I want to make this suggestion because I am using it right now. I would suggest Elegant Essay for your daughter. Just purchase the student book only. It will give you a basic idea of what should go into an essay. I think that the program is weak for what I really want it to do, but no writing curriculum is perfect. I will say this it easy to use. I cannot stand the teacher's manual. It will put you in a state of confusion. I just read it this weekend and came out like this:confused: Go with just the student book. After reading that I felt like this :D If you purchase only the student book, you could get by with a lot less. Just my $.02! Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Reading: Mostly books that Ambleside Online Recommended. He has read several books from year 7 and 8. Science: Exploring Creation through Physical Science by Dr. Jay Wile History: He read about the Bill of Rights this year. Geography: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne Math: Saxon Algebra 1 by John Saxon and Life of Fred Beginning Algebra by Dr. Stanley Schmidt Grammar: Rod and Staff English 8 Writing: Essay Voyage by Michael Clay Thompson, Elegant Essay by Lesha Myers, Time4Writing (online lessons) Logic: He was suppose to do some computer programming, but we never got around to it. Foreign Language: Rosetta Stone Spanish (Latin American) Bible: He read the One Year Bible and did 40 Days in the Word Extracurricular Activities: Music: Private Lessons in piano and violin in addition to his private lessons he is in the junior ensemble and concert band through our homeschool program. They do a concert in the winter and in the spring. Plus he did an intense orchestra. In other words, it had four hour long practices for a month and then perform at the end of the month and it is over. This program is through a local symphony orchestra. It is gear toward public school children, but they have allowed homeschooolers. He sings in the junior high choir. They perform in the winter and spring. This is a huge program through another homeschool group seperate from the music program. Physical Education: He plays frisbee during the Fall and Spring through our homeschool program. He is playing basketball and indoor soccer during the winter through the town's recreational program.

Tell me how that goes for you. I know we both have eighth graders. I am doing Elegant Essay while you are doing WWS1. It sounds like you made the better choice. I really want to know how it works out for you because after reading Elegant Essay over the weekend, I was not having any hope. If you want to know how it turns out, let me know. Sigh!:tongue_smilie: Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Are you doing Elegant Essay? A friend of mine loaned me hers to test out. I am not too impress with this so far. I am reading it all this weekend. I don't know. I am going to try it out on my older son. He is the guinea pig for this program. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Midsummer's Night Dream. There are so many versions of this play. It is a comedy that is fun. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Mine is up at http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony'>http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony'>http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony'>http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony I just wanted to ask for prayer for my older son. He is going to be in a big concert performance on March 12th. We need prayer. Thank you all who read! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

:iagree: You do not need to do science and history at that age, but the Charlotte Mason approach would have you do a nature walk with the child. That is sooo much more appropriate for a first grader. At such a young age, the child should learn to explore more their world and become curious about it. I think that doing a co-op so soon stifles that time. I love how my sons would want to learn about something we found in the backyard or on walks. You just can't beat that. What if your child finds an ant, you can go to the library and look up all kinds of information about ants or insects. You can make a poster or other notebooking type crafts. It is a great way to show what the child is doing too. I think that school should consist of some phonics and handwriting and number bonds, but everything else should be exploring your world. Blessings to you with your new baby. Keep it light with the first grader so that you can have strength when the baby comes. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

It is called Cozy Grammar. Here is the website: http://www.splashesfromtheriver.com/ This woman teaches the child to sit down by the fire and write grammar. She teaches in a relaxing way. I am seriously thinking about this for my younger son. Look at the site and tell me what you think! Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I realize that I do way too many extracurricular activities. I will divide this up between my two sons. My Eighth Grader: 1. We go to a music co-op. He plays the violin and piano. He is involved in two ensembles in this program. He performs in two concerts a year. 2. He was in a program called Festival Strings. It is a junior high orchestra, but it is intense because it meets for three weeks in February and then the perform at the end of February. 3. He sings in a junior high choir. I did it for socialization purposes. It only meets twice a month, but it is a strain because it is on the same day as music. 4. He does some town sports. He plays basketball and indoor soccer. My Sixth Grader: 1. We go to the music co-op. He plays the drums and piano. He is also apart of the children choir. He is in a mini-band. He performs in two concerts. 2. He plays travel soccer in the fall and spring seasons. 3. He is in AWANA, but I consider that his Bible program. 4. He plays in some town sports too. He plays basketball and indoor soccer. Just to tell you, I am not signing them up for anymore sports next year. I have decided that they will work out with me. We use to do FIRST Lego League. We stopped doing it, but I still judged a competition and I am doing a talk with my sons in April. I realize that I have done too much which is causing me to burn out. I want to drop everything, but I have a child going into high school and that is the time to put them in things because it looks good for college. I know that they need exercise. Just shoot me! I really have to pray this one through. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I truly believe in dictation as the way to teach spelling. It is a much slower process in a child learning how to spell, but the child learns it better. I usually have my children copy passages from the books they are reading. Then at the end of the week, I dictate a few sentences from the passage to see how well they remember how to spell the words. I think it is a great method because the child is learning the spelling words in context. Just my experience! Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

My older son just finished Saxon Algebra 1 last week!!!! This year was our first time using Saxon. I have this to say about it. I used all along Singapore Math in the lower grades. This is the first year that I moved into Saxon. It went very well for my older son. I do not know a lot about Saxon, but I do know that it is a tired and true program. There are a lot of veteran and alumni moms who have used this curriculum and gone on to do well in it. Just a little silly note, I don't know if you know who Tim Tebow is, but he is a quarterback for the Denver Broncos. He is a homeschool graduate and he used Saxon. He had ADD issues. So, it must work for some people out there! Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Wow! Everytime I come on these boards, I find someone who is debating the same thing I am contemplating. Boy do you guys mind read! I want to know too.:bigear: Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

Just a suggestion! I really like Rod and Staff because it is very thorough. We stepped into it at grade 6 for my older son. I fell in love because I enjoyed the thoroughness of it. My older son who is a very strong Christian thought the Christian flavor was strong. He said it seems to push Christianity a little bit more than other Christian curriculum. I thought that maybe if the Christian overtones was the issue maybe you can teach as a cultural thing to your children. For example, it is written by Mennonites. Their Christian faith is apart of their culture, obviously, based upon their lifestyle that is evident. So, I explained to them how this is how they learn and lived their lives. It is the similar idea to Singapore math when they would use names or animals or plants that we never heard of because they were conducive to Singapore. It is just a thought. Blessings to you in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I want to share with everyone that I am sooo impressed with everyone's schedule. I agree that it is not too early to plan for next year, but I have to admit that I am truly stumped with my younger son. I have no clue what to teach him for next year. This year has been very difficult on so many aspects. It seems as if where we had triumph in some areas, we are having major struggles in another. Stuff that I wanted to get to with him, I never got to and now I feel like if we started it would be like scratching out of a bag. So, in the past, I have been very efficient in having a plan. My older son is going into high school next year and I am nervous about did I do all that he needed. My younger son is going into 7th grade and I am in uncertain waters right now. This might change in a month or two, but right now, I will admire others schedule. I know for a fact that 85% of these schedules I cannot do with my younger son. I have come to a crossroad with him. I have to go into deep prayer about him before I come up with a sincere program for him next year. I know that there is hope and that's what keeps me going on this journey! Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

You can see it here. Thank you to all who read! Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

My experience with the academic co-op I joined years ago. I was terrified to ever join a co-op. The area where I live there are so many co-ops. They are a dime a dozen. I find them personally to be stiffling and confining. I am a perfectionist. When I join something, I do it with all my ability. If I say that I am going to be there, then I will. That is my personality. The mothers in the co-op that I joined were very obsessed with academics. They were unhappy with me because I allowed 4 and 5 year olds 20 minutes of free play. I said that it was 10 minutes. The council chastised me for allowing free play. I cried the entire rest of the school year. I wrote about this experience years ago. A lot of moms told me to leave the co-op. The problem was I committed to the 30 weeks. I am one who sticks to my commitment. I hated every week that I had to be there, but I did do it. These mothers were concerned about the best program for their children and what other moms want was of no concern to them. It was intense. They wanted their children to have the best and the others were along for the ride. I remember when they asked us to re-sign for the following year. I did not re-sign. There were 17 families in the program, but only 7 families returned. The funny thing is that two mom broke away from that co-op and started their own program. They begged me to join their program because they were so impressed with how much their children learned with me. In fact over the years, I have seen the children from my class and all of the moms, including the mom who complained about my free play, say that their child learned a lot in the program. Boy was that a surprise! Here are my pros and cons to an academic co-op: Pros: 1. It provides accountability to a mom. 2. Children get "socialization." 3. You get to gleen from other moms who might have a better strength in an area you are weak. 4. Mom can get help if their child won't listen to them. Cons: 1. Parent does not pick the curriculum (unless they are running the program). My question to moms in that position is why would you homeschool only for someone else to choose the curriculum for you. 2. Usually you have commit to at least 30 weeks. 3. The parent has to teach. It is a lot to plan and prepare lessons for other people's children plus teach your own all the other subjects that the child has not learned at the co-op. What if your child struggles academically in the co-op? You have to then tutor your child and teach other subject while you teach other people's children. 4. For me personally, I found that I could do no extra curricular activities if I did a co-op. Because the co-op I went to was intense, I was busy planning lessons after school. I couldn't do any sport or music. My children enjoy those activities. These are my experience. I tried to be fair in assess co-ops because I was hurt. I hope that this will help you to some degree! Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

