We use Family Time Bible Reader by Kenneth N. Taylor. Here's an Amazon link for it: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1414315775/ref=as_li_tf_tl?ie=UTF8&tag=momteakid-20&linkCode=as2&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1414315775 It's a little juvenile compared to A Child's History of the World. The print is bigger and their are illustrations/ paintings (but they are beautiful.) But, it would do the job of reading like a book. It goes through the entire Bible. There's not a lot of preaching/ application that I have noticed and we have almost read the whole thing. It just tells you what happened and you can talk about how to apply the stories yourself (which I like.) There are some stories left out, I am sure. But all of the ones you think of when you think of "Bible stories" are there.

Your plans look good. My daughter is the same age and for a season (when we had very little time for anything else after her baby sister was born), we focused on nothing but phonics and reading... If we did anything, we did that. You may want to do the same thing if time is really short. It served us well because during that season my daughter really became "a reader." When we had more time, on a few days a week, we did MUS and handwriting (Zanier Bloser). So, when time is short, my advice is to focus on "the three R's." (and read to her a lot, of course). :001_smile:

I think it depends on the people who are the most active in the group and the tone they set. If they judge others in the group... others in the group will judge them back and then there will be division. My group is extremely diverse and we all get along. I think that is because we do not judge each other. I keep in mind that the people who disagree with me have their reasons... If they don't act like I do, it's because they don't believe the same things. It's possible to have an inclusive group... It's just not very common. :001_smile:

Please tell me what you use and what you like about it. I'm trying to decide what to use... a book of time, a time line... I don't know! HELP!:confused: P.S. My daughter is 6 and we are doing The Story of the World Volume One: Ancient History. Thanks!

This sounds like an unhealthy "friendship" ...Sounds like there is serious spiritual bullying going on, too. In my opinion, I'd leave these people and this situation to the Lord's care and run!!! the other way.

We use Math U See and my daughter loves it. We move through the lessons as fast as she can and there's "just enough" review, never too much, etc. It sounds like Math U See may be a good fit for you. It costs a lot up front because of the special blocks, so if you aren't sure, I wouldn't go with it. But, we love it. We have done the Primer book and are in the Alpha now. My daughter is six. :001_smile:

And whoever mentioned the author McCloskey was right on, in my opinion. All his books are terrific, timeless, classic. :001_smile:

Ha! Ha! Ha! I totally understand where you are coming from. I want them all!!! Now!!! But, it is important to actually USE them, too... I comfort myself with the knowledge that I may not have all the books I want, but the books I have, I have used. :001_smile: You MUST listen to Charlotte's Web and The Trumpet of the Swan on audio CD and it must be read by EB White... This is a must. ;) He is an incredible author and hearing him read his books himself is a real treat. They are expensive, but worth every penny. I would buy and read all The Little House books. You could stay on those for months. (We did.) We are in the process of collecting as many Sonlight and Five in a Row books as we can find... But, I have to tell myself that it is even more important to READ them to the kids. :D Oh. And, I'd get any of the Usborne books on the lists you are looking at first, if any of the books are Usborne. I love everything Usborne... I have never been disappointed by an Usborne book. :001_smile: Happy book-buying! :D

Once she is ready to write the numbers 0-9, in another few months, you could start Math U See's Primer with her. (This depends on how much writing she is doing now... not sure how much is involved in Explode the Code worksheets...) Kids can do a big chunk of the Primer book without knowing how to write the numbers, all your child needs to be able to do is identify the numbers... But, I wouldn't consider this unless you want to use Math U See from then on. The blocks are expensive up front. You could do the workbooks called Developing the Early Learner, starting with the easiest one. You could read all the books with her from Sonlight's Core lists for Pre-K or Kindergarden... or all the Before Five in a Row and Five in a Row books. If I could go back in time to when my oldest daughter was three and a half, I would have read to her more (even more than I did). And, I remember reading all day! ;) You could use The Handbook for Reading to get her used to reading from books (not just workbooks). I have a friend who used Explode the Code, but her daughter had a hard time transitioning to real books and becoming a "reader." I don't know much about this program since I haven't used it. I know kids love it. But, we used The Handbook for Reading for phonics and my daughter is a strong, independent reader now. She's six. You could do some drawing with her using what you read from Drawing with Children by Mona Brookes. Time flies. Enjoy every minute. :D

Please note: My dear friend called me crying, convinced that her daughter had a learning disability and really couldn't learn to read... But, she explained what they were doing for phonics and it was mostly seat work... not actually interpreting the words on a page, one after another and building meaning from them... I suggested that she use The Handbook for Reading. She already had one but had never used it. (That's all I knew to suggest to her because it had worked for me...) Anyway, she started using it. And, after a week, her daughter was reading better than she had read in years of work in phonics workbooks and phonics exercises, etc.

