I am a planner!!!!! I LOVE planning. I had two separate planners and papers floating all over the house (my poor dh!). Anyway, in comes The Well Planned Day. It is a homeschool planner, house planner, and ME planner all rolled into one beautiful, colorful spiral-bound book. It may be too much for what you need. Here it is: http://wellplannedday.com/plannerswpd1011.html. Something more simple and streamlined might me something from here: http://www.donnayoung.org/forms/planners/index.htm. Good luck!

I am interested in this series for my 7.5 yo dd. She is reading at a 4th or 5th grade level. Are there any "must reads" or any to stay away from? I was looking at Great Expectations, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, and the rest from the third grade recommendations from TWTM. TIA! Here is one of the books: http://www.amazon.com/Gullivers-Travels-Stepping-Stone-Book/dp/0375865691/ref=bxgy_cc_b_text_b

:lurk5:

We are doing Abeka LA which is similar to R&S. I am adding PLL (lessons 1-82) once per week for 2nd grade dd. I went through and skipped all of the copywork and dictation (she is getting that from HOD BHFHG) and grammar. She is doing all of the picture studies and conversation lessons, as well as most of the composition and poems. It worked out to 33 lessons. I will do the same thing for third grade. You could add the copywork and dictation if you wanted to. Then you might do R&S 3 times per week and PLL twice per week. I hope you find some thing that will work for you!

Thanks Angie!

simka2, I previously had the Mom's Plan It planner and made my own weekly homeschool schedules using Excel. I disliked the fact that I was always checking on planner to schedule the other. I like to schedule light school days if we will be out for most of the day or schedule things that can be done independently in the car. Alternately, if there is a heavy school day, I don’t want to leave the house. I love the two-page spread of The Well Planned Day. It has a space for homeschool planning, Mom planning, menu planning (which I loved in the Mom’s Plan It planner), weekly priorities (which I use as my weekly to-do list), weekend activities, and weekly catechism (which is small and can be over-looked if you don’t need it). Every month, there is a month-at-a-glance calendar, 4 books-to-be-read sections, a place to record field trips, and a spot for monthly expenses (which is AWESOME!), 6 tear-out shopping lists (which I loved in the Mon’s Plan It planner), and a two-page homeschool related article. Per semester there are 4 attendance records, semester goals, semester accomplishments, and 4 weekly grades. There are even 4 report cards for the year!!!! In the front, there are 4 class plans (with a space for a picture!) where I can keep track of curricula I am using and expenses for curricula, 4 student schedules, and a teacher schedule. I am probably leaving something out:lol:. I also LOVE the colors! Each month has a gorgeous 2-3 color scheme. So, in short, I love everything about the planner. Check it out here: http://wellplannedday.com/plannerswpd1011.html.

I was thinking about getting it unbound and 3-whole punched. I'm not sure that is such a good idea because it is my planner as well as the homeschool planner.

I posted this in the General forum, but I know some people don't venture over there. So... I just got my planner! I LOVE everything about it except the flimsy front and back covers. Does any one know of a good padfolio-type binder that would work well with The Well Planned Day planner? TIA.

I just got my planner! I LOVE everything about it except the flimsy front and back covers. Does any one know of a good padfolio-type binder that would work well with The Well Planned Day planner? TIA.

I just cracked my book open and found this on the top of p.17: " The first 100 lessons are intended for first-grade students; dictation exercises begin in second grade, lessons 101-200." It goes on to tell you it is two years worth of material. You should also continue at some rate through the summer. My dd started when she was 5.5 yo and has done 2-3 lessons per week. We will be finishing up in the next few weeks (about two years since we began) and are both very pleased with the knowledge she has gained. Best wishes!

:iagree: DD learned letter sounds and the *concept* of blending using the LeapFrog videos. I read to her VERY often (sometimes it felt like that was the only thing I did all day long). When she turned five, she was sounding out CVC words and I added MCP Plaid Phonics B worksheets every few days. Then, when she was five and a half, something clicked and her reading took off. In hindsight, I wish I would have added ETC 4-8 when she turned 6 because now she sometimes gets caught up on words with more than 2 or 3 syllables. :glare: Oh, well! I am having her do them this summer. Best of luck!

