Wow! That is really interesting. I wondered why the new books looked so terrible. I have seen some of the workbooks floating around...for like $185 each!!! I think we can do without them ;) It is such a shame that good products get pushed out by popular culture.

I hope you love them as much as I do! I forgot to mention that each book covers one semester except 5th grade. So it really is a ton of literature.

I just copied mine from my blog...sorry if its long! This is my first grader... Bible: The Children's Bible Story Book- focusing on OT, with activity sheets and weekly bible verses. Literature: Read alouds - The Secret Garden, The Wizard of Oz, Journey to the Center of the Earth, Black Ships Before Troy, Charlotte's Web, Stuart Little, Aesop's Fables, West African tales, Greek Myths and The Christmas Carol. Also added Open Court Reading anthologies. We'll add more when we get through all that! Grammer: First Language Lessons Spelling: Fall - Spelling Workout A, Spring: using Beyond the Code 1 and 2 for spelling and writing purposes. Phonics: Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, Explode the Code 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and Rocket Phonics games. Science: The Human Body - I've compiled a curriculum of reading material, coloring and workbook activities, and experiments. The spring semester will be wilderness survival, tracking, nature study, and gardening. Also a compilation of materials and kits. History: Story of the World: Ancient Civ. w/workbook. We have a Co-op for additional lessons and activities Reading: McGraw-hill Grade 1 reading anthologies, leveled readers Math: Fall-Saxon 1, Spring-Saxon2

I found the most wonderful reading anthologies at Half Price. These are out of print, but you can find them at alibris.com for about $1-2 each. Anyway...I've posted pics and table of contents on my blog: http://dcuniversehs.blogspot.com/2010/11/my-new-love.html They compile a ton of classic stories, fairytales, myths, etc. as well as a good mix of history, poems, and biographies. They are seriously awesome!!! I have 4 more on the way!:lol:

I think Saxon is great for repitition and confidence, BUT the worksheets are not eye-catching for the visual learner. A lot of people skip the scripted lessons, but they are wonderful, hands-on, visual activities. For example, Thursday we were doing a lesson on a dozen and half-dozen. The activity was to take a milk carton and 2 different color blocks(six each) to fill it with "eggs". We pretended they were donuts because it was more fun. Then count to see how many was in that "dozen" and then count how many were in the half-dozen. This isn't in the lesson, but since DD was into it, we added another carton to figure out 1 and 1/2 dozen and then 2 dozen. My DDs played "dozen donuts" long after the lesson. Yesterday we learned about measuring by the foot. Mom, Dad, and DDs took turns walking across the room toe to toe to see how many "feet" the room was, and we graphed our answers. Then we took out the real foot ruler, identified how many inches is in a foot, and measured the room in real feet. Then compared it to our feet and DD had to explain the differences in our results. DD really remembers these types of things. The repitition can become over-kill, but you can skip it if needed. My DD struggles in general, so this is a good fit for her. Her attention span is a challenge, but these activities keep her interest. We also "rap" her math facts. "10-3, can't you see? The # seven goes to heaven!" We make them up as we go. I plan to start her little sister on Rod & Staff; I understand that it is less repitition than Saxon.

It seems to me that you are just looking for others to say, "yes, it is bias." Nothing you have said is relevant to the facts listed on the card(which is obviously taken out of context of the curriculum). The card listed historical fact....not opinion or bias. The facts given relate specifically to foreign policy. Your examples of big government are limited to domestic policy. Maybe this is why you view it as a stretch to link the 2? They are not talking about domestic social programs. I see no reason why it is too complicated of an issue to teach to children. I could probably explain it to my 6yr old if that is what we were studying. Do a quick google search on "Reagan foreign policy." I'm sure there is probably plenty of info out there on how they are related. I don't think it is a far stretch as far as prompts go. I personally have never seen any part of CC, but you cannot judge a curriculum based on the sample you have given. Maybe your own political bias isn't allowing you to judge history objectively? You can always look for a curriculum that has a liberal bias if that is what you want for your family. That why ppl homeschool, right?

I just want to mention again that I can't speak to the agenda of CC. My class was a study of foriegn policy and its impact. The agenda of the Reagan admin was to end communism because it opposes capitalism. Ending the Cold War was a part of a larger movement towards conservative capitalist values. Free markets mean less government, less regulation of import/exports, etc. So yes, the two are linked in terms of policy and outcomes.

I don't know anything about CC, but in regards to the answer card the OP presented: my college level Foreign Policy class(in a very liberal area) presented that information in the exact same manner. It was presented as a statement of fact, not as a means of swaying any opinion.

We will be buying our girls science kits for Christmas, and I can't decide which to go with. We are only looking at the nature study/tracking/gardening type kits. Which do you think is the better value? Thames & Kosmos Little Labs or The Young Scientist's Club Nature Series We will be buying quality magnifying glasses, binoculars, and tools separately. TIA!

I couldn't wait for Thanksgiving either. We took last week off. I'm not sure if I'm sick of it, but I'm definately exhausted! There simply is not enough time in the week.

We are new to the board. I loved reading everyones blogs, so I thought I'd join in. :001_smile: http://dcuniversehs.blogspot.com/2010/11/weekly-update.html

Thanks for the great suggestions! This would be great! We are doing a unit on the Human body this semester. We already have large model that my girls love. I think adding questions to the mix would be great. I'm going to see if Rainbow Resources has this one since they tend to be WAY cheaper.

