughly what we do: 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. 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) 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. Wednesday: We read any extra books and encyclopedia entries. Thursday: Craft project 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. Occasionally, I will sneak in review at dinner time with dh. Dh pretends he does not know anything about the said topic and the dc "teach" him. They feel very smart. HTH!

Another vote for Mr. Poppers Penguins! The first book that had us all :rofl: !!!

Gilgamesh the Hero by Geraldine McCaughrean. Our library is also small, but they had this and we all enjoyed it very much.

The paper kit was JUST what I was looking for.

I appreciate the feedback. He is a twin, and I have to remind myself that even though they are the same age, they are VERY different. She is able to read silently even though she is not as "strong" a reader yet. I will put this worry away for a while. Phew! One less thing to worry about! (Though I am sure I can easily replace it with something else without too much effort):D

DS almost 6, is reading quite well aloud. He also spends about 2 hours every day reading to himself... also aloud. I am wondering if the switch to reading silently happens naturally on its own time table, or if there is something I could/should be doing to help this happen. My patient encouragement and his sisters shouting at him to read quietly, is NOT working! :001_smile:

My 2dc are asking to build a model of an ancient Greek warship. Has anyone done this before? Any kits out there? Web sites with instructions? I know it is a long shot.... Thanks in advance!

Thanks for letting me know where I got this from! It is funny, because I recently have been reading about LCC (on your site no less) and had made no connection in my mind to when I had cut and pasted this to reference for inquisitive family members. I hope it helped the op and I thank you for speaking up about the source! I love these boards.

I apologize for I do not know the source of this. I cut, pasted, and emailed this to myself over a year ago, but am unable to give proper credit to the source. HTH! Why Latin?: 10 Answers to a Perennial Question Let's get back to basics: What is it about Latin, anyway? Why privilege this "dead" language over other subjects? Why spend so much time on something that probably won't help your students earn a higher salary or win friends and influence people? The simple answer is that if you want to give your children a classical education, you have to teach them classical languages -- that's what makes it a classical education in the first place. Without classical languages, you may have an excellent modern liberal arts program, but you won't have a classical education in any historically meaningful sense of the word. (See Climbing Parnassus and The Great Tradition to get a picture of what that "historically meaningful sense"Â is.) But a devotion to tradition and the example of our forefathers and -mothers isn't enough to convince most homeschoolers, and I don't blame them. For many of us, it's hard to trust that what worked for generations and generations will still help our children succeed in today's world. Haven't things changed? Don't we have different educational needs now? Yes and no. Yes, we need to study disciplines that, by their very nature, change over time, such as history and science. And many of us are bound by governmental standards that require us to teach certain subjects if we want to continue to homeschool. But has human nature--the capacity of the human mind and spirit--changed all that much? No. If anything, our spirits have shrunk. We're so mired in our own chronological snobbery that we don't even know to ask how this intellectual malaise developed and what we might do to remedy it. And that is why Latin and Greek are still valuable. Students still need to have their minds stretched and their spirits enlightened. They need to memorize and then apply, systematically, what they have learned. They need to develop self-discipline, attention to detail, and delayed gratification. They need positive models of nobility of spirit and negative examples of cowardice and cruelty in order to recognize these virtues and vices in their world and in themselves. They need the self-esteem that comes from accomplishing something challenging by their own effort -- and we must admit that reading Latin s supremely effortful. Finally, we as parent-educators need to be able to echo what one Spartan educator said: "I make noble things pleasant to children."Â That's all well and good. High-sounding ideas are lovely, but what about my kids? So for busy homeschoolers and interested others, here are ten reasons to put classical languages at the center of your curriculum: 1. Latin builds English vocabulary like no other language--not even Anglo-Saxon. More than half of all English words derive from Latin (and another large chunk from Greek), and what's more, these are the $10 words. As a result, students of Latin routinely outperform students of all other foreign languages on the SATs. 2. Latin prepares students for the study of modern foreign languages. The Romance languages derive 90% or more of their vocabulary from Latin, and students of inflected languages like Russian or German will benefit from the training Latin provides. 3. Latin teaches grammar far more effectively than any English curriculum. This claim astounds and confounds many homeschoolers, but you need only look at the masters of English style from the Renaissance onward and ask what they all had in common. The answer: They did not study English, a subject not even available in their grammar schools, but Latin. Lots and lots and lots of Latin. The same was true of their counterparts in other countries. Think about it this way: You can teach English grammar, and your child knows English grammar. Or you can teach Latin, and your child knows Latin...and gets English grammar as a bonus. 4. Latin trains students in valuable habits of mind: memory, order, attention to detail. As one example in Climbing Parnassus shows, it takes no less than fourteen separate steps to translate a short Latin sentence--to say nothing of Virgil. 5. Latin translation provides admirable training in English composition. In addition to mastering the grammatical exigencies of the language, students of Latin must learn to choose words with care. They are encouraged to understand and imitate the beautifully balanced sentences of stylists like Cicero. They learn to appreciate the brevity of the Latin maxim and proverb. Again, some of the English language's greatest writers cut their teeth on Latin composition exercises, not English. 6. Latin study increases our knowledge of the past and of our own history. It is quite impossible to study Latin without delving into classical history. What is a "gladiator"? (If you know the meaning of the common second-declension noun gladius, you'll have an important clue.) Who is Caesar? What is an aqueduct and why were they built? What's more, this history is our history, the history of the West. We cannot understand the roots of our own government, legal system, or religious traditions without reference to Rome. 7. Latin study increases cultural literacy. European vernacular literature, art, and music take for granted a knowledge of classical languages and history. Dante, Chaucer, Shakespeare, Goethe, Keats, and the rest --there is no understanding them without a thorough grounding in Greco-Roman mythology, literature, and history. And that is to say nothing of the rich traditions of Christian Latin: theology, religious poetry, liturgy, and the musical delights of Gregorian chant, Mozart's "Requiem," and the countless Masses and Oratorios that crowd our classical music playlists. 8. Latin literature and history offer outstanding models of moral insight and virtue--and their opposites. The classical world first codified the great virtues of prudence, temperance, justice, and courage. Keeping before the student the "habitual vision of greatness"Â inspires and uplifts the mind and spirit toward the Good, while examples of perfidy and cruelty stir up our sense of justice and the desire to defend the innocent. 9. Latin provides us with a lifetime's worth of reading. A person who has sojourned with the ancients as a child may well find himself returning to them again and again throughout life, for their wisdom is undimmed by age--theirs, or ours. 10. Latin is, quite simply, beautiful. At its best, Latin is a model of ordered, polished, and balanced language. It is a pleasure to read, to write, to sing, and even to speak. If you've chosen to teach Latin, and particularly if you're placing it at the center of your curriculum, it's only a matter of time until someone asks you,"Why Latin?"Â May you never lack for answers!

