I don't know exactly, but here's our experience: My DD finished up OPGTR the second half of her kindergarten year. At that point she was about finished with Sonlight's Grade 2 Readers, which, for the entire year, had been trivial for her to read, and she was reading Magic Tree House books. Again, those were easy, so her reading level was beyond those. In 1st grade, she read SL's Grade 3 Readers, which were still very easy for her. At the beginning of 1st grade I repeated the lessons on multi-syllable words in OPGTR because I didn't feel she was getting enough practice in her readers. The following spring she tested at a 5th grade level in reading.

For us, it's a matter of seeing the forest or the trees. We use a combination of Rod & Staff (for the trees) and Singapore (for the forest). For example, last week in Singapore she had a word problem that required her to subtract 958 from 1000. Instead of seeing "the forest", she set the problem up vertically to do a standard subtraction algorithm. Well, she got all confused borrowing with the multiple zeros because she had never done a problem like that before. I had to remind her of the big picture. Subtract 900. Then subtract 58. It was a matter of not seeing the forest because of the trees. Singapore and other conceptual programs help one to see the big picture. Obviously this is a work in progress for my DD!

I would pick one history/social studies program. I also think that the long list of critical thinking books is a bit overkill. You can fill out a week with a history related project or art project to help cement something he has learned that week. I would leave time for the park, museums, zoo, and other field trips.

We used God's Design for Life in 1st grade. One of the books is about the human body. We supplemented with a human body Usborne encyclopedia and occasional Magic School Bus episodes.

I tried to comment on your blog, but I couldn't get past the "prove you're not a robot" part. Anyways, I loved your post. I'm craving cafe au lait and beignets!

We do five days unless something else is planned for Friday. We don't do all subjects every day. Grammar, spelling, & science are 3 days per week. We usually do something history-related every afternoon. Even though I make a daily schedule, overall I have a goal of what I want to accomplish during a week. I sometimes shuffle things around as needed.

Our report is up: Following Foundations

For both of my children, I only used a white board in the beginning and then gradually transitioned out of it. For my DS, I would write half the sentences on the board, and then he would read half from the book. Once we got to the point where he could start reading early readers, then I used those books as rewards for completing the OPGTR lesson directly from the book.

This is what I've used for kindergarten, and it has worked well for two children...... Sonlight Core A Sonlight Science A A Reason for Handwriting K Singapore Earlybird Math B (and then into Rod & Staff 1) Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading w/ appropriate level readers from Sonlight Explode the Code Evan-Moor's Beginning Geography Of all of the above, I consider science and geography extra and completely optional. The basics are math, phonics/reading, handwriting, and lots of good read-alouds.

I'll try to refrain from passing judgment about the woman's intelligence, but I do say that it's quite hard to believe that an adult doesn't know that bread is made is from wheat. However, I think that Sherlock Holmes would sympathize with the dear woman. :D In Doyle's first Sherlock novel, Dr. Watson is completely astounded that Holmes doesn't know the earth revolves around the sun. Here is Holmes's reply: "You see," he explained, "I consider a man's brain originally is like an empty attic, and you have to stock it with such furniture as you choose. A fool takes in all the lumber of every sort that he comes across, so the knowledge that might be useful to him gets crowded out, or at best is jumbled up with a lot of other things so that he has difficulty in laying his hands on it. Now the skilled workman is very careful indeed as to what he takes into his brain attic. He will have nothing but the tools which may help him in doing his work, but of these he has a large assortment, and all in the most perfect order. I is a mistake to think that that little room has elastic walls and can distend to any extent. Depend upon it there comes a time when for every addition of knowledge you forget something that you knew before. It is of the highest importance, therefore, not to have useless facts elbowing out the useful ones."

Rivendell Sanctuary does the same thing, studying a subject for six weeks at a time.

We've used both God's Design for Life and God's Design for Heaven & Earth. (We're starting the weather book of the H&E series next week.) We do just the beginner section of each lesson, which is very short and to the point. I supplement with Usborne science encyclopedias and similar books, as well as any relevant videos that we can fit in. After I read the lesson, I find the same topic in the Usborne book and read that. We only do some of the activities. Some of them can be kinda crafty, and I don't really care for those. Some of the worksheets are okay, but most of them are more appropriate for upper grammar. I think the AIG series is a nice spine that can be easily supplemented. We've really enjoyed it, and my DD has learned a lot. We started notebooking this year, and I found it easy to implement that into our science. That said, next year we're going to try Apologia. I need to combine my 3rd grader and 1st grader, and I think the Chemistry series would go right over their heads--especially the 1st grader. (The chemistry & physics series start at grade 3.) Even if I could simplify it, they would probably be more interested in bugs than the periodic table. :)

We're up! Following Foundations

My DD rarely holds her paper with her left hand, and it drives me nuts! I keep telling her that when she doesn't hold her paper that her writing hand has to use more pressure to keep the paper from moving. Also, she will never be able to write quickly like that. I'm constantly saying, "Hold your paper, please!" I don't know if I'll ever break her of the habit.

Here's what I'm working on: Grade 3: MATH: Rod & Staff (finish 3, start 4), Singapore 3 LANGUAGE ARTS: AAS 5-6, FLL3, WWE3, A Reason for Handwriting (cursive) LATIN: Latina Christiana I HISTORY/GEOGRAPHY: TOG Yr 3 LITERATURE: TOG + selections from VP READING: May try CLE...not sure what level BIBLE: Explorer's Bible Study Beginnings II(New Testament) SCIENCE: not sure...need to combine with 1st grader...maybe Sonlight MUSIC/ART: Harmony Fine Arts Grade 3+ Piano

I got something up: Following Foundations

We're up! Following Foundations

Short and sweet: Following Foundations

Our first weekly report since Thanksgiving: Following Foundations

Music--piano, guitar, and vocal.

Oh my word! Funny thing is that I've had dreams about that sort of thing happening--a bunch a people in my house like they live there. I scream at them to get out of my house, and they all act oblivious. It's a nightmare!

I'm sure what kids see/hear at school will to some extent depend on their circle of friends. I had a rather small group of friends throughout jr high and high school, and I never witnessed any crude acts in the hallway or anywhere else, in school or out of school. Of course, I occasionally heard about certain things, but it was all very far removed from me. I was never even offered alcohol in school. Now that I'm on facebook, I occasionally see old classmates reminiscing about their drinking parties. Who knew?! The first time, and only time, someone offered me marijuana was when I was in grad school. I'm sure I'm the exception rather than the rule. My point is that it is possible to be clueless about what's going on. I just had no interest in doing illegal or stupid things, and I chose friends who felt the same way. Of course, that was over 20 years ago....

Total Truth by Nancy Pearcey

Just an FYI: I don't think the SL readers coincide with the core until Core D.

Isn't borrowing or "renaming" covered in 2A? I know it is in the US version.