I'm wondering if you also got the extra Worksheet book. We have used them throughout. The worksheets are just extra work for specific lessons. They just help cement the idea. Hope that helped a bit. Marsha

I thought the Kingfisher History Encyclopedia was no longer in print, though you may be able to find it on e-bay. But for the record, we use the Kingfisher and I like it. :001_smile: Marsha SC

This year I finally figured out how we can finish a book in year. At least, it will work for us with the way we do history. We do a little history every day. We are trying out a four-day school schedule for the core subjects, so history looks like this: Tuesday-read first section of chapter, write narration Wednesday-read second section of chapter, write narration Thursday-(if there are no other sections)do map work, read in Kingfisher History Encyclopedia Friday-take test If there is a third section (we are in Book II, so there are not that many with more than two sections), then we push the map work, etc. to the test day and do it all at once. We choose one extra reading book, per chapter, and do that as reading. We alternate the reading book list in TWTM with a history book. My girls have always finished their reading lists early, so this should help spread out their reading until the end of the school year. We just completed week three of our school year and so far this schedule is working wonderfully! Hope that helps. Marsha

We have used R&S our entire time homeschooling (oldest will be in 6th). I love it; my oldest hates it. But, that being said, she knows so much! Every year they cover the same topics, but dive deeper into them. The repetition is great. We use the worksheets and the test booklets too. Hope that helps somewhat. Marsha

I have an Excell spreadsheet, one for each month, for each child. I create a folder for each school year. I tend to plan out at least two weeks, so I can order books from the library to have them when I want them. Our girls are free to pick any books they want for fun reading. My spreadsheet has the date on the left, the subject and what is done in the middle, then I also keep record of how long it takes to accomplish each task. The time is for me. If either of them is taking more than an hour to do a subject, then we need to change something. Math is the easiest, for us, to plan. We use ABeka; they complete a lesson a day (no skipping of anything!). They will either have a lesson with a drill, or a quiz with a lesson. Tests are their own lesson number, so they are done by themselves. Spelling is a little harder. Note: We are going to try something new this year, so this is untested. I hope they will do a pretest and write definitions on day one. Day two will be the first two pages (we use Spelling Workout) of the lesson. Day three will be SpellingCity.com and the third page. Fourth day will be the fourth page and a test. I am hoping this will work, but honestly I won't know until we start in a couple of weeks. We are going to a 4-day school week this year. Other subjects are trickier. When I first started homeschooling I made a spreadsheet of what I wanted each child to do in each of their subjects. I referred to it often (daily) to remind myself. Just focus on what you want them to accomplish, make a list, then see how it works. Good luck! Marsha

I suppose this is why my friends call me "the mean mom". I started giving my girls tests in kindergarten (spelling and math). One of the few things my husband was worried about was making sure, even though we homeschooled, our girls could face something like a test without stressing. Our oldest will be in 6th next year, and does not even flinch when a test is mentioned. Marsha

My youngest daughter was the same way in Kindergarten. She would write with her left, then eat with her right. Now, at eight (almost nine) she writes with her left, and eats with her right. In taekwondo, she dominates on the right side, but some kicks are better with the left. When she crotches, it is with her left hand. In tennis, she prefers to be right handed...mostly. She works with both sides. We call her a lefty, but she is more than that. She is herself. Let them decided what is more comfortable. They will be happier in the long run. Marsha

Oh! Books!! I loved the Benedict series (can't wait to read the newest, that I picked up from the library yesterday!) Savvy (and its follow-up Scumble); I made my oldest read it for school and she loved it so much she bought herself a copy and waited anxiously until Scumble came out last summer. The Narnia Series (in order, as he intended) ;) There are so many more books to read! Marsha

We, our 2 dds and myself, teach/take taekwondo twice a week. But lately I've wanted to add more (beside general outside play). Recently, I've added "field day" on Fridays. We are learning tennis, playing kick ball with some of our group members, and whatever else I come up with. Now, we'll have three days where we are doing something a little more formal. Marsha

We schedule school around DH too. He is off every other Monday and works the first weekend every month. He also gets a good bit of vacation days, that he spreads around. We take all of those days off, unless we have something scheduled with our HS groups. We also have school one day during the weekend he works, but we just do the core subjects. :) Marsha

We are not religious types, but I've always taught our children about different religions. We've used R&S English since the beginning. Now, our oldest dd is going into 6th grade. She now knows, from practice, Biblical names and places. She is now helping her sister (a rising 4th grader) to learn the same things. I think religion (those that are not your own) is its own subject. In time, you begin to understand the other point of view and you recognize things that are not "normal" to you. Doesn't mean you agree or disagree, it just means the student is growing. :thumbup: Marsha SC

For my oldest, it was the book Savvy. She loved it so much she saved her allowance to buy herself a copy. She did the same thing when the second book, Scumble, came out. Marsha

