We are planning on using Elemental Science and I believe it says that there are some websites you can look up the pictures of things as if they were seen through a microscope. Not sure how well that will work, but I can't afford a microscope either. Hope that helps.

We can do Oregon. Yeah, this sounds like fun.

:iagree:I love, love your ideas. Enjoy them while they are little. :001_smile:

Cool. That is really encouraging. Thank you for sharing.

My son's attention span is short. We try to do every subject every day broken into small amounts.

I have felt like this too. We rarely get everything done each day. But when I look back over what we have done at the end of the week, month, year. I am always surprised and encouraged. Give yourself and your family sometime. I know it is hard (really hard sometimes), but try not to feel bad for doing something God has called you to do and you know is best for your family. "...In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world." John 16:33 Prayers and :grouphug:

I agree with Rod and Staff.

MaMa2005 - Thank you so much. That helps. We have been spending a lot of time on basic math facts.

I just found part of my answer. There are no new concepts introduced after lesson 142. In case anyone else wants to know. Thanks

He is not struggling with math, in general. We are a year behind because he hated the way Saxon was set up. He cried and it would take us forever to complete each lesson. Now we have no problem with math. He usually does it first with little complaining. That is why I think he can get through the 4th grade level by next year. I plan on working on this through the summer. I just wanted to know if it we can skip some lessons. I don't care about the number on the book and I can't say that he will never go back to public school. We are just taking things year by year. I just want him to be working at a level I know he is capable of doing. Thanks for your help.

Last year was our 1st year of homeschooling and my son was in 3rd grade. I chose Saxon Math and he hated it. We stopped using it half way through the year and supplemented with IXL math and worksheets I printed. We switched to Horizons this year (which is going better) and when I had him take the placement test, he tested to start 3rd grade. He is a smart kid and I would like him to be back up to grade level by the start of next year. We are working through each lesson and are about on lesson 40. I thought I read somewhere (but can't find it now) that at a certain point no new matrial is introduced in the lessons just reviewing what they have learned. So I am trying to figure out at what point we can stop 3 and start 4. Do we start 4 at the beginning or will the beginning be review from 3? I don't have my books for 4 yet, which might help, but not sure when I will be able to get them. Does anyone else have experience with this and can help me out? Thanks

We used R & S English 3 last year and did most of it orally. My son actually thinks he should be able to all of his work orally or on the computer. But no. This year we have moved on to 4 and I am trying to have him do more writing (which he hates). But I feel that it is important for him to be able to write well. Which he has to do at some point and I wish I had done more of that last year just to get him used to doing it. We also use the worksheets and test. I guess what I am saying that is yes, you can do it orally. But it might be easier to get him to write some of it now and increase the amount, so you don't have to fight to get him to do it later. That has just been my experience.

We love Elemental Science. You may have to get a few things for experiments, but I have found it to be fairly easy.

I love Physics for the Grammar Stage. This is our first year with ES. Last year I hated Chemistry trying to plan it on my own. I wish I had this then. I will for my next child. I am glad to see there will be one for next year too.:001_smile:

I have a couple of clip boards that we can take with us. I just put a few worksheets (like math) on them and they can work on them where ever we are. They don't do that very often and think it is a fun way to get to do their work.

I try my best, but I wonder just how much their litttle brains can hold. I sometimes wonder if I present any subject fully and completely will they retain all of that. Everyone I know (myself included) doesn't remember everything we learned in school. It will also come up again as they get older. So, my theory is I do my best and trust that they will turn out all right.

I read a book a few years ago I got from the library. It was called "Children who do too little" by Patricia Sprinkle. It has a list of chores that most kids should be able to do at each age. I found it very helpful.

We are using Elemental Science for Physics. I really like it. It follows the Well Trained Mind science recommendations, only I don't have to plan it. And it is not too pricey. The experiments have been fairly simple so far and I have had my son just read a few experiments if we couldn't do them. It explains the how and why in the Physics Experiments for Children book, so that way he will have the information.

We just started using Learning Wrap-ups. They are plastice keys that your wrap a string around to practice math facts. We also have the CDs that follow the wrap-ups with the math facts to a wrap beat. We just started, but so far my kids think they are fun. We are also using the timed math drills to follow up after they have practiced for a while.

I have a 4th and 2nd grader this year, so I went through that last year (my first year). So, this year I have a few activities for each of the kids to do if they finish their independent work and have to wait on me to finish with the other child. I have a stack of library books, some educational puzzles (like a map of the U.S), learning wrap ups for math (they can use the extra practice), coloring pages that have something to do with what they are studying (like history, sotw pages or ones about planets for science). I have a special place on my shelves that they know they can do those only during school time. That way they won't have to interupt. I hope that helps.

I don't know if my schedule qualifies as looping, but here is what I am going to try this year. I made a list of what I want to get done each week, divided in to each day. We will start on Monday morning and work for 3 hours and get as far as we can. If we get done with all our work that day we will continue on to Tuesdays work until our 3 hours are up. If we don't get done after 3 hours we will continue where we left off on Tuesday. I am hoping that it will balance out and we finish everything by the end of the week. So, my schedule looks something like this. Monday Math Grammar Spelling History Reading Tuesday Math Grammar Science Handwriting Reading etc. That is how I allow for the subjects I don't do every day. We don't start school until Wednesday, so this is just a theory at this point. I hope this helps and isn't too confusing.

Are you allowed to copy books that give you permission to copy within your family if it was purchased second hand (used) or given to you from someone else?

Your plan sounds good to me. I think you have it all covered. Have a good year!

I am going to be starting typing this year with my 4th grader who will be 10 in Oct., but we haven't started yet. He really likes being on the computer and hates using a pencil. So, we are going to give it a try.

I have ordered Physics and can't wait untill it gets here. This is good to hear. Is anyone going to be doing the 2 day program? That is my plan, but I got an email from the yahoo group that it won't be available until October.