[Talk to me about dreambox math]

You couldn't use it as a stand alone. It doesn't cover measurement, time, money. However, it is great for building up mental math. I love how it has helped my DD understand things and in conjunction with SM and RS has increased her rapidity in mental math. She enjoys it. We had an IXL subscription but she never wanted to play it because it was too much like worksheets and not enough like a game. Dreambox is very much gamelike. I like that it parallels the way RS and SM explain how to do math, but also adds it's own little flavor (like unpacking and packing boxes for place value and understanding how 14 tens and 3 ones is the same thing as 1 hundred, 4 tens and 3 ones, or the same as 12 tens and 23 ones). I would love to extend our subscription through HSBC but I believe the special is only for a new subscription:(

[Story of the World... how do you use it?]

We use Core B with SOTW Ancients and it's going well. I needed the structure of SL for this year for various reasons but also really like SOTW so I just combined.

 

Same here.

[How many activities?]

If I only had one child, I would definitely not try to limit, especially if that child were ahead academically. That said, I have two and when DS was younger he was carted to DD's activities and I had to entertain him while she was at lessons. It got tiring for the two of us (DD was having fun at lessons) so this year we can only do an activity if both can participate at the same time. Gymnastics allows us this - there's a 3 and 5 year old class at the same time on the floor. Swimming is back to back lessons, but only 30 minutes long, and during piano, I would have to entertain him, but I'll be at the piano teacher's house and she has a playroom. Consequently, we haven't made up our mind about the last two activities. Gymnastics only might have to suffice. I agree with boscopup that kids need down time at home to be "bored" and to just be. There's a great line in Pollyanna, in fact, in which, after her aunt lists all the activities she will have in a day, Pollyanna retorts something about when will she have time to breathe or just be, or something like that.

[SOTW Audio versus book]

We're books-in-our-hands kind of people so we prefer the actual book, but my DD does listen to the audio version in the car and loves that as well.

[SOTW and Usborne Encyclopedia]

I like the Usborne Book of World History (not internet linked) for first grade. The Usborne Internet-Linked one is VERY good, but the text is a bit more advanced.

 

What I have done is use the links in the SOTW AG on Usborne Quicklinks and pull up the Usborne Internet-Linked version and look at the link that way. When you're doing chapter 1, it will show which pages of the Internet-linked version to read, so the links are good and mesh wonderfully even while using the non-internet linked. What a mouthful! I hope you can understand my rambling!

 

Great idea.

[Devotional ? for second grader]

SL schedules LLOTG daily along with a scripture reading, so you could do both at the same time. I like the idea of letting the info sink in, though.

[Home Art Studio]

We have the first grade one and it is fun. My kids beg to do art. We watch the video and then go do the art after. We've only done two, but I highly recommend it if you find it hard to fit art in, tend to not do art because it seems like too much work, etc. The videos are great fantastic quality. Ms. Volin talks to the child as if the child was in an art class with her. She demonstrates very clearly and her instructions merge with clips of something she is talking about - for example, in the first lesson, we made paper rollercoasters. The video showed a real rollercoaster. In the second lesson, she talked about weaving and looms and the video went to a woman using a real loom. It is done very artfully and professionally. So far the projects are simple, yet fun. I thought the paper roller coaster was bleh, (only because I like painitng, not sculpting) but the kids (5 and 3) thought it was tremendous and spent tons of time playing with the art work afterward. I'll be posting a review on my blog with photos at the end of the month and will try to remember to post the link on TWTM.

 

We've only done the first two lessons, and I did receive it free in exchange for the review, however, I will be purchasing another DVD when we finish this one. It just ensures art gets done. I bought Meet the Masters, and we've used that twice as well and I like it better for the art history and art appreciation, but the way it is set up, it gets done less easily than Home Art.

 

To Sandy: You could adapt it easily for your 2nd and 6th if you got the 4th or 5th grade level. It's easier to adapt down than up in my experience. I chose the first grade level and plan to adapt down to my 3yr old.

[Meet the Masters vs. Atelier]

Have you looked at Home Art Studio? I just got one to review (the first grade one) and I am pleased so far. She does a bit of art history and it is a DVD. We watch the DVD and then go do our project. http://www.officialhomeartstudio.com/

[I want to use workboxes, but I'm out of $$]

If you are near an Ikea, they have magazine holders (white) that are very inexpensive. I used them for a while for workboxes, but now we are using paper trays (also from Ikea, and also inexpensive) because DD didn't like not seeing what her work was in the boxes.

[Can someone compare RSO to BFSU 2?]

I LOVE both...but could not get to having BFSU get done here. We use RSO, and I use the principles in BFSU to extend/tie together the units.

 

Yes, this is what I also do.

[Going outside before the school day starts...Will this work?]

We tried it a few years ago and it was an epic fail for us.

 

What I've learned with 8 yr old is that school needs to start by 8 a.m to have a good productive day. On days we're delayed we do okay as long as we start by 10 a.m. If we start any time after 10 a.m. it's a total loss. His attention is completely gone.