I like that it quotes many studies and I will find this useful in my conversations with extended family.

right away in 1st grade. It made memorization of addition and subtraction through 10 a snap for us!

I spent months and months doing reserach and I am very happy now that I did. TWTM was/is very helpful, and I still had to research/read reviews on the various elements. It has been heavily classical, but I needed to know I could do it. (provide an academicly strong program) Now that I feel more confident with the basics, or the structure if you will, I am starting to include more of the 'spirit' or 'energy' of what we are trying to do. One of those things was to recently order some of the Waldorf Art books. We are starting to incorporate many of the things that I find beautiful about Waldorf education. Our days are developing more flow, and a calmness is starting to settle in. I feel lucky to be homeschooling. It just took a LOT of time, energy and effort to get here. I imagine you too will reach this point in the process, you just have to keep pluggin' away until it "clicks"! Hang in there, these boards are the best on the net and there are a lot of honest, understanding people here who will give support!

of what is in the instructors guide? I ask because we are in book 7 and 8 and I have not used any of the intructor guides. We also used HOP first, and then moved on to ETC so maybe we would not have needed them. I am wondering though what I may have missed. For example, with Singapore Math, I thought I would not need the HIG for 1st grade. (I can easily do 1st grade math :001_smile: ) However, I am very glad I had it because math is being taught VERY differently in SM than how I learned as a child. I am curious if there may be similarities with reading? Thanks!

Read the whole post, sooo funny! Thanks!

I'll check it out.

Hello. I am wanting to evaluate for my dc lexile scores. Does anyone know of any free web sites or "worth the price" reading evaluation programs that give a lexile range? Thanks!

I did not read all the posts, so sorry if someone had already mentioned this. You said in your post that you had an eye exam for dc and everything checked out ok. Often when a teacher or parent percieves difficulty with a child learning to read, people will go to the eye doctor and get a "comprehensive vision evaluation" which essentially means that you have ruled out a need for perscription eyeglasses. However what I recently learned is that this type of exam differs greatly from a "developmental vision exam" which evaluates for visual perceptual difficulties which can negatively impact learning to read. ie visual tracking, binocular coordination, visual sequential memory,visual discrimination, visual closure, visual form constancy, etc all developmental skills impacting reading success. Should any of these "deficits" be discovered, there are many tools, programs, vision therapy etc that can correct the problem. I am not sure that this is even what you are dealing with, but I thought I'd put it out there in case a few months down the road you find that other programs/methods are not bringing the results you want. Good luck! I am personally a strong proponant of phonics due to the research, but I also know that each family has to decide what works best for them.

