I am homeschooling a Kinder right now, my blog is in my signature.

Couldn't agree more!

Yes, I like the "help as needed" aspect vs the "always be there" aspect. So maybe my choice is based on whether or not I think mastery or spiral is best for my DD. Hmmm...

I am researching what to use for next year (1st grade). Right now we are using RS A. We like it over all but something is missing. I'm not sure what. It honestly may just be too "teacher intensive" which is totally fine for other subjects but seems to be an issue for math. I am also looking at MEP since it gets good reviews and, hey, it's free. ;) But, to get to the point, the idea of of a more hands-off approach (parent)/self-teaching approach (kid) intrigues me for DD. She's a strong reader (at a 5th or 6th grade level currently) and very bright but I would say probably average re: math. I wonder if she would like more independence during her math lessons and if it would allow her to soak in the info easier. Anyway, we are secular but I don't mind an occasional (OK, rare) Christian reference here or there. I like that CLE is, over all, self-teaching and has a spiral format. But I also see people (on older threads) recommending Math Mammoth when CLE is discussed. In your opinion, which program is the best for a self-taught math program? Hope this is clear, DD keeps interrupting me as I type. ;) TIA!

My daughter was a proficient reader at the start of K so what I have her do is read chapter books out loud and I help her on any words she may have trouble with. Seven months is a long time - I would guess she was around 1st or 2nd grade reading level 7 months before Kinder...

I am mulling over changing how we do math - are MEP lessons short or do they take a while? TIA!

Fourteen - but we can only get 10 out per card. So I use one card for our weekly run and the other for all the homeschool holds.

RS A Narration HWT Grade 1 Prehistory Religion (we are secular, studying religions from around the world) Composer Study Artist Study Nature Study Bird Study FLL She already reads very well so no phonics. I just have her read out loud from a chapter book and if she needs help with a word now and then. Good luck!

Very cool, will definitely get this for our iPad.

My prehistory curriculum is in the "About" section of my blog. We were definitely inspired by what Angela did with Satori but I made my curriculum for an entire school year (I don't believe Angela covered a year with weekly lessons but I may be wrong). We have LOVED it and DD has learned so much. :)

We are doing prehistory for Kinder - I blog weekly on it (blog link in my signature). We will start the Ancients this Fall.

Angela, that looks perfect! I was mulling over maybe just doing for this Summer and this seems to fit nicely with that time line. Thanks!

Thanks so much for the book suggestions. We already do a lot of field trips and will continue to do so (we live in LA so we're lucky to have so many opportunities nearby). I just also wanted to add to that experience as well. Even though she will only be in 1st grade she's ready for that even in Kinder. That CA lapbook from Currclick looks great! Thanks!

Any good unit studies out there for California? DD will be in 1st grade next year so I am thinking we should start some social studies for the state we live in but I am at a loss on where to start. TIA! ETA: I should add I am looking for secular resources. Thanks for any info!

Thank you for posting this, Angela!

OK, so the estimated time in the book included prep time? I was thinking just straight lesson time (I plan to start slowly prepping now for 1st - just to ease the "burden" come Fall). I've found some schedules where people use 2 weeks to go over just one lesson. Is that reasonable or a bit much? I do plan to include as many of the suggested reading (at least parts) as well. Thanks for the advice/info! ETA: It seems to me, based on your replies, that I could do 3 days of science for one lesson (break the lesson up into 2 small chunks, for CM-ish short lessons, then a day for supplemental books)....

I find it very helpful that each activity/part of a lesson has a time estimate. But it dawned on me that these may be more accurate for a classroom setting. BFSU users, what has your experience been? Accurate estimate or something that needs to be cut in half or... ? TIA! :blush:

Weird! It's working fine for me...

Here's the correct link to Satori Smiles: http://satorismiles.com/ Several blogs I visit often are already listed but I also wanted to add this one: http://magicandmayhem.homeschooljournal.net/

Does anyone have the Kindle edition? If so, what are your thoughts? Is it easy to navigate? TIA! :001_smile:

I also use Wordpress - love it. Link is in my siggy.

If you have the time, I would love to see some blog links! TIA!

:lurk5: From what I've read it is would compliment a CM-style homeschool. We're eclectic but heavily influenced by CM and some classical. I am pretty sure we're going to use BFSU in 1st grade...

We really enjoyed FIAR for preschool (last year). I blogged most of the activities we did - you can check out the FIAR tag or each individual book title tag if you're interested. (Oh, and no, we did not use the bible supplement since we are not Christian, so no opinion there).

I just created a Burgess Bird Book Video Companion and remembered this helpful thread so I thought I'd post the link.