how imperative is it that you use the activity book with it? My preference would just be to read the story, have a discussion using the background info found in the teacher guide. Wondering if that is doable???? TIA Lisa

This totally reminds me of a saying.... I homeschool because I have seen the village and I don't want it raising my children! I think those who express negative opinions of homeschoolers, do so out of ignorance. If they really knew what we accomplish in a day, they'd have a different opinion. Too many parents are stuck in the mind set of sending their kids to public school because that is all they know.... just send their kids on the magic yellow bus and call it good. It takes a lot of courage to stand up and say "No way! Yes, I will take on my kids' education (scary)". And if I hear one more person ask me "How I socialize my kids, I may scream!"

I can't offer too much information on it as I'm not there yet.... Well Trained Mind book suggests Shurley English and Voyages in English in addition to R & S once FLL is completed. So those are a couple more that maybe someone can chime in about as options. Good Luck!

I have 6+1 Traits of Writing. Lots and lots of really good information in there and also how to critique writing. Nice to have as a reference.

We use FLL 3 and really like it. I like that it is scripted and I know how to phrase the concept. I remember loving English growing up, but for the life of me cannont remember some of the rules as to why it is the way it is. I think the biggest difference in the levels is that level 3 you are now diagramming the sentences or as I like to say "disecting" them. They work directly in the workbook. All the examples they need to work from are right in front of them. My son is a very visual learner, so this really appeals to him. Even if you have a audio learner, I still believe this would be a first choice.

The website says to start with Flying Creatures to get a lot of the animal classification. With that said, we did not start with that one. We started with Swimming Creatures and plan to do Land Animals next. So far we have not been hindered by doing so. I wanted to do what my kids were wanting to do, so I simply asked them... Birds, Ocean animals or Land animals? Go with what your kids interest is, I'm sure you will be fine!

There is a book called Missonary Stories with the Millers by Mildred Martin and a book called Heaven's Heros by David Shibley that have stories for certain countries you may find helpful.

Third grade is planned as: Bible: Who Am I? Apologia, with coloring book Language Arts: Finish up FLL LV 2 and begin FLL LV 3 Explode The Code books 5-6.5 Writing With Ease LV 2 Wordly Wise book 3 Daily reading - beginner chapter books, work on our 3rd gr. book list Math: Math U See GAMMA Science: Apologia LAND ANIMALS, with notebook US Geography: Continue with Cantering the Country for states/capitals, maybe add Daily Geography for 3rd grade WORLD Geography: Continue with Galloping the Globe US History: The Story of the USA book 2, and history that accompanies CTC World History: SOTW Vol. 2 Music/Art: Composer study and listen to classical music, Meet the Masters, possibly begin piano lessons continue with our co-op for "fun" classes, girl scouts I'm excited about next year and we haven't even finished this one!

We have the Kingfisher World History Encyclopedia (red cover). We have found that we only briefly look at the pictures and read a few of the exerps when done with the STOW audio lesson. We do enjoy it the book and the kids enjoy looking through it on thier own. If I were to purchase one again, I think we would like to have an internet-linked encyclopedia.

We also plan to stick with MUS all the way through. We started with them, it's working well, so we'll keep going with it. I have heard people say that they didn't think it was hard enough as well. Here is my thought on that... If you are using MUS and it is working, meaning they are getting a full understanding of math concepts, then no matter how "hard" a problem is, they will be able to apply their knowledge to complete the problem and do just fine. I am more interested in my kids mastering and applying the concept rather than focusing on the intensity. Breathe a sigh of relief! If a profession is really calling your child and they need additional math, for whatever reason, they will have the determination to get through it.

Flat Stanley would be another fun starter. We love MTH. Another favorite is the Andrew Lost series. They are science based and pretty funny.

I just did the same thing! We are on track too! Knowing that feels so good doesn't it?

Interesting so many of the responses avoid the term!! Even though I pulled my kidos from public school because of issues, we still call it "school work." They don't seem to mind the reference of "school." I do love that you all have been creative in what you call it!

http://guesthollow.com/homeschool/lapbooks/lapbook_country_culture/lapbook_pretend_passport.pdf This is a realistic looking one. This website also has several notebooking pages to go along with it.

Another vote for Math-U-See..... as a couple others have mentioned, even I am learning some things in a new way that make much more sense now than when I learned it. Between the video and the teacher book, skills are mastered in a timely manner and so far without tears and frustration!

I have done Primer and Alpha without the teachers manual and DVD. I don't think my kids missed anything. I have one in Delta and one in Beta right now. The one in Beta right now has watched maybe 4 of the video lessons and is half way through the book, and is moving along quite well. HTH

Science x2 History/Social Studies x2 Math x3 Phonics/Language Arts x4 Geography x2 Spelling x4 Critical Thinking/Logic - not yet Handwriting x2 Music/PE - piano lessons next year, PE or some sort of excerize daily Art x1 month I have a 2nd grader and a 4th grader.

I am not familiar with English for the Thoughtful Child. With that said, if you are duplicating the same model, dictation, writing, and narration, I would think one would be sufficient. Does your child prefer one over the other? If so, I'd go with that one. Another question I would ask myself is "Does my child understand the concepts and can apply them?" Maybe spending more time with the chosen curricula would be better than doing both curricula.

I too will have a 5th grader next year and am started to think about the lineup! Here is what I am leaning towards.... Bible - Apologia Who Am I? (2nd in the series, first has been fantastic) Language WWE 3 (finish up) WWE 4/ Skillfull writer - going to see if I can possible combo this FLL 4 Spelling Power or Spelling Workout - still debating which one.... Wordly Wise - book 5 classic readers/discussion Math Math U See - Epsilon Life of Fred Fractions if needed Geography - Continue with Galloping the Globe History SOTW Vol. 2 All American History.... I think. Not sure what else is 'great!' ?? The Story of the USA book 3 & 4 History Readers Science - Apologia -Astronomy (we've been using Apologia and love it) Logic - leaning towards Scratch your Brain from Mind Benders Art - Meet the Masters 2nd set Music - Piano Lessons Misc - typing

We have been using Cantering the Country and Galloping the Globe. We are 2 years into the study and have loved it. We pick and choose what resources it lists we want to use. I usually don't use the science and bible portion as we cover those with other curriculum. We love the literature lists. It does take a little planning on your part looking for the books at the library. We do a map, state flower, state flag, and sometimes a state animal page we get from Enchanted Learning. We do this in a notebooking style with a "notes" page. My 4th grader (started in 3rd) will finish CTC this year but will continue doing GTG. My 1st grader started this and is now in 2nd. I will probably go back over some of the states with her so she most likely won't complete CTC until the end of next year.... that being said, you can span this across any age I think up til 4th grade by increasing or decreasing the amount of information you ask them to write about the state. The curriculum is affordable and the books they list are not too difficult to find at the library or at least good supplemental other ones. You can do "in depth" as much as you want to. We have a map of the wall that we put a removable type sticker on to see where we've been along with a scrapbooking stick horse die cut to show where we are at! Another something worth noting about this curriculum is to go in order of statehood. They list them in the back of the book. We did this to follow along US History time wise. We've been able to learn the history of the 13 colonies, Revolutionary War, Civil War, and other important time periods along with the states. HTH Lisa

I love Enchanted Learning so much I bought the membership. I wanted to know what I was missing if I weren't. I mainly use the states pages as supplement to our Cantering the Country Geography curriculum. They have a state flag, flower, map activity, and animal for each state. I also use the same type pages related to countries as we study the world geography program from the same publisher, Galloping the Globe. My kids also love the animal pages that pertain to the science we are studying. We've done some of the crafts. They have a few that go along with countries and holidays we've enjoyed. I also use almost all of the language grammar sheets for practice sheets. With that said, I pretty sure I got my moneys worth! I have a 2nd and 4th grader now, and have had this for about 2 years. HTH! Lisa

Thank you very Pen and mtcougar832!

I have a 4th grader still in the WWE series.... would you skip any remaining unfinished levels and go onto Writing with Skill for 5th grade if you thought they would "get throught it?" I'm hesitant is moving my child along without completing the whole series for the best scope and depth, yet I don't want to get any further behind in writing levels. What would you do? Are you in a similar situation? Thanks for your input!