She could start tracing letter formations with her finger now as she is learning letter sounds (if she is still doing so). Mine trace my cursive on the whiteboard and love how it "disappears" if they trace carefully. During the summer, if she likes to use sidewalk chalk, I would encourage you to show her some basic strokes and turn her loose on the driveway. My DD#2 learned cursive (in K) right along with DD#1 (in 2nd). Have fun!

Shhh. Don't tell the SWR folk, but if we've gone over & over & over something and it isn't sticking, I make up something to help them remember the spelling of the word. My kids have VERY low visual memories, so I try to come up with something to help it to *stick* in there. I usually try to draw a picture with the word. ("Look" and "book" ended up with eyes drawn in the oo phonogram because they remembered "looking" was like using our glasses to look. Same type of idea with "book." "School" is drawn like a school bus.) Make sure to use color. Good luck!

:iagree: We cover all different faith/figures - some more in depth than others - based on our (my & my family's) worldview & faith. I have never forgotten being corrected by my high school world history teacher for putting down "Jesus Christ born" on a timeline on the board. He erased "Christ" (because that is an "opinion", he said) and put a range down instead of "0". His point is well-taken (now) that although Jesus is a historical figure, his divinity is not.

:lol: We're considered "mean" because we came to this same conclusion and we don't let the kids have "activity bags" that are available at our church for the little ones. Ours can have one "snuggly" or a religious-themed book (of which there are MANY to choose from) from home. It is amazing what kids can do when they are expected to do it & trained from an early age. Now, saying that, I still struggle with my kids' behavior every day. It is an on-going challenge.

I point it out everytime. Gently. I don't make her correct them when she is writing for fun. If it is daily work, I write it correctly. If it is a test, I make her correct it. Sometimes, if I point it out, she will correct it herself because it makes her feel better. She now usually looks for a 'model' for some of them before making them. (On her speed drills for math, she will sometimes go back and write a small 'correct' number in the corner of the box with the reversed number.) I started counting the answer incorrect in second grade on math tests if they were reversed. This helped give my oldest incentive to take time to correct the ones she wrote wrong. She rarely reverses anymore. My youngest still reverses a lot. (I agree with PP that it is weird to see cursive written neatly backwards.)

I usually just say, "a-r says AR" or whatever. Then, she tries the word again. I have to do this for each new skill (like silent final Es that make the vowel say its own name). Eventually, it becomes second nature and you have to switch to pointing out those few occasions when those two letters are NOT the phonogram they know so well ("boa" is not "bO", its "bO-ah"). At one point, it will just "click." At least, that is my experience.

I can tell how I do it with my two. I don't know how it will work out once I add in a third. But, I can say it is going better now than when we started this school year. I determined how long I wanted a subject to last and how much had to be "mommy" time. I came up with several different schedules. I threw out many of them because I would have been teaching for far too long each day. I ended with a schedule that had the older two "scheduled" with me in the middle. Everyone could see (including me) what they were supposed to be working on, in what order, and when they had independent time (either working on something or free time). In my case, it works out best to start with my oldest & knock out Spelling. This is all "mom taught" time. I use a little kitchen timer set to a certain # of minutes. When it goes off, I'm done with that subject. In general, that means she is done with that subject too. (There have been one or two instances where she works for another 2-3 minutes finishing an activity or cleaning up phonogram cards.) Then, she has independent grammar work (15 min) while I do poetry with the younger one and get all the kids snacks. While the older one has her snack, I sometimes am able to sneak in some reading with the younger one. Otherwise, the older child & I jump into math. This, again, starts with "mom taught" time. I again use the timer. When the timer goes off, the oldest has her assignment to work on independently. Then, I move onto Spelling/Math with the younger one - again using the timer. She doesn't have _any_ independent work time in these two subjects because 1) she would stop working on the assignment and draw instead, 2) the curriculums I use for these subjects are teacher-intensive at her age, and 3) she doesn't read well enough to follow the written directions on a page yet. In almost every case, we follow the schedule - although the time we start/stop isn't exact. I don't always "teach" for the same amount of time each day. I adjust it for what we need to cover that day (more/less), but always try to keep it within the time I have on our schedule. Oh, I have a guideline I use with the kids. If they fuss, whine, or waste time, I stop the timer. I only start it back up when they are back on track and paying attention. This sometimes derails us. If it goes too long, I inform the child I'm working with that I am moving onto the next child. They will get another chance when I'm done with "x" time with the other kid. If the work gets done before my timer goes off, they are free to do as they please until the timer beeps. This rewards them for paying attention and not dawdling. I use the extra time to read a small book with one of the youngsters, put another load of laundry in, or run to the bathroom. :tongue_smilie: Good luck!

