Hi everyone, My daughter is in kindergarten this year. She is an extremely bright child and many ways, way above the K level. We just had open house and as my daughter read the packet of information within earshot of her teacher that was meant for parents to take home, I kept getting told over and over again throughout the night how smart and "with it" she was. I let the teacher know that my daughter doesn't want to go to school becasue she's bored and wants to "stay home and read long books". The teacher admitted that the first couple of weeks are boring for everyone and starting in October things will start flowing as the reading groups become leveled and such. I also commented on the alck of homework and how my DD is disappointed. We do after school using Singapore, lots of reading, FLL and Sonlight. I suggested if i sent in a bunch of worksheets, could the teacher put a worksheet or so in her folder for homework and she agreed, wanting to make my DD like school and also work with me to meet her at her level. My question for you all, what can I send to the teacher that won't seem like I am critizing her teaching? I don't want to send our Singapore work as that is extremely different (thankfully!) from what they are using at school. Any suggestions on how to handle this situation, knowing that whatever "homework" worksheet comes home will be up to her father and I to teach her as it won't really be from the teacher..... Ugh, this is SUCH a delicate balance! Andrea

I am having the same problems, except that my daughter gets home from school about 3:30 and i immediately have to start making dinner so that I can eat and leave for work by 5. Since she doesn't leave the house until 8:30, i thought we'd have plenty of time to "before-school" but it takes us nearly an hour and a half to eat breakfast (our only family meal since I work nights), pack lunches, and get ready. I am getting frustrated since i can't even seem to fit in a 10 minute FLL lesson. My daughter needs much more than the school offers, yet I can't seem to give it to her at home. I work 1-10 most Saturdays and 9-5 most Sundays so i am hoping to sqeeze a little in during that time, but the time I don't work on weekends is sacred family time as well since we don't get much at all. My husband is home with the kids all night, but he is also going to school online full time so busy with his own work.

I'm going to try this year. We'll be doing year 1 with 5.5 dd. don't really have a schedule laid out. I was just going to take it easy and read a chapter or 2 a day in the morning from a listed book

How does this work? We apparently don't have an communities near us.

Thanks for the information! I just looked for a community around us and the closest is an hour and a half away :-( which is surprising because we live in a pretty well known small city.....

I have been looking into the classical Conversations program and I am very confused! I am looking at Foundations. Is it a program for homeschoolers to implement? Do I teach it or someone else? What does it consist of? I have found the website very confusing. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Andrea

Thanks! That looks interesting although I am concerned about how advanced it seemed to get from the sample of level 2. Any other suggestions?

Bump, anyone know of anything???? Please?

Hi everyone, I am looking for suggestions for history and science for my dd, who is K-1 level. I am doing Elemental History as well as Elemental Science: Intro, but I was looking for a supplemental history and science that brings God into the equation (or at least mentions him). I bought the stuff from HOD LHFHG (History for Little Pilgrims and The World that God Made from Christian Liberty Press) but these are too much for my dh and I. I love the idea, and it's what i want, but my dh and I just don't like the way things are presented. We wanted a general overview of history with God mentioned and how he helps to influence what happens. I don't mean to offend anyone who likes the program, but the 2 books just seem too pushy for our tastes, especailly at this young level. Does anyone have any other suggestions that we could try to add a religious component to these 2 subjects that is a little bit more gentle? Thanks so much! Andrea

I don't really think it seems too much for 6th grade. I didn't have a technology class, but we were required to write 3-8 page papers in middle school from 5th grade on, each year the length increasing. And we used MLA through my public school career until college when i started learning APA and Chicago because of my major. I never had to add pictures or charts, but again, i never took a technology class. I'm sure it'll be okay and it'll be good practice for her. just break it down into chunks. I'm sure that they aren't expecting a perfectly written paper. At that age, it's mostly just about getting experience in dealing with the style and taking notes from sources and stuff. Good luck!

AHHHHHH!!!!! I love you ladies and knew you'd come through! :D That is the exact blog I was looking for. thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!! If anyone else has any ideas, I'm up for them! I found a program called Cantering Through the US (I think it's by the same people who make Galloping the Globe) today and thought that looked interesting, but seemed to be geared towards an older crowd. Any thoughts?

Hey everyone, I am doing Elemental History with my dd and she loves it. It has a small section each week on a different state, but I would like to increase that into our geography curriculum. Does anyone have any ideas on studies of the United States state by state that would be at a K or 1st grade level? I remember seeing a blog that had a whole curriculum about it, but I can't seem to find it now. Dd is very hands on and I would like to cover stuff like flag, capital, flower, bird, maybe some regional food to cook, landmarks, anything to make it really fun and give us some great memories! Any suggestions? Thanks so much! Andrea

Very awesome and organized! I LOVE the reading tree! What an amazing idea!

Thanks! I'll have to look into this. Anyone else have any ideas?

