My dd will be coming home for homeschool next year. I am pretty much doing the same with her that I am doing with my son who will be in 4th grade. Bible/Character: Girl of Beauty for devotions/Daily Bible reading Polite Moments for family devotions Literature: Ambleside Year 4 selections (w/some Ambleside Free Reading and Sonlight Core 3 as our audio books and evening read alouds) Reading: DITHOR Poetry: Various Composition: IEW if $$ available (if not then I will work on same skills without the aid of the videos) NaNo Young Writer workbook Journal Book Reports using Love to Learn Place website Penmanship: Copywork journal (daily scripture, poem or song, literature selection) Typing: Free online typing site (2-4 times a week) Spelling/Grammar: Dictation w/ an occasional School House Rocks and grammar game from Internet Skillbuilders. Vocabulary: Word Roots and daily dictionary drills Spanish: Rosetta Stone Latin: Rosetta Stone Math: I am going to have to assess her as the school has different scope and sequence than Singapore but I think she will mostly be in 5A/B with some backtracking for some things. Life of Fred decimals. Logic: Logic Liftoff Nature Studies: Ambleside Year 4 readings plus nature walks/journal via Handbook for Nature Study site. Trying to get Horseback riding lessons for her too. Science: 3 terms 1) Ben Franklin experiments 2) Snap Circuits 3) Gizmos and Gadgets book Lego League once a week Geography: Seabird and Minn of the Mississippi books w/mapwork; Learn the states songs. Travel Channel shows History: Ambleside Year 4 readings, incorporate some of Sonlight Year 3 readers into DITHOR. Historical Movie and/or documentary a week. Join our Co-Op's history club. Citizenship: Ambleside Plutarch reading plus flag and election lapbooks where they fit in our history readings Art: I Can Do All Things (will rotate her in whereever we start next year) Picture Study Music: Themes to Remember Not sure if she will get music lessons or not Drama: Homeschool Co-Op's drama club PE: Cheerleading and Tumbling (twice a week) Home-Ec: Co-op's 4-H group Other: Homeschool Co-op class on Fridays

Gee I really need to sit down and start a blog. I enjoy reading everyone's weeks!

We gotten through 13 chapters (and two bridges) since we started the first week of February. The kids love it.

yes I could the only purchases I have planned for are Singapore/Life of Fred Decimals and IEW and but I could switch to MEP for math and just make up my own writing. I would prefer not to have to though.

Literature: Ambleside Year 4 for school (some sonlight core 3 books for eve read aloud) Reading: DITHOR and free reading Poetry: Various Composition: Probably IEW, if I can afford it, otherwise work on outlines and summaries and written narrations; supplement with lapbooks and occasional book report. Penmanship: Copywork Journal Typing: Free Typing Spelling/Grammar: Dictation Vocabulary: Word Roots and daily dictionary drills/word of the day Spanish: Rosetta Stone Latin: Rosetta Stone Math: Singapore 5A/5B; Life of Fred Decimals Logic: Logic Liftoff Nature Studies: Ambleside; nature journal w/the handbook site Continue with our backyard bird count, etc. Science: one unit per 12 week term: a) Ben Franklin experiments b) Snap Circuit c) Gizmos and Gadgets book Plus Lego leauge, science fair Geography: Ambleside w/mapwork Travel channel shows History: Ambleside Year 4 supplemented with some crafts, movies, lapbooks Citizenship: Ambleside (Plutarch) Art: Picture Studies (haven't decided which artists yet) Most likely will continue with I Can Do All Things w/crafts, book projects, handicraft Music: Guitar lessons Themes to Remember books (love it this year!) plus hymns and folksongs PE: Football and baseball teams; gymnastic class Bible: Daily bible readings, memory work, and devotions Friday Co-op (not sure what actual classes he will do) Work on Scout badges and other interest based projects

4th grader Bible Memory work and devotions Read Alouds and Audio books Reading (which is actually part of homework but she and I read same book and discuss) Journal Life of Fred 2-3 times a week Weekly documentary or movie w/discussion Were doing Friday Nature study but between weather, illnesses, out of town trips, etc. we haven't done it since Christmas. **Sporadic letter writing, lapbooks, copywork journal, word roots and Rosetta Stone, Internet for Classroom games, science kits; logic problems, cooking, etc. SHe usually has some research "project" going.

We do DITHOR for reading though we do it more conversationally (gives me a guide to make sure I hit the major literary elements, and an excuse to get my fantasy loving kid to broaden his horizons). We narrate and discuss just about everything and that is my preference. We do book reports via http://www.lovetolearnplace.com/BookReports/BookReport.html I consider these as writing assignments. Since we don't have formal grammar, etc, I have him pick something from Internet for Classrooms each day. He does Book Adventure quizes if available for book he read to fulfill this requirement.

We enjoyed all the twin sisters cd's. When caught without a cd, we did things like analogies, give advice to mother goose and fairy tale characters, car math drills (adding numbers we see on license plates, signs, etc), make up stories about people we see on the street, pretend our car was a space ship or submarine.

I will have a 4th and 5th grader and actually most of this is what I am doing next year. I use Ambleside and if the book is not online or in my library then I find a suitable substitute that is in my library. I only buy books from yard sales, etc. The curriculum I have is bought used at homeschool store (using with credits of what I resale or found in freebie bin). Other than Singapore and Life of Fred, most of my curriculum that I buy covers multiple chidlren for multiple years Literature: Ambleside readings Reading: I own DITHOR already so would continue that but assuming I didn't I would just have them read and narrate from Ambleside and Sonlight lists. Book Adventure quizes if applicable and book reports. Poetry: Ambleside **Use free discussion guides online and/or narrate ** Audio books of whatever is on list that mj Composition: Keyword outlines from studies; Nano novelist workbook, free lapbooks from internet. Book reports using Love to Learn website. Journal Writing Penmanship: Copwork journal Typing: Free typing site online Spelling: Dictation and spelling lists from words missed Grammar: Taught as it comes up; supplement with mad libs found online and watching School HOuse Rocks on Youtube. Also do games from Skillbuilders Internet for Classrooms. Vocabulary: Dictionary drills from lists made from readings; Personal dictionary that add one word a day too. Word of the day sites. Foreign Language: I already own Rosetta Stone -one that has every language that we we're given from one of DH's private school clients so I would continue that for Spanish and Latin. Pretending I didn't have that, I would use youtube spanish lessons, simple books on tape from library, and online sites for library. Not sure how I would do Latin. Math: I currently use Singapore and it would kill me to give it up but if I had too, I would switch to MEP and use Week by Week essentials and Skillbuilders Internet for Classrooms for supplementary activities. Logic: this would be harder as I like it systematically taught like with Logic Countdown, etc. but if I could spend no money I would do this: sudoku, two minute mysteries, playing battleship, hangman, clue, and other online games/board games. Nature Studies: Ambleside readings, using the online version of handbook and the nature study blog w/ nature journal. Supplement with any scout badge in area of study. They will each also pick out a particular spot to study once a month to observe the yearly changes. Supplement with youtube video clips and lapbooks. Science: I am planning three units for each 12 week term. 1) Ben Franklin experiment book from library 2) Snap Circuit kit (DS got for Christmas) with manual that comes with it and DH's old school book from the Marines. 3) Gizmos and Gadgets book from library Health: Scout badge work related to topics we are reading and service projects. Monthly fire and hazard walk around house and fire drill. Both will be reading the book related to their gender w/ discussion (boy's body book or Care of You) from library this coming year. **Plus any scout badges of interest. I plan to do any patches, etc related to energy and water conservation so that perhaps they will be more conscious of leaving doors open, lights on, water running, etc. History: Ambleside readings supplemented with a few movie rentals (on family movie nights), video clips from youtube, free lapbooks, and badge work. Timeline from Simply Charlotte Mason Geography: Map drills with our map of places we read about; work geography puzzles. Read Ambleside readings. Watch travel channel Current Events: Time for Kids online once a week Citizenship/Civics: Ambeside's Plutarch reading; Work on badges from scouts and supplement with books from library and free lapbooks. Art: Drawing in Nature journal, checking out Draw Write Now books from library, crafts Art Appreciation: Finding pictures on internet and using them as background on computer; discuss once a week. Read about artist online or in library book. Music Appreciation: Listen to on youtube; Supplement with movies that feature composer. (My kids love to say hey That's Vivaldi). Religion: Daily bible reading and discussion, online devotions, Awana verses for memory work PE: Daily exercise and work on different skills via Scout badges Home-Ec: Kids take turns helping me in kitchen once a week to learn how to cook; lots of chores; I have a list of free resources (not unit study type but real subjects like history, grammar etc) for all grade levels that I've compiled as I come across them.

