I have the Leo et Lea books, which I really like the looks of, but have not yet started. They are syllabique, which is a form of phonics. We won't be starting though until my DS is reading a bit more confidently in English- probably in six months or so.

Just for fun, here's a video of my son spelling CVC words from Table 2, lesson 2.

Thanks! I am glad to see Leo et Lea on the list, as that is the book that I (randomly) chose for my son, and it is "syllabique"

This is a great thread, thanks for posting! My son will be doing K4/5 this fall, and the plan is: LA Webster's Speller (we're already doing this) I can Read books and other appropriate reading material FLL 1 lots of classics for me to read out loud- we are doing Little House right now Getty Dubay italics, although my son is still ambidextrous, so I will be putting this off for a bit more time because his fine motor isn't that great yet. His two year old sister has a more consistent pencil grip than he does! Math Miquon and Right Start Games, skip counting, practice with estimation Art Atelier, if the HSBC price drops low enough! Otherwise, maybe MtM We listen to Classical Kids music all the time Science Nature walks and BFSU Also... E-M Geography Baltimore Catechism and Catholic Mosaic French (we are bilingual)- beginning reading once English reading is better established This sounds like a ridiculous ton, but I think only phonics, read-alouds, math and handwriting will be daily, FLL will probably be 2x a week, geography once, and art once a week or every other week.

Elizabeth- I would LOVE to see the free French Syllabary. I do have a beginning French reading book based on the French syllabary, but I'd love to also be able to teach it in a more Webster-ish way, if I could get just the syllabary! and take a look at it. Our basic plan is not to start French reading skills until he's had a year or a bit more of English reading, which will be sometime this fall. I may actually give him two years of English first... we'll see.

I think fun is a relative term. If you are limiting your child's time doing mindless entertainment- tv, video games, etc, then suddenly, things like math manipulatives, science experiments, whiteboards, and time lines may get a lot more fun. But if your HS is competing with every other gadget out there designed to provide children with effortless fun.... good luck. I definitely don't plan on being one of those teachers who makes everything into a game... it's just not my style. But I do hope to impart a love of learning and a certain joy and satisfaction in overcoming a challenge, that way HSing remains a positive experience, without being "entertaining".

I see that Simply Charlotte Mason has just started offering a picture study kit, and plans to make more. Atelier also offers three picture study kits. Does anyone know of any other picture study kits out there?

Thank you so much for posting this link! I've had my eye on this program for a while but just couldn't stomach the price. Art is my weak point though, so I'm going to dive in!

Yeah, that's why we switched back to Webster's too- the guessing was getting ridiculous! We did 100EZ lessons, and were on book 3 of Explode the Code, but guessing was getting worse, not better. You can't guess with a word list!

I am by no means an expert, but here is how we are using it... My son can currently read CVC words, but seems to have completely forgotten everything else we learned after three weeks visiting family on vacation, so I have switched over to the syllabary completely now to remediate, what we already learned as well as add new skills.. I spent last week (our first week after coming home from vacation) working on just the first piece of the syllabary B, C, D, F, K+ long vowels. If he didn't already know his sounds well, this might have taken even longer. I might have started just by writing the vowels and then having him give their short and long sounds, then saying one of the vowel sounds and having him oinpt to the right vowel, etc. We do this as a warm-up anyway. 2. After we do the first section of the syllabary in order, mixed up, as a game, etc, then we read a few rows of the words from the first table of words, lesson 1. We are doing this because he's already proficient at CVC words, otherwise this would be too early for this lesson. 3. I then have him spell orally 4-5 words from the same lesson, as he doesn't write yet. The thing that I think will get harder over time with Webster's is that rules are not really given, and reading is not taught in the same "order" as other programs. F.ex. multisyllable words are taught before vowel combos. Also, "Rules" are not presented, only patterns. It is the teacher's job to present the appropriate rule. This means I'm going to have to get a book like How To Teach Spelling or something so that I know all my rules! Anyway, that's just my opinion. If you want a book that more clearly lays out the rules, maybe try Phonics Pathways?

Probably the easiest way to act it out would be to go backwards. Start with four blocks, take two away, add three back, add four back, and then you get nine for the starting flock.

