I wonder what the consequences of not working independently were at school. Perhaps Mom isn't as "scary", and I'm sure she doesn't exert the same peer pressure.;) Plus, in many schools, if you don't finish your work it goes home with you to be homework. This is not to say that the consequences at school were BETTER, just different. It may be that there is more variety going on at home - what is Mom doing? what are siblings doing? what is my favorite toy waiting to do?

:D The experiments in 730EX are pretty basic and I try to pick ones that clearly demonstrate the lesson we just finished. The tricky part is figuring out how to find appropriate experiments using the indices. I've learned to be picky, because the experiment is what they remember, and if it doesn't demonstrate the main point of the lesson....

You also might check your library for Muzzy (BBC) and Whistlefritz. Little Pim is another, but it is geared for the toddler set. Our library also carries some learn-a-foreign-language type audio c.d.s which are a nice change of pace sometimes.

I have a weekly schedule on an index card. When we do a lesson, I look ahead at the next lesson to see if there is anything that I should be prepared for. That's when I get out the math worksheets, or prep the copywork. That works for math, WWE, FLL, SOTW, spelling, and art. Spanish is more flexible, I have books, videos, and texts and I choose what fits into each day. On Fridays I spend time reserving books for the next two(ish) weeks in history, science, and the kids' read-alouds. Science sometimes requires more prep, but we only do it twice a week, so even though I'm still just looking ahead to the next lesson, I have a few days to pull it together. Every few months I go through and pick out selections for the next 10 WWE lessons. As far as planning curriculum goes I'm planning to "keep doing the next thing" for the next year at least.

We are using BFSU this year and my go-to additional resource is "730 Easy Science Experiments". It is a spiral bound book that used to be two (or 5?), it has two completely separate sections. I go through the indices and look for lessons that relate to the topic we are going to do.

I suppose it depends on the subject, but helping them pick out the important points (through discussion, or having them outline) and then reviewing periodically if needed. Mine are in first, so this is mostly supposition. So far they surprise me with the amount of retention - but it's all new, and they don't have a lot of other random stuff they are trying to remember (like items for the grocery list, where I last saw somebody's favorite toy, the fact that I need to get gas before I get more than 10 miles from home...:D)

I struggle with this too, since I have twins who are working together on all subjects. If one is sick I cut back what we do that day to reading to me and reviewing any subject areas where one could use the practice (writing for one, math fluency for the other). If it is not too serious we can sometimes do a subdued, passive lesson all together - read history, review spelling, play a math game. I've scheduled extra days so I shouldn't hesitate to take one off, but for some reason I really have to talk myself into just doing nothing (formal).

I don't think it is critical how many lessons are in it, 20 weeks, 30 weeks, etc. Most people will use it and then continue with the next one at their own pace, right? So if you have 10 books with 20 weeks of daily lessons, some people with work through them in 4 years, some people will spend a year on book 1. Here are some additional thoughts I've had while trying to find a workable program for us - (feel free to stop reading here, since you didn't ask for any of this additional rambling!! :D) I wouldn't want it to spend much time on things like colors, 1-10, family, dog/cat, etc. The vocabulary that starts almost every other workbook, video or basic program out there. Don't linger on them, they are so easy to find time to practice and a lot of kids already know them (another introduction to colors and I may scream). However, an index in the back would be VERY helpful - Spanish/English/page # or English/Spanish/page # Maybe lessons centered around going to the park, setting the table, washing/drying/folding/putting away clothes, going to the grocery, planting a garden and other common household activities. Include a LOT of vocabulary but it doesn't have to all be explicitly taught, perhaps highlight the basics for specific review later. This helps for people who enter at different levels but still want to get something "new" out of every lesson. It should introduce some conversational verbs early-ish. "Put this on", "Please don't yell", "Let's run/walk/jump/skip", today we are going to the ___, etc. might be useful phrases that would allow for some regular practice and more natural discussion during the day. I am a proponent of whole to parts language for older children, but I think with lower elementary age parts to whole makes more sense. They can say most of what they need by knowing the "I" and "you" tenses. At some point the connections can be made to the infinitive and the commonness of all the endings - if it sounds like "to run" and ends in -mos, it is talking about all of us. However, please, have a table in the back of the book that shows the infinitive and the present-tense forms of the verbs that are introduced. That way the book can be written for someone with one child but adapted by someone like me with twins (as an example), or used by the adult to learn some whole to parts. (I hope I'm not using the whole/parts thing totally wrong....) I would like it to also have some practical sections, like learning to read. This doesn't have to start with lesson 1, of course. Spanish is fairly straightforward phonetics-wise (I think), and so once children are starting to read in English (presumably), reading in Spanish is not a "hard" thing. Along the lines of reading Spanish, it would be nice to have a section that explains the words for mathematics. Not teaching it, but perhaps presenting some of the vocabulary that gets used. Plus, minus, greater than, less than, more, less, etc. depending on what approximate grade level you are writing for - although please include additional "non-required" vocabulary that the parent can trot out later, multiply and divide for instance. Ideas for outside games, like "hide and seek" terminology, perhaps ideas for outdoor Spanish scavenger hunts (rock, stick, insect, bird, etc.), are there Spanish jump-rope rhymes? (although my first-graders can't jump rope, much less chant in any language at the same time...) Perhaps a chant for swinging on the swing set. Also, ideas for indoor games might be handy for play (Chutes and Ladders, counting games with dice?) and vocabulary reinforcement (write today's vocabulary on paint tape pieces, stick it to the floor and then jump on the word I call out - or something) I'll stop here, more than you wanted to know anyway.:tongue_smilie:

I haven't done one of these in years either, but it seems to me that you need to have the forces acting from the same point, the "box" (i.e. don't start the 80N force from the end of the 60N arrow). Then, when you draw your 60/80/100 right triangle the resultant force will extend from the point ("box") to intersect the 100 side of the triangle (forming more right angles). Sorry I don't have time to try to solve it now. I looked at it a little - do you need to use the law of cosines?

Llolly - I thought the Dodsworth series by Tim Egan was similar to Mercy Watson (perhaps a bit harder) Joysworld - Our library has a separate collection of picture books in the juvenile reader section. These include the books by Chris Van Allsburg (Jumanji, The Garden of Abdul Gasazi, Two Bad Ants, etc.), some By Jon Scieszka (Math Curse, Science Verse, and Seen Art?), etc. The range of difficulty is wide, so you may want to peek first, but we've enjoyed all of these titles.

I follow a more traditional schedule to coordinate with my husband's schedule, but then we don't really stop, kwim? When summer arrives I will let things "end" - like when we get to the end of a book (history, science, phonics, etc.), but math and reading keep going, perhaps one less day a week. LA also gets a reduced schedule - once or twice a week? Spanish gets cut back, more video watching or informal conversations. After a month or so of this in the summer I will slowly start to ramp things back up - adding a subject a month, slowly increasing math, reading and LA, etc. We take two weeks of vacation in the summer and usually one at the start of the year. I schedule more vacation days than we actually end up taking - if DH works on a vacation day we generally do too. Instead of taking off a full day here and there, I am more likely to intentionally skip a subject (this week we aren't doing any official science) to lighten things up.

One thing that has helped me is I took my top tasks and assigned them each a day (floors, laundry, kitchen counters, bathrooms, laundry). Those are the things that bug me the most and now I know what day to tackle them - yes, laundry gets two days. None of this is exclusive or set in stone, but if I notice Sunday night that the kids' room is cluttered and dusty I know that I will tackle that particular floor come Monday. So, I don't do the whole house - but once I've done "enough" I can log onto here for a while, or read a book, or whatever.

If your dd is doing Saxon at school and you are doing Miquon at home, you have your bases covered. In fact, you might consider playing math games at home instead of another complete program (or alternating with). You could look at Games for Math by Peggy Kaye, or similar books to get ideas. That way you are covering any "trouble" spots she has, gently introducing topics she hasn't officially been introduced to, AND she thinks of math with you as FUN. I got the Kitchen Table Math books recently and they are interesting, with some of the same games as the Peggy Kaye book - although with enough additional discussion that you cover the topics completely.

:iagree: I have a Master's and Bachelor's in engineering and 10 years working in my field and (I hate to admit) I still have to calculate some of those 8x and 7x facts on the fly. :tongue_smilie: I usually tell a joke to buy myself some time. Perhaps if she moves on, those will come unbidden.

Must be, we had the same experience and answers. I was suspicious when I couldn't find the bonus question...:001_huh:

Thanks! Perhaps a little pop-quiz - Bwahahahah!:D

We follow a similar schedule to yours. Generally we do about an hour and a half right after breakfast and then they can play until lunch. Then we do a little more right after lunch or sometimes during nap time (rarely both) and that is enough to finish up. I, too, have a difficult time interrupting play, but meals are a natural break-time so I try to build on that. Sometimes we can get stuff done *while* we are eating, like I read and then they narrate. I've started doing math 4 times a week and on the fifth day we do a little logic, or play a game (or I just try to get everything else I need to do done :tongue_smilie:) Also, I think we do copywork just 4 times a week - whenever it comes up in the various language arts components. My dc read-aloud to me 3 times a week, but they do a lot of reading on their own, so this just lets me check phonics, pronunciation, vocabulary, etc. So the schedule is consistent, but there is some variation in what we do on different days and I try to leverage those times when they are at the table of their own accord. ;) HTH

My kids have fun with Dance Mat Typing from the BBC. It is free online. Usage has trailed off, but some of it has stuck. As the days get shorter I may start encouraging more work. I did find a free typing game somebody linked to, there were zombies attacking and you had to type the word they were mumbling in order to kill them. I found it challenging when I tried it, but the level of violence was SO HIGH I couldn't possibly see letting my kids play it. Anyway, by the time the are typing well enough I doubt it will be an issue (although it REALLY was violent. and gory.) There are a few other free programs I haven't tried. They found me while I was checking out DMT and they wanted to do it and I've never gone back to do more investigating. Typing: 1. Online typing Course http://www.goodtyping.com/ 2. Dance Mat Typing http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/ 3. Touch Typing (Online) http://www.sense-lang.org/typing/ 4. Kiran's Typing Tutor http://www.kiranreddys.com/products/typing.html 5. Learn2Type http://www.learn2type.com/

Let me start by saying that I don't have any background in teaching a second language to young children except the experimenting I've been doing on my own. :D You don't mention how old your toddler is, but for the years before they are reading and writing in their primary language, oral exposure and repetition are great! Hearing the language really helps develop familiarity with the phenomes of the language. If you are on bedrest, that sounds like a good way to spend some of that time. I wouldn't expect to make a lot of sequential progress, but rather focus on building vocabulary and familiarity. I don't think you can be too young, since many kids grow up in bilingual families and get along just fine. Even if you decide not to pursue Spanish in the long term it seems like some of that vocabulary will stay with him and might be useful later. Our library has a number of board books and some kids' c.d.s in Spanish with catchy (maddening?) tunes for basic vocabulary. They also have books like "My First 1,000 words in Spanish" which are fun to look through. Another great resource is Salsa Spanish from Georgia Public Broadcasting which you/he can watch online here. The episodes we've watched so far start with Goldilocks and then return to the story and characters with follow-on story lines. We've also been enjoying Pocoyo on YouTube. It is t.v. program from Spain (?) aimed for the preschool set. It is very cute. Each episode is about 7-10 minutes. I don't know that there is enough repetition to learn a lot from it, but it is cute and the stories are easy to follow. If you have some funds, you might try to find a used copy of Muzzy in Spanish (very pricey to buy new). We have an old VHS version and it covers a lot of basic vocabulary with breaks once in a while to go into more detail. The idea is that they watch it and watch it and watch it and hear it and hear it and hear it. Along those lines there is also Whistlefritz which is much newer, cheaper, and shorter and can be found on Amazon. HTH!

You want to check out the sticky link at the top of the Middle & Logic Stages Forum (see link in the top of this forum). Susan Wise Bauer herself is answering questions (or was last week) about WWS - schedule, scope, etc. In her first post she briefly discusses the type of writing in WWE4 and also the writing done in WWS. It includes other types of writing - although I must admit that I didn't pay too close attention because that seems so far off for us. :)

You are right that there are some good books that aren't listed in their supplemental section. I have noticed that I also have a tendency to check out other, off-topic books written by some of the authors they *do* have listed. My library bag often bulges embarrassingly! :tongue_smilie: I know a number of people are using BFSU 1, I wonder how many are using 2?

What a good idea! Have you tried posting this request on the Yahoo group? I see that someone uploaded correlated reading for book 1, perhaps they have something for book 2 that hasn't been uploaded.

It was hard work for me to find a local homeschooling group in my area (and I think they run the only co-op around here AND I think it is often full with siblings of existing students AND you can't start until 3rd grade :glare:) I tried a standard web search and that obscure page that I found turned out to be theirs - but I assume you've tried this. I was almost at the point of hanging a "please call me if you homeschool" notice at the library when I just screwed up my nerve and asked someone I thought was a homeschooler if she homeschooled and she plugged me into the network. If you are in a metropolitan area, you might try posting on some of these homeschooling boards and mentioning where you are writing from. If you have a college or university or perhaps community college try calling the math department and seeing if they can recommend anyone. If the administrative staff is not helpful, try to get a hold of a teacher or adviser who may be able to give you personal recommendations. Lastly, I have seen a number of people using on-line math classes, you might try investigating those options. HTH.

Think a little about what your goals are - are you shooting for memorization and recall on each of the subjects? or do you want to give her a passing familiarity with the topics, knowing that you will revisit them two more times (assuming you stay with the 4 year history cycle)? I don't know if you do an other of the Wise/Bauer curricula, but one of their tenets is that narration is a learned skill, and practice and examples will result in steady improvement (although results may vary :)) I wouldn't be at all concerned about leading a first grader through the process with questions, re-reading parts of the section and helping to rephrase answers if needed. All that said, you've got to do what works for you!

Thank you for sharing! What a neat idea!