My dd and I are on chapter 16 of Pagoo by Holling C. Holling. I just stumbled upon the notebooking pages from Homeschool Share http://www.homeschoolshare.com/pagoo.php :glare:. I thought I would let others know it is there and is fantastic if anyone plans on reading the book this summer!

If I do not have a tactile learner, can I get away with ONLY the TM for AAS? I am not in a financial spot to purchase everything (the ones on the for sale board are scooped up as soon as they are posted). I am using SWO C with a good speller, but the lists don't make much sense or give a definitive rule very often, IMO. DD is spelling harder words and is just now starting to miss words on the spelling test at the end of the week. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

I just got the Chemisty package and it looks fabulous! I agree with the pp and say get whatever interests your dd. Also, you can see the intro. and a few lessons at elementalscience.com. The author, Paige, is VERY helpful with any questions you may have. She has a blog http://elementalscience.blogspot.com/ , a yahoo group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/elemental_science/, and she pops in here every once and a while.

Thank you for all of the suggestions so far! I would not be adding the AG, just the stories. I have BHFHG and I think the history is pretty full (for us, anyway) but really want the world history integrated into American history. I guess I was just checking to see if anyone had made a schedule that married the two together so I didn't have to reinvent the wheel (or nix the idea if it didn't work). Thanks again!

Is this just crazy? I want the world events from SOTW 3 and would skip over any American-related content. I know BHFHG covers through the 1970s, but I want to save SOTW 4 for next year. Ideally, I wanted WP AS I with SOTW 3 and WP AS II and SOTW 4 for this year and next, but we can't always get what we want! Somebody talk me down:tongue_smilie:! (Or help it fit together.) TIA

I figured since dd did FLL 1, she could jump into WWE 2 (we have the workbook). WWE 2 dictation (and some of the narration towards the end) were tough for my dd. I had her do studied dictation for the first half of the book. The second half she did studied dictation for the first sentence and just copied the remainder. For my next two, I will go through WWE 1 in first grade and then start WWE 2 (keeping the studied dictation). You could always stretch the skills out over two weeks instead of one using your own literature only if/when your ds hits a snag. I love being able to tailor things to my dc. The beauty of homeschooling!

I wanted to add that, although the P4/5 IG is just a list of books to read in a grid format (it's not worth the $, IMO), the P3/4 IG is awesome. It has lots of helpful/encouraging tidbits for Mom pertaining to homeschooling, housework, etc. as well as activities for many of the stories.

I purchased the IG and some of the items (Fairy Tales, Mighty Minds, Richard Scarry, Nursery Tales, Picture Book Classics, and the Body Book). I borrowed the rest from the library. I am in my second go 'round with it and I think it is worth every penny. My older dd loves to read the stories to my middle dd:thumbup: (or to herself). I would gladly buy it again.

Free lapbook and unit studies: http://www.homeschoolshare.com/ Unit study for letters with suggested books: http://letteroftheweek.com/ Enjoy!

Noeo or Sonlight are the only two I can think of off the top of my head. Good luck!

:iagree: My dd (6.5 yo at the time) used this and LOVED it!

Sorry, I don't have any other suggestions. If you REALLY want to do SL science 3, you could always just get some of the package. I usually only buy the guides to programs and any books I can't get/substitute from the library. I did SL science 1 and was very disappointed in the supplies kit. I could have purchased everything from the store! For a lot less!!!! It looks to be the same for the Science 3 kit. You might be able to get away with purchasing the IG used, Real Science for Kids, and the two TOPS guides. OTH, Noeo would be about the same price as purchasing just the above mentioned SL items and you would not have to work as hard to pull it all together. Best of luck!

I see you are using Noeo. Did you use Super Science Concoctions in conjunctioin with Chem. I? Could the book be used as a stand-alone and still be as good as using it with the program? I love the look of Noeo, but the price turns me off (and I can't get over Elemental Science's student pages!). Did you get the whole sh'bang? If so, was the kit worth it? Thank you:D

So many good choices!