This is it! Thanks. :)

Thank you! :)

Thank you for the offer! :) The Christianbook.com samples are okay, though.

I am thinking about something similar for my 4 yo this coming year. I know there is an alternative SL schedule for SL pre-K that a SL mom made up, which also adds in some workbooks and other things. There is a yahoo group for it but I lost the bookmark. I know there are some new books in the program since I heard about this, but that shouldn't be a big deal. Anyone know what I'm talking about? If not I'll start a new thread about it.

I'm tacking on to this thread to ask about HTTS-- do you know where I could see sample pages of this? To the OP-- I like AAS and am almost through level 2 with my first grader, who has a similar reading level to your dc. I am finding he is a better speller than I thought, as he is whizzing through the lessons and doesn't always want to bother with the tiles, but to do it on paper instead, and now is spelling words beyond the level of the lessons. I think he is starting to learn to spell through reading, from remembering what the words look like. Anyhow, as I look at buying levels 3-4 and then eventually 5 and 6 for $$, I am also wondering if it is worth it. I think I maya use it to teach my 4 yo to read, but again, I already have other resources that are much less expensive. :001_unsure::001_unsure:

:iagree: This is similar to what we do. In your situation, I might invite the 3 girls dd requested plus the kids in your new neighborhood... but since you feel awkward doing that, and aren't sure the new girls would show up, I'd try the above.

I don't budget yet but my kids are young. I do plan to start a budget this coming school year as I'd like to track my spending better and compare to what we would spend in private school. I know what I spent from curriculum publishers, but I haven't been tracking the other spending -- books, supplies, sports, field trips, games -- as well. I am fairly frugal but I have had to waste $ here and there, trying things out to figure out what my style is and what works. Though I guess that is not a "waste", then. ;)

I used SWR phonograms and OPGTR. I have all the ETC books but we have only done portions of them. Even though it may look like ETC teaches all the sounds, the books are missing a few sounds. I remember, for example, that they only address two of the sounds of ea, and I know there are others that are missing. It is fairly thorough, though. Oh, and I don't think it does as good of a job at multisyllable words as OPG does. In fact, I wished that OPG had a few more pages of that, but I just wrote words out in syllables, instead. Also, as others mentioned, the pace would have really held us back; maybe not the cse if you have one of those kids that loves to do page after page of workbooks.

Didn't the post on the SM forum say they would be able to get them this year, but not after that? It didn't make it sound like there was immediate danger of running out.

:iagree: Just what I was thinking. Lived in a small town for a few years, pre-homeschooling days, and it was hard unless you could figure out who were the "right" people, in the "right" church to get in with. You also mentioned you are introverted, at least I think you did. Could it be that you are hurt by these few people and are misinterpreting the vibes of others, or perhaps giving off "aloof" vibes yourself? It is possible that people know your name just because it is a small town and people talk, but not due to anything negative that was said about you. :grouphug:

I have Artistic Pursuits and like it very much. We have done some Draw Write Now as well. The problem with AP is that it doesn't get done! And it is very much open and go, just a little more expensive than some other things. Anyway, we are going to get through this book, just more slowly. I think the emphasis with this, and other early elem. programs I have seen, is just getting out different materials and letting the kids use them! So I vote for that (your #1 option) or #2 (also inexpensive and doable, in addition to getting out the watercolors and stamps now and then).

I wonder if this has something to do with the switch to Standards and the public school getting hold of this series. I hope no furthr dumbing down is going to occur. :( Didn't something similar happen with Saxon a number of years ago?

I think many insurance companies will ask what the SS# is of the primary cardholder, as a security measure for their end. That is what we have been told over the last few years by different doctors, that they do not need the numbers of me or the kids, only DH's because he is the one through which we have the insurance, and they need his # to bill the insurance co. This was also true when I went to the hospital and had the babies.

The home instructor's guide does suggest that you show them how later it will be written vertically, and briefly demonstrating the algorithm. But yes, I have him do all the problems horizontally. The HIG has many pages more, for reinforcement (with no pictures like the WB often has).

We are doing it like AO year one does -- two per week, all year through. I have referred back quite a few times to the fact that Aesop was a Greek. You are right, there are just so many great ones that I didn't want to miss any.

I recently got the Basic Plus on closeout. I'm also doing the free leg exercises that are on the site and youtube. I don't like the infomercial-ness of it all. It reminds me of the calisthenic/isometric workouts that used to be popular when I was growing up, pre-DVD days, so I don't think it's anything "new". But after a week, I have to say, I feel better and notice my posture more all through the day. When I'm walking at other times I try to keep in form and I think it helps. I can tell already that my pants are a little looser, but again, just like the hype on the tapes and website about losing inches, that happens anytime I do intensive target-toning with really good form. I think what's great about the T-Tapp is that she is really good at teaching and then constantly reinforcing the form so that you really push it. I may get the Total Workout but it's pricey so I'm waiting to see if I can stick with what I've got for a few weeks.

