I am using OPG with my dd4 and I don't know why I never thought about using the words for copywork. Dd is still working on learning to write her letters right now, so it will be a little while, but I am definately going to consider this when she gets a little more proficient on her letters. Hey! Maybe I could teach her the letters as they occur in the words she reads in OPG. Also, I have thought about using the magnet board and the recommendations of forming the words she is reading on the board as her spelling (kind of like the spelling lessons CM describes) until she finishes OPG. Then I could move into a more formal spelling program after that. These threads are so inspiring to me sometimes! This is a great forum!

I have been considering these as well. Right now I am using Family Readers (Kind of like Bob Books) with my dd4. Now that I see all these good reviews and see that the stories are progressive, I will be considering these much more seriously as the next step for dd's reading.

My dd 4 (she will be 5 in June) is eager to learn and she loves having picture books read to her. However, I have tried reading longer stories to her (without pictures) and letting her listen to books on tape, and she balks at these. I am usually not expecting her to sit for these over 30 minutes at a time, but still she says repeatedly, "I don't like those stories!".Now mind you she has sat with me and listened to picture books for a MUCH longer time than this. Is this a maturity thing? I must confess that up until a few weeks ago I have mostly just read picture books to her and not exposed her to longer books very much. I really want to start incorporating some longer read-alouds with her now, though. How should I proceed from here to help her overcome this? We watch some TV, but not even on a daily basis, so I don't think that's the problem. Have any of you struggled with anything like this with your dc? What did you do?

Thank you all so much for responding! After reading your posts and thinking about it, I think I am leaning toward waiting until first grade to start TOG. My dd has matured a lot in her learning ability in the last year, and if she advances as much this year as she has in the last, I think she will be a lot more ready next year. I have already purchased the guidebooks for TOG year 1 redesigned, and I could make good use of this year by using it as a study year for myself without having dd start in TOG yet. These factors might make next year a better idea for both of us. I guess my main nagging concern is that year 2 covers such a large stretch of time, and the book selections on the Bookshelf seem almost twice as long as the ones for year 1, and I'm afraid that year 2 will be overwhelming to cover in one year. I'd love to hear from anybody who has experience with TOG year 2. Is it doable in one year without losing your sanity? How much difference is there really in the workload of year 1 and year 2? I know year 2 is designed to be covered in one year. Am I just being overly anxious?:001_huh:

Thanks! I am planning to us ECW Botany in the upcoming school year and this will be very helpful.

Does anyone have any experience using TOG with a kindergartener? My dd will be starting hs kindergarten in August and I am considering using year 1 with her. I like the idea of having an extra year on the first round, so that I can give 2 years to year 2, but I wonder if it would be overload for her. Dd is very bright and eager to learn, but (as is normal for age 4, I guess) her attention span is pretty short sometimes. I guess what I'm asking is if it would be more beneficial to have the extra year to cover year 2, or to wait until first grade when she is a little more mature to start? I hope this makes sense. TIA.

Have you seen the God's Design for Sex Series? It has four books in the series, covering the topics at age-appropriate levels for ages 3-14. Here is a list of the books and the ages they are listed for: The Story of Me (ages 3-5) Before I Was Born (ages 5-8) What's the Big Deal? (ages 8-11) Facing the Facts (ages 11-14) You can get them from Sonlight. They have more information about each of the books on their website. Hope this helps.