My daughter went through the same stage of being reluctant to read. However, we were using The Handbook for Reading (and that's all we used for reading until she was really, really far along). I didn't do this deliberately. I just never had any other books around and didn't know which books to offer, etc. One thing about using Abeka's Handbook, was that my daughter always had to get right down to the "work" of reading. She never had letter tiles or workbooks or anything "fun" that the other phonics programs offer to distract her from the work of dealing with the words on the page... if that makes any sense... So, phonics was never fun for us... aside from the fact that we would snuggle up on the couch or in bed before nap time and spend that quality time together... But, she is a great reader now. She's six and reading chapter books with enthusiasm. However, it should be said that she can't spell for the life of her. We plan to use AAS next year... ;) to teach her how to spell the words she can read (and review the phonics she already knows, just in a different order). My advice is to get The Handbook for Reading. (They are a dime a dozen.) And then have your student read through it from the beginning... maybe doing only five minutes a day... It's boring compared to reading Frog and Toad books, but what it does do is progresses through phonics step by step and makes your child really deal with the words on the page... By the time you get through The Handbook, I bet your kid will have discovered that he/she can read really well so then they will want to read all the time. :grouphug:

I have always ordered from the website since I couldn't find them new anywhere else. :001_smile:

The Handbook for Reading. Go page by page through that book and you will have a great reader. When you get through it once, go back through for review. That's all it takes. The flash cards are nice for drilling and review... the cd is good to learn correct sounds... but they aren't essential, in my opinion. :001_smile:

I know exactly what you mean. I usually go strong with my classical plans for several weeks/ months and then take a week or two to do interest based study, nature study, crafts, art, read alouds, narrations, etc. and we read alot of books from Five in a Row, Sonlight, etc. (These breaks usually coincide with vacations where we will be able to see new ecosystems and places that have a unique history that we want to focus on while we are there or right after we went...) Then, I get back on the wagon and start up with our formal plans. This works for me. :D

My daughter started writing about the same age. We started with the Zanier Bloser Manuscript K workbook. Here's a link to pictures of her work in that book on my blog. http://www.veronicaboulden.com/2011/02/norah-finally-finished-zanier-bloser.html We have moved from Manuscript K to Manuscript 1. When we are done with that, we will start with Cursive 1, I think. Note: I only use the workbooks. I am not even sure if they have Teacher's Editions... If they do, they would be a serious waste of money, in my opinion. The workbook was enough. :D

Sometimes our library has ALL the extra reading... in that case, I pick a few titles and read those. Sometimes the library only has one book... in that case, I just read that one. Sometimes the library doesn't have any, in that case.... I read the pages from that correspond to the chapter from The Usborne Internet-Link Encyclopedia of History (or whatever it's called). Or... I will find other titles on the same subject matter at the library... they aren't recommended by Susan Wise Bauer... but there are many good books that aren't on her lists... For example, many Usborne titles aren't on the lists and those books are always awesome (for Science, History...everything!) I have also purchased some books... if I can find them for cheap. :001_smile:

:iagree: I just re-read The Well Trained Mind this week... to remind me not to panic, even though everyone else seems to be doing foreign language and logic already... we don't really have to do that till later, etc.:001_smile: I just re-read the sections for the grammar stage... NOT the entire book. If I were you, I'd take another look at that book. I had to read it a few times to get a grasp on the program. In fact, I am always re-reading it. :001_smile: My daughter doesn't know much American or state history, yet. But, I am trying not to freak out because I have a plan... we are following the history cycle and we will get to that soon enough. :grouphug:

Books we use would remain the same, only we'd have more of them. ;) We'd travel A LOT more and we'd hire a native tutor for foreign language (like someone else said) and we'd do music lessons. (I can't afford those right now.)

I wouldn't worry. Just buy good books and read, read, read and talk, talk, talk... You mentioned The Magic School Bus books. We love those. I also like anything from the Let's Read and Find Out Series and anything Usborne. I also have several of the 100 Things You Should Know About... series. I have a link to an Usborne book seller, if you need one. You will have to send me a personal message and I can send it to you that way. :001_smile:I wouldn't be too worried about your kids. In my mind, their mistakes on this test were pretty minor. The fact that they confused hibernate with migrate is evidence that they have been taught about migration... at the least, right? I'm not sure my kid would do as well as yours did. I know she doesn't know the oceans, for example. No worries. Maybe you could also start purchasing trivia type books or toys or games... with interesting facts that are good to know, etc. :001_smile:

So true. :D I just read my Math U See teacher's manual... found all sorts of great idea and advice. We're halfway through the book. :glare:

You have to get what you will actually use. For instance, my husband is willing to buy me an MP3 or an I pod or whatever, he's very technical... they also have docks that would play the audio books out loud like an old fashioned stereo, etc. but the learning curve on that device would be so big for me right now, I just say, "No." For now, I just use i-tunes to burn cds and we use a cheap little cd player that I've had since before I had kids. My daughter can use that herself. So, my advice is to use whatever you are absolutely sure you can actually use... if you know what I mean. ;)

I use First Language Lessons (the older copy). This is what I suggest. It is secular, as far as I can tell... The poems my daughter has learned aren't religious... at least, not as far as I've gone through the book. One thing to note: I've heard that the newer version of this book is more "user-friendly," so if you choose this program, I'd look for that version. And about the color: the pages are all black and white (in my copy), but the way the program is set up, the child hardly ever sees the pages... They are mostly just listening to you read the information, reciting it back to you, etc.

On bad days... I ditch my plans and I pull some good books off the shelf and just read to my kids. :grouphug:

:iagree:

Charlotte's Web and Trumpet of the Swan read by EB White himself... these are a great place to start, in my opinion. :001_smile: