Maybe BFSU? It's "chunked" into three groups (K-2, 3-5, 6-8), but the first one at least could be compacted to a year if need be. (I haven't actually used the higher level volumes yet, so I'm not sure how easy accelerating would be later on.)

I agree with the recommendations to check out Writing With Ease. The Instructor's Text will give you an overview on how writing can work in the younger years. My writing expectations for my Gr. 2 daughter are that now, at the end of the year, she can correctly write 1-2 sentences that I dictate to her, can summarize a 3-4 paragraph passage that I read to her (while I write down her summary), and can write on her own a complete sentence or two about a history passage that we've read during the day. That's it. This child writes creatively on her own now, whereas last year she was a bit pencil-phobic. Her pages and pages of creative writing show few signs of paragraph breaks (we'll get to that later!), but the sentences that she's using are complete and even beautiful at times. I don't comment at all on her creative writing at this point, other than to listen with interest when she asks to read me another section.

Do you want to have some control over the blog as well? If that's the case, I'd look into some of the educational blog platforms (Edublogs is built on the WordPress platform, but has features suited to a more academic setting; Edmodo is more Facebook-meets-blog, but could be interesting; Kidblog looks similar to Edublogs, but I have no experience with it.) Wordpress.com is a reliable free blog site, and making it private might be a good option for starting. I found it easy and intuitive when I first started working with blogs. If you haven't already done so, you may want to look into some media literacy resources and have some discussions about handling online conversations. How will she respond, for example, to trolls? Will she publish a comment policy? Will she only use her own photos? (If so, what's acceptable? Can she include family members? Neighbours?) Will she rely on others for photos, in which case how will she credit them? MediaSmarts has some interesting resources if you're looking for more on this. HTH (ETA: My DH is a PS teacher, and regularly has students use blogs as part of his classroom. I know that a huge concern there is safety. One common rule that they use is that students may not publish photos taken with a phone because they contain identifiable location data.)

I'm using two full programs (plus other supplements) with my dds. (I am addicted to math programs.) In my younger dd's case, we use Miquon & Singapore; for my older, Singapore and Beast Academy. I don't try to match the two programs up very often, but just work through both. I also don't have my dds do every. single. problem where they demonstrate mastery.

You have all given me a lot to think about. I use and enjoy BFSU for the reasons you've pointed out above -- it's big picture, flexible, and organic. At first pass through it, though, I found it a hard text to use. It resonated with me, but it wasn't obvious how to use it. I found that to get it up and running, I had to identify what it was that I disliked about it (horrible layout), and then just start using it, overcoming the horrid layout by highlighting and making my own notes. I wonder if I need to do the same here with TWJ? I've read through it, and parts of it resonated with me, making me think that my daughters would benefit from those activities. I've thought long and hard, and I believe I've identified what it is about TWJ that makes me want to chuck it across the room. Knowing that, maybe I can work around it by making my own notes, and jumping in. Or at least dipping a toe in ... So Farrar, unless you're coming up with a Bravewriter Guide for folks like me (you know, after you're done your science activity guide), I am going to resist that purchase button a little bit longer and do the hard work of wrestling TWJ into a format that I can use. I think. :001_smile: :lol: *Gasp!* Were you suggesting that I might need a more procedural approach over a conceptual one? Language like that just might start a full-scale forum war! :001_smile:

With my 2nd grader, we've done 2.5 - 3 hours of seatwork, plus independent reading daily. I noticed a real shift in what we could accomplish in that time halfway through the year, so lately we've actually been getting to (almost) everything I planned. That wasn't the case at the beginning of the year -- math, LA, and then one content subject seemed to be all we could do a lot of days before one of us burned out.

I was going to suggest the same Facebook group.

Stripe, what did you order? The new Partnership Writing? What convinced you? Oh dear. I think I may cave again on another JB product. Why do I keep doing this to myself? I keep thinking that there were some good ideas in TWJ, but finding them and sorting them out is just a lot of effort. Now I'm wondering if Partnership Writing could help?

I don't think the writing is enough in MCT. The exercises assume a child is learning to write elsewhere. I use WWE for writing instruction. MCT doesn't cover spelling, either. But it's an amazing grammar, vocabulary, and poetry program!

Or that she'd let Farrar rewrite it. :001_smile: So many times I've followed questions about BraveWriter, and have found that usually Farrar can explain what was really meant in a clear, concise, useable format.

