My daughters are in 1st and kinder. We use SOTW + activity book and a timeline. So far I find that my daughters are getting a good understanding of the flow of history. Although SOTW is not entirely in chronological order, it is working for us because we always go back to our timeline to place events and people. I also use a Bible History timeline to add people and events SOTW leaves out. BTW, I use the timeline and figures from Homeschool In The Woods. These are great! Mystery of History is another curriculum which mixes in Biblical and Secular history. Feel free to ask any other questions. :001_smile:

I live in So Cal and am part of a home base charter school. They provide the funds to buy curriculum, supplies both for students and teacher, art/music classes, support, testing, etc. I've been with the group for two uears and do far so good. The two schools that I know of are Sky Mountain Charter School and Golden Valley Charter School. Because the schools are public, only secular curriculum can be purchased. Hope that helps.

My daughter is in first grade so our experience is with the guides for the lower grades. We are currently going through the author unit on Leo Lionni. So far both my daughter and I like them. Even though the worksheets themselves are not colorful or exciting (if you are into that thing, which we are not), the book selections are great! There is a good variety of skills taught such as fill in the blanks, vocabulary work, character/plot study and open ended questions. I have also purchased a poetry unit on Douglas Florian but have not used it yet. I bought the books to go with it since not all the books were available at our library. The books are wonderful and of great quality. My daughter has already read them all. :tongue_smilie: We will definitely be buying more.

My DD is 5, 6 in April, and we do 1 page in PP and 2-3 pages in ETC. She is about a quarter of the way through book 2. I'll then dictate to her one sentence from the PP page we just reviewed. So far both my DD and I like this method. I feel both books complement each other and that my DD id getting a strong foundation in phonics. We use All About Spelling in first grade so I'm not concerned about rules just yet. My goal for kinder is to build fluency.

Google D'nealian printable worksheets and you'll find plenty of resources. I have purchased several books but my daughter seems to like the worksheets better. You can also find sites in which you can print out ready made sheets or customize them with your own words or sentences. Hope that helps.

Thank you so much!

Hi Does anyone know where I can find a chart correlating Singapore and Miquon Math? The ones I've found are dead ends. Thanks!

My 1st grader and kindergartener listen to the audio, watch documentaries, 1st grader writes her own summaries while the kindergartener narrates to me hers, draws pictures and map work. They may not remember every detail but they love the stories and are remembering a lot more than I would ever expect. We are loving it!

My 1st grade dd is currently working through Visible Thinking 1A along side Primary Math 1A. I got it for her because she is VERY visual and needs a lot of extra practice when it comes to math. She enjoys it and it seems to cement what she is learning. Hope this helps. :)

Absolute favorites in our house or should I say car are Charlottes Web, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, The Tale of Despereaux, Stewart Little, the Trumpet of the Swan, and the Wizard of Oz. My kids also really loved Matilda but there are some very rude characters who use a lot of name calling. I used it as an opportunity to teach on manners and bullying. Enjoy!

I bought my daughters, K and 1st, a backpack and they thought it was the greatest thing! They keep their school books in them. Whenever I start thinking of some of the FEW things they will miss by not going to school, I remind myself of how privileged I am in being able to build a much closer relationship with them. Since they are with me ALL day there is no one who knows them better and who can meet their needs like I can. This far out weighs bus rides or new lunchboxes. Hang in there and enjoy all the time you get to spend with your daughter. Time goes by much too quickly!

We have loved Charlotte's Web, The Trumpet of the Swan, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulaine, The Tale of Despereaux, The Chronicles of Narnia, and the latest... Marley and Me. We LOVE audio books! Keeps my 3 kids calm and quiet during car rides.

I think it depends on the coop. I was a part of one this past school year with some of my closest homeschooling moms so we worked really well together. We studied world Geography which included physical geography, language, food, crafts, culture and animals of chosen countries. The kids, pre-school through 1st grade, did map work, coloring pages, art, cooked food and saw videos. It worked out great for us because we did things that I would never take the time to do with just one or two children. The kids had fun with their friends and us moms got a break from our normal routine and a time to chat with each other. Hope that helps. :)

I too needed something to simply record what we had done that day. I get easily distracted by bells and whistles so I use a composition book. It's cheap, simple and actually gets used. :)

We are currently with a charter and next year we are going to be using The Mystery of History, a christian history program. I am going to purchase the curriculum myself but will use charter funds to buy supplemental material. As for turning in samples, we plan on making narration pages and will be turning in samples on secular events and places. It is a very touchy subject but it boils down to what the Lord has for each individual family. We are each held accountable for the choices we make for our families and that is between you and the Lord. We have had a great experience with our charter. We have met both Christian and non-Christian families; have been encouraged by the Christians and been a witness to the non-Christians. I pray the Lord gives you wisdom in your homeschool. :)