My youngest will be 4 in May, and I am looking for a 1st grade curriculum for her for next year. She is reading short and long vowels, and learning compounds right now. She completed Singapore Earlybird Math, but I am looking at RS or MUS for next year. She can also write fairly well, we started copywork. She also ran through the R&S I have 2 other kids, the boys have dyslexia. My middle child is advanced in math and science, he will be in 3rd grade. I am looking at SOTW vol.1 with him, TT5 math, and a few different things for science. He sees a reading therapist who is writing his LA curriculum for next year, but we managed to get him reading on grade level. I plan to use FUFI with my oldest. Adding in history supplements, TT7 for math, and R&S 6 for Grammar. My dd loves arts/crafts and I would like something that appeals to her. She has excellent fine motor skills, along with great logical thinking. Is there something fun, but challenging out there? Please don't tell me she's young to just play. She begs to do school, and honestly it keeps her out of trouble too. She is constantly making messes and destroying things if I don't keep her occupied.

Biscuts, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, chocolate cupakes, and pretzels.

I want to sign up my son for this: http://www.internationalgymnastics.com/about/index.php Maybe you could find a good team through the camp.

Higher up and Further In Its a blog and free curriculum list. I like it better than AO because it is more American based. She is listed now under Charlotte Mason Help

My 6th grader does different subjects on different days. Everyday we do family bible, math, writing, and reading. He reads 2 chapters from a book he semi-chooses. I give him the choice of several. Current book is Cricket in Times Square. Mon- Story of Ancient World for Biblical History, he reads 2 ch. plus written narration Tues- D'Aulaire's Greek Myths using MP guide. He does 1 section, which usually reading 5-8 pages plus vocab and comp Q's Wed- Pagoo using Queen guide. He reads 1 chapter, usually has to do research and write/draw in his notebook Thurs- American History, currently reading about the Titanic. I have him do 2 ch. Friday- Apologia Astronomy with notebooking journal. He does this independently. So, on average he might be reading 4 chapters a day. He doesn't especially enjoy reading either.

Well my kinesthetic one is only in 2nd grade, but I know some of the Veritas Press guides have good activities. My 6th grader did 21 Balloons at the beginning of this year and we started by blowing up balloons with helium and putting the vocab. words inside. He got to pop each one and read the vocab. word.

I have been using the K, I also own the 1st and 2nd grade manuals. I think it would be simple to change the math and add in more science. I really like their science for 3rd-6th though.

Is there anything out there besides Oak Meadow? I was hoping for something planned out but a little cheaper. Someone told me a Montessori mom has lesson plans for the year for only $20, but I cannot find this.

Is combining even feasible with a wide grade/age spread? No, I don't believe it is. My 2 boys are 4 years apart. The books I want my 6th grader to read are way over my 7yo head. I also don't want to dumb down the books to meet in the middle. And how does combining look in your homeschool? We tried and it was a fight. The boys are too competitive. Do you read a spine book to all of your kids about the science/history topic, then have individual assignments, and meet back once or twice a week for a project/experiment? Do you have a problem with one child dominating the learning/discussion? This, exactly! My older child refused to let his brother talk. If you went from combining to uncombining or from uncombining to combining, please tell me your tale. It is much nicer uncombined. It doesn't take any longer to do school. The oldest one is more independent with the age being so spaced out.

I have K,1 and 2 for MP. I love the schedule. IF you have read LCC, they follow along with a lot of those recommendations. Definitely get and read LCC and then decide from there. I think it covers a lot,but it seems easier to get the day done. Agreeing that science is weak. It does include American History readers for 1st and 2nd grade, so they are getting some history. The recitation also has them learning Pledge of Allegiance and little stuff like that. LCC feels that children in primary grades should focus more on nature instead of textbook science. If you don't like doing a box, you could follow LCC. BUt most of the MP follows LCC pretty exact.

I thought when it first arrived that it might have cost too much. I know that printing cost a lot, and the student pages number 200. Plus there are 2 teacher's manuals with spiral rings. Ask again in maybe a month or two and I will be glad to update on the actual use of it. I had 2 friends look at it and they both thought the teacher's manual was too confusing.

I do a lot of read alouds during breakfast and lunch. The little ones have full mouths and interrupt less. I 2nd doing K first thing in the morning, before breakfast if possible. I try to do my K at 7:30. Then we do breakfast about 8:45 and start 2nd and 6th grade by 9:15. My oldest doesn't finish before 2 though. Definitely invest in read alouds for the car. You could try to get some of the Sonlight books on tape for the 4th/5th graders to listen to. You can always read aloud to the 4th/5th for Sonlight at Bedtime too. For the 2yo, get a couple boxes of different toys/crafts to rotate. Mine could play for hours with a tub of water and some measuring cups/spoons. Plan to quickly mop afterwards, but it does keep them busy for a longer time. I try to do snacks at 11, so I make sure to plan that out before school.

I haven't started it yet, but I got it last week. I plan to start it in Jan. I have been putting it together. It needed a 3-ring binder with 8 tabs. I broke down the first lesson. I also got the Mindbenders book. I am going to schedule it for 5 days, she has a sample of how to do that. There is so much to go through, so many papers and instructions. I had to read it several times before I understood it all. She recommends having all final papers typed, so I will need to take time to teach my son how to do Word. Do you have any specific questions about it?

Thanks for the links. I hate pbysics and I am looking for a good program, I don't want to bias my son. I understand physics, but I just don't like it. I had to take advanced Calculus based Physics in College, it was awful. I knew it to pass the course, but I don't get how if I make a sharp right turn in the car that my body leans but it is not moving it is the car moving out from underneath me.

I received mine today, yeah! When I first read this post I was sad that I didn't get one.

Thanks, I had his vision tested and not just an eye exam but a whole workup by a developmental guy. He does not have any vision problems. I talked to the ped about dyslexia but he does not have any problem with letter recognition, and his copywork is above level. He can easily copy a paragraph onto paper. He does not mix up any letters or numbers. He knows the phonics rules, and I read aloud a whole lot. We did start late, as I started following CM. He is extremely wiggly and is easily distracted, so I waited until last January to begin reading. We have made it through ETC 1,2,3,4. He has also done PP through page 80 something. We have also tried LTR by CLE and made it to LU5. What has worked the best so far is recently I gave up and started just having him read books. He can read Little Bear and is currently reading through Little Bear Visits. On a page he might not know 2-4 words. I copy those words onto a card, review those everyday, and I also tell him the word if he cannot sound it out in a few seconds. Thank you to the person who said spelling comes before fluently reading, this is what I wanted to know.

We have been using Bedell Curriculum just for Bible. I started with Vol.1. We read the lesson and just discuss as a family. I really like all the science in it, but you have to want science from a YE, creationist view.

Is there anything like Middle School Chemistry from the ACS for Phyics?

My ds7 can spell anything I ask almost, but then he cannot read them back to me. For example: Plot, brush, teeth. I just think it's wierd and wondered about it. He can eventually sound these out, but it seems to take him forever. He can spell them quickly.

I found what worked finally for ds7 was to start reading real books. He loves Little Bear. I read through the chapter, then I do flash cards of hard words, and finally he reads through the stories. I have him continue reading for days until he does it fluently.

You could do a Janice VanCleave book, but the supplies would have to be rounded up. One semester I ordered a bunch of science kits from Steve Spangler, you can choose a topic and stick with it. Some of his stuff comes with background info. We did all polymers. One week we examined how fake snow is exactly the same stuff they use in diapers. I also did a 10 week class on Volcanoes. I taught them about volcanoes the first week, and then assigned them to do a report on a different volcano around the world. Then we spent 2 weeks listening to them alll give their reports. The next 6 weeks were spent making huge paper mache volcanoes. We often reviewed the facts while they were working with their hands, and I asked them to paint them to match the description of their real volcano. One kid had a black volcano, another had goats that lived on the volcano. THe last week we exploded them all.

Church mainly for my kids, but I had to do some work. You might have to invite a family from Chinese class to the park or over to your house. I made friends with this great lady from church, who recently started homeschooling, and our boys just really hit it off. That was 3 years ago and they still talk everyday, but so do the mom and I too.

Don't wear T-shirts or sweatshirts unless you are in the barn! Replace sweatshirts with a sweater, or even a cardigan. Look for styles that complement your shape. No mom Jeans! Get wide-legged trouser jeans, they look nicer and are just as easy to wash and wear. Look for a nice pair of black slacks. I cannot do button up shirts without a cami because my bOOks are considerably large compared to my waist, But if I leave the buttons undone it looks stylish with a cami. It is also amazing what just a little heel will do to the overall look.

I need to know about the author and context only if the book is non-fiction. I want to know the credentials. If it is fiction I do not need to know. As to approaching it like teaching Classicalstudies , some books do need background info. If you try to read Percy Jackson without knowing Greek Mythology, it might be too confusing to make it a good book. Same with Narnia, I think knowing all the Biblical references makes it a better series.

I still kiss my dad and mom on the lips, I don't think it's gross. I didn't click the link either.