I alternate btwn science(2days a week) and history(3 days a week). We have more history b/c that is what my ds5 likes the most. Day 1-Read the first section of SOTW. We do the review questions, narration page, and map work. Day 2-Read second section of SOTW. Review questions, narration page, and coloring page. Day 3-If there is a third section we would read it this day. If not then I let my ds pick what books he wants me to read during history. Some people may do a project on day 3, but my ds doesn't care for the projects. All of the books we read we get from the library. Here is a link to a SOTW notebook/planning pages that really helped me figure things out. http://www.lulu.com/content/796912 HTH, Kim

I have not used them but have you looked at Beyond Five in a Row? I am not sure what age group you are looking for.

Maybe she would like the CD's that go with SOTW. I have seen other threads where the kids didn't like the parents reading, but they did enjoy the CD's. My ds doesn't like activities, so we don't do any of those. He will sometimes do a coloring page though. I do use the list of extra books, and the maps. HTH

:iagree: I have been using the Plus version for a year now. The thing I love the most is that you can easily move around the things you have scheduled. My paper lesson plans used to have arrows, and scratch marks everywhere.

I have a dd same age as yours. I just got her Kumon Tracing, Easy Mazes, and the Coloring at the Zoo. She usually does 2 coloring pages, and 3 of the Easy Mazes or Tracing. The only bad thing is that she gets upset when I tell her she is done for the day. She would do all of the books in one day if I let her. I she also colors the SOTW activity guide pages, or anything else her brother is coloring. When it is math time my ds uses RightStart Math so he uses tally sticks, color tiles, and other manipulatives. I usually give her a handful and let her play with those for awhile.

Don't waste your time with the CD. I bought the level B kit, and the CD comes with it. We used it 2 times. Homemama2 is right there is only 3 songs, and it is kind of goofy. HTH, Kim

We school year around here but during a "lite" school. We will only be doing 3-4 days at most including a lot of outside hands on science, and nature walks. I have found that taking an extended time off if not good for my dc. They love the time off, but they forget almost everything, and it takes at least 2 weeks to get back our routine.

I book 1 deals with short vowel sounds, and some final letters. They don't start blending until book 2. My ds has used ETC for his phonics program. I use the TM and do the activities that they suggest along with the workbook. He loves it, and it seems to be a good fit for him. We did have a rough patch when we switched from the primers to book 1 since it requires more writing. I don't have him write as much ETC wants them to.

My ds6 is the same way. Although we don't do spelling or grammer in the traditional sense. We do most of our things orally. My ds hates to write b/c he doesn't think his letters are perfect. It really stresses him out if it is not exactly what he thinks it should be. I found out that he thought the handwriting book was boring. Switching his handwriting book made a difference. The other big difference is that he is competitative, sooo I decided to see if he can improve his time everyday. With those couple of changes handwriting, we went from 45 min of me wanting to pull my hair out to 20 min of time to spend with the younger one. :001_smile:

I love FIAR and have been using it for a year now. FIAR is a unit study approach. I found that my ds5 loves this type of learning so this was good fit for us. FIAR can be used many different ways. Some use it as a tool for discussion only. Others suppliment with other books or printables. Still others make lapbooks with info they have learned. When I first started with FIAR, my ds5 didn't like to read the book everyday for five days. Now he makes me read the story, even if he knows it by heart. IMHO I think it gives children time to look and think in detail about a book. I read a great post on the FIAR where the author of FIAR gives an example of how it could be used. Here is the link: http://www.fiarhq.com/~gbprnhrz/forum/showthread.php?t=29145 HTH, Kim

I got mine at the start of ps year at Costco. It was 2 maps lamenated. One of the US only and one of the world. I think they were about 22 dollars. Here is a link to the maps I have on my wall. http://www.hammondmap.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=1916

When I had my ds5, people would say are you going to have more? Then I had my dd2, and I still get the same question. I wonder what is the magic number where people stop asking if you are having more, and complaining you have to many? My aunt had 4 boys, and people used come up to her and say "Oh are you going to try for a girl?" I have never understood a comment like that. I would have been happy with any gender combo. Why do they have to assume you need some of each kind to be happy?

