We found we preferred the kindergarten CD... the rock one... but both are cute. I'm pretty sure there are audio samples on the HWT website. Heather

My kids (4 & 6) like kinect Sports, Joy Ride and kinectimals. Just a warning, though, that Kinectimals doesn't work well for "turns"... There is no two player mode, and you need at least 15-20 minutes to really get into it. Heather

I haven't had that experience, but I'm sure Maria will provide authorization. She's very helpful. Heather

Around here, people get around the sign bylaws by taping huge signs to their vehicles and then parking in strategic places. Maybe that would work?

Eats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne Truss is a funny book and also contains lots of information. :)

We tried a similar schedule this year for first grade. It didn't work for us because: 1) DD was tired after lunch and it was hard to get her to focus (Yours are older, though, so maybe not a factor?) 2) It seemed like something else inevitably came up... Out of town guests, unique field trip opportunities, statuatory holidays (DH was home, so no school), illness, etc... Then we were down to TWO days of school that week... 3) On the days we were heading out, we just couldn't seem to buckle down and get work done... Too busy packing lunches, etc. If you are a very disciplined person, maybe this wouldn't be a problem. For us, I have decided to schedule 4 days of school, with nothing before 3 pm on those days. That way if we get invited somewhere cool, we still have 3 days left! :) Heather

For your younger kids, the Prismacolor Scholars are nice. The regular prismacolors are too soft for my 6 year old, but we love the scholars. I'm in Canada, but we found the best price at Zellers of all places. Heather

I asked about SOTW 2 books a while back and got some great replies... Here's that thread. They aren't organized by chapter, though. Sorry! The table of contents for SOTW2 is on the Peace Hill Press website, though, so maybe you could use that as a framework? Good luck! Heather

Good luck and have fun! It's such a great program for K/1st.

All the "required" games are in the book, but there are good extras in the games book. I bought it about halfway through level b, and I'm glad I did. :)

There have been times I wished for an extra set of place value cards. Also, maybe a second clock if you're planning to teach them at the same time. Not necessary, though. :) Heather

I ended up getting: The Sword in the Stone Sir Cumference and the First Round Table Katie and the Mona Lisa Raiders from the Sea The Canterbury Tales Knights of the Round Table Saint George and the Dragon Beowulf A Medieval Feast Castle Diary The Reluctant Dragon I ended up with 11 books... Very close to my attempted 10! Thanks for all the help!

I don't know if they'll have what you're looking for, but http://www.bookdepository.com has free shipping on any size order.

Thank you for the links!

Thank you! These are the kind of details I'm looking for. Off to track down "The Sword in the Stone"...

Here is the Egypt one. The Middle Ages Explorers Here is the page with "World History". The Greek Myths mini books one is sort of cool (though I haven't read it yet to see how/if they butchered the myths themselves...) Heather

Thank you! I love the cover page montage... Would you say those were your top picks, or random selections? Is "The Canterbury Tales" illustrated? I see a paperback version on Bookdepository.com, but I don't want to miss out on illustrations if possible. I noticed that "The Medieval World" by Phillip Steele is referenced in the AG in more than one week, so that does sound like a good choice. Thanks again for the help. Please keep it coming! Heather

Hi! I'm looking for opinions on the very best books to go along with SOTW 2 next year. My dd will be in second grade, and my 4.5 year old son will be listening in. We have a pretty good library, but I'd like to purchase 10 or so excellent books to add to our home collection. Either illustrated picture books with a decent amount of text, or chapter books (read alouds), please. Thanks for your help! Heather

We have 3 radians across the third row of our Nissan Quest. It's a pain to install them, but it does fit.

We are having fun with AAR, but I don't think it is "necessary" at all. It sounds like you have lots of great resources already. Keep playing the phonemic awareness games... I think they're the best part of AAS. Heather

I have a laminator from Costo, similar to the Scotch one, but it can do up to 12" wide. I love it. I also found a comb binder at a thrift store, so for what I paid, it's great! If I was paying retail, the proclick looks pretty cool.

That was great! Thanks for sharing. :) Heather

Hmm... Sig but no avi...

testing sig and avi

You're welcome. I especially enjoy the $1 from TOS... not too big of an investment if it's not my thing! :) Let us know how it goes! Heather