Has anyone created their own on any subject? How did you decide scope, sequence, etc? I'm not talking about unschooling, just custom-schooling, I guess. I know they're learning basic skills in K-4, and I know that requires seat work. But I really, really want to avoid using 4 workbooks a day. And I'm kinda miserly and I don't want to buy workbooks I can't reproduce or resell. Or at least be charitable with when I'm done with them. Thoughts or advice?

I hope a bunch of HOD users hop on here and help out. I don't have specific experience with HOD, but I've heard from many places that it's better to start them where it's easy for them, and just be prepared to accommodate them if they make a big leap forward in skill level. This is often advised for mastery of skill subjects, but could apply here as well. If you think one level would be easier on her than another, I'd say go with it and just let everyone decompress for a month or three. Then you can reevaluate where she is. "School" can get done in a variety of ways, and not all of them feel like "school." :001_smile: I hope it goes smoothly and that both you and she enjoy this new journey!

I'm very curious about this, myself. I don't know much of any kind of history, and I often stress myself into a headache over the whole thing. So I'll be :bigear: as well.

My 6 year-old DD has said that also. She wants to ride on a school bus, mostly. And she's very social. I may have to look into co-op earlier than I planned. She has pulled the bored thing. And since that didn't work, now she says she's tired whenever she doesn't want to do whatever she's supposed to be doing at the moment. I worried about all this, too. I worried if she would be better off in a charter school, whether I'd be able to make it interesting for her, etc. My DH said pretty much what everyone else has, and made me feel better. FWIW, I do try to mix up the task order each day now, and also let them go play for 10 or 15 minutes if I need time to prep for the next thing. I just tell them they may go play, but I'll need them back at the table in a bit. I have also told her what "real" school and school buses are like. I don't exaggerate; just let her know that the rules are a lot more stringent there than here.

Maybe you could forego the workbook and make up the problems yourself?

I can't help you, but I think that's awesome. I want an abacus. And DH was trying to convince my SIL to get an abacus app on her iphone. :lol:

Luckily, my 18m DS will nap around 9:30 for about an hour. I discovered this because one day I'd had. it. and just plopped him in his crib with his blankets and shut the door so I could do something with DD. We don't do much to begin with so if we skip what little we do, I feel pretty worthless. He screamed for about 3 minutes and then settled down and fell asleep for an hour. He still goes down fine at 12:30 for a two hour nap. But again, I say luckily.

Glad I'm not alone. I didn't much like the exercises, either. Perhaps it's too much, but I'm leaning toward using dictation when they practice (I'm planning on using letter tiles to ease the writing burden a bit). It seems like writing the second half of the word and such doesn't much help that. Well how difficult is it to create spelling lists? Has anyone done this and care to share? I'm split on whether this would be easy enough to do on my own, thereby avoiding an extra workbook (both for cost and variety reasons). Or if the time saved is worth the money invested and another workbook on the shelf. Also, would doing spelling only twice a week, but for two weeks be effective? Or should it really be 4 or 5 days a week, every week? Things I wish I'd asked myself last year instead of now. :glare:

I don't know if SWB updated the recommendations in later editions of TWTM, but I was debating between getting this and just developing my own lists using the guidelines in Phonics Pathways. Well I ended up getting my hands on the Spelling Workout book, but now I think it will not be very challenging at all for DD come fall. Or even now, for that matter. I know she'd like doing it, but I think the first half of it would be easy for her. Do the later books get any more challenging? Should I let her fly through as much as she wants now and see where it slows down? Or should I just use our Phonics Pathways book as a guide (at least for the first year)? :confused: As a side note, Spelling Power is also on my "maybe" list. But I can't commit to anything I can't see first. I'm hoping I'll find a copy at the book sales this spring. Thanks in advance!

Logically, if multiplication is "fast adding" and division is the opposite or inverse of multiplication, then division is "fast subtracting." However, I can't turn that "logic" into practical application; my brain breaks. I can't even remember how it was taught to me. I think of subdividing into groups, also. Hope someone can make the subtraction angle makes sense!

In your situation, yes, I probably would. We are having a similar problem, but I don't think we could afford the gas to get to a neighboring county. I think ours is the only county not on the state's ILL system. :glare: I'm relying heavily on used book sales and a rigorously prioritized book list. Book selection and acquisition has been the bane of my brief planning existence. And what is up with surly librarians, anyway?? DH makes fun of me because I always come back from the library with a story of surliness. I smile and stuff; it can't be me, can it?? Maybe they don't like me because I'm the annoying ditzy lady that can't ever find anything.

I have her put her name on the top left and I date it for her on the top right. Exactly what I define as "top left" or "top right" varies based on paper and mood. Could be the corner, or the first proper line. I'm not that particular on that point quite yet. :D Artwork I do the bottom right, if possible.

Abusive husbands are a poor analogy for the ebb and flow of civilizations throughout history, meant to paint anyone that doesn't see history your way as being on the side of wife beaters. Cheap. If you have to elicit the image of someone punching someone else, try a barroom brawl. That better captures the picture. Go back far enough in any nation or culture's history and someone invaded someone, conquered someone, or took their own land back. I'm not even touching the slavery part. Think that one has been poked enough. And before we demand that others care about anything concerning ourselves, our views, or our personal history, please let's stop and think how much we care about other people's selves, views, and personal history. Regardless of your opinion on this or any other topic, the question that begs to be asked is: what are you trying to accomplish in expressing that opinion and why? As for the book at hand, just talk to the girl, or her parents about it and see if it has affected her or not. Bring them the book to look at, if that will help them determine what to do or say. Explain your feelings. Or if you don't know what those are, figure them out, and then explain them. It's ok if they're mixed. See, the social mill refuses to accept mixed feelings as normal or acceptable. But they actually are perfectly normal and acceptable if handled maturely (denial doesn't count, either). If someone can't handle your mixed feelings, that reflects on them, not you. If you can't handle your mixed feelings, then you've got a problem. We all need to wrestle with our own feelings, not each others'.

:lol: I liked that tremendously.

Mine are 6, 4 1/2, and 18m and I can't find it easier to do anything at anytime! I still send them all off for nap/quiet time. They are best behaved in the morning (and the earlier, the better), which makes it ideal for school and errands. Hard to decide which I'd rather have them behave well for. :001_huh:

So would SOTW stand alone without either the Usborne or Kingfisher books? Or is it more of a supplement to those books?

Sorry I keep asking all these strange questions. We're starting 1st in the fall. Someone graciously lent me the KF "History Encyclopedia" (1999) to look through so I can have some sort of point of reference. Is the "Illustrated History of the World" (1993) all that different? I'm more concerned with accuracy and accessibility. Newer isn't always better in my opinion. Also, is the Usborne "Book of World History" much better for grammar stage? Or could I use the Kingfisher until they grow out of it (so to speak)? How does SOTW fit into all of that? Does it add greatly to the notebooking process? Thanks. Any and all input is appreciated.

That looks neat! Actually hadn't come across that book yet. What exactly does it cover of reproduction? I'm very split on whether or not to cover conception with my first grader.

I'm so sorry. Just wanted offer that up. I'm useless otherwise. :/

:grouphug: I'm really sorry. I wish I could offer advice, but all I can offer is my sympathy. You can't make people think differently, but they really should have more tact and respect than that, at the very least. I hope you can work it out happily, but if not, I don't think you should feel guilty in the slightest if you choose to limit exposure of your dc to that sort of talk. Sometimes the bad outweighs the good. Only you know for sure.

In the 1999 edition of TWTM, she suggests doing 1 body system per week for 10 weeks in 1st grade. I couldn't find enough information on the 2 or 3 books she suggested (ie: a table of contents), and "officially" there appear to be more than 10 systems. My questions: Is how is this handled in those books and/or how have you handled it personally? Do I correctly remember her saying to skip over reproduction in 1st grade? DS will be in K and he'll be sitting in on our science and history readings. And do the book recommendations change in newer editions? (The 1999 list was "The Magic School Bus," "Everybody Has a Body," "You and Your Body," and "The Human Body"). I'm looking mainly for just a solid, basic overview of the body and its functions, and perhaps a crafty book. I can supplement at the library. I found a few suggestions from past threads already, but nothing has "clicked" yet.

I'm a mean mommy and if my 4 year old gets disruptive, I send him to play in his room. If he continues to be disruptive on purpose because he doesn't want to be in his room, I send him to time out. He sits in on a few things and I'm including him in more things for this latter half of the K school year (such that it is). DD is only K, though, so we take up an hour or so (if it's uninterrupted, anyway). Perhaps try alternating free play and structured activities, if you haven't already. Set him to an independent task, then when he's done, let him go play for 30 minutes, rinse, repeat.

Ok thanks!

I tried searching the forums and Google and succeeded in locking up DH's PS3, soooo... could anyone direct me to a site or source that gives an idea of spelling lists for grades 1-4? I'm gleaning rules from Phonics Pathways, but exactly how fast should I work through those rules? I don't want to invest in an actual spelling program. My other semi-related question is: if phonetic spelling is what we're aiming for, why have written lists that they copy? Or do we dictate the list to them? Thanks in advance!

I think MUS itself recommends going back to where you know the child knows their facts and going from there. Also according to them, the pace should be set by the child's mastery of the material, which is why they label their books the way they do. If it were me, I'd go with Alpha, go through it as fast as she wants, and just have Beta (and even Gamma) on hand, but don't set a time table. They have that random worksheet generator if it takes longer than the workbook has problems for, or you could make up your own problems for her to work. Hope that helps.