CC is really whatever you want it to be. Some people only use it as memory work. Some people make it their core, and try to work their entire school year around it. Last year, we tried to make it our core. DD was only 5, so it was very, very basic. I tried to get a library book about each week's history sentence. This year, we barely did anything with CC. LOL! I was a tutor, and I felt a little burned out. We met on Tuesdays, and every Tuesday after CC I loaded my CC stuff into the back of my van and there it literally stayed until Monday night, when I started to plan for the next week. The only thing we did do was listen to the CC CD in our van. Surprisingly, my DD still got a good deal of information from this year. And we're going to focus on it over the summer. I'm going to try to do the lapbooks from Wisdom and Righteousness. I might as well since I purchased the lapbooks back in July and we haven't done anything with them.

All Alpha Omega curriculum (Horizons, Weaver Interlock, etc) is now at 20% off. They have this sale every April. You can buy it at that price through their website, through the Homeschool Buyer's Co-op (get HBC credit too!), or through cbd.com.

I have another question. If we just do the lang. arts that's in MFW 1st, would we be able to move to FFL 2 and WWE 2 in 2nd grade? I guess we could also run through FFL 1 and WWE 1 over the summer between first and 2nd, since I'm all about year round schooling. It could be like review! Does that sound like a plan? And I wonder if I should hold onto the ETC books and Hooked on Phonics books that I got, as extra practice. I only paid $20 for all of them, so it's not like I'd be out of much money. I bought the el cheapo ($8) HOP package b/c I just wanted the readers. Looking at the weekly schedule for MFW 1st, I think we'll move faster with their phonics than if we were to use ETC and HOP.

I'm also wondering about MFW 1st. I was wondering if it would overkill if we used FLL and WWE while doing MFW 1st. I also already bought a math curriculum for next year. I also already bought ETC books and Hooked on Phonics for next year. I was actually going to work on the phonics and math over the summer. I'm stressing out way too much about whether to use MFW next year or not. I have regrets about not using MFW K this year. I had these grand plans for this year, and this year was kind of a flop. She's kind of reading and she's doing great in math, but we haven't done many fun activities. I haven't done anything from FIAR b/c I need things to be planned out for me. So I'm worried that I will regret not doing MFW 1st this time next year.

I do CC, and I love them! If I stopped doing CC, I would still use them. If you get them, get the song that goes with it too. You can get it by either buying a set of CD's that go with a cycle, or you can purchase just the timeline song via their website. It will be a download. The song is super awesome, and it makes the memorization so much easier. Here is the link to where you can purchase just the song. It costs $8 to purchase the whole song. It's worth it! http://www.classicalconversationsbooks.com/clacfahitiso.html

I'm a bit undecided too. Honestly, I've been on the fence about doing MFW 1st, but I've already started to buy things, so it might be pointless to get MFW. This is what I think I'm going to do next year, but it could change: Language Arts: Hooked on Phonics 1st and 2nd, Explode the Code books 2-4'ish, First Language Lessons 1, Writing with Ease 1, Spelling Work Out, and lots of read alouds. I might get literature guides from Memoria Press or Veritas Press, or we might just read. Math: Math U See and maybe Horizons 1st too. They've really complimented each other this year, but I'm afraid that two maths might be too much for next year. History: Classical Conversations memory work and we're just going to listen to Story of the World CD's. I've decided to hold off on starting the 4 year cycle of SOTW. Science: I have had Building Foundations of Scientific Understand, but I haven't used it. I'm going to try to start using it. I kind of need curriculum that's laid out for me, and so if I can't get into BFSU then I'm probably going to do an Apologia science book. DD really wants to do anatomy, so I want to make sure we focus on that topic. Extra: Just like BFSU, we've had Five in a Row this year, and we haven't used it. I have the same issue with it as BFSU. It's not laid out for me, so I have trouble getting interested in it. But I'm going to try again for next year.

I hate this! We've been doing two maths this year, and I feel like I'm bogging DD down with all of this math work. And this year we've only really been doing math, phonics/reading, and handwriting. I plan to add more to next year's schedule, so I don't care for the idea of doing two maths. But I know some people have mentioned doing two or more math curricula. I'm just not sure if they did it as early as first grade. And why am I doing two maths? Because I love them both for different reasons. :( I love the spiral approach of Horizons, and I love the manipulatives and little tricks for memorizing things in MUS. Those are the pros. The cons? I don't like the number line in Horizons, and with MUS, I don't like that you do 6-7 worksheets per lesson, all on the same topic. It's kind of boring. There are also some concepts that I'd like to introduce to DD earlier than MUS introduces them. Like money. I'm not sure when MUS introduces money, but she's already working with money in Horizons. When I ask DD if she had to choose just one to do next year, she says she'd rather do MUS. I'm not sure if says that because she hasn't been doing MUS everyday. We really started it last year, and it's taken us over a year to get through it b/c she didn't want to do it at all last year. Granted, I think Primer might be more geared toward K than pre-K. But we only got to lesson 10 before this year, and she's only on lesson 22 right now. I really think she has a solid understanding of the math concepts this year b/c of the different approaches. Plus, we do skip counting in Classical Conversations, so between the three, she's GREAT at math. So maybe she can handle two maths next year. I just don't want to stress her out, and I'd also like to not waste money. Any ideas? I'm sorry if this post is a mess. I'm all over the place on this topic. To do two maths or not to do two maths? If I do only one, which one? Ugh!

If I had taken a look at their website, I guess I would have figured that out. But she asked me, and I just quickly glanced and then hopped on here to ask. :) Now I'm checking out their bundles for myself b/c SOTW and Apologia are things I wanted to use for next year.

A friend asked me about this curriculum, and I've never heard of it. I told her that I'd ask for opinions on here, since there's a wealth of knowledge here. :) Her children are in PS and have never been homeschooled. She's thinking about keeping them home next year and she'll have a 2nd grader, 4th grader, and a 6th grader. I think she's looking at using the entire package for each grade. If you have any experiences with Timberdoodle, what input could you give? Did you like it or not? What are some of the curriculum's strengths and weaknesses? Thanks a bunch!

We're in our second year of CC, and we plan to do it next year too. The cycles are very different from SOTW. I love CC for the community, and the memory work is great, but to be completely honest, the cycles don't make sense to me. Cycle 1 wasn't just ancients. It covers ancients to the early 1900's. Just last week our history sentence was about the Mexican Revolution. Then this week, our history sentence is about John Cabot and Samuel de Champlain exploring Canada. So Cycle 1 isn't even in order. I think CC says the focus of Cycle 1 is really world and cultures. The reason why it's not in chronological order is b/c it supposedly focuses on a region at a time. Cycle 2 will focus on the middle ages. Then Cycle 3 is U.S. history from Columbus to September 11th. I'm not going to try to match SOTW with CC. We haven't started SOTW yet, but I plan to start SOTW 1 next year. The good news is that every year, your kids will memorize the timeline, so you can match events from the timeline up with SOTW. The timeline is another thing I love about CC. So while so much is left out of the history sentences, the timeline fills in the blanks and helps place these events in chronological order. Beginning with SOTW 1 will work for next year. Then, when you do SOTW 2 the following year, your kids will make connections from the history songs they memorized in cycle 2. My plan is to do SOTW separate from CC, but they will mesh together nicely in the long run.

A Beka does. They begin by teaching all of the short vowel sounds, then they blend them together with a beginning consonant. So when they searn /s/, they learn to blend it with all of the short vowels. /sa/, /se/, /si/, /so/, /su/. Then add an ending sound. If /t/ has already been taught, then they'll add that to the end of the blends that work. /sat/, /set/, /sit/

Thank you so much for the input! I will need to listen to the SWB lecture. It makes sense to just enjoy the books at this age, and to develop a love for reading. I'm not sure if I will wait until my kids are in middle school though. We'll see. I won't really know until I get there. But I will feel better about not getting literature guides for the next couple years. :)

When you do literature with your kids, do you just let them read the literature selections, or do you have guides with questions and activities to do with the books? I was looking at Memoria Press and Veritas Press, and I notice that they use guides with their literature selections. I've looked at sample pages from the guides, and the activities look good! I don't think I'd be able to come up with stuff like that on my own. And I'm thinking it could help with reading comprehension. But the guides really start to add up. But I'm just curious what most people here do. Do you just read, or do you do activities? If you do activities, do you make them up, or do you use guides?

^ What she said, except that the church where we meet doesn't charge us a facility fee, so ours is only $450 a year. And the Foundations guide is used in all three cycles. Next year will be Cycle 2. If you choose to do CC next year, and you buy a guide, you will not need to buy another guide the following year for Cycle 3. BUT, chances are a new guide will come out the next time we do Cycle 1. That's been the pattern every time Cycle 1 begins. We are in our 2nd year of CC and we really enjoy it. :)

Thank you so much for the input! Now I am leaning against MP 1st, but I'm open to possibly starting it in 2nd grade. It sounds like the reading might be too advanced in the beginning for my DD, and also too much writing. So we'll work on strengthening her reading and writing skills between now and 2nd grade, and maybe 2nd grade will be a good fit for us. :) Thanks again!