Listening in on this -- thanks for posting. I'm finding some great resources for my dd who has begged for a big volcano demonstration this year. :001_smile:

I have used MCT Island and WWE 2 together this year. They complement each other well. WWE provides writing instruction. MCT assumes that a child can already write, and offers what I view as writing enrichment exercises. I don't think that a child can learn to write using MCT alone, but its writing exercises will stretch them in a way that WWE won't. The MCT exercises are more creative and often can be as long or as short as you wish to make them. For example, one MCT writing exercise is, "Write a dialogue where one character can only use action verbs and the other can only use linking verbs." It's assuming that a child already knows how to write complete sentences in dialogue form, and is challenging them to think creatively about grammar within that. I didn't do every writing exercise in MCT, picking only those that I thought my dd would enjoy or learn a lot from. I did WWE in its entirety. HTH ETA: And, FWIW, I didn't find WWE and MCT overkill in the same week. We did WWE during writing time. We did MCT during grammar time. It was just fine.

The first "official" year is fun! And I know all about hovering on the front porch waiting for the next delivery! :001_smile: In looking over your list, I was struck by two things that I'll comment on: (1) number of phonics programs accompanied by spelling and grammar; and (2) the volume of formal work for a 5 y/o. You shared that you have a daughter who is decoding some words at a high level, but, if I understand correctly, is not yet reading fluently or eagerly. Enabling her to find the delight in reading together and independently would be my main priority for the year. I personally would forgo the reading comprehension activities (although admittedly I haven't used the resource you're getting) in favour of just reading lots and lots of great books together and talking about them. And I think you're wise to start at a gentle level of AAR with her to build confidence, bracing yourself for a possible quick race through the different levels. I would wait to begin formal writing until she's comfortable with reading, but I know that others have had success with starting it earlier. I just found that copywork made so much more sense when my daughter could read the sentence. Also, a 5 y/o usually doesn't have the stamina or fine motor skills to write much. Same with grammar. I would leave that until she's reading fluently. As for logic, history, science, Bible, and Spanish -- if she's chomping at the bit and needing the extra stimulation, by all means go for it. But these will all be so. much. easier. once she is reading well, that I'd be tempted to use these sparingly. For example, I'd consider dropping the Bible programs for a while longer and just reading a good children's Bible together. These are just my ideas -- take what is helpful and leave the rest. You've obviously put a lot of thought into your plans. It seems like you have a fun year ahead!

I have used both FLL and WWE in combination. Mom2TheTeam described them very well. FLL is a gentle introduction to grammar. It includes a very few narrations, and some copywork (mostly optional). WWE is writing instruction. It is designed so the child is either copying a sentence, or doing a narration, or taking a dictation four days a week. It is that daily practice that is the key to developing strong writing skills. And it's worth noting that, according to TWTM and the WWE instructor's guide, ideally the student will be reinforcing what he's learning by also doing narration or copywork in other subjects, like science and history. Whenever I encountered overlap that I thought would annoy my dd, I would skip the FLL assignment in favour of WWE. And if it came right down to it, I'd drop FLL altogether before I'd lose WWE. WWE has built my daughter's writing skills in a painless, but very effective, way.

I've used BFSU for the past 2 years with my now K & Gr. 2 dds. I'll admit that it has stalled sometimes, but it remains the best guide I've found for our family's walk through science. I love how BFSU is organized, forcing me to identify connections across topics. And the flow chart sequence, while admittedly confusing at first, has given me a very flexible way of going through age-appropriate science topics. BFSU is not formatted well. The pages aren't easy to read, and I agree with the pp - you may need to highlight and mark them to make them workable for you. This then requires that you read them ahead of time so that you can note how you want the lesson to flow. (Sometimes I do just open the book without prior reading and launch a lesson, but those haven't been our favourite lessons.) For the most part I've ignored writing output related to science so far. (BFSU's standard writing response is to make a small book about the topic.) I may change that next year, but so far haven't felt the need to have more formal output. I don't use many of the recommended books in BFSU. Usually I end up grouping three or four topics together at a time and then get books from our library related to those topics. Sometimes I buy science books that seem to be widely recommended on a topic and are close to my dds' reading levels. This year, I added in a TOPS science unit (radishes) when we were studying plant germination in BFSU. I was so impressed with the way the TOPS investigation was designed, and how much my dds learned about observation and recording in science. I plan to use TOPS heavily in the future. One of the biggest things that has helped me use BFSU consistently is deciding that science is important enough for me to put effort into it. I don't do hours of work every week, but I probably do spend about 30-40 minutes of prep time on science alone over the course of a week. When I accept that as a priority, then science happens.

In this thread. I'd agree with pp that you've got a fairly ambitious history / geography schedule. I'd pick one to focus on.