My main problem with it is that it came out too late for me to use it at appropriate age!! I am using it for review -my kids are in grades 3-4 and have covered most of the material already but the connections were just too good for me to pass up. I would prefer it to be already sequenced as it took me an hour to write out a sequence and I really didn't think there was much variation if you go by prequisites. My main issue is that I want to use the next level with my kids and I am concerned it won't be out in time lol. I also don't know how deep to go with the extensions because I don't know if it will just be covered in the next book. Anyway, because we are older and it looks like the next level won't be ready for next year, I am stuck trying to figure out what to do for science next year.

Considering most adults don't even send a Thank You card, it's impressive that a child did (even coerced). I see nothing wrong with a fill in the blank card for kids under ten, especially boys. We did computer generated and fill in the blank cards up until this year for my youngest. He just loathes writing and it is going to take us a month to get all his thank you's written considering that we have other writing assignments and I can only expect so much from him. If I felt that I had to get them out immediately and he would have to do them all quickly, we would have had to do some sort of fill in the blank. My dd who loves to write and create, makes her own cards and writes her own thank yous. She enjoys it once she does it but I do have to prod her as she can't stand for me to "assign" her anything.

Well all 4 are available online for free at Baldwin Project. I would just look at table of contents to see which one has most stories you want and read a few chapters each to see which style of writing you like best.

Mine were 15 months apart, oldest is girl and youngest boy, the boy has ADHD and Sensory issues. Both of mine tested gifted if that means anything. Here is what we did when my kids were that age: Literature BFIAR book (sometimes) and ONE activity. Some people like to do BFIAR like FIAR but it was not written that way. We would do theme weeks on things they liked -dinosaurs, airplanes, lots of animals Basically, I had a basket of books and we read whatever they picked out throughout the day. I rarely read more than one book in a sitting. My son usually played with his toys while I read. He didn't sit still for a book until I read Wizard of Oz when they were in grades 2/1 and even now it's rare for him to sit still while I read. Reading I did 100ez lessons with my dd. I adapted any lessons I could to a game. When she sat on my lap, I would have her find "two words that look alike", "This word is 'the" -can you find another one", etc. My son listened in on her lessons (while playing with his duplos on the floor) and we all watched Letter factory, word factory, etc a lot. He actually learned to read listening to us. I didn't have to teach him. Writing We did prewriting activities -like making letters with playdough, writing in sand in the sand box,shaving cream, and chocolate pudding. We cut letters out of magazines to make words, played with letter magnets and tiles, used letter sponges to make our own Chicka Chicka Boom Boom Tree. We made cards and writing her name in them, some labels in her nature journal, etc. We did lots of fine motor skills practice -songs with finger plays, legos, playdough, spraying our plants with water, cutting, lacing, etc. We did a lot of pretending -our car was a submarine or a space ship or that lady on the corner is an alien and tell stories around that. Math We made our own number books with stickers and my scrapbook punches, watched number factory, counted everything, made fruit loop and macaroni necklaces with patterns, made patterns with our crackers, I would put number cards on table and we would put that many goldfish crackers on them for snack time, I would draw numbers on the driveway with chalk and we would jump to them. We played hi ho cherry o and candyland. We listened to math songs in the car. We played simon says with numbers ( do ten jumping jacks, etc). We played store with play money. Science Lots of nature walks, sensory table fun, trips to museums for storytime and meet the animals, we had nature journals -very humorous to look at now. We made nature collages on back of old wrapping paper. We blew bubbles, raised caterpillars, made popsicles, sorted things, etc. They love Zaboomafoo at this age. There are several books that you can find in library about science for little ones. Social Studies We played store, restaurant, zoo, library, house, etc. We did a lot of holiday related activities. Art Nature colleges, fingerpainting, drawing with crayons and chalk (Dd doing stick figures and some never perfect shapes, and ds just scribbled) playdough, cut up junk mail and leftover holiday odds and ends to make collages, stickers, etc.

know CM says this, but the state of NC says children have to know numbers up to 30.... Both of my kids went to NC public schools for kindergarten and I just checked the newly revised standards. They have to be able to orally count to 30 by the end of kindergarten. That is 1,2,3 not adding, subtracting, etc. They have to understand 1:1 correspondance for 1-10 and be able to write the numbers 1-10. This is all by the end of kindergarten. I am not saying it's not good to work ahead. Both of my kids could count beyond 100, understood adding and subtracting, etc before K with us playing games, singing songs, and having fun and no formal curriculum. However, I would not be stressing because a preschooler can't grasp a first grade concept. For me I found that the harder I pushed at that age, the more my daughter resisted. She hates to read now and I think it's because I pushed her. I didn't push my son and he loves to read.

