One thing I really regret is trying to do history with my dd when she was in first grade. I wait until third grade to require much out my children for history now. If I had that to do over, I might start with American history and just read some of the great books that are out there for that time period. History really turned around for us when I started reading good books out loud to the kids. I would not have used 100 easy lessons to teach my dd to read. The things I love that we did early on are trips to the zoo and arboretum. Unit studies that we did. And, having a schedule whereby we finished our work early, and played the rest of the day.

This was exactly the information I was looking for.

This was recommended to me last year from many on this board. We have all loved it. My older girls are using it, and they spend about 15 minutes daily working through the book. I assign them one chapter to do a week, and they work on it independently. For our already packed schedule, this has worked great, and they have been learning to draw! All I do is look at their drawings to make sure they are practicing, and praise them!

Read alouds Discovering Great Artists projects Draw Squad Spelling Bingo: This is their favorite. I have laminated bingo cards that I made up with phonograms from SWR. We use M&M's, teddy grahams, or chocolate chips for markers. We play for a few minutes every Friday.

Obviously, I haven't figured out how to edit---but I meant to say FLL or First Language Lessons 3. :(

I was wondering how much time I could expect to spend on this book each week.

I love reading to my dc especially when we are reading a really great book. We have learned so much together this way in history, and it has been a bonding time for me and the children.

I finally stopped reading SOTW for awhile, and I started reading good historical fiction or biographies to my dd. She is now in 6th grade, and we follow much the same format. We read good books, and I assign good books for her to read. She, along with my other dc, now say that history is their favorite subject. This year we are using Biblioplan. We read the chapters suggested in SOTW and I read a book out loud to the kids that Biblioplan recommends. They also read some of the recommended books on their own. I think the key to getting children interested in history is to read good books about the lives of historical people--a book that will capture their interest in the person or people of the times. Then they will want to know all the boring details later as it relates to the wonderful historical people they now know and love. Just my experience--I hope it helps.

Thanks! I didn't even know this board was here. :rolleyes:

What does it mean when a post has been "moved"? Also, I haven't quite figured out what happens when I "mark the board read". Later, when I come back, I see posts brought back up that I thought I had read. Sometimes it appears to me that a new person has posted on that thread, but sometimes I can't find any new info in it.

I'll have to give that all another look. It sounds like fun.

First, I should say that I was formally SLB--new boards made me decide to use a new name. I checked into doing the President's Fitness Challenge awhile ago, and while I can't remember exactly, it seemed like I didn't want to do it because I'd be required to be trained under a local PS PE teacher in order for me to be able to submit the kids results for medals. Could someone explain to me how all of it works? What exactly do you do in order to test the kids, etc.