I appreciate that others have to deal with these issues. I loved the bean dip link, and do think that I have opened myself up to discussion about our decision because I want "approval" from the previous generation. (It does then make it hard to talk about the hard days when we have them, because I fear the "I told you so, see they should be in school" etc) Regarding the grandparents; I had not considererd that there may be a sense of loss on their part. I have made sure to provide them with lots of opportunities to brag etc. If any sense of loss were part of this for them, I think we will demonstrate in time that they actually will get more due to the various activities we are involved in. I believe if we were in ps, we'd be too exhaused to be involved in all the extra things we currently participate in. I think as I continue to reflect on this issue, that perhaps it is really a reflection of my own self doubt. After all, I have made the hs decision for the dc because I believe it is what is best for them. In moments of self compassion I realize how horrible it is to have those moments when I wonder if this decision could actually harm them! Maybe that is one of the things that make us better at what we do? You know, the constant evaluating and reevaluating. I mean, these are our dc and the stakes are high! Nobody else will care as much as I do. Not even the grandparents! Thanks again for all the feedback! :001_cool:

For the most part I have considered myself lucky. We live in an area where homeschooling appears to be generally accepted... or at least people are too polite to be blatently judgemental. Our families I sensed, were concerned at first, yet appropriately refrained from making any comments. After the first year they even appeared to relax and we started getting lots of positive, encouraging feedback. Now comes the "problem". I have started to get comments from my in-laws ie ...'when they go to school... when you decide to quit... etc. I usually respond with replys like; "well, you never know, I may need the schools one day, but for now it is working really well and we cannot imagine making any other choice. I hope we can go all the way!" I get the impression that they were perhaps only supportive becaue they really thought that this "experiment" would not last and now that it is looking like it might go on forever... well, they'd better start to worry. Maybe I am misinterpreting their comments? Is there another spin? I would love to hear how others have managed this issue with extended family.

We are currently on lesson 22 in Spelling Workout A. It is my understanding that in this level there are few "rules". You are basically "translating" the consonant, short and long vowel sounds and some vowel digraph sounds onto the paper. I think if your dc is doing ok with the lists each week, you probably are not missing anything. Most folks around here seem to go fairly quicky through level A and then encounter more rules in level B. Where are you in ETC? HTH!

Welcome to the boards! First Language Lessons: we read it at breakfast several mornings a week. For the enrichment activities or activities that require more than oral instruction we will do that later in the day. We seem to be covering about 5 lessons a week. Writing With Ease says if you are using the program with FLL, you may skip the writing exercises in FLL. We may or may not do that depending on how we are handling the material when we get there. Our current pace with FLL will have us finishing up early, however it may become more challenging as we progress. Spelling Workout A: we are completing two lessons a week. (about 8 pages a week) We do one lesson (word list) on Mondays, another lesson (word list) on Weds. and then have a spelling test on Fridays for about 12 words altogether. My children are reading well, so for now, this pace is very easy. In The Well Trained Mind, Susan suggests not skipping Spelling Workout A because it covers important fundamentals. I personally find that it is building confidence, something they will need going in to Spelling Workout B later this year. Remember the beauty of homeschooling is that we have the ability to speed up or slow down depending upon what the child needs. If you are not sure now what that is, try out a plan for a couple of weeks and observe what happens. He or she will let you know, usually in some completely age appropriate way, if it is working or not! Then, several months later, be prepared for it to change all over again. :001_smile: HTH!

...but five weeks into it and now that we have an established routine I am surprised! They actually enjoy and remember the material. Here is how we do it: We listen to the CD chapter, like a preview of the week to come us, usually on the weekend in the car on the way to soccer. Then we break it down into five short lessons for the week. 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. Tuesday: We go to the wall map and then the globe and locate the area we are studying. We do the map exercise from the activity guide and the coloring page. Wednesday: We read any extra books and encyclopedia entries. Thursday: Craft project Friday: "oral test". For the oral test, I use the test book and we just read the questions and make a game out of it to see how much we all can remember. This is done without pressure and not graded. We probably spend less than 30 min each day on all this and it is working very well for us. HTH

We are using FLL 1/2 and are also working on lessons in the 20's. When I started I thought of having them circle the proper nouns and place a rectangle around the common nouns in the sentences they wrote to be able to apply what they were learning. After doing that a couple of times I stopped myself because I thought FLL 1/2 was only supposed to be about introducing/memorizing the definitions vs actual application of the definitions. I assumed the application would come later. After reading the other posts I am wondering what the goal is of FLL 1/2. I would love to hear more on what others have done and are doing.

We are using the US edition with our twins and only buy one text, two workbooks, two intensive practice books (vs the extra practice books) and two challanging word problem books. This is the only math program we are using and everyone likes it. I read a lot about the two versions standards vs US edition. I went with US edition because of its track record, cost and the publishers statement that they plan to keep the US edition.