I don't have time to read what others have said. I chose 3 children and I do not plan. But, I do plan on what curriculum for each subject we are going to use that year. But, I do not write out lesson plans/schedules (except for a general daily schedule of what subjects are covered that day). The closest I have gotten to anything like that is planning what goes into a workbox. :001_smile:

I haven't had time to read all the posts. You said: "Doesn't your curriculum come with Teachers Guides, etc? How difficult can it be? Do one lesson, and then move on to the next...right?" That's us. And, we've been homeschooling for over 13 years. I never did get all the planning either.

I'm using McRuffy Science and also Science Excursion. You might want to check out SE; the 1st on up boxes are jammed packed with hands-on experiments. http://scienceexcursion.com/

If anyone else has been looking for this, sometimes you can find really good prices on ebay too.

I'm going to try Horizons Health. I don't think it's heavy on religion, but it does talk about God. I just receive my 1st grade in the mail today. I just paged through the workbook and I don't see anything religious at all in the workbook (higher levels may). The TE does reference to it, because it's called "a health curriculum for Christian schools", but I would think it would be easy enough to tone down if needed. I know that there's also Abeka Health, which I would think might be a little more religious than Horizons. I think my dd will enjoy this Horizons workbook. You can see samples at Rainbow Resource and cbd.com . There is also a series of 3 books written by Michelle O’Brien-Palmer called Healthy Me, Sense-Abilities and Watch Me Grow. These are more hands-on and not worksheets. RR has these. I know there's a textbook series that's secular called Healthy Me by Harcourt Brace. HTH! :001_smile:

It's me again. I had wanted to add that some of the reasons that I plan on sticking with McRuffy is that: ~ my daughter LOVES it That's always a good thing! In addition to phonics, ~ it includes handwriting (& copywork) ~ it includes spelling ~ it includes grammar ~ it includes reading comprehension No need to look for separate programs for those things. Yay!! ~ the customer service can't be beat. Brian will always e-mail you back very quickly. When I was about to place my initial order, the only math manipulatives I did not already own were the little colored cubes. I asked him if I could use our MUS little blocks. He said that the McRuffy cubes were color specific for the pages....so he sent me the cubes at no charge! Also, I had told him that there were several things that Rainbow Resource sold a little cheaper and that I'd probably order those things from them. He offered to price match everything (how many companies do that?). Lastly, when our phonics arrived I looked through all the readers and noticed that one was missing. I e-mailed him to let him know and he mailed one out that very same day. Anyway, just wanted to mention these additional things. I really do think it's a wonderful program and I'm happy that you'll be starting it. :001_smile:

Hi Angel, We are using the K now. I do plan on continuing with it. Since we haven't finished K yet, I don't know if I really know the answers yet. I can tell about the last reader (book 20). This might give you an idea of where she'll be at by the time you've finished K. Greg's Grape Ride The bug has a gray nose. His name is Greg. Greg is on the green grass. The bug will graze. "I do not like the grass," gripes Greg. "I will get a big green grape." A grape is on the vine. Greg shakes the vine. The grape is on Greg. Greg groans. A blue jay grabs the grape. Greg in in the grape. A bus in in the way. The blue jay groans. The blue jay goes away. Greg grins. The bus will go on the road. The grape is still on the grill. Greg grips the grill. The bug will ride the bus. The bus stops. Greg is not on the grill. The grape is in the grate. Greg can not grip the grate. The grape can float. Greg came out of a pipe. Greg grips the grass. Greg will graze on the grass. The bug will not gripe.

