These are my ideas for my DD who will offically start 1st this summer. These are aspirations as I am fairly certain we won't have time for all of this. Math - SM 1B/2A Phonics - ETC 6, 7, 8 and finish OPGTR Grammar - FLL 2 and GWG 1 Spelling - AAS 2 Writing - WWW1 and/or WWE1 Literature - AO Year 1 Read Alouds and AO Year 1 Poetry Anthology History - SOTW Ancients and Activity Guide Science - RSO Life, First Animal Encyclopedia, Green Thumbs, Burgess Bird Book for Children Bible - Egermeirs Bible, Explorers Bible Study, Leading Little Ones to God, Bible Story Handbook Art - Drawing with Children and Artistic Pursuits Geography - Evan Moor Daily Geography Practice Grade 1, Rod and Staff Grade 2 "Our Father's World" Latin - Song School Latin Spanish - Getting Started with Spanish Logic - Primarily Logic

We have a wall calendar for kids and one of the inserts for January is a picture of Martin Luther King. My 5 year old has asked me if we are meeting President Obama that day. I guess we will need to go over who MLK is and a very simple lesson on why he was important.

Awesome ideas! Thank you everyone. The more I read, the more I think I will like doing immersion type exposure.

Looking for a gentle introduction to Spanish. Thanks!

Get some C-rods, watch these videos, and perhaps try Miqoun. http://ronypony.blogspot.com/2011/02/gattegno-cuisenaire-rods-elementary.html I am so sorry you and he are struggling. I hope it gets better soon. You are not ruining him.

Whew! Thank you everyone. You have made me feel so much better. I was confident that she was ready to move on but I got caught up in the HIG when it says she should have all the facts memorized. I just put Monoply Jr. on the Christmas list and I will look at all the other suggestions as well. Thank you all again. I guess the first time homeschooling jitters got me on this one. :)

My DD5.5 has been doing SM 1A since August. I decided to go ahead with it since she was very bored in other kindergarten math programs. I knew we would take our time and we have been taking it slow. She did very well in the first few units. She did well in addition and I supplemented with MM Addition 1 for a couple of weeks. When I felt that she had the facts down we moved onto subtraction. We went slowly and again supplemented with MM. I thought we were ready to move on in SM 1A after Thanksgiving. Over the Thanksgiving holiday, I printed some free math drills within 10. She knows the addition facts +0, +1, +2, and when you add two numbers that are the same i.e. 4+4. However, she does not have +3 and +4 committed to memory i.e. 5+4. She can figure them out easily when I get her C-rods out, which is our main teaching tool. I didn't even attempt the subtraction page because of a bunch of tears when she didn't know the addition without using the rods. I know that she grasps how to do it and why we do it but I am not sure we should move on without the mental math part down. I know she is on the very young side of doing 1A but like I said, I am going slow and not pushing until I know she has the concepts down. What would you do? If we don't move on in SM 1A right now, what should we do to help with the mental math? I plan to continue with SM through 6B but I am willing to supplement with something else until she gets the facts down. I know that in 1A we will soon be doing problems such as 17+3 and I am afraid if she doesn't know what 7+3 is from memory, she will struggle. I also printed and laminated the Mental Math out of the back of the HIG just last week. We haven't been doing them up until this point but I plan to start using them. Also, we do the textbook, workbook, extra practice, and tests (not as tests, just more practice). I also have the CWP and I know she isn't ready for that. I thought about going through the IP for awhile to see if the facts get cemented in doing that. Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

I just recently decided that we would start our school years in January. It seems so logical to me. I only have one that is doing school right now and she is already mostly doing first grade stuff. I will keep her age for social activities as a kindergartener but we are definitely jumping into all 1st grade stuff in January. I am excited to start SOTW and science.

I see that she erased her signature line this morning. :glare: For what it is worth, SM 1B would rarely be a good fit for a 4 year old, unless of course, he is very gifted.

Just a giggle about your child being 4 years old and you are already posting about a distaste for a curriculum. I was on the fence after starting SM 1A and we did some MM and now that we are back to SM, I love it!! To each his own.

This looks awesome!

You won't be sorry and it isn't expensive. Skip the Teacher's Manual. :)

Handwriting without Tears. Really, it's great. It gives the instructions right on the page and they have cute sayings that are easy to remember. Totally worth it!

I totally get this! I struggled with the same thing. I just wanted an easy, fun year but my daughter is ready for more. We started AAS1 and FLL1 about 3 weeks ago and I am so glad we did. My DD would have been SO bored if I had waited until next fall. She can definitely handle the content and it doesn't take long. Adding FLL in certainly won't take away the fun!

My Ker just started the HWoT Printing Book (1st grade) 2 weeks ago. I have had her copying a sentence a day for quite a few months. Most times she picks the sentence, I write it, and she copies it. She enjoys this and her handwriting has improved dramatically. We do 1 page of HWoT a day plus the ONE sentence of copywork.

I agree with starting FLL1. We started 2 weeks ago for the added challenge and it is really easy and she is doing very well. You could also do AAS1. It is gentle and we really like it!

Yes, I agree. We were using the C-rods to teach SM 1A and my DD REALLY picked it up fast. I put them away when we did the review in MM. She really struggled. I took out the C-rods and she flew through it. She knows the values of those rods well and sometimes she has the answer before I do. :) I was amazed how quickly she learned what each of their values are. The younger you introduce and teach with them, the better.

I really like the Explorer's Bible study. Right now we are doing Beginnings which is all oral with reading comprehension questions at the end of the lesson. They have different levels so the next level includes a workbook. It is set up so that multiple children can use different books but everyone is studying the same material. You can find it here.... http://www.rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?subject=13&category=3587

We are loving.... Singapore Math and MM as a supplement AAS FLL Explorer's Bible Study Beginners Evan Moor Beginning Geography

I love this. Thank you. My DD is only 5 1/2 and sometimes wants to be silly while doing her work. Most times I allow her to be silly for a few minutes and other times, I just want her to get it done so we can move on with life. It is a great reminder to just allow them to be themselves, silly or not, and that the work will still get done.

Thank you for those links. I was just getting ready to post something similiar.

Thank you all so much! I am especially glad that I only have to spend the $16 on the student text and not the $70 on the whole package. I am sure I can come up with some games and fun ways to incorporate it as well.

I have decided to start Latin either this spring or next fall. I need some good recommendations. I will have a 1st grader this spring/fall. I have looked at Song School Latin and it looks great. Does anyone know if they ever put it on sale or on the homeschool buyers co-op? Of course, I am open to other suggestions as well. Thanks!

ETC. We love it.

We just started it this week with my 5 1/2 year old. The first 2 lessons took less than 5 minutes. I like it because it is a gentle introduction and my child is on the younger side. I may get sick of nouns in a few more lessons. :)