:bigear: Listening in. My oldest Dd sounds very much like yours. She loves to sit down in her free time and write stories, but when I ask her to do any type of writing for school she gets very anxious about it. We have had many tearful battles over this. And I too have been trying to figure out the balance between teaching her how to write with formal lessons and not destroying her love for writing. I also feel I am lacking very much in the teaching writing area (thus feeling the need to use some type of curriculum). We will be finishing up WWE 2 this year which has taken us a long time to work through. CAP W&R was a bust here, it also resulted in frustration and tears. Here is my tentative plan for next year. I plan on doing the paragraph section of TC next year to help her learn paragaphs. Then I mostly plan on having her do written narrations for history, science, and literature (only one narration a day so monday history, tues. science, etc.). We decorated some composition notebooks with colorful duct tape, I am hoping this will make it more appealing. I plan on giving no limit on length or amount of detail, just let her write about what she learned. I think I am also going to sneak some Killagallon writing books in as well. I also hope to implement some of the bravewriter ideas in our week as well (I still need to finish reading the writers jungle). She has been pretty good about applying her spelling and grammar lessons to her writing so I plan on putting a lot of my actual "teaching" time in to those subjects. I have no idea if this is "enough" for 4th, but I think it will help draw out of her some "school" writing as well as help her continue to slowly increase her writing skills. And then for the following year, 5th grade, I will reassess and see where she is at. My tentative plan for 5th will be to transition to WWS and the Creative Writer but I will see what she can handle.

I have more planned than I know I can accomplish. I already did a bit of organizing and prepping of school stuff for next year. I am trying to get done as much as I can before baby comes. Now I am just focused on trying to get through the remainder of school before June. I signed up for a bunch of WTM conference classes which I am really excited for. I also found a great blog post with a bunch of great links to free talks which I am thoroughly enjoying listening to. I hope to make it through the list by the end of summer. I have a bunch of books I would love to work through as well including TWTM. I am planning on continuing at least some school through the summer, math, reading, science and art. But on the other hand I am hoping to make it a fun relaxing summer as much as possible with a new baby. Here is the link to the blog with links if anyone is interested... http://amongstlovelythings.com/listen-up-collection-of-my-favorite/

Here is a great article that Classical Academic Press linked on facebook the other day... Why Studying Latin, More So Than Business, Is Ideal Training for Actually Running a Business. I haven't started latin with my kids yet, but this article sure made me want to get going on it.

I have had the same problem on my ipad

Like Sweetpea I was a frustrated that they were trying to have kids learn multi digit problems at the same time as trying to learn their multiplication facts. For us I decided my Dd needed to get her multiplication facts down first, I knew it would make everything else easier. I had her work her way through Timez Attack which, to my relief, really helped her learn her facts well. After she had down most of her facts we then proceeded to go through the multiplication and division sections in SM. The concept of long division was still a little hard for my Dd to understand at first but I think not having to think hard about her multiplication facts helped a lot. Taking some time to work on getting those down (and using parts of BA) put us a bit behind, we just started working through 3B, but I think it was time well spent.

This is so interesting, I will have to check out this book. My 7yo has been struggling with learning to read as well. It has been a battle every reading time. Recently I decided to switch things up. We also use AAR. It took her forever to get through level 1. The readers are what really slowed her down, they were just frustrating and overwhelming for her, and I think she was ready to learn the phonics concepts at a quicker pace. We are still using AAR but I have dropped the AAR readers. We now just go through the lessons, play the games to learn/practice new phonic rules. I am now just having her go through the BOB books. We started with the very first BOB book to help boost confidence and work on fluency. I am in no way trying to line up the bob books with AAR. Reading has become a lot less of a battle. We just ran into a BOB book yesterday that had some phonics that we had not yet covered, I just quickly told her the rule (i.e. what sound ow make) and she read the word and moved on. I figure if she masters the concept with the BOB books before we get to it in AAR than thats great, if not we will cover it eventually. My plan is to continue through all the BOB books this way than move on to using the sonlight readers. I think this will make reading so much more enjoyable, grade level readers just seem to suck the life out of reading for my kids. Thank you for sharing your adventures, hearing that someone else cameup with a similiar conclusion and strategy for teaching reading makes me feel better. What I am doing is maybe not so crazy after all. ;) The writing part seems fascinating to me. I would be very interested to know what the author says about writing helping with learning to read, this is one area that I have not pushed much for my 7yo. I figured writing would be frustrating before she gets a good grasp on reading. We have been mostly just practicing handwriting and recently added in copywork. I think she is now ready to add spelling to the mix, but I think I will wait till summer for that. Thank you again for sharing your thoughts on this.

