FWIW we have staggered the levels of FLL and WWE. Last year we did FLL3 and WWE 2. This year we're doing FLL4 and WWE 3. That worked better for us and I know other people on the forum have done that as well. WWE has the student pages in the back. For WWE I use a composition book for the children to do the copywork/dictation/narration. In WWE 3 there is no copywork--just dictation. In WWE3 the student is required to read the passage silently then answer questions verbally. I'm not sure about WWE4 because we haven't gotten to it yet! FLL has a separate book for student pages for 3 and 4 (none required for 1 and 2). I preferred printing out the student pages (I have two children) because then we only had 1/2 the year in a folder at a time. The student work books are HUGE and would take up a lot of room in our school cupboard.

Ohhhh, I'm jealous. Definitely head down to OBX when you get a chance! We're up in northern New England but vacation down there every year. Definitely check out the Chrysler Museum when you get a chance. . .also the museums in the area belong to the North American Science group so if you have a membership in your original home state you'll have access to a number of museums in the area. My kids really enjoyed a lot of the museums and we really liked the aquarium in Manteo too. It's small but well put together.

Ohhhh, I'm jealous. Definitely head down to OBX when you get a chance! We're up in northern New England but vacation down there every year. Definitely check out the Chrysler Museum when you get a chance. . .also the museums in the area belong to the North American Science group so if you have a membership in your original home state you'll have access to a number of museums in the area. My kids really enjoyed a lot of the museums and we really liked the aquarium in Manteo too. It's small but well put together.

After reading other threads that mention the 1st edition, I had to get my own copy of the 1st edition to compare. I think you can get it for around $4 or $5 on the internet including shipping so go for it! I really liked the slightly different perspective of the 1st edition.

We have really increased our academic load this year and working longer. After a shaky first couple of days, we're in a great groove now (week 3). I've introduced independent work and the kids are really, really enjoying that. And typing. . .who knew that typing on a MANUAL typewriter would be such a draw for the kids? Then again, they are typing on an Olivetti Lettera 32 so maybe that explains it. And I absolutely love the idea of "Room time" after we finish school which is usually after a late lunch. Wow, JW and SWB really knew what they were talking about when they suggested this (they called it "Rest Time" though). It was a tough sell at first but I stuck to my guns (we never did it before so there was some resistance). Now we all look forward to it. As my son put it, "I know I can do what I want (read, draw, etc.) and I won't be interrupted."

If you're only going to do one, choose WWE. It is much more open and go than Bravewriter. . .

We used this book last year and are continuing to use it this year. I just own one copy of the book. I have downloaded some of the worksheets but not all of them are on the storey website. Instead, I just put together the ones that I plan to use using open office and of course tweaked them. They didn't take long to do (after the first one of course!) and I could modify them they way I wanted to. I then print out 10 of each at a time and keep them in a folder with paper clips. Now, I just hand out three/week for them to work on and put in their nature journal (which is really just a presentation book so the sheets slide in). I really, really like this book and I think it is worth purchasing and reading. But you could make do with just one if you make the sheets yourself.. However, if you do want to work through the book as presented then you would be best off buying a book for each person.

Check out: http://donnayoung.org/forms/index.htm All the forms on her website are free though you might want to consider purchasing a disk if you have slow internet. I use her checklist form along with a modified version of her two-page weekly planner--one page holds five days of the week and the other page is notes for all the subjects (I use it to write what I need, things I need to look up, etc). This way I can see one week at a glance. I fill this out as the week progresses. I used to think that I needed planning software but I really like a paper version. I use a poly folder that has pockets on both sides and a three hole punched area for papers in the middle (I think these are called report folders). I put unfilled planner pages on the right, filled in planner pages on the L with the most recent week on top and our "check off list" for the number of days we school in the middle three-holed section. To plan for the year I used her subject planner with one subject per page. I don't micro plan but figure out what I need to accomplish for the year. For example most are just one page: WWE 3--I know that I had 36 weeks of lessons with 4 lessons per week. That meant I had to do 144 lessons. That meant I would need to do a lesson each day. So that subject page was just a few lines. But it gives me an overall picture of how I need to accomplish what I set out to do that year. Also my checklist pages are divided into quarters--two quarters on the front page and two quarters on the back page. This allows me to see at a glance whether we are on track for finishing on time b/c I wrote the estimated dates for completion of each quarter (taking into account holidays, vacations, etc.). I used this system for the first time last year and we actually were done what I wanted to accomplish EARLY because I was able to keep track of things so well.

I have always heard that they were the best but the ones I have found have all been made in China (also, I don't like the Microban antibacterial treatment on them but that's just me). We've been happy with "The Write Dudes". I bought them at Walmart. I like the way they write and sharpen and the fact that the eraser doesn't tear off with erasing. HOWEVER, I'm not sure they are that much cheaper than Ticonderoga pencils. I just looked at my receipt: I paid $3.77 for 20 pencils BUT they were a multi color pack: blue, red, orange and yellow. Well worth the price considering I no longer here, "That's MY pencil!" because now we all have our own color.

I use WWE and FLL with my children to make sure I am covering those bases. They're relatively inexpensive, easy to use (open and go), straight forward, and comprehensive. Did I mention that the lessons do not take a lot of time? I am really pleased with WWE3 this year because now the children are reading the passage to themselves and I'm asking the comprehension questions and telling them to go back and re-read a certain paragraph if they did not know the answer. This is working out great and will be great for reading comprehension standardized testing in the future. I am all for being efficient and effective--these two programs help me do that.

I have owned both so I can give you my opinion. First of all, consider whether you are in an area where Miele service is readily available. We bought our Miele from a local dealer and when we had a problem with it we could only go to them. Unfortunately they were the type who would put you on a schedule for "some time in the next two weeks" and then call the night before to schedule the appointment for the next day. At that time in our lives that kind of last minute scheduling did not work well (not to mention we had a baby in cloth diapers and being without a washer for two weeks was NOT convenient to say the least). Our washer had something wrong with it that just couldn't be figured out. Miele reps finally came up to VT from NJ and couldn't figure it out and and we ended up with a new one (the original was less than 1 year old). After moving 4 years later it turned out that the only Miele dealer within 1 hour would only service machines that they sold to customers. I had to beg and plead to get them to come to our house. Now, I'll explain what was wrong with the machine: they are so sophisticated and sensitive that they did not do well with well water that had not been softened. At least that is my experience with them. Our water is hard and it clogs the filter pretty regularly and affects the filling rate, etc. which can cause issues obviously. We own a Miele dishwasher and I love that machine but again, if something happens, it is just difficult for us to get someone to work on it. No other repair man will touch it. So I ended up replacing the Miele with a Bosch. MISTAKE! That machine was awful. They just put a large cement block in it to keep it from shaking. We have it on the first floor of a house (with a basement underneath) and it would shake the floor one room over. Within the first year it needed a circuit board replaced and some other mechanical thing. When the whole tub had to be replaced I begged the store to just replace it with something (ANYTHING!) else. I ended up with a Samsung that I really like. Now, if you have a reputable dealer with a good service dept in your area and you have city water or softened water I would definitely go with a Miele washer and dryer. Hands down it washed the best and I loved all the different cycles, etc. It was VERY GENTLE on clothes. We had the smaller machine and I really liked the size of those machines. But the Samsung is definitely a good machine and at a much lower price I am very pleased with it. It also handled our hard water better but over the past year we finally did install a water softener FWIW. As for longevity, I would have to be honest and say that I do not think any one brand will necessarily last beyond 10 years. Over the long term things in the Miele would have to be replaced (remember, I had a Miele that had a circuit board and other parts replaced BEFORE it was a year old) and even small items can be pricey and may affect your decision as to whether fix an older washing machine or replace it at that point. Now when I buy an appliance I look at what it will cost me to own for 8 years and then see whether that's worth it to me or not. . .

