Thanks. Any other ideas...anyone?

We're currently learning about the westward expansion and my kids are really enjoying it and realizing how tough life was for the early pioneers. I'd like to find a film I could show them to give them more of a window into what life was like then. My boys are 7 and 5 so it would have to be pretty tame, although I'm sure they would enjoy a bit of cowboy stuff too! We've just read Dandelions by Eve Bunting - anything like that (in film) would be ideal! Thanks

Anyone??!

I've read a couple of posts about doing ice excavation as a science experiment with kids - learning about the properties of ice, how it melts, what is preserved in it etc. I would love to do this for my kids but want to find out a little more on how to do it, what kinds of items to freeze in it, what questions to ask the kids when they're excavating. I've searched around blogs but all I can find is the type of fun preschool stuff where they've buried toys and that sort of thing. Any advice or links to blog posts welcome. Thanks - and happy new year! Julie

Thanks for the comments. What is SWOA?:001_huh:

DS1 is 6 and reading pretty well so I want to do some more formal spelling, grammar, handwriting with him. There seem to be so many great looking LA curricula out there but we're British so I'm not sure if they would be suitable for my ds (with the different spellings etc). Those of you who use British English, what do you use for language arts? Thanks!

Thanks for the link. I can't believe that's all there is though! Poor Holst - the Planets Suite is so good!

:iagree: I came across CSMP on this forum and we are loving it too! It really suits my ds who is much more language-oriented so loves the story format

Anyone???!

And it's not just books I would be interested in - websites too!

I'm doing a study on space with my 6yo son at the moment and I'd really like to include something about Holst's Planets Suite. Obviously we're mainly going to listen to the music but I would also love to include something about Holst himself (something fairly simple along the lines of Mike Venezia's books) or something that describes the music, the 'characters' of the planets Holst composed (ie that Mars is the god of war etc). Is there anything about Holst out there?? I've searched this forum, looked on loads of booklists and sites like Classics for Kids - but nothing! Thanks, Julie

Anyone know what CSMP is and where you get it? Sounds intriguing!:bigear:

Thanks for this. What is CSMP? I haven't heard of that. Where do you get it from?

Good to know that others have faced this!! Maybe I should look at Miquon?

My oldest ds (6 in two weeks time) has never enjoyed maths very much. He loves reading and learning languages and is very good at both. He has characteristics of a perfectionist and doesn't like doing things he finds more difficult (maybe all children are like this? Although my younger ds isn't as much as his brother). Up to now, math concepts haven't come naturally to him - we've done some 'living math' and about a fifth of Right Start A but the RS is a real struggle. He will do the lessons but things don't seem to 'click' for him. I admit that we've been a bit ad hoc about RS (with having a new baby) so that may not have helped. Do you think I should give RS more time and be more consistent about doing it regularly? Or should I look at something else and if so, what? I had wondered about Miquon. :confused:

I've attached pics of our circle time board. Wow, your circle time board is amazing! Thanks for sharing

I would highly recommend this http://www.amazon.com/Music-Little-Mozarts-Lesson-Book/dp/0882849662/ref=pd_bxgy_b_text_b I can't play the piano either but started off my ds at 5 with this book. It's meant for little children and takes them very slowly through learning the different notes. The only thing I couldn't do was play the teacher's accompaniment with him when he was playing the simple notes but that didn't detract from his learning. There is also a workbook to go with the lesson book which involves colouring exercises - not essential but is supposed to reinforce the lesson. My ds is now having lessons with a teacher and she has continued with book 2 with him as she thought the course was so good for little children.

Anyone??:bigear:

My oldest ds (nearly 6) loves using a phonics CD-ROM we have - it has fun but also useful activities that reinforce what he is learning. I would love to find something similar for French - either a CD or a website - but haven't done so far. Could anyone tell me if they've found anything like this? Thanks!

At Confessions of a Homeschooler, there is a free program called Discovering God's Animals, which matches up various animals to the countries they're found in http://www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com/blog/2010/08/expedition-earth-discovering-gods.html

Thanks for these ideas - especially like the free book!

Hi, I have a 5yo ds and would really like to start doing some memory work with him this year. I would like it to be a mix of 'useful things to know' (eg home telephone number), Scripture and possibly poems (if that's not hard). Can anyone give me some ideas of what they've used with kids of this age? Thanks, Julie

Having read various posts on this board, I'm pretty sure that we'd like to try Right Start A with my ds (5). Does anyone here from the UK know of any stockists or do you have to order it from the US? Also, is it worth buying the deluxe kit or just the standard kit? Thanks, Julie

I've had a look at Winter Promise's Hideaways in History program and while it looks great, I'm not sure I really want to spend the money on it for several reasons: 1. My ds is only 5 and I don't want such a time-intensive program at this stage; 2. The reviews for the set of books they use (Cleopatra's Coin etc) don't look that good and 3. We already have the Clever Castles and Cars book and do that kind of thing a lot so I think I could work out when to do those things myself. So, my question is if I were to make a simple K overview program myself looking at key events in world history (eg Greeks, Romans), can you recommend some interesting read-alouds (living books preferably) to go with it? Thanks, Julie

My 4 yo ds is crazy about cars, trains, planes etc etc and I'm thinking that I should capitalise on this and structure some of our learning around vehicles! I'm thinking things like simple work on forces and motion etc. Could anyone direct me to some good books for his age group and any ideas of vehicle-related topics we could look into? Thanks, Julie