I am just curious as I may try and use BFSU again with two younger Dds. How are you planning on making it open and go? What do you mean by planning everything out? That is the one thing that has made it difficult for me, the only way anything gets done around here is if it is open and go.

I met one family who was following TJED. I asked her what curriculum they use, and she was very adamant that they use none. I don't know very much about it, it seemed to me like an unschooling version of classical education, I could be way off though.

Not trying to side track this thread. About a year or two ago I remember seeing a thread some where on the forum reviewing a book that talks about the value and importance of reading aloud to your kids. Does anyone know what book that might be? It seemed like a lot of people loved it, and would be a great one to add to the list.

I am currently reading Knowing and Teaching Elementary Mathematics. Here are a few books that are currently on my amazon wish list. I have no idea if any of them are good as I have not read them. I believe I found them listed as recommendations in the comments on a great blog post about moral imagination. Tending the Heart of Virtue: How Classic Stories Awaken a Child's Moral Imagination Mysteries of Life in Children's Literature Ten Ways to Destroy the Imagination of Your Child The Disciplined Mind: Beyond Facts and Standardized Tests, the K-12 Education that Every Child Deserves

I started my oldest in 1st which was perfect for her, we ended up stretching it over two years which I had not planned on doing. My second child was not ready this year in 1st for SOTW 1, and there is no way she could have followed along with her oldest sister. I think it just completely depends on the child. I think it is important to have a goal in mind about what you want to cover and when, but be open to changing that plan as needed. I had a perfect ideal plan on following the 4 year cycle so each kid could get in three rotations, but due to learning styles and maturity issues that isn't going to happen and I have had to accept that. My current plan with my current Kinder and 1st Dds will be to start SOTW 1 when they reach 2nd and 3rd, and in the meantime use SL Core A, something I had never planned on doing. Best of Luck! We loved studying ancients, thus why we ended up taking 2 years to do it. :-)

Thank you. I am planning on using these next year. :001_smile:

I have been trying out Core C with my 9yo (3rd) and P3/4 books (will do P4/5 books over the summer) with my 5&7yo (K and 1st) the second half of this school year. We are loving it so far, and I can definitely see the wisdom in using cores on the older side of the age range. My 9yo is having no trouble understanding the books from Core C, and now that we just recieved Core D and briefly looking through it, I can't imagine doing that Core with anyone younger than 9 or 10, it will be perfect for her 4th grade year. I think it will stretch my Dd a bit but in a good way. I am planning on doing Core A with my 5 & 7yo (will be 1st and 2nd) next year as well. I think it will be a bit of a stretch to get both cores done, especially with a new baby in the mix but we will do our best. I also decided to try and use their science next year, hoping my 9yo can do hers mostly independently. I have had to seperate my 9yo from my 7yo because of maturity and attention span anyway. My 7yo and 5yo are much closer in ability level. So I am hoping this combo will work out for us.

I had never heard of zentangle, really neat! I will have to experiment doing some of these with my kids, they will have a blast. This isn't really art journaling but I have been really inspired by se7en blog posts about art.... http://www.se7en.org.za/2012/04/21/se7en-tips-for-starting-an-art-explosion http://www.se7en.org.za/2013/09/19/se7en-1-differences-between-arts-and-crafts-in-our-homeschool I am an artist myself, and thus it is one of my favorite subjects to teach but we never get to it. It is a real shame because my kids also love art. I love how on se7en's blog she talks about how she just started scheduling in time at the beginning of the day to get around to those often forgotten subjects. I think I am going to try and do something similar this year with my kids. I got them each a a canson XL mixed media pad. I am going to gather all of those nice art materials that I have purchased that we never get around to using, put them in one box, and we are going to have at it. Somedays we may do a more formal lesson or just art for fun. My goal is to actually use those art materials that I spent money on and have my kids become fimiliar with them. I am hoping the mixed media pads will truelly live up to their name and will be able to handle all sorts of mediums (i.e. watercolor, pastels, watercolor crayons, pens, charcoal, etc.) and I will just keep it all together in each of their books. I am really inspired by the pinterest link on art journaling I will have to include some of those fun projects. And as time goes on perhaps I can add an interest journal like mentioned. You guys are so inspiring!