I'm afraid I don't fully understand what you are asking here, but I'll try to clarify WWE from my experience. If you look into the Writing With Ease approach, the goal of Gr. 2 writing is increasing facility in writing down complete thoughts in increasingly complex sentences. (Paragraphs come later.) This is achieved through regular copywork, dictation, and narration. Composition -- as in creating original pieces of writing -- is held off until Gr. 5. You can find your own sentences to have your child copy, and select passages from good books to have them summarize. If you want ideas for how to do this, I'd recommend the Writing With Ease Instructor's Guide, which outlines the philosophy of teaching writing and gives samples for doing this in Gr. 1 - 4. However, if you'd like it even easier to implement, then simply get the WWE Student Workbooks. (This is what I've done.) They have all of the copywork and narration passages selected for you, so all you have to do is open and go. If your student has not been doing any copywork, then I would recommend starting with WWE1. I have done penmanship separately from WWE, but others have good success combining the two. Hope this helps!

Yes, this is a great way to start. Yes, it will come together. Don't let it overwhelm you, and don't make it more complicated than it needs to be. Exactly. Start with your language arts and math. You've said you want classical and Christian. So PHP language arts programs fit the bill. For your first year you could start with those: OPGTR if needed, Writing With Ease, First Language Lessons, and reading good books. Add in spelling and handwriting that appeal to you. Then math. This can easily be overwhelming because there are so many options, and we all have our favourites that we like to recommend. :001_smile: This *may* be a subject that you'll end up switching programs in after a year, as it's not always easy to get the right program for both parent and student. (I started with Saxon and switched to Singapore in level 1.) So my advice is not to worry if a program will take you all the way to Algebra and beyond, because that can freeze you from starting. Just pick a good program and start. And as Walking-Iris said, you can add in history and science once you're in your routine. SOTW is an easy, delightful program to use. There are many science programs out there, or you can just read science books for your first year. Both are good ways to do science with younger students. All the best as you start out!

One book that immediately comes to mind is Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. My daughter read and LOVED it at 5 yo.

I agree with you. I had read (possibly incorrectly) profmom's post as containing two separate questions: one about a conceptual program that was spiral (in which case MEP came to mind); and the other about a program that was more incremental than Singapore (which Math Mammoth seems to be). But agreed that, unless you find a way to review units, Math Mammoth does not have the same amount of continual review that a spiral program would have. And if it is a child who would benefit from both a spiral and an incremental approach, then Math Mammoth won't work without the parent doing some extra work. Hmmm ... I wonder if MEP would?

Not Bill, but MEP is conceptual while being more spiral in approach. I've heard of some using Math Mammoth with students who find they need more explicit, step-by-step instruction.

I've combined my Gr. 2 & K daughters in content subjects (science, history, French, and, to a degree, Latin), but have separated them for language arts and math. In the subjects where they're separated, I've done so because their skill levels are so different and I can't easily modify lessons or assignments to allow for those differences. In those subjects that we've combined, we tend to work together for the lesson part (which may be reading a book together, singing a song, watching a DVD, doing a demonstration). When it comes to output, I modify expectations. My younger dd narrates a 2-3 sentence summary of the chapter that we've read in history, while my elder daughter writes her own 2-3 sentence summary. My elder daughter reads different supplemental books. The benefits of combining these content subjects (apart from the fact that I don't need to clone myself!) is that we can include more discussions into our lessons, can enjoy the same educational field trips, and do more hands-on activities together. The disadvantage is that sometimes one is interested in diving into a specific topic longer than the other is; I simply do my best to be fair.

I've used AAS along with WWE (and FLL in Gr. 1 & 2). It's a spelling-only program. I like how it offers so many different ways to teach a child spelling, which has been important for this momma with two very, very different learners. AAS has worked for both of them.

Have you seen the Farraday Schools site? It's not a science curriculum, but it does have some intriguing resources for theistic evolutionists to use as supplemental units. Having only looked in depth at some of the material for younger levels, my impression is that the resources here focus on the philosophy of science and its boundaries. Another poster shared about it in this thread.

Let me preface this by saying that I'm an extreme planner. Spreadsheets make me truly happy. :blush: So at the beginning of each year, I have taken some time (maybe 2+ hours?) to list (in a spreadsheet) every recommended additional book for each chapter of SOTW. Then I use that sheet to send our amazing librarian a weekly list of book requests. I assume that almost all books will need to come via inter-library loan due to the extremely small size of our local library, and because ILLOs take at least 3 weeks to arrive, I make my book requests three weeks before we're going to study a chapter. Every week we have a bundle of books to pick up at the library, and often they're pretty closely timed with what we're studying in history. I just put them in the book basket and let my girls read what they want. Sometimes they'll read a half-dozen extra books related to a topic; other times they won't read any. I do keep my eye out for related longer novels that I know we'll want to read aloud together, and if they're not available in our local library, I'll buy them so that we can take our time reading them. This hasn't happened often, though.