Well at first I tried to be a perfect homeschooler. I gathered all the book lists and tried to pick the best (meaning most often recommended lol) books from each. OF course, this doesn't work because there is always a new list going around to add and you spend more time planning than doing. So, I just picked one. Well almost LOL. We do mostly Ambleside because I liked it overall and it was rigorous enough for my high level learners. If a particular book is not in library or just not going over well, we substitute from one of the other lists. I strew books in the book basket from other lists but usually mine pick books on their own that are on nobody's list. I so SCM's scripture memory thing, and I prefer SCM's art, poet and composer studies for the earlier years. I like Laying Down the Rails and the handicraft lists and resources there. I find the explanations there to be easy to understand. I prefer Mater Amabilis geography selections as they are more modern and applicable to today's world. My kids do not like any of the Holling books that are on all the other lists. We add in BFSU for more formal science (we still do the nature studies) but also read some science from books from Old Fashioned Education.

I so agree I am a Charlotte Mason follower and here is what Pre-K and K should be (IMHO) 1. To recite, beautifully, 6 easy poems and hymns Note -The word "easy" -this is nursery rhymes and "Jesus Loves Me" type of easy. One every few months or so. 2. to recite, perfectly and beautifully, a parable and a psalm Again something easy from Sunday School or an aesop fable and a song depending on your beliefs. This is also more of a latter K year thing (IMHO) 3. to add and subtract numbers up to 10, with dominoes or counters You do this with Cheerios, Fruit Loops, Gummy Bears, M&M's, plastic animals, etc. while playing and cooking and living life. *Make patterned fruit loop necklaces, sort and count everything, listen to math songs, make your own counting books with stickers. There is no need to buy math for anyone below 6. 4. to read--what and how much, will depend on what we are told of the child Note it doesn't mean they need to be reading War and Peace or even reading "well". Learn the alphabet, watch letter factory and word factory, play starfall every few weeks and when ready start OPGTR or 100 EZ. If she's not ready, put away for a few weeks and return. Shorten lessons or turn a lesson into a game. I wrote letters on the driveway with chalk and we had fun jumping from letter to letter. 5. to copy in print-hand from a book Handwriting without Tears or something simple -no more than 5 minutes a day. This is letters then words and then short sentences not paragraphs! 6. to know the points of the compass with relation to their own home, where the sun rises and sets, and the way the wind blows 7. to describe the boundries of their own home 8. to describe any lake, river, pond, island etc. within easy reach All this is done by going on nature walks and neighborhood walks and CASUALLY discussing things. 9. to tell quite accurately (however shortly) 3 stories from Bible history, 3 from early English, and 3 from early Roman history (my note here, we may want to substitute early American for early English!) Quite simply have her tell back short pictures that you read to her. Most of the stories could be holiday oriented Bible -Christmas, Easter, Passover (plus stories like Noah's Ark, etc) Early American -Columbus, Thanksgiving, Independence Day Early Roman-St. Patrick (he was a Roman British Citizen), Valentine's Day (Valentine was Roman) 10. to be able to describe 3 walks and 3 views 11. to mount in a scrap book a dozen common wildflowers, with leaves (one every week); to name these, describe them in their own words, and say where they found them. 12. to do the same with leaves and flowers of 6 forest trees 13. to know 6 birds by song, colour and shape Again, nature walks and start collections for wild flowers and leaves. Build a bird feeder together and look at the birds. 14. to send in certain Kindergarten or other handiwork, as directed Make Christmas ornaments, cards, nature crafts, decorate cookies, color and draw, make nature collages, etc. 15. to tell three stories about their own "pets"--rabbit, dog or cat. Play with your pet -walk the dog, make dog biscuits, cat toys, point an interesting thing about the pet. Go to Pet Smart and look at different breeds 16. to name 20 common objects in French, and say a dozen little sentences Learn some songs in language of your choice. 17. to sing one hymn, one French song, and one English song Learn more songs lol 18. to keep a caterpillar and tell the life-story of a butterfly from his own observations. Always a favorite around here!! And goodness, you don't need to do every subject everyday at this age. One day go on a nature walk, another day do a math game, another day cook, another sing songs while swinging at the park. If you do more than one thing a day, definitely don't do them back to back!!!! BTW -I am in NC too. My dd is in public school. 40% of her grade failed both portions of the EOG and 20% more failed another portion. EVERY one of those kids were promoted to the next grade. Trust me, NC has more to worry about than one homeschooled child not passing!