We go to a music program one day a week. It is an all day affair. I try to get some school work done during music, but it is hard because the children are hanging out with friends. I get math and grammar. So it is a half day for us. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I totally agree with taking the placement test. I did it with my children through Sonlight which is here. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I just wanted to say for me personally it has been a long time since I taught first grade. With that said, I do not remembering it was so long. A lot has to do with the child. I am very big on pay attention to who your child is. A typical first grader does not have a long attention span. I took a training class year ago for teaching children in Sunday School. It was helpful because they talked about attention span of a typical child. The trainer told us, for example, that most 2-5 year old have a 2-3 minute attention span. 6-8 year olds their attention span jumps to about 4-5 minutes. 8 and up is around 10-15 minutes. Based upon those numbers that was how I planned my lessons for children's church. I also planned that way for my homeschool. So, if you are talking about a first grader, which is about 6-8 years old, I would say in one hour you are doing about 12 changes. For example, 5 minutes of drills on state capitals, 5 minutes of drills on math facts, 5 minutes to teach a subject, 10 minutes to have the child individually do a lesson. It takes about two hours because that it the most that a small child can tolerate. The rest of your day can be reading aloud to them. It is the most fun time because we would do it in our pajamas in the bed or plop on the sofa and just read and read or I would have them build Legos while I read to them. During the two hours, that was my only rigid time with them. The rest of the time is playground, lots and lots of field trips. Children get a lot of stimulation from museum trips, nature walks, trips to the library, and the park. Do not ever forget those parts to a first grader's life. Even if you forget to do math, try to remember the park or a field trip. You will find them to be extremely valuable. Field trip ideas: 1. Park or playground 2. Museum- especially great because children hear the proper pronunciation of scientific terms. 3. Botanically gardens 4. Local Audabon center 5. Library 6. Local children's theatre 7. Local symphony orchestra- in the summer many of my surrounding towns had free concerts 8. Amusement park or state fair 9. Hiking 10. Walking in your backyard and identifying trees, leaves, bushes Sorry, this was so long! Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

My weekly report is here. Thank you! Blessing to all. Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I just want to say that I did Essay Voyage with my 8th grader this year. I think that your son is way too young for this program. My 13 turned 14 year old understood this statement, but I don't think that he would have understood it at 5th grade. My 8th grader finished this program by December of 2011 because he just turned 14 years old. Please do not get discouraged and think that it is your child or you. If he did not understand it, then it is the wrong choice of curriculum. Put the curriculum aside. Say to yourself, "OK, this was the curriculum that exposed him to some great writing statements and pieces of writing." Then, get something like Writing Tales where it is easy and yet enjoyable or Rod and Staff which explains writing information a little bit more on his level. Remember don't get caught up in thoughts that your son is behind. He really is right where he belongs. Then pick up Essay Voyage in 7th or 8th grade. Hey, that's one less curriculum that you will have to purchase in the future. Please realize that it is the curriculum not you or your son. Don't let the curriculum dictate to you. You dictate the curriculum. It is just my $.02 Blessings in your homeschooling journey. Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I have used so far MCT's Essay Voyage, Bible Based Writing Lessons in Stucture and Style (old book), and Time4Writing (this is an online class). I am currently only doing the Structure and Style book and Time4Writing. I just want my son up to a level where he can write. The Bible Based Writing Lessons book is from IEW, but I got it at a used curriculum fair. It is an old book. I don't know if they use this anymore. I like it because it keeps him writing every week. He is also working in Time4Learning. That is an online program. He seems to like it because he is getting graded and learning how to write. A lot of what I have taught him, the teacher is teaching him. Hopefully, he will get it! That is what my eighth grader is doing. Blessings in your homeschooling journey! Sincerely, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony

I have a friend who teaches Saxon Algebra 2 in a co-op and has graduate 2 children using Saxon. She said that if you do Saxon Algebra 1 and 2 plus the Advance Math, you will have a complete geometry course. Saxon does have a seperate Geometry course for those who want it all in one book, but you can do it by following that plan. Just a thought! Blessings, Karen

He's in week 3. It is an 8 week course. However, you can make it a 4 week course depending on how the child wants to move. Blessings, Karen http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/testimony