I have used these books that are arranged in themes. They have a paragraph or two about the artist, then they ask questions. It is the Come Look With Me series. This is a link for the first one, but you can do it in any order. http://www.amazon.com/Come-Look-Me-Enjoying-Children/dp/0934738769 When I used it I made up notebooking sheets with the picture to be studied along with the questions. We looked at the picture for a week. I loved keeping track of what my ds5 would say about the pictures. I remember when we did Starry Night by Van Gogh. He told me he didn't like the painting b/c he didn't paint the whole tree. :confused: :D If you are intrested in what I made just let me know, and I will send you what I have. HTH, Kim

Here is one that has some free worksheet type stuff, and some for members only. www.abcteach.com

and I like it. To me it is expensive compared to Enchanted Learning. I print off stuff every week. Some for homeschool and some for our co-op. I think it is worth the price if you spend a lot of time right now looking for printables on the internet. I have spent hours sometimes looking for what I need, and with Teacher File Box I can usually find something that fits my needs. There is also a product called Classroom Zoom. Here is the link: http://www.classroomzoom.com I think it is by Teacher Created Resources for 50 a year. I also like Enchanted Learning. Here is the link: http://www.enchantedlearning.com/Home.html I think it is a great sight for 20 dollars a year. The other one I find useful is www.abcteach.com I am not sure how much that is though. HTH, Kim

I got my test book as a part of a used bundle, and I wondered if my ds5(major history lover) could answer the questions(no pressure). I used it last week orally when we had our review week. He got most of the questions correct. I was amazed on what he has retained. So I thought I would use it for the weeks we review. Take the test orally and color the review card.

We homeschool year around taking a day or week here and there. I tried to have extended time off, and found that my dc are better suited to school year around. Though my ds asked if he got holidays off from school. :) I said sorry St. Pat's Day is not considered a school free day around here! I take the week of Christmas to New Years off. I school 4 days a week, with the other day being co-op day. We take a week here and there when we need it. My state counts hours not days, so as long as we are looking good for the month we can take some time off. HTH, Kim

I just got this a couple of weeks ago, and in the intro it says it is intended to be used from start to finish. That the concepts and vocabulary build on one another. It also says it was written to be used 2-3 times a week. We have only used it for a couple of weeks, and I think it is very easy to use(for my non-science mind). I schedule it in 2 days a week, and that is working out for our current schedule of 4 days a week. HTH, Kim

Me too!!

We just got done reading this book Katje, the windmill cat by Woelfle, Gretchen. It is based on a true story, and I thought the pictures were wonderful. Here is a summary: In a Dutch seaside village, Katje, a tricolored cat, used to chase mice from the mill by day and go home with Nico the miller by night. But Nico's new bride doesn't like floury paw prints in the house, and she shoos the gentle cat from the cradle when baby Anneke arrives. Feeling displaced, Katje retreats to the mill but secretly returns to the house at night to rock Anneke's cradle. When a fierce storm sends the sea breaking through the dike, Katje races to the house just as Anneke's cradle is washed out the door. The cat hops aboard, and, by countering the waves with her practiced rocking, she saves the beloved baby. Katje is welcomed back home, and when Anneke outgrows her cradle, it becomes Katje's. The design is beautiful: the warm, lovingly drawn illustrations are too small for group sharing, but they are exquisite, artfully detailed and textured in watercolor pencils. Borders of small delft tile replicas add a sense of the culture to the pictures, which give the story a folktale flavor. Smoothly told as well as finely illustrated, this heartwarming book, inspired by an actual incident in Holland in 1421, is certain to become a favorite for lap sharing. I also read another book about the tulip trade. It was a nice easy read. It is called The great tulip trade byBrust, Beth Wagner. Here is a summary of that book(and it is much shorter). In Holland in the 1600s, a birthday gift of eight precious tulip bulbs is traded into livestock, furniture, and a valuable painting. HTH, Kim

My ds had an attitude problem with school until we got into a schedule. Now that we have the schedule down I have loosened up a bit, and let him pick the order of his subjects. Sometimes I would give him a choice btwn two so he didn't always choose the same subject last. He picks the subjects he is intrested in first. The odd thing about that is it changes from week to week. Last week it was history, and this week it is math.

I am not an expert homeschooler by any means, but I do have a recommendation for another book. It is Cathy Duffy's 100 Top Picks for Homeschool Curriculum: Choosing the Right Curriculum. The first part of the book really helped me figure out what my teaching style as well as my children's learning style. Here is her website: http://cathyduffyreviews.com/ In TWTM there is a section on what to do if you don't start history in 1st grade. Unfortunally most of my brain got used up today teaching.:tongue_smilie: HTH, Kim

www.enchantedlearning.com -love all of the printables they have www.homeschoolshare.com -lots of free FIAR type stuff with free lapbook stuff not a website but I love getting the Dover samplers every week.

We will start this in the fall: History: SOTW V2 (my guy asked for history this year so we started early) Science: R.E.A.L. Science by Pandia Press Handwriting: HWOT 1st grade Math:Rightstart Level B Phonics:continue with Explode the Code books Art:Harmony Fine Arts Middle Ages Nature Study:Green Hour Challenge We also go to co-op Spanish class

Great question! Hits for K ETC SOTW 1 RightStart Nature Study FIAR Kumon Maze books Misses Anything having to do with art, glue, or scissors Kumon Numbers 1-30 Kumon Simple Addition they are good books but didn't fit my ds learning style Art Make Way for Ducklings(I loved this book my ds doesn't like it at all) Science experiments(likes science but not experiments)