Thank you for sharing! What a neat idea!

Have you been in any waiting rooms with appropriate magazines? The receptionists are often open to that kind of request (although who would have Nat'l Geo.??)

I did that approach for K, just focusing on the animal world and going by whatever my kids expressed interest in for that week. We did a few experiments when we happened upon them. I was not always consistent about doing it , but we covered quite a few animals and the library had some good resources. This year I switched to BFSU which is different, but I'm enjoying. Basically it covers four areas of science - Matter, Life Science, Earth and Space, and Physical Science. Each lesson starts with an experiment or observation (which echoed your post), there are some discussion points, and a list of supplemental reading. I have the kids draw a picture and then narrate a sentence about the lesson so that we can go back and review their words when related topics come up. Perhaps it is more of a curriculum than you are interested in...

I'm doing it with twins also :001_smile:. For WWE (and SOTW and FLL and...) I generally alternate who answers the questions. For narration I either alternate who does the narration or I have them think through the narration in their head and hold it, then one goes and the other. So far, so good. I don't think doing it together will hurt. You, of course, are the best judge. If I think someone is having difficulty, I will spend some time working with them on that topic. It depends a bit on what curriculum you have chosen, but for us there are a lot of opportunities to practice these skills.

I'm glad to see this post because we are running on a similar track, probably starting FLL 3 in or just after we start 2nd grade and I was starting to wonder if that would work. Boscopup - I really like reading your posts as you are about a year ahead and using similar curriculum (and have thought out your reasons why). I will be looking into MCT Island! I think that interspersing a year of another program would make sense. It seems like a good way to add depth without trying to juggle multiple, overlapping curricula in one year (which intimidates me). I'm thinking I will do a similar thing in math. Since we don't take a long break from math and LA in the summer, we are getting ahead in both.

If you are struggling, you might try suspending penmanship for a while (or do it on days with less other writing), and just "practice" with copywork. Once mine started writing in other subjects I stopped penmanship practice. I get better looking results when they don't have to do quite as much. Next year I hope to start cursive and reintroduce practicing writing just for practicing writing's sake.

It is a two-page calendar spread for September to June. On the left side is a column of boxes where the months get listed as you go through them (i.e. September page has 12 empty boxes with September in the 9th box down, In October both October and September are listed, etc.) On the right side is a similar set of boxes with the days of the week filled in. There are large, empty arrows across the top and down the side of the sheet where you will write the lesson number every day (demonstrates a number line - or the inexorable movement of time :)). The last page has the pattern block shapes and the back cover has a summary of the calendar color patterns for each month. FWIW we used the meeting book for about a month and a half. My kids already understood the concepts and everyone was getting tired of the repetition. After that I would just review the ideas once in a while to check retention.

I read Hat Full of Sky out loud to my youngers recently and they thought it was pretty funny. The main character is an 11 year old girl.

Seems logical to let them choose pretty much what they want. At this point I want reading to be fun and enjoyable. I make sure the shelves are stocked with supplemental books for history, math, art, science, music, etc. I don't need to micromanage another thing in my life (or theirs).

How nice that your husband is teaching science, I'm jealous! That said, we just started BFSU (3 lessons in) and I'm enjoying it. The book is NOT meant to be taught chapter by chapter, but instead to move around between the different areas. I tried to lay out the starting lessons in order to be sure that we covered each lesson's "prerequisites" before we got to the lesson. Here's what I came up with for the first 20 lessons: Lesson A/B-1 p. 39 (no prerequisites) Lesson A-2 p. 45 (none) Lesson B-2 p. 127 (A/B-1, A-2) A-3 p. 51 (A-2) D-1 p. 309 (tie-in with A-3) C-1 p. 249 (tie-in with A-2, B-3, D-1) A-4 p. 57 (A-2, A-3) C-2 p. 261 (A-3, A-4, C-1) D-2 p. 316 (D-1, tie-in D-3) D-3 p. 321 (D-2) D-3A p. 327 (D-2, D-3) A-5 p. 64 (A/B-1, B-2, A-2) A-5A p. 72 (A-5, D-3A) B-3 p. 145 (A/B-1, B-2, C-1, C-3) B-4 p. 153 (B-2, B-3) B-4A p. 161 (B-2, B-3) B-4B p. 166 (B-4, B-4A) D-4 p. 334 (D-3, D-3A, B-4A) B-5 p. 177 (C-1, B-3, D-4, tie-in B-4A) Any of these could be next: A-6 p. 80, B-6 p. 184, C-3 p. 271, D-5 p. 340 The supplies are mostly things you have on hand. I noted that I will need to get a magnifying glass and a set of magnets that includes iron filings, but those lessons are later on. If you look at each lesson, there is a paragraph titled Materials which lays out a list. You also may be interested in reading/skimming the lessons because there is generally discussion of how the lesson can be reinforced in real life, teachable moments which may come up during the day. I also recommend joining the Yahoo group. Dr. Nebels will send you a personal email welcome (I mean he specifically responded to what I wrote in my introduction), and the conversations are interesting and not overwhelming - although I've just been lurking for the last couple of weeks. There is also an archive I haven't looked into. BFSU recommends making mini books for the lessons. Instead, I've been having my kids draw a picture and then dictate a sentence "what the lesson was about". Almost every lesson builds on previous ones, and I want the kids to be able to review "their" summaries of those lessons. Also, Angela (SatoriSmiles on the WTM forum) has been using it and is a little ahead, which is great, because she keeps a nice blog - so you can see what worked and what is coming. HTH

We do a read aloud every evening (non-academic). My two read aloud to me a few times a week (usually 3x about 15 min. each) from a mutually agreed upon book (also generally non-academic). I read the SOTW sections out loud. Sometimes we will refer to a "suggested" book to see what it says about "x", or, of course, if anyone makes any mention of one. ;) BUT every week I bring home as many books as I can carry from the library, a large proportion of which are suggested books for history, science, sometimes math, art and music and my kids generally go through them within the first couple of days. They won't read all the words unless they are reading out loud to me, though. :)

Just out of curiosity, have you read Deconstructing Penguins? It was written by a couple about their experience setting up and leading book clubs for this age - it is really a "how-we-did-it", not a memoir. Sorry if this is old news.

We've been enjoying the Mouse and Mole books which I found because they are shelved near Mo Willems in the Early Reader section. The author is Yee (Wong Herbert Yee, I think) He also wrote Fireman Small, and some other picture books. I don't think they would be considered silly, but they definitely fit in the same category as the other books you mentioned. There is also an interesting series of books by Tim Egan. It starts with "The Pink Refrigerator" which is technically a picture book, but then moves into an Early Reader chapter book series starting with Dodsworth in New York (then on to Paris, London, Rome..) These are not so much silly as oddly interesting. :001_smile:

Sigh, I love your schedule. I also like some of the regular chores you listed - it can be overwhelming to try to do EVERYTHING yourself. Perhaps you could treat the 2 weeks or month as a trial period and then sit down and see what is working. This may be more of a mental trick, relieving you of pressure that if this schedule makes you crazy you are committed to it for the entire year. Can you start doing some lessons now? Maybe math? Then you are a few lessons "ahead" if you need to cut back a day once in a while? Maybe math isn't a good choice - art/music or poetry, something that doesn't need so much regular repetition. I make a menu for 2 weeks at a time. Then I do a big shopping trip and on the "middle" weekend I pick up fruit, milk, etc. from closer grocery stores. This method would work even better if I incorporated one or two of the ideas I've read on this post. If I had a "suggestion" list of meals we like, it would take some of the chore out of writing the menu and accompanying grocery list. Good luck!

I'm just starting with SOTW 1, also. I thought after a few months I would pull those out and spend a short time reviewing, just to keep everything fresh. I also thought I might use them on a timeline. I have visions of making a book-like one that can also be unfolded and spread out and we can attach the cards. I have plenty of "visions" like that, we'll see what happens in actual practice. :)

ds - blue dd - purple

I'm sorry I can't help with Portuguese, but this is a similar frustration for teaching most languages. How do the people that live in Portugal (or Spain, or Ireland or...) teach their children. OK, a lot of it is the constant hearing and seeing, but they must also have board books, phonics programs early reader books, and what not, no? I am not trying to criticize anyone, just venting that we can be so connected (internet, airplanes, McDonald's) and still not quite able to make this connection. I guess we will just have to go there (wherever) in person and see what we can find.;)

Martin's Mice by Dick King-Smith

This question falls into a longer list I've started - ones that seemed clear cut before I had kids and now are v-e-r-y gray: Is your child sleeping through the night? Is your child potty trained? Can your child read? etc...

I've also had good luck googling the abbreviation and adding "+homeschool" Usually I can peek at the website then and get a little more background.

What kind of focus are you looking for? We are getting both Click and Ladybug which are popular here and I expect us to move up to Ask and Spider. Another thread here got me looking at Weekly Reader. I got the impression that is we call the phone number, we might be able to get the school subscription price. If not, it (oddly) looks cheaper to get two subscriptions than one? Anyway, I haven't checked it out, but I thought that might be a nice range of current news topics.

Noooo, I don't think so. I looked over the Georgia Public Broadcasting Site and although it was produced for GPB I didn't see anything that limited it to Georgia residents. Same with the other site. Perhaps I missed something, we've been using it and are not Georgia residents...

If it is working for you, stick with it. Whether that is your schedule, your math, your level of housework, whatever. While it is interesting and valuable to read what everyone else is doing, it can also start to make you doubt.

Mom@Home -I did that to. If I had to do it on the fly during the year I knew I would start skipping it. I went through the books we had at home and noted each selection and came up with questions. It didn't take too long. It means they won't cross over to other subjects, but frankly with the texts we are using that didn't seem too likely anyway. Plus, I can always substitute or move things around if inspiration strikes! (along with free time :)) Susan

Well, Instant Replay :: Anytime, Anywhere Learning is OK, but you really should check out the links posted here: Salsa Spanish Links @ Little Homeschool Blessings: Spanish Series Salsa Have fun!