Thanks for you thoughts!!! :001_smile: I'm really thinking I'll start my younger kids in cursive... but my older DD (6yrs) is already printing. Would it be super confusing for her to switch over? Do you think cursive lends to neat printing too?

yup that is the one I got! I'm so excited to start it! I didn't get the journal just the book. Just what I was looking for... Christian perspective, simple early American history. LMK if you have any questions :D

I personally have more of a math background and have a hard time grasping the benefit of learning cursive. Is it a lost art... aren't we moving towards not using it at all? Why teach kids 2 different styles of handwriting but I also get the beauty of cursive. And the idea that starting w/ cursive helps a child w/ letter reversals and spacing. all that said...I'm toying with the idea of buying the program "cursive first" to use alongside SWR... and start my preschooler in with cursive rather than printing... I guess I want to justify it a bit more lol. thoughts on cursive? :001_smile:

I feel the same way... I want to like their stuff... but it is just not for us (well the consumable books that is) they are just too expensive for our budget and doesn't fit with the teaching methods I'm using. That said I did buy the new American History book from Queens and I'm super excited about it... although I do admit, I feel it is a bit overpriced.

Jumping in kind of late here :001_smile: I also have a rising 1st grader (6 year old) and we started (lightly through a coop) with SWR this past Feb and plan to continue it on (at home too) this fall. Her printing is pretty good, but I wonder if I should start with cursive first since it goes hand in hand with SWR. For those who have made the transition was it hard? I don't want to frustrate DD w/ re-learning handwriting. Also :blush: what is the benefit of teaching cursive first? (or teaching cursive at all)

I'm (im)patiently waiting for this to come out too!!! :001_smile:

:lurk5: A lot of older books had Christian values throughout but not necessarily "Christian" ... Little House on the Prairie series comes to mind :001_smile:

I'm kinda looking for the same thing :001_smile:

I recently bought Queen's "A Living History of Our World: American's Story" for my rising 1st grader to use as our spine... I am LOVING it!!! Simple stories, Christian content, narration breaks ... just what I was looking for!

Here is a link to the author's blog (w/ sample pages) http://angela-odellfamily.blogspot.com/2010_05_01_archive.html I also bought this book and am LOVING it. I opted on skipping the journal (to save some money) we plan on doing our own journal through narration/copywork/illustration and then adding some craft projects.

I believe she is planning one more for American History... maybe she will start doing world history?

Makes me smile too! :) I got mine w/ Flo's order and LOVE it too!!! Can't wait to use it!

link? :tongue_smilie:

I have not... they look really cool though Sooo I ordered "A Living History of Our World" w/ the OP and I am VERRRRRY impressed! It was just what I was looking for, a simple living book (w/ a Christian POV) that covered early American history, I can add what I want (we're planing on adding the D'Aulaire books and doing some simply projects). All the geography terms are in itallics and underlined which I love and we're going to use that as our spring board for geography. I didn't get the journal (OP did though) so we're just planing on reading a chapter a week and doing some narration/journaling.

Thanks! I've been looking @ those... I think it's more than what I want though. I don't want to spend much and I already have a LA and math program I have the book "Turning Back the Pages Time A Guide to American History through Literature" and while I love the list I guess I'm looking for something to thread all the random books together you know? I just worry about finding that link when I read a book about the Native Americans one week then Leif Erickson the next... does that make sense? Or am I totally overthinking it all? Maybe I'm looking for a spine? Then add on other books?

Anyone new have this book????? I'm really looking for a book to thread all early american history together :)

What I want to do for history this year (K/1st) is go through Early American History (probably up to the pioneers) I just want to read some good books (I'm thinking 2 days a week) do a project here and there and probably some narration and/or copywork. Really simple, fun and light. Any suggestions on curriculum? :)

Thanks! I'll have to look into MEP in the future. So excited about RS!!

what is MEP? I just ordered RS from the coop... hoping that level B will possibly last us 2 years... if not that is fine it just seemed like the best fit for us.. this year at least :tongue_smilie:

Thanks! Is MUS based on the Asian way of teaching math? With the co-op I'm really thinking of just buying rightstart and be done with the agony of deciding lol I thought RS B did have the math card games, no?

Thanks! you know as I reflect I totally agree! And my DD needs that one on one attention... so even if a program wasn't "teacher intensive" knowing my DD I'm going to have to be more hands on w/ her anyhow

ahhhhhhhh so many wonderful programs to look at :lol: I'm still really attracted to rightstart since everything is there... I don't have to try to pull another thing together (along w/ pulling together history, science...) ok my list to really compare rightstart- still loving the looks of this... how teacher intensive is it really? Could we go slower through it w/o problem? With RS would it be easy to move on to another program later? Mathematics made meaningful- how is this different than miquon? csmp - this is free, right? and MUS and miquon (but it doesn't seem these have much variety by way of manipulatives)

so miquon uses cuisenaire rods like MUS uses their blocks? i have a set of rods already so that would help w/ cost My worry w/ MUS (and w/ miquon) would be using the same manipulatives day in day out. We used cuisenaire rods w/ teh alphabet book for math this year (MFW K) and I felt she got bored doing the same activity over and over. My oldest DD seems to be pretty laid back w/ school. She gets stressed when something is really hard for her (which then I usually just back off) and she can be easily distracted when she's not doing something she LOVES (like working on copy work sometimes takes her a LONG time if her brother and sister are playing... but will take her a few min when she is into it) That said I can't really pinpoint whether she does better w/ hands on stuff or worksheets... I think for her either one as long as she is interested and engaged. She will pick up old kummon workbooks to do for fun in her spare time.

Thanks for the suggestions so far! I'm going to look through them during nap time today :) FWIW I was kidding about having the same program throughout schooling my kids... I know that is not really possible.

I know this question probably comes up a lot. But I'm really needing some suggestions from seasoned homeschoolers :001_smile: I could use some help deciding on a math program for the fall. My DD will be in first grade (but she is a young 1st grader- turns 6 in Sept) This is what I'm looking for: -good foundation -hands on/uses manipulatives -walks me (teacher) through the lessons (math kinda intimidates me for fear of messing them up for good... I want to be able to provide a good foundation) -workbooks are fine but I don't want that to be the ONLY thing we do (and I don't care about color vs black and white) -I don't want a really intensive program as 1) DD is younger 2) I am reading more about delaying formal math and it makes sense and 3) I want to focus on reading and writing... so maybe 15min a day? -I want something fun so she will enjoy math (this is a fear that she will learn to hate it) -the perfect program that I'll buy and use till all the kids graduate highschool - ok I know this is not realistic but the hours I've put into thinking this over you'd expect nothing less :lol: (totally kidding here) basically something that is gentle, fun and provides a good basic foundation I have my eye on Rightstart and Math-u-see (and go back and forth between the two programs about 100 times a day lol) which one would be a better fit for us? Other suggestions greatly welcome!