Do you mean "kid church" as in, kids are separated from parents during worship? Do you have a different hour that is Sunday School, then? I prefer families to attend service together. Our church does have kids church for kids through 5 or 6 years old. We haven't always participated and have encouraged our kids to stay with us, but sometimes they do go. They have a lesson and usually just a coloring page, but it is only during the sermon; for the first half of the service, all of the children are in with the congregation.

I thought the term especially referred to the idea that the US is special and particularly blessed by God, as SnowWhite said. I also associate it with those who speak of the Us being established as a Christian nation, which I do not agree with. Though I do believe God's hand is in history, I don't want a curriculum that tells me what God's plan for this or that event in history was, when history is not finished yet. ;) I find it presumptuous and going against the idea of learning to think for oneself.

I want to believe that WWE is enough. We are finishing up with level 1 with my first grader and will start level 2 with our new school year this summer. But a part of me just, I don't know....worries. That if he had to go to regular private school (something that might have to happen at some point for reasons I can't go into) he would not know what to do. I like the WWE philosophy, and yet... in my own experience, I wrote well enough by the high school level, AP'ed out of freshman English, took upper level English classes in college outside of my major, and only did a couple of years of grammar in Jr. high with no narration, copywork, etc. I think that the way I learned writing was closer to the SL way, so I know that WWE and grammar every single year is not the only way to build a strong writing foundation. I look at the writing in SL LA and it is soooo different from WWE! I DON'T want to do two different LA programs. But could I use SL for ideas for other kinds of writing? I don't just mean writing stories, but, for example, write a newspaper article about something in his history reading, or write a (very short) book report. Even back when I was in school, I remember writing a lot more than what is in WWE in 2nd-3rd grade. I was thinking we could do an assignment maybe every two weeks? Are there any other resources that would provide a supplement like this? I saw Just Write by EPS publishing; has anyone tried that? You're welcome to tell me that I'm worrying needlessly, or alternatively, that I'm not the only one who has this nagging fear. Or if there are those who have had their children go through a WTM approach to writing through 8th grade with great results, I'd love to hear that, too! :)

Yep. But the same is true of every hs mag I've ever read.

I am using Apologia Zoo 1 with my first grader. We did sort of a WTM style science before starting this, but based on habitats rather than specific animals (we would study a few specific animals in each habitat). We also did interest-led nature study and some experiments and work with simple machines. I think Zoo 1 could be too advanced IF I was stuck on him memorizing every single definition (but really, I don't think any student needs to memorize the names of the different types of flight feathers!) and if he wasn't already very interested in the subject. But we already were very interested in birds and bugs around here, so it works out well. And we are not taking a whole year to do it. It will end up being end of Feb. through August. I split up the readings and do just a couple of pages, most days of the week. I am going through 2 lessons in about 3 weeks this way. It isn't hard to do this book faster, because we are doing some of the projects with DH on the weekend (like painting the feeders, building the birdhouse, making the gliders). I don't think we would want to do this for a whole year, at any age (or, at least I wouldn't) but I have seen on these boards that some moms use two texts per school year. Another option would be to use them and just pick and choose the topics you wish to study; so you could do birds and insects and skip the bats and pterosaurs if the kids were ready to move on to mammals.

Around here, the JW walk in my neighborhood and knock on doors every 1-2 months. I tend not to answer the door when it is just the kids and I at home in the morning, homeschooling. I have only answered the door to them once and explained we are Christians. I don't think I seemed interested and I see them going up and down the streets here, not just to our house. I have never lived anyplace where they visit this often. I have been in Baptist and Presbyterian churches that went door to door, not only to invite to services and VBS, but also evangelizing (this was when I was growing up so I wasn't doing the evangelizing myself). People just don't go door-to-door for anything as much anymore. Remember all the salesmen? Just don't seem to get them.

It's so fun to plan, isn't it? I think it's a lot of read alouds, but you'll find out if it works for you when you try it. Just want to point out that while it's true that the CM way is to schedule the books out slowly AO also has free reads that you can read however you want. We probably do read as much as you have on your schedule, but books like Mrs. Piggle Wiggle and James and the Giant Peach I consider fun reads, not part of school, and we read them when we can, including on the weekends, a chapter here and there. I did use mostly WTM resources and added the AO lit. and picture study, plus many read alouds. Every home school is going to be different and first grade has been a lot of fun. Enjoy!

I am doing art several times per week. I have nearly 20 lessons in Artistic Pursuits that correlate with SOTW1 that we didn't complete. I think it will be a nice way to review the history. I will also have him do a few math word problems a couple of times each week. I tell myself we will also do some science, but realistically, we will only do that in an unschooly sort of way. I only plan 2 months off, though, not 3.

Really? When I was a kid they were hollow, too. And I'm no spring chicken! ;)