I don't know about labels or how many friends she needs at this age. I will say that I think at about age 10-11, friendships become important for most girls. Even introverted ones. The friend doesn't have to be exactly the same age, the friend can even be a family member such as a cousin. But I do think it is important to have one or two good friends outside of the family. Park day may not be the best way for an introvert to make a friend, either. Are there other opportunities for small groups of other girls her age? It could be that she would like a friend, but hasn't been able to connect with anyone under the situations that have come up. I think homeschooling can be a blessing for someone who is socially awkward, while also making it more difficult. I don't know how to say this without coming across as a know-it-all, because of course I don't know your daughter. But I think I would be teaching the social skills now, not waiting. I have been working on this with my 6 yo for a while now with reading body language and respecting others personal unspoken boundaries, back-and-forth in a conversation, asking questions about the other person rather than going on and on about something. I have adults in my life like this and I think they were done a disservice by not learning these things in childhood. I think these things are skills. Many people don't need any direct instruction, but some do. I think it is easier to practice when one is younger than once they are teens (and possibly more resistant to parental input as well).

I think with a very involved parent and only 1 or 2 children with certain personalities, it could work. Personally I think I would have done well unschooled as a kid. I was not challenged much through school until high school when I could take honors and AP classes, but was quite self-motivated and challenged myself outside of school. But I think unschooling can be really limiting. I completely disagree with those who do no active teaching of reading or math, for example. I have also observed that people seem to have different definitions of unschooling. I know unschoolers who say they unschool but require a minimum amount of work in certain subjects. :confused: Online, it seems like there are many "unschooling" 3 and 4 year olds. :tongue_smilie: Or people with only one child who then assume it can work for everybody. I am not surprised at the majority opinion on this thread, considering his board was created for those following a rigorous, college-prep curriculum. Not to say that unschooling parents don't have college as a goal for their kids. But the few unschoolers I have met seemed to be more relaxed about future prospects, such as one family whose goal for graduation was to learn enough to pass the GED (not talking about children with disabilities, either). I want my kids to have the foundation to do anything they want inclyding any type of higher learning.

Thanks a bunch!

I can only say what I did, FWIW, and mine is only 6 now. At age 5 the only thing I insisted on was phonics and handwriting. But when he resisted, I would try to find a different way to teach the same thing (we used the OPGTR, but sometimes we stopped and used phonogram cards and played a jumping game with them, sometimes I wrote out the lesson on a piece of paper or a whiteboard instead, sometimes I made a game board and had prizes for getting to the end, etc.). For me it was important that he learned to read, as much as he was able to, that year. At different times I still had to back off for a few weeks at a time. I guess you need to decide what is most important that she learn, and find a way to do that. This year at 6 he is required to do more, and he knows school is his job and that we will cover a certain amount of seatwork daily.

Conventional wisdom from people who have used Children Around the World says it is ideally for 4th-5th grade. When it first came out I think it said minimum of first grade but then they changed it to 2nd-6th. I like the idea of the Animal Worlds program and thought about using it for kindergarten. But the One Small Square books I borrowed from the library, which are the base of the program, were a little too much for my son to get a lot out of at that age. So you may want to check out some of the books. I also checked out the craft books, and most of them are animals made from paper towel tubes, or paper plates, that kind of thing, which some kids would absolutely love, but is not really of interest to my kids. So I also recommend checking out the books first-- just like with Sonlight, the only thing the guides really do is coordinate and schedule out the resources for you.

Nodding enthusiastically here. This is how I did kindergarten for my very active, workbook-allergic son. :tongue_smilie: At 3 and 4, he played and learned his numbers and letter sounds and lots of other things without any sort of curriculum. I don't think it is bad to teach them things, but there must be a way to do it without tears and frustration at preschool ages. It will be okay if she doesn't write the date ever again until first grade. Really.

Earliest chapter books for my oldest boy: The Mouse and the Motorcycle, and the other two in the series by Beverly Cleary. Beezus and Ramona, ad Ramona the Pest. Charlotte's Web, My Father's Dragon, Capyboppy (by Bill Peet); Old Mother West Wind (Burgess), the two Winnie the Pooh books, and the Just So Stories are nice for beginning chapter books, because each chapter is a story unto itself.