I probably won't be much help. But, the two suggestions I can think of would be CLE Sunrise or Teaching Textbooks. Both websites have placement tests. I'm assuming SM means Singapore Math?? http://www.clp.org/store/by_subject/4 http://teachingtextbooks.com/

How about Vocabulary Cartoons? That's kinda fun. :001_smile:

We have used/tried many math programs over the years (I think that count is at 10 right now, LOL!). By far, my most favorite is McRuffy. My second pick would be Moving with Math for K. But, the color, cuteness, and wonderful customer service of McRuffy can't be beat (doesn't hold a candle to Moving with Math which really is geared more for a classroom). I'm sure you have the link to McRuffy so check out their samples. Maybe even print the K pages and have your little one try them and see what she thinks. I know the decision isn't up to her.....but sometimes her imput on samples helps. When my dd was shown samples of MUS and McRuffy, she just begged and begged to stay with McRuffy (she loves it so much). We are using McRuffy for Phonics and Science too and we are thrilled to have found out about them. You can request a free catalog at their website. Just and fyi: if you search for used McRuffy, remember that there is an older black and white version and the newer color version. I would definitely recommend the color. If they don't advertise it as color, then it probably isn't.

Cute. My youngest is 6 and she was watching a Strawberry Shortcake dvd today. She came running down to the room I was in and excitedly said, "Mom! Did you know that spring always starts in......(then she paused and had this thinking look, trying to remember what she just learned).....in June!" It was cute.

What age or grade is this for? I voted for BF, only because the little experience we have had with Queens.....I just don't like them (not personally.....I'm sure they are a nice family. I had gotten one of their books and it was outrageously expensive for the little bit that it contained. So....that was a major turn off). I know you've looked at a lot and have narrowed it down to these 2. Soooo....I don't want to throw a monkey wrench in your plans (but if you perhaps aren't aware of a certain curriculum it's nice to be told about it....that's what happened with me in regards to the history I'll mention). I'm not sure what age you are looking for....but have you looked at History Odyssey? I'm going to start that with youngest in January (1st grade). http://www.pandiapress.com/history_odyssey.htm Yu can try before you buy! You can order it at Rainbow Resource.

I had googled "spelling rules" not long ago and the first site that came up was this one (I don't know how comprehensive it is): http://www.dyslexia.org/spelling_rules.shtml I know the next one is not at all comprehensive, but it's so cute and catchy. Scroll down a little and you'll see Musical Activities and then you'll see Musical Spelling Rules. http://gardenofpraise.com/index.htm

Oh I wouldn't call them twaddle at all. I don't see anything wrong with them. As for the Ramona books....now there's a new movie coming out so that would be fun to either read the book(s) first or after seeing the movie. There are old Mouse & the Motorcycle movies you might be able to find at the library or online that are silly. I'm not familiar with Rainbow Magic books....how about Magic Tree House. Others that my daughter loved when she was young (but she loved reading) were the series Boxcar Children, Encyclopedia Brown, Saddle Club, Animal Ark, Puppy Patrol, Hank the Cowdog, The Borrowers, The Littles, etc.

What I did was I went through the entire house and made a list. It turned out to be a pretty big list. I printed it off and I check items off (not cross out....and a check doesn't mean we won't do it again. I'll just put another check mark and another). Just a sampling of the kinds of things I found: HWT roll-a-dough letters HWT stamp & see screen magnetic letters w/ board play-doh magnetic mosaics mosaic tiles perler beads bead stringing puzzles hot dots stencils rubber stamps felts measuring worms / cards funtastic frogs story book coloring book / crayons (new is a nice surprise) sticker book kumon books mazes dot to dot draw write now search & find dvd (Signing Time / Hi-5 / Scholastic story dvd's / dance or exercise dvd) flash magic klutz books (hand art, magic painting, totally tape, highlight, crayon rubbings, foam book, pompom animals, eye find, paper flowers, etc...) art books (mudworks, scribble art) sculpey clay fancy cut scissors & paper paper plate craft books paper snowflake art dollar store craft kits (friendship bracelets, mini scrapbooks, alphabet beads, paper flowers, doodle beads, etc) books on tape attribute blocks & cards pattern blocks w/ books & cards tangrams & book cuisinaire rods & book lacing cards think-it-through tiles unifix word building blocks / cards unifix sudoku 100 # board & tiles file folder games self-checks wrap ups clock-o-dial build it cubes geoboard & pattern book w/ bands math story mats & chips word wheels sequencing cards tons and tons of games (such as cool cash bingo, rocky bingo, time/money bingo, spelling bee, math magic, fraction dominoes, fraction pies, telling time circles, rails rivers roads, antipasta, pie in the sky, python path, sum swamp, mapping the town, math mouse games, dino math tracks, shopping games, initial consonants, magnetic alphabet fishing, etc, etc) Well, hope that gives you some ideas. :001_smile:

"Nope. Organization, just like homeschooling, has to come from your heart. No one can tell you what will work and won't. You have to find your own system." I truly believe that. How can I expect anyone else to know my child, know his learning styles and understand his personality and interest? If I wanted someone else to suggest or set his curriculum, I would put him in public, private or charter school. :iagree: Suzanne, I agree with everything you said (but I only quoted part). I think you hit the nail right on the head. :001_smile: Btw.....how do I quote someone? I hit the quote button but it didn't quote in a little box like you're quote of me did.

I haven't had time to read all of the responses. I know I wouldn't pay anyone for that. It might also depend on where you live. Up where I live, there would pretty much be zero market for it. I think most people would do just as I have done for so many years......ask questions on homeschool websites like this to get advice; it's free and you get multiple opinions instead of the advice of just one consultant. I think the idea of a book might be a good one though. Sorry if I sound negative about the idea....I don't want to dampen your zeal.

We used to start in September; when the public school here starts. But, we always schooled year round (just had a bit lighter schedule all year). We've changed the routine and now start in January. We are following the calendar year, not the public school schedule. Works well for us so far. :001_smile:

I didn't vote, because I wouldn't vote for any of those (sorry). I have tried over a dozen phonics programs over the years. Here are my top picks (not necessarily in this order): McRuffy SE Phonics and Reading ~ daughter loves the stories and cute, colorful workbook. http://mcruffy.com/Kindergarten-Phonics.htm Alphabet Island ~ very cute characters and stories. Used this with my now 17 year old also and she still remembers those songs. http://www.eagleswingsed.com/products/ai1.html Right Track Reading Lessons ~ just recently started this and really like it. Seems to move more quickly along than a lot of other programs. The letter tiles are genius; my daughter loves this. http://www.righttrackreading.com/righttrackdetails.html

I had always thought that you shouldn't listen to music or watch tv while doing school work (I just thought that was a no-no). But, when my oldest dd took one year of online schooling (8th grade) we were at the orientation listening to the principal. He said he did years of online schooling and the only way he could accomplish it was to listen to music at the same time. He said if you need to listen to music to do your school work, than that's fine. I remember at the time that kind of blew me away. So, I thought....well, I guess it's ok. LOL! My son feels he needs to listen to music while doing math also. I know there is something related to the brain with this. I've recently read that with dyslexics, if you send music into their left ear (which goes to the right side of the brain) and give them their phonics/spelling words in their right ear (going to the left side of the brain), it helps them read/spell better. The right side of the brain is happily occupied by the music while the left side is getting their phonics lesson. The right side doesn't try to "help" (which gets them in trouble....because they need the left side for phonics not the right side). If music is just played in the room it doesn't help them because both ears hear it and both sides of the brain hear it. So, I would assume that if you have child without dyslexia problems, playing music in the room (or in both ears) is just fine.

We have the K and the Intermediate 4-6. I haven't gotten much of a chance to use either of them yet though. I've gotten to use the K a little more and my dd loves it (but what kid probably wouldn't??). I will say that the 4-6 is just huge. It's really jammed packed with lots of stuff. I love that everything (just about everything) is here. After finishing K, I'm sure we'll get the Beginning 1-3. I recommend it.