Hey everyone, I was reading through a post about your favorite pre-school activities (http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=342198&highlight=Preschool) for my ds and LOVED a lot of the ideas like the activity bags, and busy boxes and bags (mentioned on page 2). I would love to do stuff like this! The problem is, i also have a dd who is 5 and well beyond ABCs, 123s, colors and shapes which is what most of these activities seemed geared towards. She would love stuff like this too. I am wondering if anyone knows of "play" or "hands on" like games such as those listed in the preschool thread, only for older kids? Andrea

I am doing Elemental History with my 5 year old before starting ancients next year. It is American history at a K level. We haven't done a lot of it so I'm not sure how it deals with death but so far in talking about Native Americans it seems very appropriate. I love that it includes literature and a hands on artsy activity as well.

www.1plus1plus1plus1equals1.com has a TON of great resources for this age!I am not sure where your dc is developmentally, but I would check out her Tot School resources for different educational toys and such. Also, the tot School printables are what I'm using with my ds (2.5). She also has a preschool program called Rising Rock Stars Preschool that has some good resources as well. Check it out! Andrea

Thanks everyone, Is all of this detailed in the WTM? I borrowed the book from the library a while ago when i was still trying to figure out all of the homeschool stuff, but I might have to re-read it now that I'm more clear on what I want to do. I guess we'll just try FLL and OPGTR and see how that goes. I am assuming that when we receive OPGTR, we'll be skipping at least some of the lessons but after looking over FLL today, we'll be able to start at the beginning there since she's never had any grammer. I think it'll be fun and I LOVE how short and quick the lessons are :-) Andrea

Hi everyone, My dd is 5 and can read pretty well. Not chapter books but some of the level 2 and 3 readers at the library. I have recently ordered Ordinary Parents Guide as well as FLL. I got FLL today and read that this and OPG as well as WWE all corilate together. I was going to do the reading and grammer this year and wait for WWE until next year since that's how it seemed to be written on the curriculum guide, but if they all go together, amybe I'll get it and start it this year, If you've used all of these how did you schedule it? Do you start FLL after a certian lesson in OPG and WWE after a certian lesson in FLL? Sorry if this was a confusing post! If you could help, I'd appreicate it :-) Thanks! Andrea

I love www.1plus1plus1equals1.com 's Tot School for this age. She has added a lot more educational things since her daughter is into letters and sounds and stuff. she has some worksheets but tells you how to do it all in fun, playing way for your Tot. Check it out. It might be just what you're looking for. I know my son loves it. It's very arts and craftsy and fun. Andrea

Yes, this is what I meant by afterschooling on a loop :-) This is what I sleaned it was in the K-8 board, although I can see how the other loops would be beneficial. I was thinking of doing more of a schedule like this: Elemental history Rightstart Math Games Sonlight Language Arts AO Readaloud Singapore Math Elemental Science Sonlight Readaloud Poetry Character Study Workbook with Bible, normal bedtime readaloud and Reading to Mommy being done every day. This of course is not my exact schedule I was just throwing it out there off the top of my head. Do you all think it would work? This way we could cover lots of stuff at the same time without overwhelming her. At this young age I would rather her be exposed to a lot of different viewpoints (different concepts in math to figure something out, traditional history and science vs. Christianized history and science, "old fashion" read louds as well as more modern stories, etc. Am I crazy for hoping this would work? Keep in mind my dd is 5 and in Pre-K but complaining she is bored and is way ahead of her peers. She thrives on learning and being challenged and loves to do "Mommyschool". She is also only in Pre-K for 2.5 hours a day so I do have lots of time at home with her even though i work at night. What do you all think? And if you do something like this, how do you schedule it? 1 lesson at a time? Or plan 2 days into 1 etc.?

Hi everyone, I have recently come across some posts concerning a loop scheduling for homeschooling. This idea seems very interesting and I can see how it might work in an afterschooling setting. Right now for my dd's pre-K and K year I plan on using a full homeschooling curriculum as an afterschooling program since she is so advanced and loves to learn. My dh will not allow homeschooling so we are afterschooling. dd just turned 5 but is doing both reading and math at a end of 1st beginning of 2nd grade level. I am planning on using a mix of Sonlight, WTM suggestions, Ambleside Online and other various supplements like read alouds from Living Books Curriculum as well as HOD since we go through read alouds like water! I also want to do Elemental Science and History with her. Do you think putting all of this on a loop schedule since I'm using so many components of various programs would work to get everything done? I realize that we probably won't finish in a year but that's okay with me. I'm just doing it all so she doesn't get bored! Has anyone ever done a loop schedule for afterschooling? I'm not sure I understand completely how it works and I'm looking for more guidence, so if you have any please let me know. Andrea

Wow, this sounds like exactly what I need!!!!!!! I have never heard of it before but I think this would allow us to get SO much more done! :bigear:

Our 1st ever parent teacher confrence is today at 1pm. I am excited and nervous, lol. She is only in Pre-K but it's through the school district so they have standards, report cards and PTC just like a kindergarten classroom would. They know that my dd is advanced so I am a little nervous as to what they rae going to say. I have no idea what to expect. I'll update tomorrow as I have to work tonight but wish us luck!

:bigear: