someone commented that the LFC dvd had only small children. I think mine is the newest version and it has a girl who is about 15 or 16 leading a group of elementary age students. Not great at working this board thing yet so I didn't manage to get the quote in here but for the person who asked about Greek resources have you tried Classical Academic Press? I think the Greek for Children looks pretty good. We're just doing the Code Cracker for the alphabet now but planned to move on to that later and their website is pretty good.

I haven't checked out the Latin Alive curriculum because we are starting so young but I will say I think the LFC is quite challenging. I didn't take Latin in school so I'm learning it right along with DD. We're only on lesson 3 but it's pretty intense. It's presented in a fun, light-hearted way but it's certainly not easy. I can't imagine starting with anything more difficult than this,

Here are some ideas/thoughts based on what we're doing... We use Apologia Human Anatomy and really like it. My daughter is only 6 but reads on a high school level so she's somewhat writing resistant too. The journaling notebook is great...sometimes I let her answer the questions orally and write them in for her. There is a lot of content so it's not a breeze through kind of book. (dd read the whole story of the world history book in a few days but the science book she only reads a few pages at a time because it's so content rich) As for Latin, we did Song School Latin (probably too easy for 12 yo), then Prima Latina (writing intensive and a bit dull) and now are on Latin For Children from Classical Academic Press. I would recommend it highly. Get the DVD, student book & activity book. The writing is minimal per lesson in the student book and the activity book makes the writing fun (crossword puzzles, matching games, etc). We've only been doing this a few weeks now but so far dd loves it...she now asks if we can do Latin first every day. You didn't say what math curriculum you are using but have you tried math-u-see? It's self paced and emphasizes being able to do problems in your head as well as on paper. We like it and are moving through it rather quickly (finished Alpha, Beta & 1/2 of Gamma over the last year and a half).

My dd6 and I started Latin when she was about 3 1/2 with Song School Latin. Because her writing wasn't very good at that time we learned the song each week first then did the workbook together. We took our time probably averaging 2 weeks per lesson. When she finished her writing was better but I didn't think she was ready for Latin for Children so we did Prima Latina. It was great because it it reinforced grammar concepts and covered a lot of derivatives but wasn't very fun for her. We just start LFC from Classical Academic Press 2 weeks ago after finishing Prima Latina and she is excited about Latin again. We're doing it together as a family and it's fun and engaging but challenging (especially for grown-ups whose memories aren't as good as our 6 year old :)).

DD6 told me she would have to be chewing with her cuspids and molars for a while because her lose tooth was hurting. After reading a book on butterflies she was drying off with a towel around her after a shower and told me she was in her chrysalis and she was puppating (not sure about spelling since she read the book not me!)

I'm not sure there is an exact age for learning self-control but I don't think it's every too early to start discussing it. I have a very emotionally intense 6 year old (she cries about everything!) and we've been talking and helping her develop self-control as long as I can remember. We frequently discuss the fact that it's okay to feel like crying because we told you to go to bed but it's not okay to be led by those emotions and/or throw a fit. Emotions are fine as long as they are controlled...we often discuss with her the fact that if her emotions are controlling her she won't make wise decisions. This is a topic that we have to address multiple times per day at our house but we've seen some improvement on her part over the last few months where we can "see" her desire to cry but controlling herself. We are a Bible teaching home and two of the resources we've used to help shape our family plan for how to deal with her emotions are Shepherding a Child's Heart by Tedd Tripp and The Heart of Anger by Lou Priolo. I'm sure if you are a secular home there are similar resources for dealing with self-control.

Your son sounds a lot like my daughter. I felt about the same way you did when she was 3, now she's 6 and it's still a bit overwhelming. Here's what I did at that age. We did short 10 - 30 minute lesson sessions a few times per day. My husband and I have our own business and she would come to the office with me. We would do lessons right when we arrived and then she would play well by her self for a few hours until the next session. (I found if I made her work first she was less bored/destructive during her free time). We did: Explode the Code (I didn't know about Ordinary Parent's Guide then but would probably use both if I had because of the visual learning and funny sentences in ETC) Handwriting without Tears - her handwriting is not great but this helped us move from horrible to decent Math - we used Horizons K at that age and neither of us liked it and she didn't learn much. We switched to math u see and loved it. At that age Primer would be appropriate and the blocks provide hours of "free play" time that's not destructive! (we've been through mus Alpha, Beta and are half way through Gamma and both love it) In addition to this we did Bible lessons and lots of reading together. By the time she was 4 she could read pretty much any children's book and last summer at 5 she was reading the Chronicles of Narnia (the entire series in 2 weeks). It was around this time I realized public school was probably never going to be a good idea for her. At 4 1/2 or so we added Song School Latin at 5 we did Prima Latina which we finished and this year switched to Latin For Children (she likes that a lot better) and added Classical Academic Press' Code Cracker book for learning the Greek Alphabet. Around 4 1/2 we also added Spellwell (which we later discontinued because she always got all the answers right on the pre-test), SOTW 1(by far her favorite subject), Daily Grams 2nd grade grammar, FLL1 and WWE1 were recently completed and we skipped year 2 and just started FLL2 & WWE3. We also recently started the MCT curriculum Grammar Island after reading about it on here and she really likes it. We also started Apologia Astronomy then after reading well trained mind decided to stop Astronomy and switch to Apologia Human Anatomy which we're still slowly working through. Although this sounds like a lot....we probably "do school" on average about 2 - 3 hours per day at most now. She reads on her own for another hour or so usually without being told to do it.

The only thing we did before about 15 months was sign language. We taught our daughter a few key signs (things like more, milk, change, sleepy, etc) so that even before she could talk (which was very early) she could communicate. Other than that we just played and did normal toddler stuff like saying "what does the cow say", counting as we put things away, and reading to her a lot and making sure that we spoke to her the same way we spoke to adults to build her vocabulary. At 15 to 18 months (can't remember exactly when we started) I started teaching the letters and sounds and we watched the Letter Factory video. We watched little to no tv and still to this day don't but the leap frog videos were an exception we made. She loved walking around singing "the a says ah...the a says ah...every letter makes a sound the a says a."

You can also use MUS curriculum without writing. The primer has a lot of coloring and minimal writing. I started it with my daughter after already completing K Horizon Math so we originally started with Beta. Because MUS emphasizes being able to do the math in your head and I really liked the teaching methods I ended up going on ebay and buying an old Intro to Math VCR tape so we could review the Alpha lessons (without shelling out $65 for the new materials) and have a better foundation. I love that MUS gently introduces algebra and solving for the unknown even in Alpha & Beta. I think it's great for all children.

dd6 to someone who askedif the cheese she was eating was yummy for her tummy. "yes, but it's not in my tummy yet, it has to go through my esophagus first.."

This made me lol....sounds a conversation I would have with my 6yo daughter.

I can only answer this from my perspective as a mom of an accelerated daughter who just turned 6. I have found that she seems to be thinking through the logic of things and asking LOTS of questions that deal with the how and why of things and has been for several years. In the last week at her prompting we've discussed who created God, why Daniel wasn't in the fire with the 3 Hebrew boys since he surely wouldn't have bowed to the king either, why water doesn't have protein or carbohydrates, why Alexander the Great's soldiers were willing to fight to the death, whether or not Judas betraying Jesus was a good thing because we really needed Jesus to die on the cross for ours sins....all day long she comes to be with "you know mommy, I've been thinking" followed by things like counting by 4's is like counting by two's but just twice as fast and other random things I haven't taught her. All of that being said, I think it still takes a certain amount of time to get through the "grammar" of some things like Math & Latin for example. She might be able to read the Latin curriculum and understand it in a week if I let her but I'm not sure she could "learn" or memorize all her vocabulary without spending some time working on it. I struggle with making sure I balance moving fast enough to challenge her with developing the discipline of putting forth the effort required to "study" a subject.

You might check in to MUS primer program. I didn't discover MUS until we were already in K math but several friends are using it informally with 3 and 4 year olds and the blocks seem to provide hours of entertainment after the 5 min. of formal lesson is over. We started MUS on the alpha level when my daughter was 5 and she spent hours playing with the blocks on her own.

Similar to another post above we normally go to library once a week or at least every other week and take home a bag full of books. I normally get either the suggested reading from the SOTW activity book or other books non-fiction books on the subject we're studying. I try to grab a biography (if there's not one that goes with history I just pick something that looks interesting...dd has really enjoyed some we've picked up on famous composers and artists). I also try to mix in classic books, fairy tales, poetry, etc. I let her read easy books while we are in the library (she can read pretty much anything but still loves the easy books) and then let her pick several fiction books on her own. She likes series (finished all Magic Tree House, Chronicles or Narnia, etc) and usually that's what she picks. I have to force her to read the non-fiction but she generally enjoys it once she gets in to the book. I don't keep records except in the summer when they have reading clubs at the library because she likes getting the free prizes.

We started have completed Song School Latin and now are just about done with Prima Latina. I liked both programs and am debating whether to move to Latina Christiana or Latin for Children next. Would love to hear some pros/cons of each program and why some of you have chosen one or the other.

After reading lots of glowing endorsements for the MCT curriculum I'm considering adding it to what I'm already doing with my recently turned 6 year old dd who needs more of a challenge. My question is whether the teacher books are essential or if the student books cover the material sufficiently. The cost for all the teacher/student books for the first level is over $200 and I hate to spend that and then realize it's too easy and the teacher books are unnecessary.

I'm looking for input on what level standardized test to order. Our local homeschool store administers the Iowa test. 2 years ago we did the Kindergarten level when my daughter was 4. It was a waste of time (since she could read and the test requires the administrator to read it to you she was frustrated and bored). I skipped last year but was thinking of testing this year and can't decide what grade test to order. Should I order the grade she should be in (1st in private school...K in public school since she just turned 6 last month) or the grade level she's working on....or should I just skip the testing all together. Quick overview of where we are: She turned 6 last month but reads on a high school level. We have almost completed portions of a 2nd grade grammar book (daily grams by Easy Grammar). We are half way through with MUS Gamma (which I think is loosely equivalent to 2nd or 3rd grade).

I don't find myself having to teach much either. I would agree that it is more facilitation or maybe accountability. DD could do everything herself but she wouldn't if I wasn't near by to make sure she stays on task. I guess I'm teaching her to be disciplined/stay on task but pretty much everything else she teaches herself.

Thanks for the suggestion. I decided against Shurley books because I didn't really feel my dd needed so much review per concept and the books are so expensive but never even considered buying just the jingles. My dd loves to sing and make up songs so this is a perfect suggestion for her. I'm going to pick it up right away. LFC is Latin for Children right? How do you like the program? I used Song School Latin then Prima Latina (because she was only 4 when we finished Song School and wasn't ready for LFC). Now I find I liked both programs and am having trouble deciding where to go from here.

This is great advice. Thanks for sharing. I actually just posted on another thread about how akward it is when people ask us what grade my daughter is in and she blurts out "I just finished my 2nd grade grammar book" and the person I'm talking to has a 1st or 2nd grader 3 years older than her. I'm going to teach her to respond this way. As for the moving up classes issue....I am in charge of children's church at my church which is small (somewhere between 10 - 20 kids max on a Sunday). Of those kids we have 2 five year olds and my daughter who are homeschooled/afterschooled and therefore ahead of the others in reading and writing ability. We've addressed this by splitting in to 3 groups PreK before they can read. K-2nd for the one's who can read and 3rd -6th for the older kids. I keep my daughter in the middle group even though she can do the lessons the older kids do because of the peer age group and because I think it's good for kids sometimes to build confidence by having easy mastery of a subject. I often get copies of the worksheets that are more difficult from the older group's class and she does them independantly during the week and we discuss them.

It's not just the posting thing that is hard to decide on. I actually find myself avoiding answering when people ask what grade my dd is in. She just turned 6 and we are probably about done with 3rd grade but I usually give a fuzzy answer when people inquire..something like "we're on difference levels with different subjects which is a benefit of homeschooling". She's never been to school so the "grade" concept is just now coming up with her because friends at church have started school. Now I can't avoid it because when friends ask what grade she's in she's started answering with things like "oh, I just finished all my second grade grammar lessons". Always akward when you're talking to someone child is older! Out of curiousity...to the person who posted that MCT (sp?) curriculum was a disaster this year do you mind sharing why? Someone recently recommended it and I was about to check it out but would appreciate your feedback before I do.

