https://www.circeinstitute.org/seattle I always said if Andrew Kern came within driving distance to me, I'd go. Now I'm trying to convince myself that I really can. Spend 150$ (not to mention 2 days!) on myself?!?

Essentials and Foundations go over the same material, just at different speeds and targeted towards different age groups. Foundations is very playful, fun, game-based. Essentials is a bit more get er done. You mention your 7yo is a good reader but how is his spelling?? If he's also a top notch natural speller, I think LOE b would be way below him. But if not, I think starting them both at b is a great idea. My kids both finish a level in around 4 months, working on it 3 days a week. Smarson, I think LOE C and D are a fairly complete 1st grade la program. If you think adding something would be fun, feel free, but you don't really NEED anything. We alternate with ELTL for the read aloud and extra copywork/dictation, but the later LOE books do include their own copywork/dictation.

My Ker will have a pretty good head start on his stuff by the time he "starts" in September, because he insisted on pulling a few things out as soon as he turned 5. But his line up will be: Morning time (memory work, read aloud, poetry, bible, faith studies) Math- Miquon red Phonics- LOE B Writing- ELTL1 Afternoon rotation with his brother: 1/2wks History- the renaissance to the American revolution via SOTW and All through the Ages 1/2 wks Science- mom designed units on weather, geology, and astronomy 1 wk Arts- renaissance art and music via Harmony Fine Arts and Shakespeare via Lambs

We will not be able to afford a tripod this year, between the cost of both the tripod itself and the bin adaptor. maybe next year if we really enjoy sky watching. But that still pretty much rules out the sky aster series. :/ All the reviews I've seen mention they require tripods. Which Celestron Upclose are you recommending, mathnerd? There are 4 on that link, 10x50, 20x50, 7x35, or 8x40?

Ooh, the cometron 7x50 (the 35 dollar one) was actually on my list. It was adjustable enough to fit a child's face then? My hopeful budget is under $50.

I know less than nothing about telescopes, binoculars, or star gazing. But we are doing astronomy next year so.... Any advice on binoculars vs telescopes? I want something 1. easy to use. 2. easy to store. 3. with a good quality/affordability balance.

Thanks, this is a really useful breakdown. I'm never sure about the whole "advanced" thing. I mean, with some kids it obvious but with others...where's the line? In my local HS community he can seem very advanced comparatively. But his abilities are beans compared on this board ;) Happily, since he will be starting Beast before he's officially left 1st grade, book 3 can take us several years if it needs to. I would weep for joy if I could buy JUST ONE math program and have it last us several years. Pretty much 3/4 of my HS budget seems to go towards math :/

I gave him the placement test and then we did the sample chapter on shapes. He only missed 2 on the test and really enjoyed the sample, he even begged to do another. LOF is the ONLY math he's ever asked for MORE of. Just buying the a books isn't that bad price-wise, so I'll order them and do them with him over the spring/summer. Worste case scenario it loses its apeal and I buy MIF3 for the Fall. Thanks everyone.

I suppose what I always thought of as the discovery part of Miquon is that sometimes the program is like, "Look at what these blocks are doing, they do it here too, and here! Intuit a math concept from that and start applying it." Maybe that's NOT how Miquon is really supposed to be, and it's just how I end up teaching it. I'll admit to being an occasionally poor math teacher and missing the boat a bit. My other son really likes being left to his own to "discover" things like that, and jumps from a to b to c very quickly. He adores Miquon. But the child I'm talking about right now likes to be TOLD explicitly the math concept we will be working on, and have it fully explained. He's fine jumping through your hoops after that, even if it takes a few tries and it's harder than your examples, but he wants to know exactly what you want him to do. With Miquon it wasn't always clear. Maybe thats top down vs bottom up? Thanks for the insight though. I was hoping you'd reply as the resident Miquon expert.

