Gasp! There is the edit button! Why isn't it showing up on this post? http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=234409

:confused: This is such a newbie question, but I can't figure out how to edit my posts...help!

Leap Frog Letter Factory on the computer with head phones!! My 4 yr old learned all her short letter sounds that way, and she LOVES the DVD!

Must...get...videos! My children LOVE to watch science videos!

Thanks ladies! This is the ONLY written work she's doing so I was hoping she could do it all on paper, but we might have to cut back for a while and ease into it :).

I thought everyone did this? Heehee. I am in hardcore research/planning mode for next year!

I just started Rod and Staff's Building Christian English (2) with my 7-yr-old this past week. I only have the student text because I know the answers at this level ;). In any case, she has really been dawdling with the lessons :glare:, and I'm wondering how much you assign and how it works for you. In all fairness she did go faster today than she has all week. I've never required much written work from her, and this is about as workbooky as we've ever been. In the past she has done copywork for writing practice, but now with the R & S I'm thinking of letting this suffice for copywork as well because there is a lot of sentence copying and more writing practice than she has done in the past. So, fire away! :bigear:

Media Angels has one...Creation Astronomy? Can't think of the precise name right now.

Boxcar Children, and another vote for My Father's Dragon!

Another plug for Artistic Pursuits here! It is pretty much open and go art appreciation AND instruction, and in the early grades it's chronological too!

You can also get Illuminations. It schedules for multiple levels - read alouds, includes lit guides, schedules supplements and MUCH more. You should definitely check it out!

I use that one with my preschoolers (4, 2) and they love it, it only has the major stories though :). Marie, I have the 2008 K Core IG though, so who knows!? :)

Another program to consider is Illuminations. It uses MOH as a spine, schedules lit and supplements, has 3 teaching levels (k-3, 3-8, high school) and includes lit studies for 3+. It isn't as rigorous as TOG and the cycle isn't finished yet, but for those in 1st/2nd years of 4, it is worth checking out!

I love SL because I'm a sit on the couch and read kind of mom (and it's easy to do with nurslings.)

Heh. Makes sense, glad to hear it's easy. Sometimes I really just over-think things and get perfectionistic!!

Speaking of editions, it looks like a new Egermeier's is due out next month. Looked on Amazon, and the new edition has a different cover than the one SL carries, and different from the 'classic' cover. I'm not sure what (if any) other changes there will be. I'd love to know if the new one's page #'s will still co-ordinate with SL's Bible readings in Core K though!

My 7-year-old is driven mad by storybook Bibles that exclude many of the stories. So while I really enjoy the Jesus Storybook Bible, she NEEDS something very comprehensive, and really likes Vos. I agree about the commentary in the first couple of chapters though. I actually disagree on a few points, but I explain, edit, go to the scriptures on those. The rest of it is very good. Even BETTER for historical/comprehensiveness (but not for language/style) is the Lion Day-by-Day Bible. She really likes that one! I want to get my hands on a copy of Egermeier's but we have quite a few story Bibles so it's hard to justify!

My 7-year-old is driven mad by storybook Bibles that exclude many of the stories. So while I really enjoy the Jesus Storybook Bible, she NEEDS something very comprehensive, and really likes Vos. I agree about the commentary in the first couple of chapters though. I actually disagree on a few points, but I explain, edit, go to the scriptures on those. The rest of it is very good. Even BETTER for historical/comprehensiveness (but not for language/style) is the Lion Day-by-Day Bible. She really likes that one! I want to get my hands on a copy of Egermeier's but we have quite a few story Bibles so it's hard to justify!

I printed this free one: http://www.guesthollow.com/homeschool/history/timeline.html And put it in a binder with sheet protectors for my daughter (7). She LOVES IT! She is always looking for more things to put on it, books we can read so we can add figures etc. This is a pretty simple solution. We use the timeline figures from HSITW, because it saves a lot of time looking for art, but maybe your children would enjoy drawing their own? :) By the way, I procrastinated FOREVER before I did this because I couldn't figure it out, but this is easy to do!

I agree that Sonlight's little box of readers is god for cvc words. After that we moved onto A Beka because we had a hard time finding phonically leveled readers :).

Ah, okay! To make copywork as easy as possible, make sure you're using models that match the penmanship style you are using, and use models that are line-by-line. So, for example the words are on the top line, and there is a blank line directly underneath the model. Start with short lessons and build up :).

At this age, he doesn't really need to be doing much writing :), particularly creative composition. I'm not sure if it is the process of writing he dislikes (putting pencil to paper), or having to come up with the words himself? If it's the process of writing, I'd suggest copywork above any sort of writing program. It helps children get in the swing of writing words down on paper but makes it easy by giving them a model that is ready to go for them. I wouldn't require anything more than a sentence a day. Getting started with narration will help him to form ideas in his mind in sentences. My daughter is around the same age as your son and we are using AAS - give it a spin! For grammar, we've done ours orally for the most part using the first part of Simply Grammar by Karen Andreola, but we haven't done much. I just got my hands on a Rod and Staff English 2 book at our local used homeschool sale, so we want to start that once I find it!! I know it's around here somewhere....

Personally, I feel like staying in the math and review daily is best for long term retention. DD 7 is working through Alpha. Here is what we do. Watch the DVD together, get her to do a worksheet, I help as needed. If no help is needed and she gets 90%+, we move on to a review section sheet the next day. If not, we do another lesson worksheet. Repeat as needed until concept is well mastered, then move onto review sheet. Do review sheet. If 90%+ move onto her teaching me from the test sheet the next day. If not, do another review sheet etc. as necessary. If her test (where she teaches me, then fills out the rest herself) shows mastery, it's on to the next lesson. We haven't yet had a miss here, but if we did we'd go back to the lesson sheets again and repeat :). Based on an idea a mom shared on the MUS yahoo group :). Since we're aiming for mastery, we work to mastery then move on, I'm thankful for the review pages to help keep previously learned concepts in mind.

It snowed 2" here a couple of days ago, sticking so far!

After OBSESSING about history last year (my oldest was 6!) I too have dropped formal history and science. We read a lot, keep a timeline, do informal nature study. That's about it :).