My child is in 3rd grade and doing Ambleside We work by what type of work it is: Morning Work (w/sister) Music Appreciation (listen to classical, hymn or folk song) while everyone gets ready Memory Work (usually scripture for Awanas) while I get breakfast to table Devotions Poetry Art Appreciation (picture is saved as computer background) Morning work is most likely to be skipped because my dd goes to public school and we can get rushed and one morning a week she goes in very early for Odyssey of the Mind. I then try to read poem to him during read aloud time and we listen to music at dinner time. Pencil Work Math -two activities: one must be a singapore exercise and the other: another exercise, Challenge Word problem, speed drill, Countdown to Logic, Mental Math or Math game (logic done once a week regardless) *if we have a lot going on I drop the second math requirement for the day. Copywork -if in a rush we grab cursive book to do on the road or skip Composition- We do Wordsmith Apprentice and I break up some of the longer assignments because he is writing phobic. We also skip to do: book reports, research papers, thank you cards, pen pal letters. Lapbooks: He does one item for lapbook that goes with history almost daily (occasionally we skip) He does one item for nature study lapbook twice weekly and for geography twice weekly (alternate days). Read Alouds (narration afterwards) Literature: Daily - we do Pilgrim's Progress once a week and then we do the other book the rest of the day. We do one book a quarter so the readings are not very long. Nature Studies-Read twice week from Nature Study book (and then we look at youtube video of that animal during snack or lunch) Geography-Twice week from Geography book (different day than nature studies) History-Read aloud from biography or spine Miscellaneous Reading (DITHOR-usually done orally due to his writing phobia) Science (BFSU -main lesson on weekends with sister and he and I do extra stuff from library books, an online game, tv show, field trip, etc in week and also do lego league stuff) Music -guitar practice Science is most likely to be skipped but we do it at least once a week (twice if you count lego league). Sometimes if the experiment is really cool, we save for evenings when DD is home. We do a nature walk/study with her weekly also. Computer Spanish (Rosetta Stone) or Vocabulary (Word Roots) Math (Skillbuilders) Language Arts (Book Adventure Quiz or Skillbuilders) Typing CarSchooling (Varies with day and mood) Picturebook reading -any book that goes with science or history, etc. (I use this most when we have to go somewhere and wait like chiropracter, dentist, etc). Educational Songs- Geography states songs, science songs, Math fact songs etc. (varies with mood) Spelling -I call words from SRW and does them spelling bee style (words missed get discussed and then brought up again next week, if still mised they get used in copywork) When sister is car we have audio book going for extra literature. This is done almost daily on way home from picking her up from school. Evening Read Alouds Literature -usually related to history but also classics Bio (I'm reading Castle Diary so reading is very short lol) Myth or Legend or other anthology reading (twice a week instead of one the other two) Outside Classes (once a week usually) Bible-Awanas and Sunday School PE-Gymnastics, football or baseball team Music-Guitar Lessons Science-Lego Leauge Weekend with Sister Math game BFSU Science Computer Activities: Math Detective and some sort of critical thinking game like Chess, Crazy Machines Handicraft We are not as consistent as I would like to be with Science but we get a good bit done. We are working on consistency with guitar practice as we've only had it for a month and haven't developed daily practice habit yet! I haven't done much as far as real art lessons other than handicrafts (mostly origami and balloon animals but some Christmas presents for family too). We did the Draw Write Now lessons for animals we covered in nature studies but that's it. He is not the artistic kind of kid. We have only done a couple of dictations this year. We will do more next year in 4th grade. Our basic day is about three hours: morning time, pencil work, read alouds, miscellaneous, and computer activities. We go to four hours some days because of dawdling.

Here is a link to the online resources that I put together.

Another other... We alternate years with white lights (that I prefer) and Colored lights (Dh and kids prefer) Our basics that tie the trees together -red bows, dollar tree snowflakes, and silver snowflakes and butterflies that we bought at a yard sale the first year we were married. Our Ornaments Mostly travel related as that is the souvenier of choice Handmade ones from the kids, relatives One special one for each year of our marriage (paper star made from our wedding inviation, cotton baby sock, leather football, styrofoam ball rolled in potpourri that used in our wedding, pinecone from our yard, candycane heart, etc) Other mementos -the kids special stuffed animals that were "retired"; bubbles favor from our wedding, photo ornaments, some that I inherited from my grandmother when she passed. We give my daughter an angel ornament and my son a Snowman ornament every year.

