I also think your schedule looks fine, and its pretty similar to what we do here. Its nice to have that much time set aside for math even though you may not always need it. I do agree with pp that doing worksheet side A is plenty! The back of the page is almost identical with different problems, so I only assign it when we need the extra review (and dd does it the next day, never on the same day). I think many who finish completely by lunch have an earlier start time, which is also fine, but of course you can do it differently! Taking a walk sounds like a great way to start the day.

Those were a hit here, too! We also like the Boxcar Children which is slightly more dificult.

My 1st grader is 6, will be 7 in February. My K is 4, will be 5 in January. Both are easily doing work at least a grade level ahead, but I want to call them what they are based on age and not worry about them graduating early (at least not yet!).

We start at 8 are mostly done by lunch, but I only have 2 dc and they are young (1st grade and pre K). Sometimes I save content subjects for after lunch and rest time, so that we can devote more time to them.

We're having that much trouble! Our internet is spotty here, and it won't go long enough to get these huge files. I've downloaded a few successfully, but I kind of wish I hadn't made the purchase since its going to be forever until I can get them all.

Well, we have done a K4 year with each kid which looks like: Bible Math (Saxon K) Reading (OPGTR for dd, Saxon for ds) Handwriting (HWOT) Elemental Science: Intro FIAR/ B4FIAR Then our actual K5 year was: Bible Math (Saxon 1) Language Arts (depending on skills- start Spelling Workout, FLL, copy work, finish phonics) Handwriting or copy work once letters are formed correctly Elemental Science: Exploring Science Elemental History

I agree with pp, I would not skip around and I would do a lesson a day except for on trickier concepts. When we hit a topic that is more dificult, I stretch that lesson to 2 days, doing the backside of the worksheet the second day after I re-teach or review that lesson. For the meeting, I scheduled different parts of it to be done on different days, rather than doing the entire thing every day or skipping it altogether. We do a calendar time together right after Bible, when we go over the date, weather, etc. Then we have a Morning Board with a 100 chart on it, and we do different skip-counting chants each day. Doing the whole meeting as it is laid out in the TM leaves me too exhausted to actually teach the lesson :tongue_smilie:!

We have a few going at a time, and we approach each one differently. One we read a chapter a day and do narrations, one we read as much as we want whenever we want, one is scheduled twice a week and one is at bedtime with dh.

Since the R & S books are so inexpensive, you could go ahead and get them to have on hand. For that age, I'd probably get Counting With Numbers (my favorite) and Do It Carefully. The first book might be too easy for a 5 yr. old, and the B book is just coloring.

Awesome!!! We're doing FIAR here, too. There are just so many wonderful options available for these ages and I don't want to miss any :001_smile:!

Well, I couldn't resist the Omnibus package so now I have lots of extra curriculum and I want to use it! Would it be too crazy to try to do either EE or Road Trip USA along with our SOTW? I guess it would be geography, and I would probably do the bare bones of the program. Has anyone else attempted this?

I like R&S Counting With Numbers and Saxon K, with lots of games and manipulative play. MEP is nice, too.

I think it sounds like you have the right things. I have never bought straight from the publisher, but always use CBD or RR and the packs have been very complete. Saxon 1 is organized a bit differently from K, so that may be causing the confusion. As a pp said, the masters are interspersed among the workbook pages right in with the lessons that they are used for. The codes are for the fact sheets (I never really understood why the codes are there, though), and the flashcards are color coded. The first half of the first student workbook is all stuff that would only be used by a classroom teacher, don't ask me why its included in the homeschool kit!

Ha! I've felt like this some days recently, too. Normally they have tons of fun together, but some weeks are just bickering nonstop.

No problem! They look nice! I've been undecided about when to start using our copy of Window on the World, but when we do begin I'll be printing out your notebook pages. I like your idea of creating a small prayer notebook out of them.

We are almost done with the series. Yesterday we started The First Four Years. I was hesitant to do that one with a 6 yr old, but my dd was just so incredibly eager for it that I decided to give it a try. She has just LOVED every single title. As soon as we finish one as a read aloud, she takes it aways to read it on her own over and over again. So, I would just take the plunge and stop if you ever feel that the themes are inappropriate. I was surprised by how much my dc like even the later books in the series, though.

I agree! We really like AP. We do quite a bit of artist study and picture study separately, but so far my dc are loving AP for their actual art projects.

The link on your blog post just took me to the flag stickers at RR. I'm definitely interested in the notebooking pages, though!

I just got K for my 4.5 ds after much inner turmoil :001_smile:. He already reads any short vowel words, including most digraphs. But, I'm figuring that starting easy will hopefully set him up for success and greater confidence, and give us a very thorough foundation. We'll probably go through K fairly quickly and then move on to 1. I really hesitated because it meant an extra purchase than if I had just started him on 1, but I do think it will be good for him.

I used and liked OPGTR with my dd, but she pretty much taught herself. She could already read every word of the lessons before we ever got to them. With my ds, who is also eager to start, I'm going to use Saxon Phonics. I like the variety of components that it comes with, and I think it will provide a very thorough foundation for phonics and spelling.

We started in June, so we've done Pinocchio and The Wonderful Wizard of Oz. This week we started Tumtum and Nutmeg: Adventures Beyond Nutmouse Hall. We have all LOVED all of them, and its our favorite part of the day!

Well, I just ordered Saxon Phonics. I loved OPGTR for my dd, but my ds needs more structure and more workbook-y things. It's much more expensive, but it will be worth the price if it does what I hope it will :001_smile:.

Yeah, this came to my mind, too! Maybe someday....

I glance over the next week's lessons over the weekend and make note of any materials that I need to gather. No actually planning or prep work done here.

So are we! We just finished Human Body last week and both dc loved it. I agree that the built in review is awesome, and that's the only reason I can put up with all the cutting and gluing :lol:.