We are reading the Flat Stanley books right now & my 5 yr od ds & 3 yr old ds like them (oldest really likes them). I plan on doing a fun project with Flat Stanley after we finish the books.

I have a 14 month old as well, but thankfully I'm only doing K5 this year and we do school during her morning nap. I would do as much as possible during nap (does she/he still nap in the morning?) & then try to have brother/sister to take turns playing with her in another room. I completely understand about the clinginess, but I keep reminding myself, "this too shall pass!"

Thanks so much for all the responses! You all are right that schooling this year will only take a couple of hours, but I want to start good habits now. I do have both of my boys doing some things around the house now: setting the table, cleaning up the table, helping with the laundry, picking up their toys, making their beds, unloading the dishwasher, etc. The major cleaning is what they can't do a lot of now. What I have gleaned from the responses is: 1. Teach them now to help 2. It is okay if isn't exactly like I would do it. Also, I like the idea about getting up early. My plan thus far is to be completely ready before my kids get up (usually around 7:30am) & after breakfast to do some morning chores before starting school at 9am. We can work on a few other chores after lunch.

Thanks for your feedback. I found the list of books for volume 1 and all but 2 are at my library. Do you think it would be possible just to get the books & then find creative things to do online? It seems there are quite a few blogs related to FIAR. I'm not really looking for a curriculum, as much as a supplement and something fun to do with my boys.

I'm just beginning to homeschool this year & I like a clean house. How do you keep your house clean & homeschool (plus have fun with your kids)? What are the priorities to keep clean? I typically vacuum & mop all floors weekly (we have hardwoods downstairs), dust, clean bathrooms a couple of times a week, pick up daily, & try to do a deep cleaning project once a week. Is that unrealistic with homeschooling? My kids are small so they can't do a ton of chores yet. And what my oldest does has to be supervised.

I have read some stuff on FIAR, but I'm still not clear what it is. I'm looking for something fun to do with my 5 & 3 year olds. We are doing phonics, math, & CC as of now, but I want to read a ton & do some crafts. Basically, I want K to be as fun as possible. We have the rest of their lives to dive into history, science, language arts, etc. Is FIAR a good fit for what I'm wanting?

I love the CC cards for all the reasons mentioned above, plus the fact that CC has a timeline song to go with the cards. My almost 5 yr old knows 90% of the timeline just from listening to the song for a month & my 3 yr old knows about half of it.

I bought a magnetic whiteboard at Office Max yesterday for $30. It is 23" x 35" (so an inch short of being 2' x 3'). I don't have a lot of wall space, so I wanted to put it on an easel, but I can't find an easel that is reasonable. The heavy duty ones at Office Max were $100! Any suggestions?

We didn't do a curriculum. The best way my 3.5/4 yr old learned how to count was doing a calendar every day. He learned number recognition and how to count to 30 & then he just put it together and could count to 100 by the time he was 3.5 (maybe he is just gifted mathematically, but I doubt it since my husband and I are not). We did do Letter of The Week curriculum and she has pattern sheets & my son loved it. I really think a lot of early math can be learned hands on without the use of a curriculum. Plus, there are tons of games online and apps to learn basic math (shapes, counting, money, etc).

My ds will be memorizing some nursery rhymes & address/phone numbers, along with catechesim, hymns, & Bible verses.

Can you tell me more about Scholaric? What do you like/dislike about it?

Thanks for sharing your circle time. That was very helpful.

I bought it a couple of years ago & also bought a laminator that she recommends with gift cards on Amazon. I didn't print it all, but what I did print I laminated so it will last through my other 2 kids (and hopefully more!). It was well worth it when I considered how I could use it over & over. I also didn't print it all out at once, but just a couple of weeks at a time. My son loved it!:001_smile:

The KJV was translated by the manuscripts that were available then. Since the 1600s archaeologists have found even older manuscripts & therefore some of the newer translations are more accurate than the KJV. We use the English Standard Version & love it. It is the closest English version to the original Greek & Hebrew & also written in the language we speak today. The only way to know for sure if it is translated correctly is to learn Greek & Hebrew!

This is about the length of our service as well, although we are reformed southern baptists. My husband is the pastor & he normally preaches 35-45 mins. My oldest son thinks it is too long because every 10 mins he says, "Is daddy almost done?" :-)

We are doing Letter of The Week with my 3 yr old and lots of playing. I expect him to pick up a lot listening to his brother's lessons. He already knows much of the new timeline song from CC from listening to it in the car. At 3, I just let him do what he wants for school.

I too have debated how to do our timeline cards. I've thought about the binders, but the expense makes me hesitant. But putting holes into the cards is so hard to do!

Thia is our first year of homeschooling & I want to buy a nice world map. Suggestions of where to find one that is laminated & will last?

If you want to save some money, I would suggest you just buy the cycle 1 audio CDs. It has all the memory work & the entire timeline song CC just released with the cards. My 5 & 3 yr olds have listened to the timeline song for about 3 weeks now in the car & they already have much of it memorized. Plus, you could listen to the history songs & write each week's out & use it for copy work or as a reference.

After reading several posts about Miquon, I'm open to trying it for my K5 son. He will be 5 next month, but can count to 100, skip count lower numbers, & do some basic addition. I bought Singapore 1A, but not sure I need to jump right in with it. I've seen a lot of recommendations for Singapore Essentials as well. Should I just do Essentials B & jump into 1A or do Miquon with Essentials? We are doing a pretty intense phonics/spelling curriculum, so I don't want math to be overwhelming for either of us since learning to read is our main priority this year.

Thanks for the links to the you tube examples. I am beginning SWR with my 5 year old son next month & I'm working my way through my learning log. So far it seems like a great program, but definitely a lot for me to learn before I can teach it!

I haven't bought it yet, because I'm trying to find it used. I looked at the Essential Math, but was unsure if it would be as good as EB. What is the main difference? I borrowed a friend's EB A & B and after looking through it, I know my ds already knows all of A & I don't think it will take him long to go through B.

Thanks for the recommendations! Is there at HIG for the Earlybird books? The only thing I have seen is a Teacher's Instructor Guide & I don't want to buy something for the classroom.

We are beginning K5 this year and are starting with Earlybird B & then moving on to 1A in Singapore math. What manipulatives do you need with Singapore? They have a few things listed on their website, but what is essential? Thanks!

Thanks for this info. I am also starting K5 with my oldest & this will be our 2nd year doing CC. Our plan is to focus on phonics, math, handwriting, & CC memory work. I don't plan on adding science or history at home (beyond CC) because I think it would be too much. I do plan to go to the library often & find books related to whatever ds is interested in relating to history, science, & the timeline.