The last time she posted on the yahoo group was 10/30/10, and she said that she was almost done with the 5th of 7 units. She felt that the beginning of the next school year was doable at that point, but I haven't heard anything else since.

The author of Chemistry 1 (Blair Lee) is writing Biology 2 for Pandia Press (according to her postings on the yahoo group). Classiquest is by Angela DuBois, so as far as I know, there's no connection. Maybe someone else has some information that I don't though?

Thanks so much for all of the resources listed so far. I have copied and pasted into an email to myself so that I can look at these further when I have more time. I love the wealth of information on these boards. :001_smile:

I think for 6 years old, what you're currently doing sounds just fine. He sounds like he's doing well, and you don't want to make him dislike math by pushing too much in my opinion. Good luck!

I use RSO Chemistry with my 9 year old 4th grader, and I love it. It is very hands-on and I personally think it provides enough information at this age. I guess it all depends upon what you're looking for in a program. At 9, I want my kids to have exposure and enjoy science, as well as learn about the experimental method. We started the year with RS4K and I was not happy with that choice so we switched, and things are much better now..

My kids are 9, 5, and 2 (so 4 years and 3 years apart). If I think I may reuse something, I hold onto it, even if a new edition comes out. I always figure that if one edition was good enough for one child, it should be good enough for the next. I don't always think that revisions improve programs. That being said, I have held onto material from my oldest that I now don't plan to use for my younger children (even though I thought I was going to before). I tend to make copies of originals since I always want to have the option of reusing with others. There are some books that we actually do write in though, such as Explode the Code. These are relatively inexpensive and I got tired of copying everything. Even if a new version comes out, it won't make a real difference. I personally am not attracted to the idea of selling an older version to buy a newer version down the road, but I'm sure that works out fine for people too.

My daughter and her cousin are having a great time with Intro. to Science. We're taking pictures each week and taping them into the pages, and she loves looking back at what we've done so far. It's fun, hands-on, and easy to do.

Since you asked what I would drop if it was me, I'd drop AAS. I personally don't feel that a spelling program is needed in first grade. That being said, I have heard great things about AAS (butI have never seen the program myself). I didn't implement a spelling program until 3rd grade and then dropped it after 1 year as my daughter is a natural speller, so you can take that into consideration too. Good luck with your decision!

Thanks for the review. I'm going to have to give the things you mentioned some thought and see how I can tweak it if they end being problems for us. I wasn't planning on starting for another week or two, but now I think I'm going to try it sooner as I'm curious. My understanding is that the guided questions are just examples of how to do it (help your child along with getting his/her thoughts out in complete sentences), so I think if I was in your situation, I'd just go with the flow and follow along with where my child wanted to take the story. Then I'd revisit the title and talk about whether or not it really matched with the writing and come up with something better if it didn't. Anyway, just some thoughts as I think this whole thing through. Like I said, I haven't actually started yet, so I may find it to be way too tedious and not a good fit as well. Good luck!

I just downloaded Writeshop Primary A last night and looked through the first part of it. So far, I really like what I see, and I think it's something that my 5 year old will enjoy. It seems very gentle, the lessons are short, and you can either write for your child or have your child write what they can. It doesn't exactly go along with what WTM recommends for writing for kids at this age, but I didn't follow the WTM recommendations for my oldest (although we did do some copywork and narration), and her writing skills seem to be above average. Both my 9 and 5 year old love to tell stories, so I think it's going to work well. I'll be able to give a more thorough review once we get started and make it through a month or two.

I actually bought a teacher's literature guide and the 2 semesters of student pages used (but no writing) for less than $15 I think. I've seen some of their literature books on paperback swap before as well as ebay and amazon. I still haven't had a chance to look through what I have yet though. I'm trying to decide what direction to go next year for 5th.

When I first started looking at curriculum when my oldest was around 4, I had a newborn. I researched for awhile and bought what I thought would work best for us for kindergarten at 5. However, I was a newbie who didn't know any other homeschoolers and had limited time to search. Due to a number of factors in my life, my inability to really spend the time to search lasted until this year. During the K-3 years for my oldest, I feel that she received a decent education. However, one of the main reasons that we decided to homeschool was that I wanted to give my children an excellent education where they will be challenged and not bored, while at the same time developing a love for learning. In evaluating where we were this past September when I could finally breathe, I felt that I was falling short of those goals. I was finally at a place though where I felt I could spend the time and focus on finding some new materials. Again, my child is doing well academically and would probably score very high if we did any testing, but that's not enough for me. So anyway, this year, I have started to explore my options. I LOVE looking at various curricula choices, and the best way that I know how to really evaluate something is to hold it in my hands and look through it. We are at a place financially where I can afford to buy the things that I'd like to see (but I do try to buy used as I love a bargain) and resell if I'm not happy with what I see. In the meantime, my oldest is continuing with some of the things she has used in the past, but I am adding in new things periodically as we completely stopped doing certain things before the start of this year. I am trying to find things that are interesting, fun, inspiring, etc.... Not everything we use will fit that criteria, but some of it will. I don't want my kids to go through the motions, doing the least amount of work possible to satisfy someone else's idea of what an "A" is like I did (I don't grade though). I want them to be excited about learning, and where we were was not very inspiring. For my 5 year old, I started out the year with the same things I used for my 9 year old when she was the same age because I had the material and just always assumed that I would reuse it. Two weeks into the year, I realized that although my kids could learn from this material, that it wasn't what I was looking for for them. I put it all away (to maybe sell someday :lol:), and started anew. I felt so relieved and refreshed by my decision. As a new homeschooler, I had so many fears about my own ability to teach my kids, what they might miss out on, etc.... Now I have so much more confidence and the time to really look for what I think will work for our family, so I'm researching. If sticking to one curriculum works for some families, then great. I place no judgements on the choices that others make. I do think some of the negativity I'm reading about when it comes to judging those who do "hop" is amusing. Luckily, I am secure in my own choices and am ok with hopping at this point in our homeschooling career. It's the right choice for my family right now. It is re-energizing me and making me excited about homeschooling, and my kids are learning and growing. I love our life! I have found a few things that I'm really excited about, but in other areas I am still looking. This doesn't mean that I don't discipline my kids and need to amuse them to keep them happy, or that I haven't done any real research, or that I'm looking for a "perfect fit" that teaches my children without my being involved. :lol::lol: It merely means that I think there are some excellent materials out there that I have yet to physically hold in my hands and evaluate. :tongue_smilie: (now, my idea of excellent materials might be completely different from someone else's ideas, and that's ok too) I am a tweaker and will always change whatever I have to suit our needs best, but it helps to start out with something that I like. :001_smile:

I have been searching for used Mosdos material for awhile now but haven't had much luck. Luckily I am getting a level soon from someone so that I can look it over and decide if it's worth the money or not. Here is a recent thread that might be worth reading http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=236240

Math Mammoth is similar to Singapore and I absolutely love it. You can download the 5th grade material for $32, or buy the hard copy for a little bit more. http://www.mathmammoth.com/complete/grade_5.php

:iagree:

Level 2 Biology is supposed to be out sometime in the fall according to the author, who posts on the yahoo group (keeping my fingers crossed as we've really liked Level 1 Chemistry and I want to do Bio. next year). Sorry, I don't have any advice about what to add. I'm hoping that since it's level 2, it will already be more meaty and enough for us. :)

Ok, I thought of 3 more when I went to bed, but still haven't looked at the bookshelves. :tongue_smilie: The Penderwicks (I think there are 3?) Boxcar kids series (DD was obsessed with orphans and fairies for awhile) Nancy Drew notebooks

If you're not opposed to Disney, my daughter used to love this series by Gabrielle Charbonnet and they're pretty girlie (and I think around where the Ramona books are as far as reading level if I remember correctly). http://cgi.ebay.com/And-Sleepy-Makes-Seven-Disney-Girls-3-Gabrielle-C-/180617290395?pt=US_Childrens_Books&hash=item2a0da1229b Let's see, I will list some things off of the top of my head that she has loved, but not sure about the reading levels of all of them. I'm thinking if your daughter read Ballet shoes that she should be ok with most of these, but some may need to wait a year or so. -The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate (HUGE hit here) -American Girl books -Igraine the Brave (Cornelia Funke, author of Inkheart Series) -Narnia series -Wizard of Oz (not a huge hit, but she has enjoyed what she's read of the series) -Little Women -The Fairy Chronicles Books and Fairy Realm Books (higher reading level than rainbow fairy books if your daughters like fairy books - probably about the level of Ramona books I'm guessing, but it has been awhile since I've looked at them) If I get a chance tomorrow I'll go look through the book shelves as I'm drawing a blank now. It's late and I'm tired. :001_smile:

Congratulations! I agree with the advice to try to "get ahead" between now and when the new baby arrives. It makes things less stressful in the end. It's nice in a way that your children are so young because they won't be missing out on too much really in the big scheme of things. When I had my 3rd, my oldest who was 2nd grade age at the time spent the whole year basically reading, reading, and reading some more. We did do some other things, but it was very sporadic. She is advanced in language arts skills and does not seem negatively affected in any way. (now, we are behind in math, but that's a different story due to choices that I don't regret, and we're in the process of "catching up" right now). Anyway, be kind to yourself and do the best you can. Things have a way of working out. :001_smile:

We're doing ES Intro. to Science this year and I'm very happy with it. It's easy to do and my DD5 really enjoys it. I have BFSU, but it's one of those books that I bought because I liked the idea of it and wanted to see it for myself. It looks great, but I personally don't have it in me at this point in my life to devote the time I feel it would need to really incorporate it into our lives. If you have the time and inclination, I think it's probably a really great program.

Someone on the WTM boards recommended a book awhile back that I really like, so I thought I'd pass it on. It's so Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families by Robie Harris It says ages 7 and up. I bought it sometime this year at 9 and my DD seemed to like it.

I think my DD was 9 (but it might have been right before turning 9, I can't remember for sure). She finally got around to asking about how the daddy's DNA gets to the baby. It was a pretty comical conversation actually. She asked, "You guys did that?" with a disgusted look on her face and the tone of voice was hilarious. That was followed by "EWW!" A few days or weeks later (again, the timing is blurry now), she was even more disgusted to learn that people not only have sex to procreate, but also because it feels good. :lol: My 5 year old was right there for both conversations, but I'm not sure if she was paying attention. She has a tendency to seem busy and later ask questions about things she has overheard. She hasn't asked anything yet, so who knows. We try to make anything having to do with sex/puberty/etc..... just a natural, everyday part of life in our house.

This is listed as grade 4-6, and you'd really need a group of kids to do it. It's Dandy Lion Publications. http://www.amazon.com/Trial-Criminal-Simulation-Big-Wolf/dp/1883055261/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296166410&sr=8-1

Both my husband and I were bored in school and wanted something better for our kids. Now that we've been doing it for years, I have tons of reasons. Not only a better education, but the closeness that we experience as a family is huge. I love the flexibility, and I love being with my kids. I have also realized more and more lately that I'm really not very good at being part of groups with a lot of rules. :tongue_smilie: I could go on and on, but I'll spare everyone. I think just about anybody can homeschool as long as they are committed and loving.

If you buy the digital download, both books are included. The only extras you would need to buy are any supplies for experiments and any of the reading books you decide to use for each topic (unless you get them from the library). The student guide has all of the pages you need to fill out. HTH.