We are starting to think about Christmas. We will be going mostly educational, so I'm wondering what are some of your absolute favorites for ages 5-7? Some of subjects that need more attention at our house are life science, bible, ancient history, and math. I was also thinking of introducing DD to some type of strategy game. She doesn't "get" chess quite yet, but I'd like to find her something similar yet simpler. TIA!

I bought the tiles and my kids thought they were cool....for about 2 secs! Since the first couple lessons with my 6yr old(we started at the blends), we haven't used them at all. Totally not a must, but if your kid is the sit still and play nice type, then it would be a great extra.

You are not alone! I am normally a very patient person, but my DD has made me lose my cool on more than one occassion. I found myself with an overwhelming desire to thunk her on the head. :blink: So to keep myself restrained, I've started making her do 10 pushups everytime she acts like ...well you know. After the first 2 sets, she usually shapes up and stops acting mentally challenged/lazy. I'm really not a child abuser...I promise! I'm trying to make her more independent, so we just implemented the workbox system this week and I started marking her time allotment on an analog clock(she can already read time). Its only day one so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it continues to work. No push-ups today though! :grouphug:

This is the one we have: http://www.discountschoolsupply.com/Product/ProductDetail.aspx?product=2591&keyword=body&scategoryid=0&CategorySearch=&Brand=&Price= I like it because its a pretty good size, slightly smaller than the size of my 4yr old's torso. Also, my 6yr old is able to put it back together without any help. The only thing I don't like is that when it is standing up, some pieces sometimes come loose. I also like that even the heart comes apart and they can see inside the atriums. I bought it with school supplies to get the free shipping deal.

Great link! Thank you!

Does anyone have recommendations for a good series of abridged classic audiobooks? I love reading to my girls, but sometimes I'm too tired. And sometimes they get bored because lets face it, mom is not a professional storyteller! :blink:

I have been going through a similar struggle with my almost 7yr old. It is very difficult to tell if it is dyslexia or not at this age(without testing). I have dyslexia myself and never knew until I was 31. I learned to read in about 4th grade. Anyway, I did a lot of searching on the internet and everything I've read says that the treatment for dyslexia is systematic phonics drills. So I would not take a break from phonics because if it is dyslexia, it can take several years of systematic phonics lessons before the child "gets it". We use a bookmark with a window as well to train the left/right orientation. If we don't use it, my DD reverts back to reversing the letters like your DS. We worked on 3 letter words for over a year before we moved on to consanant blends. I would just keep working with him where he is at until he masters it, and them move on. I have noticed that DD reads a gazillion times better from the OPGTR(no pictures) than she does from regular books.

IMO, place value is covered more than adequately. We are in our last month of Saxon 1 and do not skip any parts of the lesson. Place value has been addressed in at least the last 40 lessons or so. Like PP said, they use coins to introduce the concept. Then in the meeting it asks the child to count by tens and then ones to reach that days number. Then in the lesson it will have a number, lets say 89. You will ask the child to identify how many 10s and how many 1s are in that number. Then this is covered again on the daily worksheet using either money, grouping, or simply identifying place value. There also adding activities that reinforce the concept as well. This is all repeated in every lesson for weeks. My DD has this drilled into her head. Saxon 1 mostly covers the 1s and 10s places, and introduces 100s around lesson 90 or so and reviews it until the end (lesson 128). HTH!

I ended up doing a little experiment after I posted this. On Tues. I offered DD candy if she could finish her 4 page assignment in less than 30 mins. I was shocked when she finished in 13min with only 1 error!!! Normally she plods along like a snail and has tons of mistakes that I try to correct as she goes. So I set the timer for 20 min the last 2 days and she finished in time. I started setting the timer for math as well and she finished in half the time. So apparently it was a problem of motivation. Now I suspect that her reading might be the same issue. So now I'm trying to figure out a way to keep her motivated without candy. :001_smile:

I'm so glad I asked! Although now I feel a little guilty :blushing: Her normal assignment is 4-5 pages/day, 4 days a week. She just had 2 makeup sheets today from last week, plus her scheduled work. She really struggles with reading so I try to spend a lot of time on it. Each day we do a lesson from OPGTR, ETC sheets, reading from her Rocket Phonics book, I read from her 1st grade reading anthology, and then she has to read it later in the week. We also do 1 Step 1 easy reader each day. Is this too much? We don't do it all at once. I just worry her reading isn't improving. Everyone around me is always like, "oh, she isn't reading yet?"*disapproving look* I've been teaching her phonics since she was 3. :confused:

I assigned my DD 7 sheets from ETC3. She's 6.5 and we've been working on phonics methodically for a year. Its taking her close to an hour to complete 7 sheets. IMO its unreasonable. So I'm wondering how long it takes other kids the same age? DD tends to be lazy and do as little as possible, so I'm trying to gage if she is being lazy or if all kids are this slow. TIA!

I love Saxon and DD thinks its pretty fun. I know a lot of ppl who tried to use it with just the workbooks and thought it was boring. We do all the activities and have a lot of fun with it. We started with Saxon 1 in the middle of Kinder(when I pulled her out of PS). We will start Saxon 2 in Dec. If you plan to use Saxon 1-3 and HS yearround, you can cut out the first 20-30 lessons of each book since they are just review of the previous year. Saxon is definately heavily repititious, which is why I say it doesn't need any additional review lessons. I feel like DD is mastering the material, but there are still enough new concepts in each lesson to keep her interested. I don't force DD to do all the review items listed in the lesson, but she does do all the math fact worksheets.