How teacher intensive are these?

I just did the math. I would take 125 sheets/folders per timeline book, x 20 kids. I don't think I can feasibly do that many by hand. :(

I grew up in South Carolina. I can't hear a difference in most words either. Red vs rid is one that I do hear it in - can you hear that?

THANKS!!

Off to check - thanks!

Some friends & I are getting together next year with our families to flesh out CC memory work. One of the things we would like to do is have each kid make their own timeline book. We would love something that fanfolds up, so that you can stretch it out at home to really see the passage of time, and yet can be brought to the co-op and taken back home easily, maybe in a 3 ring binder. We will probably have 20-30 kids, so we can't easily make one per kid if it is complicated. Is there such thing on the market as a timeline that is both usable in a binder, AND can be stretched out across the floor? Remember that old timey printer paper that came connected from one page to the next? I am thinking of something like that, but 3 holepunched so it could go in a binder, and already printed with lines & dates on it.

That was my initial thought. Glad I read through the linked posts!!!

We are doing CC as well. The Latin in Foundations is NOT extensive at all. We learned it easily using the songs on the CC disk. You don't need to do Latin at home to keep up at all. We are doing Spanish at home, b/c I want them to get the accent while they are young enough to acquire a good one. We'll add Latin later, when they are old enough to get more benefit from it. If I were you, I would choose Latin vs. Spanish based on what you feel is more in line with your goals for your kids. CC is just a supplement. Don't feel like you need to change your homeschool around it.

This came through our local homeschool loop: "Politics aside, Ron Paul is creating a home school curriculum that from k-5 will be free then a fee side for 6-12, very nominal at $250. It will go live in Sept 2013 and is web based. I know we home school parents tend to try stuff out often to find what works for us." ... "Based on what I have read about this one, it seems to be pretty old school in focus, which isn't so bad and covers economics and original source documentation on teaching history!" http://www.ronpaulcu...public/main.cfm Anyone heard of this? Thoughts?

That was my question - where it would fit in the WWE sequence skill-wise. Based on this, http://peacehillpress.com/curriculum-guides/curriculum-map.html WWE1 is for 1st & 2nd, WWE2 is for 2nd & 3rd, and WWE3 for 3rd & 4th, Since IEW BH is billed as being for 2nd grade on, I am guessing that the placement would be between WWE1 & WWE2?

I *think* it is meant to be used after their PAL reading / writing, but before their regular IEW program, so it would be stand alone.

WOW! Lots of suggestions - THANKS!!!

For anyone considering Atelier for next year, it is on at HSBC right now. https://www.homeschoolbuyersco-op.org/atelier/?c=1 In my prior lifetime, I was a CPA, and I have the art skills that one would expect of a CPA (that is to say, NONE). Even I can do Atelier! I do it right along with the kids, and I am so proud of the projects we have done - they are beautiful!! Assuming you gather all the recommended supplies when you purchase the product, there is no prep - just pop the DVD in and let her teach! If you aren't sure what level, go with the lower level. My young 7 year olds & almost 6 year old loved Level 1 last summer.

Is there such thing as a very basic physics curriculum for elementary age kids? My son in particular is ALWAYS asking me physics-type questions, and I never know the answers. We look it up, but I am thinking that would be a great thing to schedule for science next year if I could find an age-appropriate resource.

Has anybody seen IEW's new "Bible Heroes" program for K-2nd graders? I *think* it's aimed at kids who are past PAL, but not yet ready for the regular IEW products. Reviews? Comparison to WWE1 & 2 in terms of difficulty? In terms of content? http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/bh

My kids heard about slavery first at Sunday School when they were preschoolers (Israelites being slaves of the Egyptians). They came home talking about it, and said "that was a really really really long time ago - so glad we didn't live then", and so I explained at that point that not nearly so long ago, we had had slavery in America. So we started talking about it when they were very young!

My 2nd grade plans: language arts: spelling - All About Spelling (continuing series) grammar - First Language Lessons 2 writing - Writing With Ease 1 handwriting - Handwriting WithOut Tears readalouds - Ambleside Online book list (to be honest, though, it's really more listen to audio stories than readaloud!) math: Math Mammoth Miquon memory work: Classical Conversations (solidifying timeline & math over summer, and Cycle 2 in co-op from Sept to Apr) AWANA (Sept-Apr) or catechism (summer) other: history - Story of the World V2 (activities on Fridays with friends) Spanish - Rosetta Stone Still trying to find my groove with science - that's been a real stumbling block for me. I am also hoping to be more consistent with: - geography - nature study - art - Atelier - artist of the month - composer of the month - habit of the month - teaching more basic life skills (cooking, cleaning, etc.) And I hope to get typing started. (A girl can dream, right?)

