They were originally saying June/July, but...it is June now, so likely July at the earliest now!

What really works for me is memorizing BIG chunks of scripture. We are working Philippians this year and have twelve verses memorized from chapter 1 (we started in mid-late April). I can't keep track of a whole bunch of discrete, individual verses. I get more bang for my buck by memorizing longer passages. I also have several psalms memorized in their entirety - 1, 2, 23, 127, 128, a good chunk of John chapter 1, a good chunk of Genesis chapter 1, and a few odds and ends (single verses I've picked up here and there), but try longer passages, it really helps.

Yay! The only thing to remember with Sonlight is that their cores are ranked with the ages based on emotional maturity and how ready those ages are for the content in the core, not only on reading level, so it is best to stick with a lower/more age-appropriate core and throw in the Grade 4/5 readers as others have suggested.

Free ones (mostly KJV some NKJV) in a chanting kind of style. http://www.pursuinglife.com/scripture-songs.php

When I saw your thread title I automatically thought, "Hey, she can get that in with spelling!" We use AAS, 15 minutes/day, works great for phonics review/instruction. BUT, some folks think it's too spendy. I'm fine with the price, and I'm pretty frugal, it all depends on where you want to spend $$ at though I guess.

Definitely get a head start, AT LEAST, with First Form. There are a lot of pieces and it is taking me a little while to figure out how to do it smoothly. DD is using PL, I'm self-eding with First Form, great program. Definitely get the DVDs!

Yep, a notebook can be as plain or fancy as you like! You could even just get those half and half paper notebooks where the top half is blank and the bottom half is lined. Know what I mean? Get them to draw a picture on top about something interesting they learned, and get them to do a written narration on the bottom. That's about it! Very effective learning technique though!

Hmm, well, you MIGHT need the cards for review purposes in future levels unless they get everything nailed the first level they are introduced. You are told to move your phonogram cards from level one into your box for level two just so you can review from time to time. It depends on you and your dc, really. No, you don't really need the phonogram cd if you can make do with the sound markings on the back of the phonogram cards (we have it, but I never use it.) Edition differences? No idea, I have the older set - the new covers are prettier though ;).

Well, I haven't used Spalding, but AAS is a GREAT way to do O-G with your children in an open-and-go way! AAS teaches all of the sounds of each letter, so 'a' is /a/, /ay/, /ah/ I think the marker for the /ay/ sound might be an a with the long vowel mark on top of it though (this is just off the top of my head). So when you show your child the 'a' card they say all three sounds rhythmically, in order.

We aren't textbook people, but I am enjoying R&S English 2. The lessons are short. We can do most of the work orally. I feel like we don't have gaps because it is VERY thorough. It is also incremental, and therefore, is a gentle approach to learning. I have 3 purchased already :)!

Well, if a child just whines a bit I certainly don't switch. I WILL switch if I can't figure out how to teach it, if it bores ME to tears, or if I re-evaluate and find that our needs don't call for that subject at the moment (I often restart at a later date in this case).

It's wonderful! If you review it regularly it really works! (Taught myself!)

We have a few but they were too sight-wordy for me. I went with A Beka's readers instead because they are phonetically leveled.

I'm afraid I don't - only so many hours in the day! I use NotebookingPages.com's pages. I just open the pdf that is on period/geography, look through them with my daughter and let her pick.

Just another vote for, "You don't!" My oldest daughter still listens to the preschool read alouds. Hey, sometimes DH does too! He is captivated by my recent reading of an old version of Beauty and the Beast from my e-reader at bedtimes. Good read alouds never get old (nor do you get too old for them!)

You could throw some notebooking pages into the mix too - that always slows my daughter down :). She loves this book by the way!

Well, in the cores you are looking at, that is essentially what SL is :). Great read alouds, shared together and discussed. The kidlings love it!

Woohoo! Way to go (both of you!)

Woohoo! Way to go! My big goal was to become a Queen Bee - I just made it recently, so I know your joy :).

I know I PM'd you about the YE issue and how the first dates given are for Abraham around 2000 BC (standard chronology), but I wanted to add that we ARE doing this orally together, it's very easy to do that way. There is a LOT of writing in the workbook :). So we aren't writing in it at all - just doing it orally and doing visual map drills :).

This is from my newly eight-year-old daughter (April 10th). We are near the end of grade 2. This is from a notebooking page she is working on about places in Nova Scotia. We haven't covered paragraph writing yet, only sentences. We read a book about this event in Canadian history, so this is essentially a written narration. The Horses of Sable I. The horses of Sable Island roamed free from 1713-1960. In 1960 they were transported to Halifax, there they were soled as dog food. The children wrote to the Prime Minister to save the horses. He saved the horses and they've been free ever since. She asked me to give her the dates, asked for help with spelling on a few words (transported, Prime Minister, Halifax), and I helped her a bit with 'ever since', her original thoughts were to say 'been free from then until now'.

Well, if it is an EAGER 3-yo you might be good with AAR Pre-1. My almost 3-year-old is sitting in on this one with her five-year-old sister. I am pretty relaxed in the younger years though. Coloring pages are a good thing that can make children feel like they are 'doing something'. :) Other than that I might do some educational DVDs just for fun, but there is LOTS of time at this age. Focus on reading aloud together - you can do no better thing at this age to build vocabulary and English skills. That is the BEST investment of time, ever!

Yep, that is what Sonlight is like. Looking at it on paper doesn't really do it justice. Their program is really a great combination of books that really draws children in and ignites a love of learning.

We are doing PL right now, and really, if your son is already exposed to/interested in Latin, I think you could start LCI if you wanted to. PL doesn't really teach a lot of the Latin grammar at all, it's mainly vocab, and really - there isn't much translation to speak of - mostly just in the memorized prayers. It is definitely a workbook program and is easy to implement without a lot of fussing around, so it meets those requirements easily :). It also isn't fluffy.

Well, I'm with you Rainefox. The DVDs killed me. I could.not.teach.from.dvd. At all. I need something where the bulk of the instruction for ME is on paper. I actually suspect I have a slight auditory processing disorder, but I never realized that before PR. Even things I read aloud to the children sort of go right in one ear and out the other - I need to read quietly to myself. Go figure.