Thank you! Posting so I can find again!

Thank you so much for sharing!

Not what you asked for but thought I would mention in case it is at all helpful. Timez Attack really helped my Dd9 get down her times tables, a big relief for me because I have always really struggled with them myself.

I am really excited! I registered for quite a few classes as I feel I can use as much help as possible, especially in the teaching writing category. How long will the recorded sessions be available for viewing? I am due with number 6 about June 13, so that will most likely effect my ability to attend.

We have just recently rediscovered the joys of reading aloud. I just finished reading Sir Lancelot the Great to my oldest Dd. Today we are going to start Sticks Across the Chimney. We are also reading SOTW and others. To my youngers we are reading Flip Flap Body Book, Fairy Tales, and other books they choose. Nothing compares to cuddle on the couch time, although we run out of room quickly with four kids all trying to listen and see the pictures in the books.

I really wish I could double like this! :001_smile: With how crazy life is with littles I really needed to hear this. Thank you!

I love this idea! I may be borrowing this idea for next year!

What worked... My Oldest, Dd9 -MCT Island. Grammar Island, Sentence Island, and Practice Island have been huge hits! -AAS -Singaore Math and Beast Academy. I have loved having the freedom to switch back and forth between the two. It has kept things more interesting. -Treasured Conversations. Used the first section and loved it. Will continue with remaining sections next year. -Grandmas Attic, my Dd loved these books. -Timez Attack My Younger two, Dd7 and Dd5 -Switching to Singapore math, and leaving behind RS. Using C-rods instead of the Abacus. I think they both really liked RS math and the abacus, I just needed a change. -All About Reading. My kids have loved the games. The readers not so much. -Startwrite. I had been trying to piece together handwriting pages this year and it wasn't getting done. I finally gave in and bought startwrite. I love that I was able to sit down and create custom pages, and now I can just print out each morning what we need. Handwriting is finally getting done. All -Doing math first thing and doing it all at the same time. I first start my Dd9 on her math, then do my Dd7 math and Dd5 math. The younger two work on their handwriting pages if they are waiting for my help. This way I can check math off my list at the beginning of the day. -Read Alouds. I really dropped the ball on this one most of the year. We have picked it up again and my kids are loving it. What didn't work... -Moving and trying to put in a yard while homeschooling, it has been a crazy year for us -Trying to do both History and Science each week. I finally dropped science for a while and we are focusing on history. I plan to do science through the summer. -CAP W&R, just not working for us this year. Will try again next year. -Morning Circle, we just never got to it this year. It was one of my favorite things last year. I plan to make this a big priority next year.

Thank you for the heads up! I just purchased, can't wait to have the kids listen to it! :001_smile: I am not a member and was able to purchase it. You need to have an account, or create one. Having an account isn't the same as being a member. Just go to audible.com and search winnie the pooh and the daily deal shows up as one of the top ones. HTH

I have also just used clear packing tape.

I plan on schooling through the summer. Although we have a new little one joining our family in June so plans may quickly fly out the window. My main goals for the summer are to continue with at least math and reading. I will probably drop grammar and writing through the summer. I might try and have my oldest work through the homophones book by AAS. The main subject I hope to make a dent in is science. I have pretty much dropped the ball on that this year. I will have to look into the Carmen Sandiego, what a great idea. Blondviolin sometimes I have been able to get older games to work on my newer computer by right clicking on the desktop icon, going to properties and then clicking on the compatibility tab and telling it to run in a different compatibility mode. Doesn't always work, but might be worth a try especially if you already own the software.