I have one kid who definitely has a learning problem (as yet unlabeled), and one who is just a little slow. My rule for myself (in every subject) has been every time we get to something we hate / can't do, we go back to where it was easy and start again. While you are searching for other answers as to what else may be going on, I would be tempted to go back through WWE1 & WWE2 and do all the narrations from beginning to end. I wouldn't do the parts that she has already done and didn't struggle with, but just do the applicable lessons. Hopefully, having been all the way through WWE2, the narrations at the beginning of WWE1 will now be easy. Starting back at that easy point, for my kids anyway, rebuilds the confidence and allows them to begin trying again without the self-confidence hurdle being in the way. (Sometimes thinking they can't do it becomes the biggest obstacle in itself.) Prove they can do it with the easy stuff, and slowly work into the harder stuff. You still need to be investigating if there are other challenges, but in the meantime, this will give you a way to keep working on the needed skills until you get some answers about another way to move forward. My kids don't ever ask, but maybe an 11yo would be more concerned about why they are moving backward? Be prepared to explain "we are just doing easy stuff for the summer" or something like that.

I didn't vote, b/c we are struggling too. I have BFSU (Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding). In theory, I love it. Absolutely solid, and it is the perfect rigorous program I want for my kids. Practically speaking, though, it just isn't open-and-go enough to get done on a regular basis.

We decided to use BiblioPlan this year with SOTW Ancients, because I wanted to really tie in the Bible to history. I was not at all confident about trying to do that myself, because I came through public school where all mentions of anything religious were excluded. For example, I had no idea that the Crusades had anything to do with religion. I thought it was just people fighting over land. That kind of stuff scares me - I have no idea what other holes there are in my own knowledge, and knowing that SOTW is basically secular, I didn't want my kids to have those same holes. That being said, I found BiblioPlan to be just too too too much for us at this age. A quarter of the way through, we ditched it and went to straight SOTW. Along with the activity guide, it has been a WONDERFUL experience - way more interesting than anything I ever got in school!

That has been exactly our experience. I wasn't really sure about the whole "memory work out of context" thing, but doing the memory work separately hasn't been a problem at all. They make the connection so quickly when it comes up in our other studies, and the stuff we had previously worked with in CC seems to stick much more than the stuff we haven't seen in CC yet.

We have loved it. I bought Levels 1 & 2, and used Level 1 last year with my then-young 7 year olds, two 6 year olds, and a young 4 year old. The young 4 needed some support, but it was perfect for the others. My big kids have some minor fine motor delays, so based on my experience, I would say their age guidelines are pretty accurate. If you aren't sure, I would go with the lower end. *I* even enjoyed doing the Level 1 projects! My kids LOVED the lessons. And I loved the lessons too! If you gather all the stuff up front, it is very very easy, and they all come out with really good projects! Happily, there is enough structure & instruction for everyone to feel confident, but still some latitude for creativity. We are planning to do Level 2 this summer with the same crowd.

Get the newest - the curriculum recommendations are up-to-date. Other than that, there isn't much difference between the 2nd & 3rd editions.

Thank you thank you so much - this was so helpful!!!

We aren't Essentials age yet, so I can't answer that part. For Foundations, I think you have 3 options: 1 - dive right in and make it your focal point - for me, this would NOT be a good choice. The history especially moves very quickly. Also, I have my own things already going that I really like (like Story of the World). I wouldn't want to replace them just to keep up with CC. 2 - use it ONLY for memory work. This is what we do, and what most families at my campus do. We work hard on the memory work when we are in the car. That is pretty much the ONLY time we do anything CC-related outside of class day. If by chance I have time, I read a short book (5 minute picture type, like Let's Read & Find Out Science) about the memory work topic for history, science, and/or timeline. If I don't, oh well. We've still really benefited from the memory work. My kids get SO excited when we come across something in our regular school studies that they have already heard in CC! 3 - wallow somewhere in the middle, feeling torn. Most of these are folks who went in intending to do it all - fully flesh out the CC memory work, and fully do their own thing, and somehow coordinate it all. These folks end up resenting CC. You can't do it all. I think as long as you go in having thought out what you want out of it, and you actively make that happen, you will be just fine! This year, we chose to do subjects that overlapped what we were doing at CC (ancient history, and earth science), but I didn't attempt to line them up at all. We used the outside curricula as it was designed, with no regard whatsoever to CC. It worked beautifully.