I haven't purchased it yet (and haven't decided yet whether I will), but you can get it for cheaper than $75. I signed up to receive emails and freebies, and I was sent a coupon code to purchase the whole treasury for somewhere around $50. I still can't decide if its worth it, though! We like notebooking, but I really dislike binders (so bulky, so annoying to open/close, etc.), so I'm trying to find our perfect method here.

I am probably on the compulsive side of doing this! For Math, I write each "section" on a separate line (meeting, lesson, fact sheet, flashcards, etc.) and LOVE putting a tidy little check mark after we have finished each portion. For Language Arts, I write spelling p. 78, FLL 28, copywork, grammar memory, etc. I also list each book we are using as a read aloud or go-along for every subject. I love seeing my neat column of check marks running down the page! I also write the number of the day of our school year up under the date (for example, we will be on Day 127 tomorrow). I do this purely because I like to track our progress, and because I love that feeling of satisfaction in seeing all that we have accomplished. I think this must be such a personality- thing. Many (maybe most) people get no pleasure whatsoever from listing every thing they do in a day, but I thrive on it!:tongue_smilie:

We also have a Geo Puzzle Animals, which has all the continents and then pics of some animals native to the continent. We enjoyed using it while learning the continents.

Me: Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy, Adopted for Life by Russell Moore Dh: Adopted for Life, The Meaning of Marriage Read Alouds: Farmer Boy, The Littles Dd: The Adventures of Reddy Fox

We are in Asia, and it really hasn't been all that difficult to bring books over. Of course with luggage restrictions getting tighter all the time, it is always a bit challenging. We use most of our luggage allowance to carry books (and now have 2 kindles, which will help a TON!). I don't use any "box" curriculum, just purchase all the books we'll want for a couple of years at a time, and carry them over ourselves. A humongous help is whenever we have grandparents or friends visit. I'll tell them to pack lite and save a suitcase for our things, then I'll do a huge RR or amazon order and have it delivered to their house before they come. Sometimes its even worth it to pay for an extra piece of luggage.

We ran into the same problem! Yes, I just crossed out the names of the months and re-wrote them. There are also some seasonally- related pages, but I just adapted them to when we were using them. I wish they would change that, since so many homeschoolers are not locked into a September- June calendar.

I don't think this is really what you are looking for since it isn't a schedule, but what about reading through SWB's The History of the Ancient World and taking notes as you read? I learned a lot from that book and plan to re-read it soon. Prior to homeschooling, most of us probably felt somewhat foggy on the details/ events of ancient history, so don't feel too bad :001_smile:.

"Reading/Phonics: Finish OPGTTR, read Bob books, Nora Gaydos, etc. Is there another program I should get when she finishes OPGTTR or at that point just make sure she's reading to herself and to me regularly?" You won't likely need another program after finishing OPGTR as it is very thorough and will take your dd far. We worked through several Explode the Code books, but honestly just because they are fun. I don't feel like they added anything necessary. Just have her keep on reading for practice.

I agree: use FIAR! It is so much fun! Although it isn't an ideal curriculum for everyone (and it wasn't for us after the first year), it is still a wonderful option. The author really put her heart into those manuals, and there is a lot of meat there to choose from. I think one of its strengths is the way you can really make it work for a variety of ages. It won't be hard to find good activities that are appropriate for kids on the young side of the age range.

Well, we're just in the first first book, but we do add both copying the words and dictating the words. We do this at the chalkboard, once at the beginning and again at the end of each lesson. Once we get to book B, I plan to dictate sentences that include the words as well.

We don't use a curriculum, just the guidelines laid out in WTM applied to different subjects. We do lots of narration and copywork daily. My dd does enjoy writing, but I think its more because of her personality than anything I have done to make it "fun."

I agree, Saxon K is very fun and completely hands on. The only reason I can see for skipping it is that it is a bit pricey considering it consists entirely of activities that you COULD just come up with yourself using the manipulatives. I purchased it used, and will be re-using it again soon with my ds. BTW, we did Saxon K during pre-K, and started Saxon 1 in our "official" K year.

We have an easel from IKEA that is both chalkboard and whiteboard, and both sides are also magnetic. I really prefer using the chalkboard. I like the look of a chalkboard best, although the dust is annoying. We have wood floors, so I can easily clean it up. If it was over carpet it might bother me more.

:iagree:

Just another idea: instead of baking and blending the pumpkin, just stick the big pieces in the crock pot with no water or anything and cook on low all day. Then, just use a potato masher and mash it up right in the crock pot. This is how I made baby food and how I always cook pumpkin for pie, muffins, etc.

:iagree:Pimsleur is very helpful!

You have already had some great responses, but I'll chime in as well. We rowed the books very closely to how the TM suggests, and always read them five days in a row. I know that's not always popular, but I actually like reading books over and over again :tongue_smilie:. We always put the story disks on the map, and focused a lot on geography (like making a flag for the country, coloring a map from a coloring book, listening to Wee Sing Around the World and making a food from that culture). We had fun learning about some different animals and other science topics along the way. We live overseas and have no English library, so I used books from our shelves as go-alongs and found you tube videos about animals. As a pp said, we LOVED the art exercises, and often did more than one of the recommendations. For most subjects, I chose to focus on just one activity and we kept it pretty simple. We tried notebooking and lapbooking, and had varied degrees of success. Finally, I decided it was more age-appropriate for my dc to just "row" the book and not try to turn it into something more than that. If we were still doing FIAR now, I'm sure we would notebook much more. I LOVE FIAR and we still dabble in it here and there since I have all the titles and all the manuals (well, from B4FIAR through vol.3 of FIAR). We started early and have rowed every book by now, and I just thought it was time for us to move on. Have fun with it!

I agree with the pp's answer. The activities are divided by subject, but not the same ones as FIAR and you don't have every single subject with every book. For example and off the top of my head, for some books there may be an activity for performing arts, Bible and counting. Other books may have animal classification, visual arts and vocabulary. There are also more activities for some books than others. We LOVE the BFIAR books and have great memories from doing the activities!

Thank you so much for this detailed review! This is very helpful and I appreciate you taking the time to share your comparison. Angela

There is a two day schedule and a five day schedule for every week of the year (36 weeks), so you can choose which one to use.

IMO, I would put off buying it. I bought the whole inclusive kit, but was so confused because it seemed like we never used the bucket balance. I can't even remember one lesson that used it until we got to Saxon 1, but I could totally be wrong. Even in Saxon 1, I think we've only used it once and we're 3/4 of the way through the book.

Every time I stumble across notebookingpages.com, I am so impressed by the beautiful samples! I know there are many choices available for free (and we've used a bunch :001_smile:), but I'm wondering how much use you get from the treasury membership if you have purchased it. If you have had any experience with using these pages, please let me know!

:iagree:

100 EZ was a total flop here, but OPGTR worked wonderfully! We still had some days of frustration, but for the most part the lessons are "just enough" for a day. So far, OPGTR has been one of my favorite hs purchases and I'll definitely use it again. While it is scripted, I felt that it was really easy to work from the lesson without necessarily following it word for word. The optional games were always a big hit, and were requested again and again even after we finished the book :tongue_smilie:.

:iagree:Same here!