I always like looking at EducationalLearningGames.com. SO many choices! Shapes Up! is one of my favs. My girls love 10 Days in the US and any of the Professor Noggin games. Have fun searching! Marsha

We went to the zoo for fun on Monday (DH was off), then our oldest developed a double ear infection along with a sinus infection. I just couldn't bring myself to make her do work. :001_smile: Marsha

We have used Spelling Workout since we started homeschooling. We like it. I are now in G and E. I have found they spell better than I do. :lol: Your schedule looks a lot like ours did then. I think you did a good job. Enjoy it! Marsha

I found out very early, in the education of my girls, that neither of them retain anything I read outloud to them, at least not history. Storytime is a totally different thing. ;) My girls are two years apart also. They way I did it when they were younger is I would give one (usually my oldest) a subject she could do by herself (reading usually), while I did math with my youngest. So, I would have one child do an "easy" subject (easy for that child), while doing a subject with the other child that required my help. It is a difficult when you have two that close together, accelerated or not. Trust me though the difficulty will pass. My girls are now ten and eight and can do many things on their own. They come to me with drills and questions. I still feel pulled in different directions some days, but it is much better now. Marsha

My girls are ten and eight and use RS. They love it! I don't worry so much about how many lessons they learn. They spend twenty minutes a day (on the days it is scheduled). They learn at their own pace. Each one is at a different lesson, but they are both learning. Our oldest even spoke Spanish the other day to our waiter at our favorite Mexican restaurant. She had been too scared to do it in the past, but that night it just came out of her. :) He even added a new word to her Spanish vocabulary! We are not doing the worksheets or tests. I plan on having them go back through the program again after they complete all the years, to do the writing portions. By then they will be comfortable with the language, which should make the writing part come easier. Kind of the way they learned English. Marsha

Farkle is good for adding three- and four-digit numbers. We just discovered this one and my girls love it! I love Shapes Up! though it is not really a "math" game, but more like a geometry. The shapes have to fit and not go "off" the board. Yahtzee! of course is great! Marsha

My girls take the test for every chapter. I even grade them and the average goes on their report card. :001_smile: They started SOTW when they were in first grade, so for the fill in the blanks I would write the words (in random order, of course) on the white board. They also have notes they read for every chapter. They review the notes before they begin their history lesson for the day. And yes, we do history daily. It took me a long time to find a schedule for SOTW that works for us. I love SOTW; I have learned so much I never knew. I always wondered where Mesopotamia was. lol Marsha

I have given books at Christmas and for birthdays. We gave my nephew "Tales from the Odyssey Book One The One-Eyed Giant" by Mary Pope Osborne. We also gave my niece "A Hundred Dresses" by Eleanor Estes. My own children have been given many books. They love the Classic Starts series. "Savvy" by Ingrid Law is very much loved by my oldest. She read it for school, from the library, then used birthday money to purchase a copy for herself then bought the second in the series, "Scumble". I would not call it a sequel but it deals with the same family. I think it is a wonderful idea. Marsha

We tend to have school here when my husband is at work. Half the time he works four days a week, and the other he works five days. Then he has one weekend a month where he works the entire weekend; we tend to have school on those days too. It is crazy and sometimes difficult to keep up with, but it generally works better this way. ;) Marsha

We do a bit more. We take the pre-test (with all the list words) and do the first work page on day one. Day two my girls will write out the list word with the definition (they start this in level E). The third day they do SpellingCity.com. They love it and they get extra practice with thier list words. My oldest does the third and fourth page together then the test the following day. My youngest does the third page one day then the next day she will do page four of the lesson and the test. Hope that helps, though I admit it was a bit late. ;) Marsha

I really try to go by the reading list in TWTM. I sometimes have a problem finding the exact book, but if I can find something similar I'll use it. My girls have enjoyed some of the reading, and could have done without some books. :001_smile: That in itself is a life lesson. We also add in one book to each chapter of SOTW from the extra reading from the list. Those books come down to what I can find through our library. If I cannot find any of the books suggested, then we just go on with our schedule. Marsha

I noticed this morning, while my girls and I were grocery shopping, my youngest was walking down the aisle with her hand up. My oldest and I were talking, so I think she did not want to interrupt. I thought it was cute and very polite. Of course, probably, a little funny looking to on-lookers. :001_smile: Marsha

With that said, I still love R&S English! My girls have learned so much. If you ask my girls if they "like" R&S they will be the first to say no. But they also realize how much they know versus PSers. The thought behind our homeschooling is to give our girls the best education we can. I, personally, feel R&S does that with their English books. Yes, it can be slow. I like slow. They have the chance to master a concept before moving on. I also like how each year the same concepts are gone over again, but a little deeper each time. My opinion is go for it. Yes, it is religious and farm focused, but sometimes it leads us into conversations we would never had with another curriculum. Marsha