We are on our 3rd year of using WWE here (now onto WWE3). I like how it works. . .both as an open and go curriculum and for how effective it is. I have read a lot about Bravewriter and have yet to implement it. . . I think you can do WWE AND do something else. At our home WWE doesn't take long at all (dictation is usually under 10 min. and narration days are usually 20 min or under including reading time). So it's easy to fit in daily and doesn't require any prep on your part. I feel that leaves you lots of room to add other things. . .maybe do WWE daily and schedule the Bravewriter Arrow (or it Boomerang?) to last one month. My children don't really see WWE as "writing" but as Language Arts so it's not hard to sneak other "writing" in. I will also skip a narration WWE occasionally if we're doing a lot of narration that day in science or history or if I do not think my kids will enjoy the passage. That leaves more wiggle room too. But I will not give up WWE because it is such an easy program that doesn't take a lot time BUT has a HUGE impact on writing in my opinion.

I like all the suggestions of "squishing" the anxious feelings, more outside time, physical activity, etc. Not engaging is also huge. One element that I'd like to add is Bach Flower Remedies. These are really, really useful in our house for all sorts of situations. The book Bach Flower Remedies for Children by Barbara Mazzarella is an OK place to start learning about them but I prefer the books by Mechthild Scheffer. But I will say that just taking the remedy isn't the only answer--adding the other posters' suggestions is equally important. I feel that the essences help produce a state of balance where the ideas of squishing the anxious feelings, etc. has more effect.

We used Art Lab for Kids and will be "re-using" it again this year. I really, really like it. I just started at the beginning and went to the next lab if a specific lesson didn't catch my eye first. I chose this book b/c art classes are expensive here (they work out to be about $20-30 session for a 2 hour class). This is a description of a typical class: This class will introduce children to a variety of art media, focusing on drawing, painting, and sculpture techniques while encouraging participants to develop a direct relationship with the materials they use. Examples from art history will provide inspiration for the original works the children create. This is essentially what Art Lab focuses on too. I knew how much I would pay for a 6 week session for my children and for half that I was able to purchase the book and the supplies that were listed at the front of the book. My kids really enjoyed the lessons and we got through a lot of them and continue to revisit favorite ones and try new ones. I felt no need to change the "curriculum" this year and aside from some more paper I didn't have to repurchase supplies this year. The key for me was to make that one big purchase b/c then everything was available and we could do whatever we wanted.

I think this would be a good place to start if you are looking for if you are looking for ways for your children to direct and manage their own learning. I mention this b/c it's really not meant to be done in "units" so I'm not sure if this is what you're looking for. Book: Project-Based Homeschooling: Mentoring Self-Drieccted learners by Lori Pickert. She has a blog and forum on: http://project-based-homeschooling.com/camp-creek-blog/

Thanks to all the posters, especially Chava_Raisel for the specific suggestions. I realize that our days have been shorter because all of the subjects except math were combined. Also, I do not count independent reading as part of our day. . . We started on Monday and I do see this year being about 4-5 hours which is right on track for what I thought it would (and should) be (4th/5th grade). We haven't progressed up to essays yet so I can't really ask for an essay on what he has read, just narrations. History will slowly become independent as we finish up SOTW together. I'm finding that I do like the independent work assignments that are given at the beginning of the week this year because it does give me a chance to do different things with each one. This year already has such a different feel to it and I am glad that I was conscious of needing to make the change and amp things up a bit. Rereading relevant parts of TWTM is always a good reminder too. I took Hunter's suggestion and bought the 1st edition ($1.00!) to get new (old) ideas on the different subjects. I do find it easier to make a big change at the beginning of the year and fine tune it by adding things on as we go through the year.

Christian books has the set for just a couple of dollars more (it doesn't come with the workbooks, though but we don't use the workbooks. . .) and I think that it is their regular price. And they do have free shipping too! http://www.christianbook.com/draw-write-now-8-volumes/marie-hablitzel/9780963930798/pd/930796?item_code=WW&netp_id=262669&event=ESRCG&view=details

We started today. Yikes! LOOOONNNNNG day. At the morning break my daughter's dog ended up following a moose scent and we had a frightful hour looking for him the woods. I knew there was a moose out there this morning and I just didn't think about him getting all excited about it! Thank goodness he's home safe and sound now. Another hiccup to this morning was my open-and-go WWE3 (am I the only one who didn't bother to even look at FLL or WWE before the start of school aside from seeing how many lessons we had to complete by the end of the year?): I opened to the first lesson and much to my surprise the passage that I thought I was going to read to my kids wasn't there. Um, no, the passages are read silently now by the kids and then they answer the question. Oops! Thank goodness I have a fax machine that I can copy on so we could all do this at the same time. But all went well, even with the new independent work. Tomorrow, hopefully end up being shorter and without any animal issues (or 5th grade math tantrums--yes, I had those too)! And to think I was so proud of myself for our on-time start at 8:30--kitchen was clean, I had vacuumed, all the animals were fed and I had even done some gardening. . .maybe I was feeling a little too smug.

We live in a small town and I'll put a shout out for our library. They have passes for different museums, etc. Some are just discount passes while others are free passes. It's not just for our area--there are passes to the Boston museums (2 1/2 hours away). Our town is VERY involved in our library and expects a lot from it. Maybe by making requests and having others do the same you may be able to get your library to do things differently (of course it may take awhile. . .). Also consider volunteering so you can learn the ins and outs of your library.

Thank you for this timely post! I really feel for you, having to be the enforcer (all of you). I'm not looking forward to it, but it's good to know what I am going to be up against in the future. My son is going into 5th grade and even though our course load would still allow us to have a shorter day (getting school done in 2-2.5 hours and then playing all afternoon) I've decided that I have to extend the day so I don't have total rebellion the following year. I've never been a fan of filler work or lots of worksheets so I'm trying the approach of expecting more with adding pictures with Draw Write Now to history narrations, nature journaling, etc. along with adding typing and logic puzzles, etc. I've also decided to give them a planner for a few subjects where there is independent work so that they have control over what they get done and when they get it done. We're also going to do the "room time" in the afternoon for 45-60 minutes. I wish I had started this when I started homeschooling two years ago when my son finished 2nd grade but I overloaded on afternoon activities. But I am going to do it now so that there is a time during the day when extra work can (and should) be done if they weren't as focused during school time as they should have been. Any other suggestions?

For long term planning I use my WTM book with notes in pencil in the margin. Everything is in one place AND it's already organized for me by subject, level, and already contains a reading list and list of resources (easily expanded with index cards if necessary). My concerns aren't just about curriculum though but how to prepare my children for the change in workload over the years (longer days, more independent work, more detailed work, input in choosing the curriculum, etc.). So I always try to keep these things in the back of my mind as I plan the current year and go through the year, making little changes in the way we do school to introduce these concepts in tiny little increments.

Great post! There have been so many threads about scheduling using OneNote, etc. that it can feel like I'm slacking when I use a simple, straightforward method like you described, especially when it takes less than an hour to write down the yearly plans. BUT I'm sure you did spend a lot time and thought on your choices prior to making the schedule and that is what makes the schedule work. The one difference for me is that I do not make my plans by the week since we sometimes don't complete a week of school at a time because I like to take advantage of my husbands unexpected days off. So I have daily plan (___ pages/day or ____ chapters/day). If the subject is done by lessons I make sure I have enough days in the years for the lessons or I know going in that I have ___ days where the lessons are doubled up or I know in advance that we have ____ lessons to skip. While it's not as satisfying as paging through a beautiful, filled out lesson book, it takes a lot less time and if plans change, it is easily adaptable, just like you mentioned. I do have a detailed lesson plan (page numbers listed or lesson numbers, rabbit trail info) that is created while we are doing the lessons and a checklist of the subjects we did on a particular day. These are preprinted spreadsheets that I fill out as I go and a place to make notes of what worked and what didn't and any changes I need to make in the future. That way I always know where I am in a particular subject and it does make for a nice record of our work. Thanks for sharing (and the warning about No Spine Left Behind!).