 

Although I would love to go outside first thing in the morning, I have found this to be true for us as well. If our school day hasn't started by 8 or 8:30, the focus and intent isn't there. I think my son would benefit from going outside first thing, but not my daughter.

[Does anyone have a SL code from convention that they aren't using?]

I really don't want to wait one more week and a few days! I'd like to start school the first week in August and would love to order SL now. Did anyone pick up a code they aren't going to use? $15 off $50?

 

Thanks!

[Does SL have discounts at Homeschool Conventions?]

I think SL lists the conventions they will be at on their site.

[Does SL have discounts at Homeschool Conventions?]

Thanks!

[Does SL have discounts at Homeschool Conventions?]

I've finally decided to get SL, just because I am tired and I want it all planned for me. I am heading to the Southeast Homeschool Expo next weekend so I am wondering if I should wait until then to pick up my core or if I should just go ahead and order it now. If there isn't a discount, I'd rather order it now so it comes in time for our first official day of school. But, if there is a discount, then I'd obviously wait. Does anyone know?

[Pre-K Math Poll]

From your list I've only used MEP Reception. Our experience was positive. She seems to have an innate understanding of numbers already, and enjoyed the chance to apply it.

 

For what it's worth, I only printed the teacher notes. We pointed to the posters on the monitor, or I cut and pasted the images over to Paint for her to draw on them with the computer mouse.

 

I do the reverse. I print out the posters and read the teacher's notes from the i Pad. My almost 3 year old enjoys snuggling on the couch and talking about the posters.

[Spanish Language Arts Curriculum]

Oh and I did a search for Hagamos Caminamos and couldn't find it. I would also love a link to that. Thanks!

[Spanish Language Arts Curriculum]

What is R&S? The only thing I can think of is Rod and Staff, but I don't think this is what you are referring to. We went to Costa Rica last year and stocked up on their school books for DD, but I am always looking for other resources to add. I don't do a good job of making sure my kids end up trilingual (I speak French and my husband Spanish, but I end up speaking English mostly to the kids, while he at least speaks to them in Spanish).

[How I Store my AAS cards..]

Great container. Will look for it next time I am at WM. Thanks for sharing about it.

[Living Math or Math on the Level]

My friend uses this and loves it. She was telling me more about it just last night. It's very hands-on but it sounded teacher intensive, more so even than RS.

[x/p--SOTW in K]

We started SOTW 1 with DD a few months ago. She turns five in the second week of August. I just asked her this morning what she liked most about homeschool and she said the mapwork (which refers to our SOTW maps). She requests historical read alouds often. FWIW, she taught herself to write early on and so writing is not something we have to work on. Also, she doesn't do written narrations, but I do ask her the comprehension questions from the AG. I sometimes go back and ask her days later what she remembers about such and such from a SOTW reading and she often has lots to say. I think it would depend on the child's interests whether or not it would be a good fit at age 5. The chapters are short. You can have your 5 yr old color the pictures from the AG while you read.

[mfw vs. fiar for kindergarten]

I used both :001_smile:. We used MFW K primarily, but I borrowed FIAR from a friend and used our library for the books. MFW K was very light (which I liked) and took only a short time in the morning. On days we wanted something a little more structured to do in the afternoon, I just added in a book and activity from FIAR. We ended up not reading a book five days in a row, and doing every activity, but that was okay. We loved it.

 

We also use both. MFW K is based around animal/science themes for the letter of the week, so I looked for BFIAR and FIAR books that fit in. For example, the week of letter K, the focus was kangaroos, so we rowed Katy No Pocket.

 

My blog is in my signature, but I haven't blogged much about MFW/FIAR together.

[If you buy your curriculum new, where do you buy it?]

Rainbow Resources had the best prices for what I needed this year, except for STOW - I got that new on Amazon for considerably less. I like RR for large orders so I won't have to pay shipping. Some moms from my CC group organized ourselves to order together to save on shipping.

[First Language Lessons (Wise) vs Queens First Language Lessons]

I found LL too expensive and switched to FLL solely for that reason. I have been happy with FLL but be prepared to speed through the nouns section. It gets repetitive fast. My DD got the concept quickly so I would combine multiple lessons in one day. There isn't much copywork at all in FLL 1 and now that we are in FLL 2 we often skip the copywork since she does copywork with WWE. We still often combine lessons in FLL 2, though not as much. There is something to be said for the 5 minute grammar lesson. We do FLL daily since it is so short.

LL has the beautiful color copies of the art that drew me into buying.

[if you have a CC blog or know of a good one.....]

I second http://www.halfahundredacrewood.com/ . She is a great CC resource. But if you find the plethora of resources overwhelming and want a more scaled down week-to-week version, I am consolidating our family's plans on my blog. These are all my CC posts up to now. When it starts in August, I will be posting logistics such as how CC works for us at home, when we do memory work and how.