I keep going back and forth on Beast. My son "hates" math, but I'm no sure if maybe he is bored? He is newly 7 and has blown through in the past 2 years: Age 5: Singapore Essentials (a joke.) Singapore PM 1 (he was fine with the actual presentation of the math, but it was not colorful/story based enough, and I hated shuffling lots of books.) LOF a,b (he loves loves loves Fred) Most of Miquon Orange and a bit of Red (he hated Miquon. He hated the open "discovery" style, he hated the rods, he thought it was visually torture. I should not have pushed this.) Age 6: MIF 2 (bar models were his nemesis and took several weeks both times, honestly he doesn't enjoy any word problems, but again, he blew through the rest). 2+2 is Not Five (+ and - fact program, he is slow to memorize facts and needed extra shoring on that front) LOF c, d, e (still loves, adores, ect Fred) I feel like I am always throwing in a new program to slow him down :(. Which gets repetitive...and expensive. And that he is constantly doing problems he doesn't need practice on. Which frustrates him. But I don't want to accelerate over a year "ahead". Beast seems like it would actually take a YEAR to finish the YEAR. I also know he'd love the comic book/ colorful/ story aspect. It's Fred-like in a way. But he is not necessarily "advanced". Memorizing his addition and subtraction facts took forever, he hates word and bar models... He didn't like Miquon and Beast seems a bit Miquonish.... I wouldn't say he enjoys being challenged, he mostly enjoys being done with math quickly ;). But I'm also not sure he ever HAS been challenged. The few times he's struggled (like bar models) he didn't like it, but that was because he was forced to draw a model for a problem he could solve in his head. He does definitely hate long lists of problems on worksheets ;) I don't know. What say you? Is there no way to find out except try it?

It looks like it's the same as this one: http://store.ancientfaith.com/guardian-angel-childrens-prayer-book/ It is handy for very young (ages 2-5) kids to take into service with them, as you can follow along the liturgy with the pictures.

Ive always wanted this Orthodox curriculum for ages 5-10, though I've never justified the cost to myself. http://anaphorapress.com/music/education/orthodox-curriculum/ We love The Children Bible Reader (for bible study) Journaling through the Liturgical Year (for feast study) A Child's Paradise of Saints and the Under the Grapevine podcast (for saint study) I tend to use orthodox stuff for religious studies, though my favorite Liturgical guide came from a Byzantine catholic source.

Since copywork and grammar excersizes are taken directly from the reading in ELTL I would strongly suggest using the originals. The abridges versions will use different sentences and chapter pacing. If you don't want to have to read them, just use the free audio version on librivox. He can just listen or read along.

If there is I want to know about it, lol. We hated/hate jumping around too.

I'm just starting to organize my plans for next year. Anyone want to play? Morning time subjects will be Memory Work, Read Aloud, Poetry, Bible, and a weekly study on the Liturgy. Math- MIF 3, Beast 3 Language Arts- ELTL 2, Bravewriter free-writes, and Rod and Staff spelling Latin- SSL2 Rotation for the afternoon, I'll either do 2 days of history, 2 days of science, and 1 day of art OR try out doing a dedicated week-long focus on history, science, then art: History- Renaissance up to the American Revolution via All Through the Ages and SOTW 2/3 Science- Weekly nature study as well as units on: Weather via the Kids Book of Weather Forecasting, Astronomy via How The Universe Works and Find the Constellations, and Geology via ???. Art Appreciation- finally shelling out for Harmony Fine Arts 2, and hoping I don't regret it :p I also want to fit Shakespeare (Lambs versions) in there somewhere....maybe as a morning read aloud? Maybe as an afternoon subject?

I agree that the content subjects are important. And yes, if those are subjects they love, it's even MORE important to keep those subjects going. I'm just saying if you literally don't have time to sit down and teach math to your kids that struggle with math, that SOMETHING has to give. If not history, drop something else in your life. I only suggested dropping content subjects in the case that she does not have 20 minutes a day to devote herself to math. If you do not have even 20 minutes, yes, I'd get drastic ;).