Rather than buy new look in small antique or "decorating" stores (recycling AND shopping local!). We have one in the next town over and she specializes in some new things but mostly things she finds at flea markets, etc. She has a great eye for quality and looks (and price!). I have bought bookcases, lighting, etc. from her--always at a good price and always solid (and usually less than what I would have paid at Target). This place is in a rather pricey area but she's not expensive. So poke into those kind of stores--you might be surprised. Of course these aren't rock bottom prices like if you had found them at a flea market or a thrift store but you're also not doing the looking and sifting and traveling--some one else is who has a good eye and can do a few repairs if necessary. Also the items will be displayed in a very pleasing way so it's easy to make a decision as to whether it will work in your house. You just have to be willing to have pieces that might not match but definitely have style. Also another cheap style bookcase are old barrister bookcases--they are stackable and usually interchangeable. I have picked up ones without the glass fronts for next to nothing and they are so easy to mix and match and change the heights when necessary (for under a window, behind a couch, etc.). And they are SOLID. Always make sure you get a base and a top so that they will look right. And the bonus: so easy to move because each shelf piece unstacks so you are essentially moving one at a time. And no issues with sagging! FWIW I love the look of the Whittier Wood Furniture!

Actually we did get to see an opera last year--one geared towards children. The production company is soooo wonderful about creating a matinee just for children. And it is not expensive either! I will talk with her but right now she is in the midst of her busy season so I hate to bother her. I am very interested in what she has to say. I don't know why I didn't think of asking her before! I will definitely report back. . .

Check out www.donnayoung.org. She talks about different planning methods. I developed the way I plan based on her suggestions. I don't have a detailed plan of on "this day we do pages 38-9". Instead I look at what I want to accomplish that particular year. Last year I wanted to go through SOTW 2 and most of 3. I knew we could easily read 1/2-1 chapter per day and do the comprehension questions from the study guide (my kids like history so this wasn't too much for them. also, we're not really interested in doing the projects). So I knew I had to do that daily and each day we would just pick up where I left off the day before. There are 90 lessons in FLL with 10 additonal lessons. Since we homeschool only 4 days per week for 32 weeks I knew that I couldn't just do it every other day and three days/week was just awkward. So I knew that I would do a lesson daily and that left room for extra review, letter writing etc. I didn't attach lessons to particular days. We would just do the next one. If there was an appropriate time to write letters (thank you notes, etc.) we would just do that. WWE has more weeks than we do school. So when I came across a particular passage I didn't really like I would skip that. I gave myself 4 skips through the year. So I had a sheet with my plans for the year: one sheet per subject. Then I had blank lesson plans that I filled out AS WE WENT THROUGH OUR DAY (this is where lesson numbers were put along with page numbers when appropriate). There was a section for notes in case there were somethings I had to remember to do that week or something we needed but I never filled out the lesson plans ahead of time. In this way we accomplished everything that I wanted to do actually ahead of time. And it wasn't a total loss for me when I decided to change spelling programs after 1 month. I didn't have a year's worth of lessons written out. I just filled out a new "yearly" sheet (which essentially said: "How To Teach Spelling, Workbook ______. _______ # of lessons with frequent spelling "tests".). While I think it would be wonderful to have it all planned out down to the page numbers, I don't think it would actually help me teach better or get through the year without being behind. Knowing the amount of material I wanted to get through and the time frame I have to do it helped me the most.