Thanks for all the suggestions! You've given me a lot to think about. @Bird Girl Thank you for the suggestions. She read A LOT of classic literature but at this point we just discuss it and I haven't done any formal lessons after reading but I might check in to that. I really like the structure of the FFL and WWE but I appreciate all the ideas for "flying" through it. @abbeyej Yes, the Latin, pre-logic & Geography are working great. She also loves Story of the World. History is her favorite subject and she's become somewhat of an expert on Greek and Roman mythology. I do like MUS and did some supplementation this year with a Singapore book but probably the level of Singapore was too easy because I don't recall there being many word problems. Do most of you find MUS too easy or something? There are word problems in every one of the lessons we use and she likes the tips and tricks shared on the DVD so I guess I'm wondering what we might be missing out on because the only other curriculum we used for math was Horizon K before we started MUS and we both hated that one. As for the spelling...thanks for telling me about your experience. I've been considering dropping it for a while but feeling obligated to keep it because others say it's important. I've switched curriculum 3 x's. We started with SpellWell and she never spelled any words wrong on the pretest...we tried A Reason for Spelling...same experience and lots of busywork/phonics review then finally settled on the Spelling Workout because I thought at least the proofreading was giving her some benefit and she liked it but we have been covering 3 or 4 lessons per week. If the new book goes as quickly I'll take your advice and just drop it.

I'm hoping for some advice from more experienced homeschoolers..and appreciative that this forum exists where I can ask for advice! I have a daughter who turned 6 last month whom I've been homeschooling since she was 3 1/2. I'm at the end of WWE and year one of FLL and I'm trying to decide whether to skip ahead or just work through the next year more quickly. Here's an overview of where we are/what we currently do: We're almost done with book 8 of ETC. She reads on a high school level and has been doing so for well over a year now. (last summer she read all of the Narnia books in about 2 weeks). I felt obligated to finish the curriculum to make sure we didn't miss any phonics rules even though she is reading so well. Her reading comprehension is also excellent. She doesn't require much actual instruction on my part...she is capable of doing most, if not all, of her schoolwork by herself. Of course, because she's 6 she still needs me to make her do it....but not necessarily to explain things to her. In addition to WWE & FLL we do Easy Grammar Daily Grams Grade 2 for basic Grammar Rules. We're almost done with it as well. All three of these books seemed relatively easy for her and we were half way through the Daily Grams before starting the WWE, FLL so they were especially easy for her. Again...I did them anyway because I didn't want to miss any basics. Spelling Workout - 2 lessons left in book C (she's only missed 1 pre-test word in the entire book) Prima Latina - almost done with book Story of the World Year 1 Kay Arthur How to Study the Bible for Yourself (she does this by herself with little or no help from me...I just check it) Math-u-see Gamma - started in January...breezing through it Apologia Human Anatomy & Physiology - going through very slow because there is a lot of content and mommy's not so good at getting all the necessary experiment stuff together and it keeps getting put off We also go Geography Songs memory work & Mind Benders Sorry to be so long-winded but wanted to provide as much background as possible. The decision I'm struggling with now is whether to skip certain things (like FLL & WWE 2) to move ahead a year or two to get to a level that's more challenging or if I should just keep going through the stuff that's really easy for her and move through more quickly. Any advice/opinions would be appreciated.

Have you tried Math u See? I used Horizon K with my daughter and she really didn't like it and didn't learn much. (I found it to be a little boring too). Someone told me about Math u see and now math is one of her favorite subjects. The blocks/manipulatives have become one of her favorite toys to play with. She spends time playing with them on her own after we're done with her lessons for the day. I spent more time than I would like to admit trying to get her to memorize her addition facts with the Horizon book and a CD I bought for her to sing the facts and we got nowhere. She watched the DVD with the MUS curriculum and had them down in a week. There are worksheets to use with each lesson but we don't always use all of them. If she seems to "get it" we skip to the test. If not, we spend more time playing with blocks. Overall we've reduced the time we spend on math by about 75% and she's increased her retention of the material dramatically.

I have a daughter who turns 5 Friday. I wasn't in a hurry to start formal curriculum either but she was eager to learn so we started over a year ago with a few things. I used explode the code for phonics and handwriting without tears. Both are easy to use for the parent and the child and don't take much prep time. We spent about 10 or 15 minutes each day on those for several months before tackling anything very formal. Later we added Song School Latin and Horizon math (which both she and I didn't care for at all). We've since switched to Math u See which we really prefer. We skipped the Primer because we were done with Horizon K already but the Primer is a great intro to math. My daugher absolutely loves playing with the blocks. This is a long winded post but basically I would say if you feel he is ready start with phonics and handwriting and just move as fast as he seems ready to go. We are now on mostly first grade curriculum and spend about 2 hrs total per day (which still leaves more than enough free/play time) on schoolwork.