The OP picture was kinda bad. The second picture-I'm thanking God I don't live where those things are. We have plenty of spiders but spiders don't creep me out. But lots of little legs...squiggling...yeah I'd scream like a little girl!

I live in a small town and there is no co-op going on there. But I know a few homeschooling people who have kids around my kid's age and I would love to do some sort of meetup weekly or bi-weekly and do some sort of physical activity (because we have little kids and it sounds fun!) So is there any sort of PE activity guide that would work well for a good mix of pre-K through 2nd graders? We'll have a gym and we could also meet at a park in good weather. Thanks!

We tried a few things this year, and some stuff I bought and didn't even get to using yet. This was our first year hsing. We are finishing Singapore 1 We finished Hooked on Phonics We are finishing HWT. Some Kumon books we skimmed through because they moved way too slow, and some I didn't even finish with DS because of all the writing-he just hated it. Miquon-sat on the shelf. Singapore worked great and since Miquon was not open up and go, it didn't get done. Same with Tapestry of Grace. I am going to be selling both of those. I never even bought the books for TOG. I think it will be great when the kids are in middle or high school, it's entirely too much planning for me to handle right now.

Yup! I read the preK and K ones at the beginning of the year, and haven't really checked it since, but there was wonderful information there about the important aspects of handwriting that I didn't know and lots of helpful tips. But I haven't had to check them since. So try to get one used, I see a lot on here for very affordable prices.

There has been so much wisdom shared in this thread. Thank you all! I have seen a big difference between 5 and 6. My oldest has been six since September and there are so many things he can and will do and enjoys differently than he did a year ago. So now my second son is five and although he has a totally different mindset than his brothers, and different skills, I am just trying to chill, keep it hands-on and open-ended, and build up the character obedience thing. We kept our first year of school (2011-2012) pretty simple academically-just reading, writing, and math with the six year old and little bits here and there with the four year old who turned five in February. My older boy benefited strongly by me sticking to a routine. Not a detailed schedule, mind you, it is rather turbulent here. But in general, we followed this routine on school days: Wake Up Eat Breakfast Get Dressed School Eat Lunch Chores Outside Time Free Time/TV Time/Wii Time Dinner Reading Bible Jammies Bed I wrote it down and would go over it with them whenever they wanted to watch a show when school or chores weren't done. Eventually they got that they would have time for things later, and they had to do school because it was on the list. You can't argue with a list! i purposely kept 'school' open ended because some days were not sit down and do everything days, some days were very lax, we didn't do every subject every day. There was lots of hands-on with Cuisinaire rods, counters, coloring (mix it up with markers or colored pencil for a change of pace), and sometimes we'd read or watch Salsa for Spanish, and sometimes we'd take a week off if needed. We did do school but a lot of it was character and responsibility building-doing chores, learning to get along with each other, etc. I am so glad we took it easy this year because I think the character building was a good foundation for this coming year when we will be doing a lot more school subjects on a much more regular process for the six year old, and a little bit more for the five year old. But overall I'm not sweating it-I know sometimes waiting till they are ready is the key to making the learning process more natural.

It took a village- my own mother, other women in my life who loved me. It built relational skills in me. When I had babies, there was so much I didn't know. Thankfully I found online communities of women who introduced me to the world of attachment parenting. I also found blogs...and I still feel like I'm learning. But I know now so much have been what my children themselves have taught me with their very individual selves!

Thank you, Jennifer, that's perfect. It is year one, and all the pages are in white. Good, this means it will be easier to sell!

On the inside it says Copyright 2006, First Printing. It doesn't say redesign anywhere. Should I just assume it's original?

FLL-first language Lessons. WWE-Writing With Ease, correct? Just noticing our kids are super similar ages-your oldest DS is just a bit older than mine!

Anybody?

I'm having a hard time picking a core. Part of my thinks we should go with A in case we continue with Sonlight, then they can be together more at DS2's level. I have heard there's a big jump from Core C to Core D. But I love the idea of starting in on World History in B. Anybody tried a Core A or Core B with two kids and regretted it for some reason? What reason was that? How do you feel about the Language art program for the K and 1st level? My 5yo boy mostly knows the letter sounds but he's wobbly on a few. It seems K is mostly just teaching letter sounds. My six year old-(he will be seven in September) he has a high vocabulary and high reading level-he tested at Core E on the SL site. But he still needs lots of writing and grammar skills and spelling. What Language Art level should I pick for him? Or any recommendations for a spelling, grammar, and writing curriculum that's affordable and pretty open-up and go for a busy mom? Also, dictation and narration-friendly as well. I've never done dictation and narration and I'm not sure how to even start teaching it but I want to. Anybody done the Science SL has? I'm debating between that and Apologia Astronomy. Right now Apologia is sounding a lot more What's the difference between 4 and 5 day? Does one take longer or have more stuff? Did you use any of the additional Bible resources like the singing one or Leading Little Ones to God? They both look interesting And buying Sonlight-it seems that many of the books are ones that you could find secondhand easily. When you have used SL did you buy the IG's and the books you couldn't find or did you just buy a package? About how much did you pay buying as much used as you could (and what subjects did that include)? Thanks!

OK, I think I answered partially my own question-it looks like History and Geography is integrated where science is not, right?

Rosie, thanks again. I really want to hear from people that have used it. And your comments help me wrap my brain around it. As much as I like customizing things, I am a busy mom and inexperienced at homeschooling so I lack the ability to customize homeschool as much as I like. I was wondering-I had DS take the reading test on the website and that placed him at a reading level Core 4. I have no idea what that comes out to-the suggested ages were advanced 9-12, but that's also just his reading level. He went through HOP and has been practicing and learning on real books ever since. He needs spelling rules and grammar and writing skills. So I think I should get the level 2 LA program...Would that be complete for him? Would it be crazy to substitute a subject or two with one of my own choosing? Would it throw things off? Like let's say I want to do Mystery of History instead of Sonlight's history, or if I wanted to do Apologia Science instead-how much of it is integrated with the rest of it?

Very useful information here! Thanks everyone for your input! I'll be checking it out!

Thanks, Rose. How does Sonlight have the kids interact with the information you are reading about? Does it have suggested activities? Do they have included materials for activities? Are there workbooks? Comprehension questions? Does it have a way that you can get a feel for how they are processing and retaining the information? What are your favorite results in your kids you've seen using the materials? I know this is a lot of questions, sorry! I really appreciate your input! There is soooo much out there!

Thank you! A couple questions about Sonlight: how much time would it take a day? I really like the idea of combining cores. My 6yo could read independently and that would save a lot of time on my part! How much of SL is consumables and how much is re-usable? I know they have a strong literature base and that appeals to me. But approximately how much am I going to shell out per student each year for individual workbooks? Sonlight is pricey but if I can re-use a great amount of it then it becomes a lot more manageable long-term. Also, does it have scheduling options? Can I do a 4-day week, or shorter days 5-day week? If we wind up putting things off until another day is it pretty easy to track where you are with everything? Thanks for the tips, I'd never heard of Simply Charlotte Mason or Beautiful Feet. I will look into those. How would HOD work for working with multiple kids? Is it open-up and go? And the same questions I had for Sonlight: How much would I have to buy for each kid? Can I work with the schedule if we can't do it all when it says to do it?

I am confessing in this thread-I read up on AAS and bought it. It's sat on the shelf because I have a toddler and I don't want to deal with multitasking and gluing the tiles onto magnets and getting a magnetic whiteboard and, yeah. I love the concepts. They just don't fit in my life! I will check out R&S and Phonetic Zoo!