L-4-3+2=4 L-7+2=4 L-5=4 L=9 They started with 9 lambs, so they started with five more than they have now. Right?

I used 100EZ lessons with my four year old and regret it. It is really good at getting a kid up and running- fast results to impress the grandparents... lol. BUT it really leaves you hanging with a half-baked phonics education, and no idea where to go from there. I'd do OPGTR or Webster's Speller if I were starting fresh, and I am in fact starting over with my son using Webster and love it.

Make this an additional vote for BFSU. It is real science, not just fluffy stuff. It is prep-intensive, but not overwhelmingly so. I plan to do this plus nature study/journaling and call it good.

This is what I am planning to use... subject to change of course! LA: Phonics and spelling- Webster's Speller (FREE! See http://www.thephonicspage.org for more great info), using the tiles from All About Spelling. We'll move into How to Teach Spelling after Webster's, or we'll purchase some of the "vintage" spellers/readers. Grammar- I'm building my own grammar using a general grammar reference book, so this is cheap, too. I'll do the Charlotte Mason style dictations, narrations, and copywork using.... Handwriting- Getty Dubay italics and Startwrite software to make copywork pages Writing- Probably Writing With Ease 1 (cheap), but I plan to purchase the IEW how to teach writing seminar for my own education (expensive) French- We are a bilingual family, so I'll probably do a few of the above activities each week in my husband's language. Read alouds- Classic Children's Literature + picture books related to history study Math: Miquon with Cuisinaire rods (cheap IMO) and Right Start Games and Abacus workbook (expensive) Science Building Foundations of Scientific Understanding (Cheap!) and nature walks with a nature journal (cheap/free) History Probably Story of the World + activity guide and wall time line. History is my weakest subject, so I will require hand holding here! Art I really want Atelier, but it's pricey!!! I will definitely use Drawing with Children (cheap) because I see sketching to be a skill, esp for science and for training the eye. We listen to classical music every day, as well as traditional children's songs in English and French. I will do picture study as described by Charlotte Mason. not sure yet if I will put this together myself, or order kits for it. I'd love piano lessons, but again, the price tag is a bit high. Memory work Outside of the subject areas above, I also want to add poetry memorizaion (either home-made curriculum or IEW's poetry memorization kit) and the Baltimore Catechism. This ends up sounding like a lot, but I think most of the lessons will be very short, and I'll probably alternate history and science and more involved art lessons.

Are you looking for books for him to read? Or to be read out loud? Is he reading at level, ahead, or behind?

Did anyone attempt to do this? I think I'd like to, as I hate scripted things, but think I will still use a scope and sequence from an elementary age program. Curious if anyone has already tried it?

Penelope, thank you so much for drawing my attention to the second article, which I had not read, and found very interesting!!!

Great link! Thank! And thanks to all for the insight.

What do you feel the advantages are of classical education over CM style education? Honestly, the only HUGE difference I see is the more explicit teaching of language arts in Classical, everything else seems very similar.

My son knew them at 18 months, but this was because we lived on the tenth floor, and my husband would walk him up and down the stairs and point tho the numbers and say them. Eventually he knew them on sight in any order. But it sounds like your kid just absorbed them! That's pretty cool.

Maybe try the gifted board then? My four year old just asked me what the king of England thought about losing the colonies after the revolutionary war, and wanted more clarification on why neither side of the war could be called "the bad guys". Children can be very perceptive at a young age, but I still think skipping all of the grammar stage would be a mistake. Only you know your daughter though. Best of luck!

I'm not trying to sound rude, so sorry if this comes across as such- but- I would suggest obtaining a copy of the book and reading it through. There is a big difference between the whys asked by a 5 year old and those asked by a middle schooler, and the motivation behind the question. SWB does a great job in laying out developmentally appropriate curriculum for each age range, and while some kids hit the mark earlier or later, it's probably not going to be 6-8 years earlier or later than the norm.

That is so great! I know that statistically, HSed kids to better on exams, but it's so nice to hear personal stories about improvement and success! Kudos to your son and you for your hard work last year!

Thank you for the tips!