Okay, I read your question again and I think I see what you are asking better. And I noticed your dc is almost 7. :) We used this for kindergarten. I know a couple of moms that use it for first, and at the FIAR there are many moms who use it up through second and third grade, along with other curriculum. Most of the lessons involve reading the story, ad then having a discussionto call attentio to certain aspects. For the social studies, you locate the setting on a map. The language arts often involves writing, as in the link above where it talks about making a LA notebook, copying vocab. words, making lists. For art there is practice of an art technique. The science would be hands on, or for some topics, just reading an additional book about the subject. For K it is enough, along with phonics and handwriting, IMO (I don't think FIAR math is "enough" but I didn't use a formal math curriculum for K, just my personal philosophy). Some people feel it is enough for first and I think you could go more in depth and do more of the topics, if you wanted. I prefer doing a history cycle starting in first grade, instead. But we loved FIAR so much here that we are planning to do a few units over the summer, for fun. Even for K I did "beef it up" using suggestions from the message board and homeschool share. We added quite a few library books to go along with the topic. I sometimes did printable maps from online or related hands-on projects. A lot of people make lap-books for some of the books; there are even some to purchase at FIAR's site.

You can see sample lessons here: http://fiveinarow.com/FIAR/FIARLESN.html We loved FIAR and have wonderful memories. It is a gentle introduction to doing schoolwork, and you can pick and choose which lessons wil fit your child the best. The message boards also have lots of great ideas to go along with the lessons, and more at homeschoolshare.com. I have heard Peak With Books is a similar curriculum. HTH.

My grandmother grew up in a rural area and in the 1930's, several years of Latin were required for graduation from her high school. Most kids in that area were farming families, and many only went through 8th grade, and graduating from high school was a big deal then. My great-grandparents were immigrants, so I don't know about before then. By the 1960's when my mom graduated from the same high school, they had to have a foreign language but it was Spanish or French. I don't know about my other grandparents. I do remember them reciting poetry; my grandfather in particular knew a lot of long poems by heart, required in school when he was a young boy in the 20's.

Can anyone tell me a comprehensive grammar handbook for me to have on hand? I am thinking of something that is easy to use for any questions that come up incidentally, like definitions or correct usage. Thanks in advance!

I wish I had the link for you - maybe it's on the Singapore site- comparing the two. I was also looking at 2A and 2B and I believe at that level the charts I saw were essentially identical. I think it was at level 3 or 4 that they start to be off from each other a little.

Mostly revamping my routine so our days can be a little smoother. Well, we can try. :P Nothing is going to be perfect with a first grader and two younger siblings. This month we have been doing some Christmas crafty stuff, and doing school "lite". We get the 3R's done each day, then we do projects and read aloud lots and lots. So actually, we are doing and learning just as much, but only math and language arts are scheduled out. But, it's strange, just not having history and specific lit. readings on our list to get done, has been freeing. We actually did read SOTW this week, but it didn't feel like "school" somehow, and ds actually asked to do it. I am trying to figure out what is different; maybe it is Christmas coming, maybe just that I am more relaxed than usual, but whatever it is, this is what I want our school to be like. I have also somehow found more time with my preschooler lately and that is something that had been less than I wanted, in the past few months. For January, I am also finally incorporating picture study. I am also making a field trip list and shooting for 3 per month, and looking into music lessons. And of course, I am already thinking about the next academic year. It never ends!

For level 1 there are 130 workbook exercises (2-4 pages each), plus a handful of review exercises. Approximately 140 all together. That's if you do none of the extra books.

MOST first graders are *not* reading chapter books, especially only in December! (hugs) Magic Tree House books are second grade level because the average kid reading them is in second grade! Until 10 or 15 years ago, kids in school weren't even being taught to read or write until the beginning of first grade, right? I started reading really early but my younger sibs didn't. We are all fairly intelligent and you wouldn't know today that I was the one who read first. :)

I was thinking about getting these for my pre-Ker to "do school" with us. Are they worth doing? Or just busy work? Best for 3, 4 or 5 years old? Anything you'd recommend instead? We like Kumon okay for pre-writing activities and fine motor practice, but DEL looks a little different, like it involves a bit more. I'm a little turned off by the claim that it increases IQ. :confused: I am wondering what in the world is in the books that could possibly do that. ;)

Are you using CHOW from SL1? Couldn't you just dump the SL schedule and finish reading through CHOw, a chapter a week? Or doing SOTW1 is also a good idea.