Mama Linx, OK.....I'm back already (husband is taking his contacts out...I have a few minutes before I get kicked off the computer, LOL!). I'll give you a link to all my favorite workbox sites. Some of these you may not need for teens, but I'll link everything for the benefit of anyone else who may also be intereste. :001_smile: This site has over 50 pics/links of peoples workbox systems: http://heartofwisdom.com/blog/workbox-directory/ Be sure to check out the printables here: http://www.squidoo.com/workboxes Here are some cute number cards to print (why they are called "preschool" I don't know): http://www.homeschoolcreations.com/files/Preschool_Workbox_Number_Cards.pdf The 3 at the top of this link can be used for workboxes. My daughter uses the Robot for clocking in and out of school. You don't have to do this, it's explained in the workbox book, but my daughter likes it. The squidoo site above has other clock in/clock out cards I'm going to print too, just to switch things up a bit (maybe each month switch to a different one for variety): http://www.homeschoolshare.com/workbox.php My favorite printables for the workboxes, these are also linked at the Squidoo site. They are called Circle Tags by Cassie. This has the schedule strip, numbers, mom help cards, plus more. Very cute: http://docs.google.com/fileview?id=0ByxW9P5JcJcvNmVlYmY4NmQtMWVjOS00Y2VkLWI3MjEtMDcxZmRlYzcyNWNh&hl=en Lots of ideas and pictures here (workbox pics are way at the bottom): http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/LeslieNelsen/Workboxes/ A chart you can print to fill in for each workbox: http://www.docstoc.com/docs/22346192/Blank-10-space-workbox-schedule-(has-7-days)

Mama Lynx, The workbox system works fine for teens. Although a lot of people tweak the system. You probably wouldn't need a shelf with shoe boxes. You might want to use the file system in a file box....or maybe drawers. There are lots of alternative ideas. I'd love to share some links with you but my husband is itching to get on the computer. Check back tomorrow and I will try to leave some links.

We are using the schedule strip for the workboxes. My dd has 5 strips (although, we usually only use about 4) I punched a hole at the top center of each one and strung them together with a ribbon. They hang above her workboxes. Each strip has 4 velcro dots on it. We were using 12 workboxes, which means you really only would need 3 strips (4 velcro dots on each). But I added extra strips so that each strip has at least one chore already on it. For instance, strip one always has a tiny calendar on the first velcro dot. This is her first assignment: mark her magnetic calendar/chart the weather. There are 3 more velcro dots on the first strip; for workboxes 1, 2, and 3 (when she takes box 1 off the shelf, she pulls off the number and puts it on the strip). The next strip has a goldfish in a bowl on the top velcro dot. So, after calendar, workbox 1, 2, and 3, she turns to the 2nd strip and it's time to feed her fish. There is then space for workbox 4, 5, 6. The next strip has piano at the top (not really a chore, but I didn't want a workbox just for piano). We have 5 strips so that I can add more chores per strip when needed. I printed on cardstock lots of clip art from google (they are really cute; kind of retro looking), laminated with clear contact paper, cut them out, put on a velcro dot. There are chores like sweep, help mom with laundry, make bed, etc. I have other ones too that aren't really chores; such as helping mom make cookies. The rule is, you don't go to the workbox below the chore until that chore or activity is complete (otherwise I'd be wondering if she really did it). I hope this makes sense. It works well for us. This way, you can just schedule in the chores with the workboxes. HTH! :001_smile:

We have both. I've had RS for several years and have tried using it many times but just can't get very far. It's not that there's anything really wrong with it....it's just not really MY way of doing math, so it's hard for me to stick with it. I do think the card games are great (you can go to youtube and search for Right Start math games and see quite a few demonstrated). We have been using McRuffy K and my daughter just loves it. In MY opinion, WE favor McRuffy much more. I wouldn't hesitate in sticking with McRuffy....but money has been a big issue with us. I already own Moving With Math for several grades (the Primary versions)....so we might try that for 1st grade. But, my daughter saw the samples of McRuffy 1st and loves it. Soooooo....not sure what I'll do for next school year. :sad: