Even though the time brackets may not be in order, every history program is taught chronologically in a given year, unless the events are truly presented out of order. You can always get/make a timeline for reference. Here are some excellent articles: From Beautiful Feet: Why Teach American History First? http://bfbooks.com/Why-Teach-American-History-First When Should I Teach Ancient History? http://bfbooks.com/When-Should-I-Teach-Ancient-History And this from Memoria Press: History is Not Chronological: Fit History to the Child, Not the Child to History http://www.memoriapress.com/articles/July08/historynotchronological.html I personally found SOTW textbookish, even with the supplemental books suggested in the Activity Guide (I found much better titles on my own or through Tapestry of Grace booklists). Beautiful Feet just really gets it: kids are captivated by beautifully crafted, living books. Plus, in my opinion, the questions/lessons in the BF guide are more open-ended and have greater depth. FWIW, I have heard from moms who have used the Geography program that it's just fine to wait, even if the child is in the older range, because they get so much out of it. Why offer mere "pegs," when you can give them a feast? The Holling books are so rich! So many opportunities for rabbit trails. Hope this is helpful!

The 4 year cycle structure is just one option. We've done SOTW for two years. It's a great resource for many families, but I'm over it. Rejoice in the choices. I was spending a disproportionate and unhealthy amount of time fretting over history. I came to the realization that we aren't going to conform to the 4-year plan. Nor are we history-centered. I daresay that we're no longer classical (gasp). There are other ways of approaching education that are just as valid, and for us, more effective. I'm looking forward to BF packages that merge science and history (History of Science, Geography). I've come to dislike the artificial boxes of "the history box here" and "the science box here." I love the integration. It's great to have a long-range plan, but obsessive worry does not serve me well. Here's a rough sketch. My kids are working a grade ahead of chronological age in skills, but are too young for some history topics: 2nd & K through 3rd & 1st: Early American History (spread over 3 semesters, as we dropped SOTW2 mid-year) 4th& 2nd: History of Science (I like that we can recap ancient and medieval times without, well, spending so much time on it. Plus it ventures into the 20th century, which is a nice follow-up to Early American without dwelling on difficult topics for young children.) 5th & 3rd: Geography Through Literature, Western Expansion 6th & 4th: Ancient History 7th & 5th: Middle Ages Good luck!

Awesome! We started a more relaxed approach in November after mulling over the 3 Rs and less-is-more threads. Then I read more about Charlotte Mason methodology, focused on great books, and chucked what had become for us, derivative education. I had to let a lot of stuff go, including SOTW and a formal science curriculum. Let me tell you: not only have our days been more peaceful and joyful, but my kids have also learned as much or more this way. Plus they've retained more. Good luck to you.

I found these these articles VERY helpful. The 4-year neo-classical model is only one approach, and you don't have to conform to it if it doesn't work for your family. Memoria Press does not teach chronological history. http://www.memoriapr...onological.html Beautiful Feet Books advocates American history first: http://bfbooks.com/Why-Teach-American-History-First another from Beautiful Feet: http://bfbooks.com/When-Should-I-Teach-Ancient-History

We did Singapore Essential Math A & B for kindergarten, then Singapore Standards 1A starting in first. Essential Math was great, but my son ended up needing a slower pace with more incremental lessons and review. Plus all the books were off putting. Math Mammoth is a great program. We did both books in level 1 and 2A. But I fell into the same situation as mentioned previously--feeling the need to add in things like Challenging Word Problems and Miquon and so forth. Plus, MM does suffer from lack of visual demonstration. For some, it is distracting, but in our case, a picture went a LONG way to convey a concept. We both got tired of the black and white (I prefer just buying the workbooks instead of printing it out myself). So after MM 2A, we switched back to Singapore as our only math program. I did need to start him in 2A. Singapore seems to be about a semester ahead at this point of the sequence. I thought I'd never say this, but the multiple books is really good for us. The HIG is awesome--it's full of ideas and gives a schedule so I'm not constantly worrying about whether we've done "enough." When it's math time, the HIG is set aside; I teach the lesson out of the text, then he does the workbook independently. This has encouraged me to work with him more thoroughly during lesson time, while ensuring that he gets the concept enough to work independently in the workbook. It's actually simpler!

We started with HWOT, but those books are slim and there was never enough practice. I had to buy 2 copies of the same workbook to last the year. I also didn't like the letter formation. The rhymes were cute though. We went with A Reason for Handwriting this year and have been much happier. We practice handwriting daily. Penmanship has improved, and we really like the border sheets. It does seem to motivate my son to do his best, and makes handwriting (as a subject) more special.

I'm interested in a purchase from a member and now have no way of evaluating whether a person is reliable.

Has anyone in your family been evaluated for Marfan Syndrome? It is a connective tissue disorder. We have Marfan in our family. The red flags for me in your post is the combination of scoliosis, loose joints, and to a lesser extent, muscle pains. Inquire about it at your next doctor visit, and if that physician is uneducated about it, get another opinion. Marfan involves the heart as well, so it's important to get an echo done to check for enlargement of the aorta.

I absolutely adore the My First Little House picture books by Laura Ingalls Wilder, illustrated by Garth Williams. We have most of them, but a great one for summer is Summertime in the Big Woods.

I wasn't able to read every response, but a lot of the points brought up have to do with the increased commercialization of food and our changing food culture. I grew up without soda (except for special occasions) and just about all junk food. Not only could my family not afford it, but also there wasn't the sense that people needed or deserved it. Snacking wasn't prevalent. You ate your meals, and that was it. We didn't snack regularly, and if we did, we made a sandwhich or grabbed a piece of fruit. A treat was the occassional ice cream, not something that was regularly stocked in the pantry or experienced daily. I came of age in the 80s, too by the way. Not during the Great Depression. :) My husband and I also did without while putting ourselves through college. We lived in a "bad" part of the city, and spent less on food than what food stamp allotments would have been. We were able to make good choices at our ghetto grocery store.:D The difference was not money, but education and the willingness to sacrifice. I don't think it's too difficult to draw food boundaries without getting into reductive arguments or shrill "rights" stances. When my church (not a goverment entity, obviously) supports meals for various ministries, it doesn't call for soda and Doritos to supplement diets. It asks for spaghetti and sauce, canned tuna, salad dressing, canned fruits and vegetables, peanut butter, applesauce cups, Cheerios, oatmeal, 100% juice, and granola bars. Those are all reasonable food items that don't seem to violate the givers (even the vegans) or the dignity of the recipients.

I think TWTM is a wonderful book that may work well for many families. We don't follow it very closely, if at all, because: -I don't think history should be the focus of my son's education. -I don't like SOTW for a first grader. CHOW is much more age appropriate at this age. -The handwriting, grammar, spelling, writing, dictation, naration, oh my! WAY too tedious and fussy for me. Doesn't have to be so complicated! -I don't like a humanities approach to science. I also think TWTM does not emphasize science enough, especially given the reality that a large part of the work force is in the area of medicine/health, technology, engineering, and computer science. This is just my opinion. Lots of people love TWTM, and it works for them just fine.

Thanks for the clarification!

bump...Anyone else? :bigear:

So the audio CDs for C3 (reg price $30, on sale for $27) are outdated?!

I have enough in my order to almost qualify for the 10% discount for a $250 order. I already have the Cycle 3 audio CDs and Cycle 3 memory cards for games and review (I know it's optional, but my son loves that sort of thing). Basically whatever $25 worth of merchandise that I add now will be free or almost free once the discount is applied. So should I go with the My Body book and Cycle 3 science cards ($26.98), or the Cycle 3 PowerPoint/Memory Resource CDs (27.00 on sale)? I wish the CC bookstore had better samples.