We only do history twice per week. We usually cover a chapter each day, unless the chapter is four "sections" long. Then, we take two days (one week). We do activities from the AG, narrations, study questions (orally), map, and the coloring pages. My oldest does some extra reading on her own and I do the rest as read alouds in the evening. If we did history 4-5x per week, we'd go through two books per year easy. This has always seemed like a good pace for us, FWIW. Good luck!

Phonics/Grammar - Spell to Write & Read for phonics. I don't start grammar until 3rd. Reading (a program or literature?) - She's currently working through (2nd time around to increase fluency) a 40-book series called "SUPER" that we ended up with from my SIL who is a teacher. She's still "learning to read." Figure we'll just work through some Dr. Suess after that. Health - No curriculum. Science - God's Design for Chemistry although it is WAAAAY above what she can understand. She's doing as well as my oldest who is also lost. ;-) They love the experiments, though. History - SOTW 2 with AG & lots of supplemental read alouds Math - A Beka 1

:iagree: We do this. As my DH is much more knowledgable about history, he knows immediately what they are talking about and also usually adds some tidbits of his own. (Little did I know he wrote a report on (Prince/King) John (Lackland) in high school until the kids were telling him about their reading in SOTW 2 today.) We do narrations (that I write down), map work, some of the projects in the AG, answering the review questions, and lots of extra reading. I ordered the tests for my oldest in SOTW 2 this year. We'll finish out with the tests for SOTW 2, but I won't be getting them again. I dislike some of the things they 'hit' on, including the specificity of some of the fill-in-the-blank answers that I don't think are that important for long-term retention. They aren't as stressful as they used to be, but they aren't worth the 'ease of grading' history that I was looking for.

I think what one uses will depend on the child (as PP have already so ably pointed out). Here's what I'm planning for my (young) 4th grader for next fall: Spelling: We will continue with Spell to Write & Read. It'll be our fourth year, but I do NOT have a natural speller, so she needs this each & every day. It is teacher & time intensive, but it really seems to work (over time, not quickly). Latin: Haven't decided. Still working slowly through Prima Latina this year. (I'm considering borrowing LFC from a friend. :D) Writing/Grammar: We are going to try Writing Tales I for next year. We're using GWG 3 & WWE 2 this year. They are fine, but I'd like to try WT with her next year. My dd8 is a bit pencil-phobic, so this will be a good (gentle) intro into writing for her. I hope to move onto CW (Aesop?) in fifth after using WT 1. *We will continue narrations, copywork, & dictation in other subjects as appropriate. Literature: We use McCall/Crabbs Reading comprehension tests two or three times a week. Other that than, she reads lots and lots of books on her own including the 'literature' selections suggested in SOTW AG. We discuss some of them, but it isn't structured. Frequently, I'm reading (or just read) the book she's reading so we discuss things naturally. We're a pretty vocal family. Handwriting: We do plenty of writing in spelling & will do plenty in WT. I don't plan on doing any formal HW program.

Glad others were able to give you some helpful advice. I have five under eight (schooling two) including a three-month old. In my experience, one takes it a day at a time. And let yourself have a month or two to adjust to the newborn. The first six weeks post-baby you should be officially off most formal schooling, IMO. :grouphug:

I have a bunch of little ones running around and we like SOTW at this point. We use the AG & pick and choose activities to do. We usually do the coloring as the 6 yr old is an 'artist' and the 8 yr old needs lots of practice in fine motor skills. SOTW 2 has many cooking activities that they like and we've even made a craft project or two. (The hanging snakes were a hit & we just made the coin purse.) We use the literature list in the AG in combo with a really nice BIG library about 1 1/2 hrs away and love it. When we just used the local library and lots on the 'history' list, we didn't like it very much. So, don't think you have to use SL books if you can find the AG-listed literature books at your local library. I think that in general you will like them. (They do tend to be 'at grade level' so if you use SOTW later/earlier, you may want to add in appropriate history-related SL -suggested books.) We are big readers here (although my 6 yr old isn't yet), so more books are better at our place.

I plan on doing Physics next year with a NON-advanced 4th, regular 2nd, & a very young Ker. I'm leaning toward NOEO 1, but have also considered Science in a Nutshell & TOPS. I looked at Lori D's mega list, but I'm horrid at getting science done without a "set" curriculum & my kids adore the experiments & don't like so much the reading. We are not TV/computer types (as far as curriculum/kids go), so that stuff won't work for us. I continue to :lurk5: and will try to decide later.

*tongue firmly planted in cheek* My brother fondly recalls many of my mom's RD's Condensed Books like "Tale of a City," "Goldilocks and the Two Bears," and "The Brother Grimm." :tongue_smilie: More seriously, I know the SOTW AG recommends many of the "retellings" of classical books & TWTM mentions having kids read the same type at their appropriate age so that when they are older, they won't shy away from the "real" books. I can't see the problem, as long as you don't let them tell you when they are older that they "already read" those books when they were kids so they don't have to read the "real" versions now. :001_smile:

*bump*

We did some "light" school during the summer, then took most of September off & some of October due to a new baby. We do 4 days/week. Since starting back up, we've done 44 days. If I counted by Math days, we'd be on 53/56 (depending on the child). (This works out to 28-31 weeks of math left @ 4/week.) If I counted by WWE, we'd only be on Week 14. As for the rest of it, I have 19 weeks of grammar left (@ 3/week), 25 weeks of SOTW left, and 34 weeks of Chemistry. We will not be "done" by Memorial Day in 2010. But that's ok with me. :)

Kinda what she said. :iagree: We are doing narrations in WWE 2, religion (bible stories), and history (SOTW 2). Depending on which subject, there is usually more than enough info for both to narrate something different. I don't usually make them go away from each other. The younger is far better at picking out (important) details, but has more trouble making a cohesive sentence. I usually have to remind her once a week to not retell me the entire story. The older one gets the gist of the story, but makes everything into short, repetitive sentences. (The Vikings were farmers. The Vikings raided lands. The Vikings were called Norsemen. One Viking was named Eric the Red. etc. AGGGGHHHH!) They are both there to hear me coach the other. They know not to copy what the other one said. I let the older use the written narrations (I write them for both kids) for her SOTW quizzes. Frequently, the younger one's narrations are more useful than her own. :) IMO, I'd let the younger one sit in on the older one's narrations. Then, ds#2 can add in another sentence or two after ds#1 is done.

My kids struggle with visual issues and have some mild dysgraphia (I think that's what it is called). They reverse b/d and s/z, plus many of their numbers are made mirror-image (3s look like E, 2s are backward, 6, 7, etc all backward). This has mostly straightened out by the age of 7. Learning phonograms is really funky as they frequently reverse the letters (rw for wr, re for er, iu for ui, etc.). Someone said letter reversals won't happen if you use cursive, but you should see my six year old making backward h's in cursive. Quite impressive, if completely confusing to her mom!

I think it depends. I know a "vet" homeschooler in my area freaked out about the huge jump in expectations for her box curricula (A Beka - whole program) when her dd went into 3rd grade. She seems to have also seen a jump in 7th, if I remember. If you are doing your own designing of curriculum, it would seem you would be able to judge your dc's level and be able to 'up' the expectations without making it a huge jump. I know there are more "subjects" for us starting in 3rd (grammar, for example). But each person is different. :-)

I wouldn't use SOTW without the AG, :thumbup: but that is ME. My #2 loves the coloring pages, although both olders dislike the review questions and summaries that I make them do. We have gotten many, many nice books off the resource lists (mostly literature lists - we don't use the history lists as much) this year now that we paid to have access to a larger library system (an hour+ away). I am not a "project" type, but there are definitely projects in the AG that I have been able to do. I pick & choose, but the extra reading books and projects make the history come alive for my kids. (I have an 8 yr old, a 6 yr old, an almost 4 yr old, a 2 yr old, and a 2 month old. We are doing SOTW 2 this year.) :001_unsure: However, I would evaluate if your kids like to color, if you need even *more* books since you are using SOTW as a filler and you are mostly doing religious book reading for your main spine. You may not use what the AG has to offer this year. It is always something you can add in another year if you find your needs change.

I am convinced that learning to read is very similar to potty training. When it clicks, it clicks. You can do things to "help" it along, but it could be that you are just banging your head against the wall regardless. I could suggest verbal activities like you saying compound words separately (in *pause* to, ham *pause* burger, etc.) and asking your child to say them fast together. Then, moving onto sounding out stuff yourself and asking your kid to "say them fast" together (ssss-t-ah-p for STOP). However, if your kid isn't getting it yet, it isn't necessarily going to help them "get it." And, for the record, I much prefer being frustrated that a kid can't read yet than potty train yet another child. I'll bang my head against the wall doing phonics anyday vs. clean up another "accident" during potty training. :tongue_smilie:

I did my preliminary "schedule" and the first draft had me realizing I was either going to have to simplify somewhere or clone myself. Someday, my oldest will work by herself without asking me to look at what she did, ask me a question, or just interupt because she can't stand not being the center of attention during "school time." I'm planning on working with my 3rd grader first thing in the morning and "bribing" her to get everything done by saying that she can read until lunch once she's done. Then, I'll work with the 1st grader. The other kids will be playing on their own (getting into trouble) and I'll fit feedings & diaper changes in as needed. :D Afternoons, we do shared work. I don't know how it'll work in reality. And when I add in the current 3 yr old in a couple of years, I hope my olders will work more independently than now!

Okay, so we're doing AIG's God's Design for Chemistry this year with my young 3rd grader & 1st grader. I realized around lesson 4 (cemented after the first quiz) that I may have over-estimated the ability of my kids. It says it is for grades 3-8 and I figured I wouldn't expect much out of the 1st grader. But they both got the same score on the first quiz and they aren't "getting" it as much as I had hoped. The both love doing experiments (hands-on), but don't like the "reading" much. It takes a lot to keep them interested while I read the text to them. So, I'm re-evaluating my preliminary science for next year. I was thinking we might go with God's Design for the Physical World, but that's ALSO Grades 3-8 (with a 2nd grader & a young 4th grader). I don't think it'll work well, even with the revised "full color" versions they have now. So, anyone use Science in a Nutshell kits for Physics like the original WTM suggests? What do SWB's current recommendations suggest for the elementary physics rotation? I have awhile before I have to decide, obviously. I'm looking for input as I like to have awhile to decide before I (impulsively, it seems) buy something next spring. :tongue_smilie:

My 6 yr old is still in the "learn to read" mode. I have her read aloud to me about 15 minutes (or until she'd done with one beginning reader book) each day. She's not to the level of fluency where she enjoys it and I don't want her to learn to hate reading. I read aloud to all the kids all day long, it seems.