Was it Microcosmos? We just watched that tonight! Snail mating and all! Even though the movie didn't say anything, my kids have seen enough nature documentaries by now to proudly announce "They're mating!" I do take comfort in the fact that if we lived on a farm, they would have seen a lot more mating in real life by now. :)

Thanks so much for your replies. I will look more closely at WWE and the workbook mentioned. My son loves to be read to, but I could definitely add more questioning in there. He has been at a bilingual school for the past few years and I think he developed the "tune out" habit there (for when the teacher was speaking in a language he didn't understand). Hopefully I can change that habit! Thanks again for your help!

My son's last day of school was today and we received his Stanford Achievement Test scores. His score in "listening" was by far the lowest. I was wondering if anyone knew of a curriculum and/or activities that can improve listening skills? I would love to add something to our homeschool plan for next year to address this. Thanks so much!

Thank you so much everyone for your replies. It is so good to see that it is "doable". :) I think I will do what many of you are doing and spread Science & Social Studies out a bit (not try to do it every day). I have to remind myself that if the kids were in public school, they wouldn't be getting history every day! (And possibly not at all at this age). I also love the idea of easing in. We can start with Reading/Math/Writing for the first couple months and then add in things like Spelling as we get the hang of things. :001_smile: Thanks again for your help!

Hi, I'm have a tough time choosing curriculum for next year. My kids are going into K and 2nd. The younger one is just starting to read short words ("the", "and", "cat", "up"). She still writes backwards sometimes. The older is reading around 4th grade level or so. Both are pretty good at Math. I've read through a lot of threads and have some ideas, but still struggling. So far I have decided on: Math - Singapore History - Story of the World 1 I can't decide on: Reading - ??? This is the big one I'd like to find - especially for the younger one. She like drawing/writing. I would love to find something with a set of readers she could go through (?) Writing - ??? Especially needed for the older one. He really hates writing. I might start by letting him dictate to me. I'd love to find something that would appeal to him. He does occasionally write on his own if he is really inspired (for example, he made up a science experiment and wrote the directions). Handwriting - ??? They both need help with this. I know the older one is not going to like practicing this. I was thinking of teaching him italic or cursive? Something that feels like something new to him. Spelling? - maybe AAS Grammar? - just needed for the older one at this point. Or maybe wait until next year for this. Science? - I would love something really hands on for Science. I'd also like something focused on nature. The kids are really interested in bugs and snakes right now (yippee! LOL). P.E.? - Are there any P.E. curriculums out there? Thank you so much in advance for any advice you can give me! It would be nice to make some decisions now so I can try to fit it all together before the fall. :)

Hi! I am new to homeschooling and new to the boards. I've already learned so much by reading through threads. I'm so grateful for such a wonderful resource! I am trying to plan out a rough schedule for our days next year. My kids will be in K and 2nd. I'm hoping to do our main "school" stuff in the mornings, have the afternoon off (from lunch to 3 or so) and go to Chinese afterschool starting at 3:30. I'd also like to have Fridays free for field trips. I thought I could do this no problem, but when I try to include reading, math, science, history (SOTW), art and so on it is starting to look a little tight! Just wondering how things go in a typical day for others. I used to teach elementary school, so maybe I'm assuming things will take longer than they really will with only 2 kids instead of 20. :) So what does a day look like for you? Especially if you are done by lunch, I would love to hear how you do everything. :)

Are you dieting right now? I always lose some hair when dieting. :(

What good luck that I happened to wander over here today. :) I have a 7 year old son and 5 year old daughter as well. We live near San Jose. We are not homeschooling yet - the kids are currently going to private school - but we are leaning toward homeschooling for next year. I'd love to hear about local groups and meet some homeschooling families! leeyeewah, I'm curious where you are going for Chinese school. The kids are currently in a bilingual school and we are thinking of doing afterschool Chinese next year. Nice to "meet" you all. :)

My 7 year old ds really enjoys the DVD called "Fiddle for Kids". Fiddle for Kids 1 explains how to hold the violin, etc. for beginners. (Though ds had already had 1 year of violin before we got this DVD). It is pretty cute - the older kids are teaching their little brother (and the viewer). Very calm, positive teaching style. :001_smile: