I don't know if this is what you're looking for, and it might be a bit much for a 5 yr old (although you could pick n choose), but I keep coming across Amanda Bennett unit studies in my wanderings. I don't know if there are books lists or not, but I'm sure it would be easy enough to find library books on the given topic. Also, have you considered lapbooks? I think that would be a great way to go for a 5 yr old. There are several ways to go about it (Currclick has several). lapbooklessons.com touts free lessons.... Might be worth checking out.

My DH is full time staff at our church so his days off are Saturday and Monday. Our main schooling, therefore, is done T - F. The exceptions would be piano practice and Kumon math which are everyday items. One of the main reasons we homeschool is so that we can have this family time. I can't imagine ds being in ps all day M-F and only having one full day with "Dad". We also continue some schooling (way more relaxed) during the summer. And because we are part of an "alternative education" program, we do get vacations such as Spring Break at the same time as ps kids. However, we often use this time to get caught up on anything that may have been neglected. Now, before you think, "that poor kid never gets a break!" We do take vacations, etc throughout the school year, just on our own schedule.

We started using Growing with Grammar (although we're taking next year off as we begin to incorporate IEW to our program). GwG is a very straight-forward, open & go kind of thing. There is a 2-3 page spread explaining the concept followed by a one page (back & front) worksheet incorporating the lesson as well as review of previous work. Takes about 15 minutes out of the day (depending on the child, of course). It seems to be pretty comprehensive, yet easy to implement.

We're liking Rosetta Stone. It's an immersion program which, I believe is the best way to go (verses programs that teach you to translate). It is expensive, but you get 2-3 yrs of language learning from it (or longer, if you use it like we do - short sessions a couple days a week). We're able to get it through the school district for $25 per child, per year (Yay!). If it were not available, however, I'd be saving my pennies for it.

We do quite a bit of reading together, but ds does have a "quiet reading" time, ideally daily. I only schedule about 15 minutes - I end up trying to cram a lot into a day because we only school 4 days a week. For the scheduled quiet reading he often gets to choose a book from his personal "library" (which is filled with Sonlight books as well as others), but sometimes (if we have readers I really want to get through) I offer a selection to choose from. Ds will often read to himself on his bed at night in addition to the scheduled time.

You might check out Kay Arthur and see if there's any of her inductive studies that suit you. I haven't used them, but they look pretty good. I just ordered an Apologia book that looks interesting (ds is 4th grade) called, "Who is God and Can I Really Know Him?" Having never laid hands on it, I can't verify its content, but the online sample pages leave me hopeful.

So, okay, I do make lesson plans...tentatively. I have an idea of what I want to cover for the year (usually by the end of the previous school year). From that, I break it down into specific books/activities/workshops that will be our resources. We currently have 8 subjects (not all of them daily, and we school only 4 days a week): Bible, Language Arts, Math, Art/Music, Science, His/SS/Geo, PE/Health, Spanish. Actually, I guess we have 9. We have one titled "Independent Study" where ds chooses what he wants to do/study. (We're part of an alt ed program). I use a lesson plan book and write in pencil because, inevitably, not everything will get done as planned. I like having the goal in front of me, tho, because it helps me stay on track. In addition, ds is a box checker so I usually print him out a "Daily Check List" so he can keep track of what's going on. I know this probably seems like overkill to most of you, but it helps us stay organized, helps me keep my sanity, and makes it easier to track our progress. I like to be able to see what we've done and what's coming up. Did I mention I'm a former pre-school teacher? :) I have also used Homeschool Tracker as a way of recording what actually gets done (verses planning the lessons on it.) It's an easy way to keep track.

I tend to have the opposite problem (trying to cram to much into a year)! Just wanted to put in my 2 cents here. An easy way to incorporate some history without any real effort is the SOTW audio books. Ds loves them! I no sooner hand him a volume than he's off to his room for history and legos. It could be a great way to introduce World History to your dd without really adding to her "work day".

Love it. We are blessed to be part of an "alternative education" program in our district, which in essence means we've got the best of both worlds. That's another conversation. Because we're part of this we have access to Rosetta Stone for $25 per student, per year. I would be willing to pay full price for this program. Currently, we're not using the workbook, just the computer stuff. I love that it is an immersion program and not a translation program. Because of this, learning a language is more complete because you learn to look at an object and think, "manzana" instead of thinking "apple - the spanish word for that is manzana". I understand what the pp was saying about not being sure what the picture refers to, but that does come with exposure. It's just like learning your primary language as a young child - you don't always know exactly what something means right away, but exposure breeds understanding. You mentioned doing spanish - just be aware that there are two versions of spanish - castillan and latin american. You want to order the right one if you decide to purchase it. HTH!

Hi! I do keep track of the books we read throughout the year - text books, reference books, readers, audio.... Just to be able to look back and see what we've accomplished, etc. I make a "year book" each year for ds which contains samples of the work accomplished, field trip photos, any tests, book lists.... Sort of a keepsake. There are programs you can use to keep track of all your assignments, etc. The one I have used is called "Homeschool Tracker." There is a free version (that's the one I have) as well as an upgrade that can be purchased. This particular program is for PC only, unfortunately. There are also programs for Mac, but I haven't found any free ones yet. HTH!

Hi! I haven't read through all the responses, so perhaps these have already been mentioned, but I wanted to mention a couple more sites that I've had good dealings with: http://www.'>http://www.'>http://www.'>http://www.vegsource.com/homeschool http://www.homeschoolclassifieds.com These are individuals (and a few dealers) selling their used curriculum items. There are no fees like Ebay. Likewise, there are no ratings - at least not prominent ones. But I have purchased from both of these boards with no difficulty. I also hit the local Goodwill quite frequently with book list in hand. I can often find books on my list that are in very good condition for less than a dollar each. Way cheaper than buying brand new! And, I think I saw one post mention already the boards here (since I'm new, I can offer no experience here, but it looks good!) as well as Currclick (which is having their Easter Egg Hunt right now, if you haven't heard) Lots of free goodies! There's also a couple of lists I'm on that offer free stuff: Homeschool Free Stuff Homeschool Resource of the Day I'm sure you'll get lots more ideas. These boards are good for this sort of thing! Happy Hunting and welcome to the family!

Welcome! I just joined theses boards the other day myself! I've already gleaned much from my "lurking".

...all the hive mind, queen bee, etc. that I see under everyone's name? I assume it has to do with how long you've been on the boards?

Hello! I agree that A History of US would be too much for 2/3 grade. I'm actually considering it for next year for DS who will be 5th grade. From experience, I can tell you that History Pockets are a fun way to touch on history subjects, but they are not too in-depth. It would be easy to add in some readers from the time period for a more complete study tho. DS enjoyed every one of the books that we've gone through - he's an artsy type and loves the hands on stuff. The pockets consist of a "booklet" of info (easy to read and understand, good content for a general overview), a fact page, vocabulary, various activities/crafts relating to the reading. For example, when studying Ancient Greece we made our own "knuckles" game to play. There's also lots that can be colored (or not- my ds loves art but does not enjoy coloring. Go figure!). If you go to the Evan-Moor website, you can see inside the books to have a better idea of what they're about. HTH!

:seeya:I just ran across this forum today and have enjoyed reading your posts as well as gotten lots of great info. So I thought I'd sign up and join the party! I'm currently teaching fourth grade for my only. We've homeschooled from the beginning. I wouldn't necessarily call myself "classical", but use a lot of the same materials. Sonlight is my "jumping off point". I use their reading lists and throw in other stuff (looking to do IEW next year, for example). I used to spend a lot of time on their forums, but my subscription ran out. Looking forward to meeting you and sharing the journey! Peace!