I'm still considering curricula for next year, and MP has been off my radar. I requested a catalog and after taking a closer look, I'm now interested. If you used MP first grade, what did you think about it? Could you please explain any pros and cons? I'm curious about the phonics for first. I found samples of the Classic Phonics book, and it only shows easy pages. I can't find samples of the other phonics book, ARS Phonics 2nd. I'm also interested in the math. I was considering buying everything but the math and handwriting. We've really enjoyed Horizons math this year, and I'd like to continue it next year. The handwriting looks neat, and I am interested in teaching DD cursive early, but I wasn't planning to use that curriculum. I was planning to use Zaner Bloser. My mind could be changed though. Thank you!

I'm just curious. We don't always do school, and we're only on day 78. I think we should be closer to day 100. I feel like a slacker.

The supplies fee is to help cover things used in the classroom. It helps cover the cost of maps that the students use in class, as well as art and science supplies. It does not cover the cost of anything that you would use at home, like the foundations guide, timeline cards, audio CD's, etc. Oh, and like someone else mentioned above, you need to buy your own tin whistle, since it's something that the kids take home with them. I hope that clears up the supplies fee question. :)

On CC Connected, there's lady who makes some nifty geography songs. Her screen name on CC Connected is Nogreaterjoy. There might be a number at the end of that, but it's definitely nogreaterjoy. My daughter is only 6, and I'm not pressuring her to do MM, but I'm going to try for it. I like to listen to those songs and I just keep reviewing with the laminated map that I got from CC. It's the $10 one, but you can make your own copy of the map and put it into a sheet protector. I circle/trace the locations as I sing them.

Eh, I don't know exactly when it will come out, but I can almost guarantee it won't come out before Cycle 2 is started. This year's Cycle 1 didn't come out until October or November! The very earliest would be the summer. They won't release cycle 2 before cycle 1 is finished, just b/c they expect everyone to be doing cycle 1 this year.

My 6 year old K'er can count to 100 by 1's (although she sometimes skips over the 40's), by 5's, and by 10's. But I think it's b/c we do SO much math. We memorize skip counting with Classical Conversations, and then we use the Math U See blocks when we do MUS, and then we do number lines and charts with Horizons. I think that if I was only using one math curriculum, we would probably have some troubles. And I love the MUS blocks. They really solidify the concept. She understand place value b/c of MUS. She is very good with math and number concepts, but I can't say the same for her reading. :/ Every child has their strength and weaknesses.

I can't remember what month they have their sale. It's either March or April. I bought our Horizons K Math last year, and I think I paid $50 something for it. Right now, CBD is having a sale on AO curriculum, and it's 20% off. And it's only for today. I think, but I'm not completely positive, that the spring sale will be at least just as good, plus I bought it through the homeschool buyers co-op, so I got some co-op credit too. Am I correct, or is this deal better, and should I jump on it? The link, in case anyone's interested in buying it now. http://www.christianbook.com/alphaomega?p=1148589&alphaomega

I admit that I've thought the same thing about anything relating to slaves being sung in an upbeat way. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I don't know if I'd want it sung in a sad way either. Yes it's sad, but last year we memorized a song for the September 11th attacks, and that was to a sad tune, and I want to cry every single time we sing it. If we had sad songs for every time we talk about slavery, well, I'd be crying a lot during our schooling. I like that CC doesn't skirt around the issue of slavery though. Talking about slavery in general is just uncomfortable at this age, but I don't want her to not learn about it. Last year, when we talked about U.S. slavery, and I read a story about Harriet Tubman and the Underground Railroad to DD, who was 5 at the time. We also talked about segregation, and when we talked about Brown vs. Board of Education, I read the story about Ruby Bridges to DD.

Thank you, everyone! I know I have a few more months before I will start to buy the curriculum for next year, but I'm back to leaning more toward piecing it together myself. And I've picked BFSU up again, and am really reading it, and it's making more sense to me. I think we can use it, along with library books, and a couple other books with just science experiments in them. DD just loved to do experiments, and I think at this age it's all about exposure and building a positive experience with science, so she doesn't grow up being scared of it. :) Thank you again!