The map work is definitely less than 15 minutes. For us that also includes review of some of the other maps from time to time, and going over everything on the big wall map. We do history 2 or 3 days per week, depending. If we do an activity, we do that outside of "school time" so I don't really count it. We don't do many activities, but the ones we have liked most seem to be the longer ones, like cooking, or making up our own Olympic games. I called that one PE instead of history. ;) I did have a schedule but I found I had to vary it depending on the week-- some chapters can easily be read and digested in one sitting; but for the longer ones my son seems to retain it better divided up into sections. But generally, we read and narrate the first section of a chapter on day one. I have the map out just to look at for frame of reference. Day two we color the map and discuss, and do any supplemental reading. Day 3 we read the second section and narrate again with notebook page --I copy the narration and he illustrates.

I am in the same boat. Six year old boy. I try, try try to make the lessons short a la Charlotte Mason. But honestly, it SHOULD only take him 10 minutes to copy 2 sentences, not 50 minutes. Agh! It does only take 10 minutes when he sits, begins right away, and stays in one place until he is done. But no, it is look around the room for 10 minutes first, take 5 minutes to sharpen his (already sharp) pencil, flip the pencil around a bit. Then write two words, look up and start asking about something he wants to do later, decide to get up get a drink/go to the bathroom/get something from his room (which is not allowed until he is done with a subject but he tries to do it anyway). Multiple reminders on my part to focus and keep his eyes on his paper. Et cetera. :toetap05: I find it especially frustrating because I have two younger children to care for whom I also wish to spend time with (I try to be right there for his copy to catch mistakes). He is quick with math, but anything to do with writing involves much dawdling.

Ditto. There are a few exceptions to this; if he tries and isn't getting the sound, I will sound them out first. Or, we are at the end of the book now with 3 and 4 syllable words, and sometimes I model how I would sound the word out, but usually I only do the first couple and then have him try the rest on his own. There have also been many lessons earlier in the book, where I did not have him read from the book at all. In that case I would either write the words on the whiteboard or paper and have him read them, or write them one at a time and sound them out as I was writing them, then have him go over them again. I've used the book different ways, generally not as scripted and not always in order, either.

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Is that the program by Doman? I had a copy of that when my oldest was a baby. If it is what I think it is, the idea is to teach to recognize many words by sight. Aside from whether one thinks that is good idea or not (I don't think it is), I have no great desire to have a very young child reading. If they do on their own--great! But, my ds began reading at the ripe old age of 5, pretty normal, and at not even 7 he is already able to read many things that I would rather not have him read (even thinking of things like billboards and headlines). I can't imagine the same situation with a two year old.

Those particular ETC books only teach letter sounds. They are easy to skip. We did. There are many other ways to learn letter sounds. My understanding of learning styles is that nearly all young children are largely tactile and kinesthetic learners. But then, I still can't figure out my oldest's predominant style and he's 6.5!

For Greek Myths. the D'Aulaire book. I second the Aesop by Milo Winter. I also second the fairy tales by Scott Gustafson-- love them! It doesn't have everything, but it has many of the classics. I supplement by checking out illustrated fairy tales from the library. Paul Zelinsky is one good one I remember in particular. The Mother Goose we like is by Iona Opie and Rosemary Wells. Tomie de Paola has a nice Bible story book that uses the actual text of the NIV, but I guess I wouldn't call the illustrations traditional, but not too cartoonish, either.

Hmmm, I don't know if this would work for you, but with my 6 yo I would do something silly like make the long sound, long when I say it. Like "the long sound of o is ooooooooooooooooooooh" said really long and drawn out and drawing my arms wide apart and probably making a goofy face or rolling my eyes while I was doing it. And then similarly, say the "short" sounds very short and staccato. And then repeat ad nauseum.