I really do commiserate. I only have 3 kids, and further than that only homeschool 2. But I also have a continuous cycle of 1-3 extra kiddos in the house with varying levels of emotional/physical/disciplinary needs. I get the lack of time. I'm also NOT mathy. I study math (along with other subjects) over the summers, refreshing myself during holiday breaks, and it's one of the biggest reasons we take a summer break at all.

You do it for 20 minutes each- that's an hour and a half a day. Once you've TAUGHT the subject that way, they can still do further practice alone. OR you do it for 20 minutes with kid 1 and 2 on M and W, and with kid 3 and 4 on T and Th, and reserve Friday for the one or two that most need further help, or play a family math game, or simply take it off. That's only 40 minutes a day. Again, they can still do solo practice on their off days. If you are truly truly unable to set aside time for playing together with math give each kid one day a week. That's just 20 minutes a day, and even that can make a big difference. Reserve this teaching tactic for especially trouble subjects, or for when you are first introducing a new subject. But honestly? In pre-high-school kids? I would drop other subjects to MAKE time for teaching math. Math is important. More important than history or science or art in grades 1-5.

I agree. Put it on your computer and let them at it. Isn't that the point of minecraft? Figuring things out? A creative world is the easiest way to start, because you have all the resources you want and you don't gave to worry about dying. One of mine exclusively plays on creative. My other eventually became interested in a survival game. I don't think a public server would be much fun until they had their footing by themselves, but my kids aren't allowed on public servers at a L so...I may not know what I'm talking about. :p. Same with mod design. You really need experience playing the game before you can delve into that.

Is it a hill you are willing to die on? I mean, if it is, by all means camp down. I have my own hills, believe me. But Latin? I'd drop it. My kids will have plenty of character-building, push-through-it, experiences without me adding more just for the heck of it. There's always algebra ;) It sounds like you are just in it for the vocab and root words. There are LOTS of ways to add to your vocabulary. Easier, more enjoyable ways. There are also root-word programs that don't require declining verbs, if it's that important to you. I say, let the child learn Greek.

I have added comments above in red. For the record, I think it sounds like you are doing great. And WAY more than the bare minimum. Bare minimum is reading, writing, math ;) I think the best part of CM education is that its NOT all up to you. Its up to you to provide the resources but at the end of the day, its up to the children to learn. HOW you get bored kids to learn...I have no idea. Mine are younger than yours, so I'll leave that to wiser board members.

I voted to start Saxon 3. But I agree with those that suggest also starting to add a supplement that goes into conceptual or deeper math (beast, cwp, lof, ect).

Unless you are using Miquon or another curriculum that is based on cuisinare rods, I don't think they are necessary. My non-Miquon kid plays with the rods every now and then, but when he's doing his math he prefers a base-10 set. Base-10, unifix, and c-rods are all a bit different, with their own strengths and loyal fans, but at the end of the day they all do the same thing :).

Im waiting to give a long reply until after you've updated, since I'm not sure what your version of "bare minimum" is, nor which "CM" elements you are attempting and failing to to incorporate (nature study, commonplacing, read aloud, short lessons?). But I will say that what motivates me is self education. When I START MY OWN nature journal, for instance, I become more motivated to encourage my children to do the same. I've also started my own commonplace book, my own book of centuries, I do my own studying and reading in our science and history topics and so on. I'm a big believer in the whole "you cant give what you dont have" thing. As far as how I schedule extras? I dont think of them as extra. I make them part of my bare minimum. I also rotate subjects :)

My kids adore Song School. They started it at 4 and 6. But if DH is the one that wants to teach it, I'd suggest letting him choose the curricula. If he wants to enough to look at options and make a decision then it will probably be what he's hoping for and a great bonding experience for him and DD. And if he's not, you can rest assured that it would have been a waste of money to research and buy one for him ;).