DS is 6 now, confidently reading, and flying through Singapore 1B. He grasps things easily, has a very good memory, strong conceptual skills, and I want him to be challenged but I am very new at homeschooling. I have three younger ones. The five year old will be participating in any subject he can. I bought TOG for next year but that doesn't science. I am not confident in my planning abilities. I also wonder if it's overkill for a 6/7 year old and if it's something we could institute later when I am more confident in my abilities as a homeschooling mother. I think I want to stick with Singapore math. DS has been grasping the concepts and most of what we are going through now is too easy for him, thus the vrooming through. Are there any boxed curriculum that will let me keep my own math, offer an open-up and go and include science, history, Bible, and literature? (And anything else a 2nd grader should be getting?) Are there any that are Charlotte Mason like? Not absolutely necessary but from what I've read so far there is a lot about Charlotte Mason mindsets that appeal to me. I was reading quite a bit on the Ambleside online page and will look into it more but I want to know what else I can be looking at. One thing that I feel like I'm hesitant about Charlotte Mason is that science mostly consists of outside time and with lots of little ones I don't know I'll be able to spend a ton of time outside (especially with Oregon's nine month rainy season) and I actually think it sounds fun to learn a bit of chemistry or physics or biology. We've had some Bill Nye videos from the library and DS loves them. So does any 2nd curriculum include that or should I get a separate science curriculum as well? Ok, that's all the questions I can think of now. I may have more in the morning!

My six year old zoomed through the Hooked on Phonics program. He's very visual and has an excellent memory and comprehension skills. I was expecting Hooked on Phonics to take all year long. But now he's BAM taking off reading everything. I don't even know what to study now as far as reading goes? He has a Kumon grade 2 workbook but it's not very challenging to him at all. He does it without complaining but it's really not doing anything for him because he's tackling big words in his reading, figuring it out with the context. I went to the library and got a few books at different levels (Frog and Toad, an Arthur book, a King Arthur book, and he's reading them out loud to me and doing fantastic. I have to help him with a few words a page, but he loves it! So what do I do now? Find something that teaching reading comprehension? Start a writing curriculum to help him express and spell the stuff he's learning? I was about to start All About Spelling. He is currently doing Handwriting Without Tears My Printing Book, and is becoming a more confident writer. He is a very strong visual learner.

:lol: Love it! My kids are way too young to watch it without getting nightmares but DH and I are big fans!

Thanks Laura and Making Home! I have read Well Trained Mind (well, the beginning anyway) and need to buy it. I am adding all of these to my list! I had heard of Ruth Beechick before but there was a lot of books and I wasn't sure what would be the most helpful!

How are Toms for: Warmth? It doesn't get really cold here in the winter, but it does get wet Support: how long have you used them, and how have they held up? I have wide feet, do they have a wide option?

Ok, so I am now becoming familiar with the WTM/classical approach, but I'd really like to know more! I want to know more about different styles of homeschooling (Charlotte Mason? Unschooling? What else is there?) and books that have just good solid start-up advice for any styles. Websites are fantastic too! We are a Christian household, so Christian books/sites and secular books/sites are both welcome!

I didn't know any of the bolded either! That's why I'm glad I have you guys! My public school education just gets more holes in it the more I learn about educating my kids!

Well, I'm just gonna add a little bit-I am new at this. But when I am teaching my son to read, I am noticing patterns come up in words. Sometimes the 'ay' sound comes in different forms, as you said above. So if he memorizes the word as he sees it, he will be able to know what it is. However, if I ask him to spell hate, sleigh, and play, how is he going to know what spelling form of 'ay' to use? Some kids can remember. I always did because I was a visual learning and reading clicked very easily for me. But lots of kids can't and wind up having a terrible time spelling. i still know plenty of adults with difficulty spelling. However, if they learn the phonics rules for when to use each form, they will know. I am going to be getting the All About Spelling curriculum to supplement our HOP work because I know teaching the phonics rules will not only help spelling, but it will help his reading when he comes across words he hasn't encountered before. This will make it so he can read independently much easier. There is more to it than that but that's the general impression I have this far.