We use the chart. I go over the Singapore stuff, since that's my primary curriculum. Then I do the sections in Miquon if she needs additional reinforcement. We haven't done all of Miquon, but it has really helped my dd understand things better.

Hi and welcome to the homeschooling world! I also have an only and we began at 4 yo with Abeka's K4 program. Now two years later, my advice for what's it's worth, would be to take it slow. Focus on math and reading, we had a few tears because I pushed to hard. I do think that you should add lots of library books, which you are probably already planning to do. You could use Sonlight Read-Alouds for Pre K(4/5) as a guide or just follow his interest, you'll be amazed how much they pick up! You will also learn so much over the next year and things will change. You'll learn more about his learning style and your teaching style. You'll also learn about the thousands of resources out there and how they fit your homeschooling adventure. Our K year I feel like I had a much better handle on what I wanted to accomplish and how I wanted to homeschool. This year, I am very excited about 1st grade as I finally feel that we have all the materials that will work for us for now! In the end though, you know what's best for your child. Go ahead order the K4 stuff you have planned, try it out. If it's too much, you can always shelve it for next year. Hope you have a wonderful year!

I didn't do a report this week because we spent most of the week visiting my brother who graduated with his PhD in Economics this week! Congrats to him and thanks to you guys, I so enjoy reading everyone's reports!

I don't know if this is what you are looking for, but what about All About Spelling? It blends phonics and spelling and is not at all babyish. My dd flew through ETC and HOP, but I still think that she needs phonics review. That's why we are going to use AAS next year. Anyways, hope that helps!

:iagree: This is what I have done is creating my science stuff, several unit studies we have done or are going to do and our vocabulary for next year. I always start with the big picture what am I studying, what goals do I have, what approach will I take and so on. Then I look for resources/books that are out there pertaining to what we are studying(the local library loves me during this phase!). With that information, I begin to formulate what it's going to look like week by week and how I want to lay out the week (ie. will I use activities, if so how?, same for vocabulary, narration, reviews and others). Next, I'll create an overall outline and then go back and plug in the resources I've decided to use week by week. From that I develop a day by day plan. That's the basic process for me! I enjoy it, but I agree with GVA, there's not much money in it (even with Lulu) :D!

We used LA1, but from what I understand the problems I had are throughout the levels. The grammar problem is a big one, it's very disjointed and far too natural for me. The writing has great ideas, but very little instruction on how to complete the assignment. If your happy with Rod and Staff, stick with it. If your concerned about her writing, take a look at SWB's new writing program, The Complete Writer: Writing with Ease. If your concerned about her spelling, check out All About Spelling. We are planning on using both next year. I hope that helps!

What grade are you trying to write it for, that might help in what to reccommend? ETA: I found your other thread and saw you were looking for 1st and 4th. I would reccommend Janice Van Cleave's book on Physics or Physics Experiments for Children for the experiments and the Kingfisher Science Encyclopedia or the Usborne Internet-linked encyclopedia for reference. In WTM, SWB reccommends that you do an experiment and then look up related material in the references. I will be writing plans to go with these, but not until next year, which won't help now, but I think that NOEO science might have a physics program. Anyways, hope that helps! PM me if you have more questions about how to actally put the plans together, I'd be happy to help.

I'm not familiar with the ones you mentioned, but DK has some early readers about science topics with photographs. I believe that they have levels 1-4. Also there is a series, Let's read and find out science, my dd has really enojoyed them. Both were available at my library so you could check them out before you bought any. Hope that helps!

I too have been checking out my library copy, but I have been considering purchasing it because I had to wait two weeks this time for it, which was hard, since I'm trying to plan! I'm curious what they will be updating. If it's just curriculum choices or if it's also the information in the chapters. Oh well, guess we will have to wait! Great find though!

Here's mine for the last two weeks. Sorry there's no pictures, they just didn't get taken! Oh well, such is life!

AHHH, I knew I shouldn't have looked at this thread! We don't have cable and I have to wait till it's on the internet. I can't believe that they would do this!

I have scheduled one of the Magic school bus books for the unit, but thanks for the suggestion. But, I'm very glad to hear that another 5yo loves this book. I think that we are definately going to go with The Secret Garden!

Thank you! This is exactly the type of book I was looking for. I remember reading this as a child, but I had forgotten about it. It was one of my favorites then and I think that it will fit perfectly with the time I have. Thanks again, I knew to ask here!

a butterfly unit study. We will be spending two weeks this summer on a butterfly unit study. I was wondering if the hive mind could come up with a read-aloud book that would go with this somewhat. It can take from two to four weeks as we will be taking a two week break after the unit study. It doesn't have to be specifically about butterflies, maybe just about natures or an outdoor adventure. To give you an idea of what she is capable of listening to, we just finished Wizard of Oz and House at Pooh Corner. Ok, suggest away!

I am sympathizing with you! I had horrible heartburn all day and night with my dd with everything that I ate, even when I didn't eat. For me Rolaids worked best, I went through a big bottle a week(that's why she has such strong teeth and bones!). At night I would chase two or three Rolaids with Mylanta everytime I got up. Hope that helps and I know it's not fun!

Thanks Colleen. I am aware that SOTW is used in Core 6 & 7, but I was planning on using either Streams of Civilization or MOH with those. At least that's the plan:D! You guys are making me feel better about how things are going to play out over the next four years!

Thanks guys, you have really got me thinking about what's best and how to approach things! It's nice to know there is so much wisdom and experience at my fingertips.

Number bonds are the precursor to teaching addition and subtraction. They help them see the relationship between whole and parts and how to use that relationship in number sentences, ie. addition is part1+part2=whole, subtraction is whole-part1=part2. Does that make sense? I think that's it's an important part of Singapore, but there's no reason you couldn't go back and teach them in a day or so. Hope that helps!

I will be doing a Core 2 schedule, but probably not until next March. I've got too much on the planning plate to get it done before then:D!

We used Abeka's K4 program, it was very open and go and very effective for teaching letters, letter sounds and numbers. (I have it used, PM if your interested) I also think that they have an art project book you can get that has cutting projects, but we didn't use it.

Thanks! This was kind of what I was leaning towards, but I was afraid it might be too much. Good to hear it has worked. Has anyone else tried this and would like to share their thoughts?

I was going to say, what about science?, but then I saw you have something listed in your siggy, so... it looks like you will have a fun year next year! Isn't it fun to look ahead!

I sat down and did my goals yesterday, just to get something on paper that explained where I wanted to be at the end of next year, taking into account what I think that she is capable of. Some of them are a reach, some of them will be easy to reach. I'll cut and paste them to give you an idea. There are other's involving character and listening, but these are the ones related to homeschool stuff. Hope it helps! Math •Complete Singapore PM 2A & 2B along with corresponding sections in Miquon Math •Solidify concepts of addition, subtraction, money, time, length and weight. •Work on the concepts of multiplication, division and fractions •Have student memorize basic additions and subtraction facts by the end of the year English Spelling: •Have student learn the basic phonograms •Have student learn how phonograms apply to spelling Vocabulary: •Increase students understanding of words and her usage of them •Have student learn how to alphabetize Grammar: •Complete 1st grade section of First Language lessons •Have student understand basic types of speech and punctuation Writing: •Have student become proficient at Copywork (mechanics of writing) •Have student learn the basics of narration (organization of thoughts) •Have student create a portfolio of her own work consisting of journal entries, letters and summaries of Read-Alouds Reading: •Have student reading on a third grade level by the end of the year •Have student read at least one full book a week •Have student demonstrate comprehension of reading by creating a book review Language Acuity: •Complete the Read-Alouds from Sonlight’s Core 1 •Have student demonstrate comprehension of the stories through answering questions and dictating summaries Science: Biology for the Grammar Stage (animals, human body, plants) •Have student demonstrate understanding of reading by dictating a short summary. •Have student complete all experiments and corresponding sheets •Have student complete the ongoing projects History: Ancient World History •Complete assigned reading in Story of the World and Sonlight Core 1 •Have student keep a record of what they have learned through narrations, book reviews and project sheets Electives Art: •Have Student understand the basic elements of art Music: •Have student increase their knowledge of composers and their music PE: •Have student maintain physical fitness Bible: •Have student gain a better understanding of the Bible and the principles in it •Have student memorize the A to Z verses

Sonlight give vocabulary to go with thier history and read-alouds and I think later on with the readers. This year I just pre-read the IG for the vocab and when we ran across the words in reading I paused and we talked about what it meant. Next year we are adding worksheets I made that focus on 4 or 5 of these words each week. First day we will introduce the words from the week, 2nd we will look them up and alphabetize them, 3rd we will match definitions and words, 4th we will fill in the blanks using sentences from the readings we are doing, then the 5th day we will review them orally. I don't know how it's going to work out, but it's an idea that maybe your could use. Hope it helps!

I didn't look at all the games on the link, but my reccomendation for a great logic and some math game is Blokus! We love it here!