I was also going to suggest Carry On, Mr. Bowditch. It was a favorite around here!

We have two that we really like. Let's Read and Find Out Switch On, Switch Off and Magic School Bus and the Electric Field Trip. I myself understood electricity better after reading these :).

We have used Pathway Readers, BJU reading and now use Memoria Press literature guides. For things like literary terms, I thought BJU reading was really good. However, it's also expensive, teacher intensive, and huge (as in the books/ teacher guide themselves are humongous). MP literature is more about reading comprehension, vocabulary, discussion questions, and writing or other enrichment activities. So far I haven't seen much about literary terms, but there may be some. I have bought one VP guide and it was very similar to the MP ones.

I like structure with all my kids, no matter the age, so no razzing from me! The MP Special Needs package seems like a good fit. It might end up offering more of a challenge than you think.

My dh felt the same way. It's a little ironic because at one place in the book he even criticizes people who feel the need to do that. I still really liked his arguments, though, and found them very persuasive. Reading this book influenced our curriculum choices this year.

I agree, you don't necessarily need to do it before starting first. But if you have a 4 year old and want to do math, I think it's a great fit for that age! I used it for my kids at 4 and then we move onto a different curriculum. It's fun and simple, but you can come up with similar activities on your own pretty easily. Basically, you're teaching counting, number awareness, and patterns.

Make Way for Ducklings Papa Piccolo The Little Red Lighthouse and the Great Gray Bridge Mrs. Katz and Tush Mirette on the High Wire Madeline The Red Carpet Little Nino's Pizzeria The Cricket in Times Square Stuart Little Those are ones I can see on my shelves from where I'm sitting. As I look, though, I notice that you are right and most of our books do take place in the country or a small town. Interesting.

We are using full fourth and second grade programs right now. I have written several posts/reviews on my blog, so I'm not going to try to recap all of it right here. I'll just make a few comments: Latin- awesome! We are using First Form now and have done both Prima Latina and Latina Christiana. They are thorough, well done, and give lots of review. Literature guides- not the most exciting thing, but if you don't just shove it at a kid you can have some fun with it. We discuss a lot of the questions, and I like the discussion points in the guides. The Enrichment activities are worthwhile, too. My kids are creating nice book reports when they finish each book, which gives them a chance to be artistic. I like how the guides get them to go so in depth rather than racing through a book. Poetry- we love it! I recommend their poetry whether you do their literature guides or not. It is a stand alone program and one of a kind. Grammar- It's really good used with their Latin, but wouldn't be enough on its own. Classical Composition- Simple to use, here is a detailed review. Science- undecided. It is a bit basic and dry, but my dd loves Insects. I'm not sure yet whether my ds will do Astronomy for third or something else, as he is science minded and loves experiments. History- We used Greek Myths last year and loved it, but Famous Men of Rome is even better. No, there isn't any historical fiction scheduled with it, but you can certainly add that in if you want it. The book itself is well written and beautifully illustrated, and the guide is really nice. I like studying one period/civilization in depth and I like all the memory work that goes with it. Geography- This is a really easy to use program. Kids can do it independently, but I enjoy reading about the countries, too. Christian Studies- Undecided. I like that my dd is learning Bible geography and a good timeline of Bible events. I'm not a fan of the Golden Children's Bible, which is the spine. Enrichment- I love the art, music, poems and read alouds in the enrichment studies. Really just for the art and music, the guides would be worth it. The social studies and science is weak sometimes. I'm still trying to decide whether I want to supplement it. Here, here, and here are some posts about it. One thing to remember about MP is that the focus in on Latin, the 3 R's, and Classical Studies. "Extras" like science, geography, and social studies in the K-2 years get covered, but have much less emphasis. It really is a Latin centered education. So if that's the kind of education you want for your dc, it's beautiful, simple, and easy to follow. If you want to focus more on other subjects, it would definitely not be a good fit.

He does write from a Christian worldview, as in that there is a Creator, and the importance of knowing church history. But to be honest I personally did not find it quite Christian enough, so you might be safe. It's a hard thing to measure as everyone's gauges for that are so different. He emphasizes humanism to an extent that some Christians might not be comfortable with and I don't think there are any references to Bible verses. I'm not sure that he even mentions homeschooling in the book. It isn't so much a practical, how-to book as a defense of why even bother learning ancient languages.

I just wanted to mention something else that I've been thinking about lately when it comes to working independently on subjects. Our teaching time is valuable, and it can be difficult to balance every kid and every subject, and feel like we're doing "well" at everything. But most kids seem to do best with at least some one-on-one instruction for each subject. I am trying to do this by altering different subjects to teach on different days. For example, I'll work on math with my second grader intensively one day, but then let him do his math independently for the next several days. This way I know whether they are truly understanding their schoolwork, but I'm not spending thirty minutes every single day on grammar.

You definitely need the teacher book because it essentially is the program. There is no workbook, it is all done orally and with the manipulatives, following the instructions in the teacher guide. The meeting book is necessary, but you could easily make up something similar on your own. Basically, you want a blank calendar for each month. I forget what all else the K meeting book includes, but it isn't anything you couldn't come up with on your own. I think it has arrows for writing the number of the school day until you get to 100, you could just print out any blank hundred chart for that. The manipulatives are pretty essential to Saxon K, but you don't necessarily need the exact ones that come in the kit. I seem to remember the balance being the priciest item and we only used it once or so that whole year. I think it was a waste of money. The pattern blocks are important, as is some kind of counter (you could substitute anything for the bears). You could just use Duplos or Lego for the linking cubes. Where are you looking at purchasing from? Rainbow Resource has it for about the cheapest price I've seen.

Yes, I was going to suggest Memoria Press. We are using Famous Men of Rome this year and I have to say I love really delving into one civilization rather than hopping around. That was one of the main reasons we stopped using SOTW. While I really liked most things about it, I found it too confusing to learn about history from a different country almost every week. I like going in depth much better.

We really like the Let's Read and Find Out science books and there are a lot about space. They are a little below 4th grade level, though.

I LOVE it!!! That probably sounds exaggerated, but I really, really like this book. My dh read it after I did and we have had lots of great discussion about it. It really helped me cement my "classical-education priorities," and it helped my dh understand what I'm trying to accomplish in our homeschool. It's not necessarily the easiest read, but it is worth persevering through to the end. I actually thought the second half of the book was the best part. I keep it on the front page of my kindle and return to it often for a refresher.

We did it semi-independently, too. I would just do oral review twice a week, and make sure to go over any new concepts, then assign some of the exercises as written work. My dd did do the writing exercises. Now we have switched to Memoria Press' Grammar Recitation, and I have to say I like it a lot even though I was reluctant to change. The grammar is very streamlined, focusing on memorizing the rules and just doing a few exercises a week to practice applying them.

I have only used Classical Composition, but looked in to W&R first. Here is a recent post I wrote about it.

I just wrote a detailed review of Classical Composition here if it helps!

We are doing FFL and it's really not that bad! Yes it is hard work, but learning a foreign language is always hard work (I have learned both Thai and Mandarin as an adult and believe me, it is painfully difficult to master another language!). The DVD's are helpful and the guy (I forget his name) is humorous and interesting to listen to. No, it's definitely not something you can hand to a student and expect them to figure it out. I spend a good amount of time reading ahead and trying to understand lessons before we get to them. Honestly, I can't see how you could successfully teach Latin unless you are willing to learn it yourself as you go along. Although I try to stay ahead of my dd, we are definitely in this together and I think that helps her get a lot more out of it. We play a lot of games, quiz each other with flashcards, make up secret messages for each other in Latin and so on. In fact, our whole family is getting involved because we see it as a very worthwhile pursuit.

I'm a bit unclear on your daughter's grade. Is she in 5th or 6th? We used R&S for 2nd and 3rd, and I have 4th but am using MP Grammar Recitation instead because it goes along with our Latin. R&S is great for being student-driven. The instructions are clearly written to the student. There is a bit of oral review in the teacher's book that you can do before each lesson, but that is easily consolidated to a once-a-week tutoring session. Now, it does include diagramming, but definitely not in every lesson or unit. In my opinion, that is a huge plus to the curriculum. Each level seems to review previous levels quite a bit, so I would think you would be fine to just start her at grade level and see how it goes. If there are holes, you could probably get her up to speed fairly quickly with a little extra practice.

Well, we just started 2nd grade in January, but I want to join in, too ;)! Here is what we are doing: Bible: The Gospel Story Bible Math: Rod and Staff Math 2 Latin: Prima Latina Literature: Memoria Press second grade literature guides (The Courage of Sarah Noble, Little House in the Big Woods, Beatrix Potter books, Mr.Popper's Penguins) Spelling: Spelling Workout B and C Writing: Handwriting Without Tears Cursive, Copybook Cursive from Memoria Press Art, Music, History and Science: Second Grade Enrichment Guide from Memoria Press

Greek is another viable option that sounds like it would meet your goals. Personally, I do consider Latin a core, non-negotiable subject, but of course everyone has their own priorities and situation to consider. My dd has complained about the "dead language" part of it, so we go through that often. I try to make it more relevant with Latin songs, and she also gets excited when she sees Latin phrases or words in daily life (and there a LOT of them around!). We are also doing FFL, but have already done LC and PL, so it's not too much of a jump. The videos are useful, and I allot a good portion of my teaching time to going through the lessons thoroughly every day. No, it isn't easy. I often take my teacher manual to bed with me at night and sometimes complain to my dh about the endless lists to memorize. He reminds me that we are "climbing Parnassus" and I can't give up now :). I remember why we are doing it: training our minds, shaping character, cultivating the habit of careful attention to detail, preserving a beautiful and valuable educational legacy that has been built over thousands of years... I'm not trying to guilt you into persevering, just offering encouragement in case that's the direction your heart is telling you!

My 9 year old loves helping in the kitchen and insists that she wants to make a whole meal herself. I would love to try your plans! I've considered making something similar myself, but that's great if the work has already been done!

Well, I still drool over the Abacus but haven't ever gotten one. I do have C-rods and Unifix cubes, and I prefer C-rods. We have never used a curriculum that required their use, but I bring them out almost every day anyway. They are my favorite visual tool for teaching addition and subtraction. Say we were learning facts that add up to 5, every day I would get out that yellow rod and we would go through all the combinations that equal up to it. We'd write each fact on the white board as we went. We would go over it from all 4 directions: 5-3=2 (yellow minus light green is red), 5-2=3 (yellow minus red is light green), 2+3=5... you get the picture. We do it all over again every single day until those facts are in instant recall. I really like it for numbers above 10, because the orange 10 is clearly separate from the purple 4 in 14, so I feel like it gives us a good visual representation of what is going on. Just my $.02!

Thanks for this book recommendation! I have read everything else you mentioned about CM (including her own original series), but it sounds like this one might be the one to "make it click" for me. I appreciate a lot of CM ideas, but am often turned off by the way I see them represented today. I'm especially intrigued by the strong connection to classical education. This will be my next read.

I'd start in the beginning with Saxon 3. It does review a lot at first but there is also a slow introduction of new material that starts soon, and you are setting him up for success by not missing any of it. You can add in some MM for a different perspective. We did that while we used Saxon.