We are studying Christina Rosetti's poetry. She has loads of Christmas poems and several are religious. http://www.hymnsandcarolsofchristmas.com/Poetry/christmastide_poems_of_christina.htm#Advent

I will confess - I haven't read all 6 pages of this thread yet so I hope i am not repeating what someone else said. First I waited until mine were 7/8. Secondly, we treated the Greek and Roman gods as the "super heroes" of the that era. They know that superman and wonderwoman and batman and spiderman are not real but "pretend". They also understood that today's hero myths are not perfect but each one has a weakness because they are not the real God. So in our family, Mt. Olympus was the ancient version of the Justice League. Only problem was back then people didn't know as much about God as we do so they started worshipping the super heros as if they were God. Even today, people do that by worshipping a politician or a movie star, etc.

How long and for what grades have you homeschooled? This is our first year formerly homeschooling. My son is in 3rd grade. We've "afterschooled" him and my daughter who is still in public school since the beginning. Did you know from the start you would homeschool or did some event point you down this road? I wanted to homeschool from beginning but my DH was reluctant. The school's inability to handle my son's abilities nor his behavior (and they refused to connect the two) and the principal's active going around me(who let her know what they could do to improve) to talk to my DH (who keeps his mouth shut) led him to see that I was right all along. Were you homeschooled? No. My sister was homeschool via the school due to illness Does anyone in your extended family homeschool? Not technically, but the nephew of my aunt's ex-husband who I consider "family" homeschools his two children. What method and materials did you use your first year of homeschooling? We are using Ambleside w/ Singapore for math and Wordsmith Apprentice for extra writing help. What method and materials are you currently using? Same What books, ideas, etc. have helped shape your homeschool? Charlotte Mason's writings have had the biggest influence. I also enjoy reading the boards here and the yuku afterschoolers. I love to read WTM too and think SWB has a true gift in making subjects very accessible to parents. What has been the most challenging aspect for you? My most challenging aspect is balancing having a child in the school system and a child homeschooling. If she were homeschooled, I could change my schedule to be more flexible. When she is home sick, it disrupts our day. She is jealous of all that we do but adament that she wants to stay in school with her friends. There are field trips that we have to forego because I have to pick her up. On the otherhand, if she were home, she would still be my most challenging aspect because she is my most resistant to mom child. Other challenges are -son spends too much time on computer, getting out and about doing social stuff and classes, arguing over writing What aspect has come naturally for you? Planning, book discussions What are your favorite homeschool memories thus far? Seeing my child excited about learning. Watching him give a presentation to our Co-Op on what he learned first quarter and actually having to stop him because he would have talked all day. Watching him and my husband discuss things like Alfred the Great, moles and shrews, Seeing pride in my son's eyes over some of his writings and that he no longer feels writing is "that bad" (unless he has to be neat lol). Listening to him laugh out loud when he's reading and rush to tell me the latest thing going on his book. What is the best advice you've been given? I think it's the support that I get that means the most. It might not be support directly to me but another mom who has the same issue. Just knowing that I am not the "only" one who has X issue is enough to get me through the day. Having my dear friend who also started homeschooling close at hand (IM lol) to help me relax when he is being difficult, etc is a blessing. What advice do you give others just starting this journey? Put working on character first. It's okay to stop the academics for the day to deal with attitude. Academics can be caught up on, character can not. Secondly, take it easy when they are young. Kindergarten should be fun not formal (Even if they have high IQs)

This is our first year, so we are still acclimating (that's my excuse and I am sticking to it0. We just started Rosetta Stone a few weeks ago but most of first quarter had no Spanish. I started well with Draw Write Now for Art once a week but have slacked last few weeks (but have been doing lapbooks instead). We've slacked on music and art appreciation and devotions as our mornings have been out of whack. We've done them some but it's very spotty.

We made the ring mail -pretty similar to the post. Used 16 gauge wire rolled it around pipe and put together. We only made a half shirt with wider rings for my son as he is only 52 pounds. He wore it to Renaissance Faire and Halloween this year (he was a viking). We made a "bearskin" vest from fur fabric and fabric clue and a sword from a small fence post, two wooden banner pieces from craft store ,and a wood ball. It's really nice. We also made plate mail by cutting out "plates" from cereal boxes and spraying them silver and glueing to a t-shirt in an overlapping fashion. It was really cool looking but a bit stiff lol. Both outfits got lots of compliments at the Renaissance Faire.

I would love to actually attempt some folds myself as I struggle with reading instructions and don't get it until I do it. I would love to various books done by various ages so that i don't feel that my young children are failures because their books are no so neat as some older kids.