We are currently using All Things Fun & Fascinating and a typical lesson takes us 3 days a week (occasionally 4 if there is too much to do one day). Most of IEW's materials are made so that they can be used in a coop once a week. But I think even that assumes the parents are working on "homework" throughout the rest of the week.

Here is my post about the Scholastic eBooks. Hope it helps:) http://wateronthefloor.wordpress.com/2013/06/06/getting-the-most-out-of-scholastic-ebooks/

We switched to WRTR from AAS and I couldn't be happier! I think all kids (and moms too!) really benefit from learning the phonograms. I have learned so much about spelling just from teaching my kids. I was the type of person that could memorize words, but never knew the why behind the spelling. I have one natural spelling child and one that is not, and they both are doing very well with WRTR. I think starting an older child would be just fine because there is nothing babyish at all about WRTR. And it really is a lot easier than most people make it sound. For us, we started with the phonograms. We drilled those until the kids knew all of the sounds. Then we started the spelling notebook as described in WRTR. The kids each work at their own level (ds9 is more advanced in the book than dd7). We do 10 new spelling words a day and after they get to 40 words I give them a test. Any words they miss I mark and we redo those words in their notebook before we start new words until they get them correct on test day. I make sure we spend at least one day a week reviewing phonograms (we did that more when they were first learning them). I also put a bunch of tabs on my WRTR manual to keep from so much flipping back and forth. Here is what I have marked: Spelling Rule Notebook Pages, Phonograms, Spelling Rules, Syllable types and divisions, Spelling Notebook Sample pages, Spelling word list, and the Spelling scope & sequence. Hope that helps:)

Here is our wordless: "Let the Games Begin!" http://wateronthefloor.wordpress.com/2013/06/05/wordless-wednesday-let-the-games-begin/. I have a word-filled too: http://wateronthefloor.wordpress.com/2013/06/04/tasty-tuesday-sloppy-joes-in-a-bowl/.

I tried to put as many living books with our earth science/ astronomy curriculum as I could find, including some books about famous scientists. You can check it out in my signature. Paula's Archives has a nice list of living science books too.

I have a large binder that I store the sheets in by their letter (I found A-Z tabs at walmart). Then I put a small color mark on the top right of each page so I would know which book it came from (ex. I colored a small orange circle for each page out of the orange book). I kept the scope and sequence from each book in front of the binder and I usually follow the order of the book, but I like the ability to be able to continue with a concept if it is going well. I also use a plastic page protector so that the pages can be reused if necessary.

Of course:)

I think we need to start a support group!!! Dollar Deal E-bookers Anonymous!

Alright, everyone. No.More.Suggestions!!! I made the mistake of looking at these, and then, of course, buying them! Heather, those games look great (we have the science ones) and if I had a color printer I would get them too.

I would try to email them. I have had a few glitches here and there and their customer service has always been good.

I use the Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation as a reference. It even has quizzes to check understanding and examples for every concept listed.

I am planning on doing a blog post on that very thing soon (hopefully next week)!

I did find it helpful. My only previous exposure to IEW was PAL writing so I was worried I would not be able to do it without watching TWSS. I decided to give it a try and watched the overview DVD. It really helped me see the big picture in where the program was going to take us in writing and how we would get there. There is also a handout to the DVD here: http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/files/SSO_Handouts.pdf And here is another outline of tips and tricks for the units: http://www.excellenceinwriting.com/files/tips_handout.pdf

We are currently using it with dd7 and ds9. If it were just for dd7 I am not sure I would use it (Song School Latin is great for very young children), but she has still done much better than I anticipated. We do about 3 lessons a week and 1 day a week we go through flashcards I made of the vocabulary words. So if you slow it down to the pace of your children I think it would be a great intro.

Was it maybe in this thread? http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/466991-what-does-your-musicart-study-look-like/

In case anyone needs some ideas of books to get I spent some time organizing my stash (mostly to keep me from buying the same book twice!). It bugs me that you can't see the suggested grade levels unless you are on Scholastic's site so I put those in too. I do have to say I think they are a little low, but I still put in what they suggested. And now I MUST stay away from their site! General *January Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *February Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *March Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *April Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *May Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *June Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *July/August Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *September Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *October Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *November Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *December Monthly Idea Book (preK-3) *50 Learning Songs Sung to Favorite Tunes (K-2) *Data Collection Mini Books (K-2) *Big Book of Thematic Plays (1-3) *Nonfiction Read & Write Booklets: Holidays (2-3) *20 Terrific Mini Plays (2-4) *Easy Make and Use Mini-Reference Books for Every Kid (2-4) *Mnemonic Songs for Content Area Learning (3-6) *Poems for Teaching in the Content Areas (4 & up) Science *Sing Along & Learn Science (preK-2) *File Folder Games in Color: Science (K-2) *A Year of Hands-On Science (K-3) *101 Science Poems & Poems For Young Learners (1-3) *Teaching Science with Favorite Picture Books (1-3) *Easy Make & Learn Projects: Animal Habitats (2-3) *Easy Make & Learn Projects: Weather (2-3) *Nonfiction Read & Write Booklets: Science (2-3) *Science Question of the Day (3-6) *The Body Book (3-6) *Teaching Science: Yes, You Can! (3-6) *Sandwich Bag Science (4-8) *Soda Bottle Science (4-8) *Coffee Can Science (4-8) Art *Follow the Directions & Draw It All By Yourself (K-2) *Art Projects Around the World (1-3) *Amazing Animal Art Projects (1-3) *Art Projects with Paper (1-3) *Quick Art Crayon Projects (2-4) Math *Math Word Problems Made Easy (2) *Math Line Designs from Around the World (2-3) *Menu Math (2-3) *Super Sudoku Math: Addition & Subtraction (2-3) *Solve-the-Riddle Math Practice: Time & Money (2-3) *Solve-the-Riddle Math Practice: Addition & Subtraction (2-3) *20 Marvelous Math Tales (2-4) *Super Sudoku Math: Multiplication & Division (3-5) *Comic-Strip Math: Problem Solving (3-6) *200 Super-Fun, Super-Easy Math Story Problems (3-6) *Super Sudoku Math: Fractions & Decimals (3-6) *Menu Math (4-5) *Math Line Designs from Around the World (4-6) *Sports Math (4-8) History/ Social Studies *Let's Learn Mini-Books: Our Nation (2-3) *Read, Sing, & Learn Mini-Books: Famous Americans (2-4) *Content Area Mini-Books: Geographical Terms (2-4) *Lift-the-Flap Timelines: American History (3-6) *50 Great States Read & Solve Crossword Puzzles (3-6) *Interactive 3-D Maps: American History (4-8) *Hands-On History: Explorers (4-8) *Hands-On History: Pioneers (4-8) *Hands-On History: American Revolution (4-8) *Hands-On History: Civil War (4-8) *Hands-On History: Colonial America (4-8) Readers *AlphaTales (preK-1) *20 Sing-Along Mini-Books for Emergent Readers (preK-1) *Word Family Tales (preK-2) *Sight Word Tales (K-2) *My First Readers: Level A (K-1) *25 Emergent Reader Mini-Books: Favorite Themes (K-1) *My First Readers: Level B (K-2) *Folk & Fairy Tale Easy Readers (K-2) Vocabulary *Vocabulary Word of the Day (3-6) *Word Study Learning Packs (3-6) *Vocabulary Packets: Greek & Latin Roots (4-8) *Vocabulary Packets: Prefixes & Suffixes (4-8) Literature Teaching & Guides *Teaching Reading with Bill Martin Books (K-1) *Teaching with Aesop's Fables (1-3) *Scholastic Book Guide: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs (1-3) *Scholastic Book Guide: Magic School Bus Inside the Human Body (1-3) *Better Than Book Reports (2-6) *Scholastic Book Guide: Charlotte's Web (3-5) *Scholastic Book Guide: Boxcar Children (3-5) *Mr. Popper's Penguins- Scholastic Literature Guide (4-8) *Literature Circle: The Lion, the Witch, & the Wardrobe (4-8) *Teaching Literary Elements with Picture Books (4-8) Grammar *Writing Skills Made Fun: Parts of Speech (2-3) *Writing Skills Made Fun: Capitalization, Punctuation, & Spelling (2-3) *Sequence Practice Mini-Books (2-3) *Instant Grammar Practice Kids Will Love! (2-3) *Grammar Tales (3 & up) *No Boring Practice, Please! Funny Fairy Tale Proofreading (3-4) *Fill-In Flap Book for Grammar, Vocabulary, & More (3-5) *Instant Grammar Practice Kids Will Love! (4-5) *No Boring Practice, Please! Punctuation & Capitalization (4-6) *No Boring Practice, Please! Parts of Speech (4-6) Testing Prep *Scholastic Success with Reading Tests (2) *Standardized Test Skill Builders: Reading (3-4) Miscellaneous *Handwriting Practice: Jokes & Riddles (2-5) *Logic Posters, Problems, & Puzzles (3-6)

We just used the free phongram cards found online (I can't get the link to work but just search free phonogram cards and the blog is called " learning caring sharing"). I have never needed a CD since they usually give cue words for sounds that may not be familiar.

There must be something going on in the dog world this morning...our dog did the same thing!!!

We have one today: http://wateronthefloor.wordpress.com/2013/05/29/wordless-wednesday-daddys-little-helper/. Heather, those stained glass windows are breathtaking!!!

We are using Visual Factfinders and adding in Kingfisher science encyclopedia for ds9 (will be 10 in a couple of months). For experiments we are using Janice VanCleave's books.

I have only recently become organized for the sake of my sanity! I reached a point where it felt like I never had a break and the kids had way too much free time (and that leads to chaos around here- hence year round schooling). I have 50 chores on the chart to give us some wiggle room just in case we have a few days where we are away from the house during chore time. The chores are each scheduled for 30 minutes. They are things I can get done by myself in about 15 minutes but I don't expect the kids to get things done as quickly as I do. As far as training, I follow the steps listed in MOTH. First, I do the chore with them watching and they are free to ask any questions about what to do or how to do it. Next, I watch them do the chore for a few times until I am pretty confident they can do it on their own. Then I let them do the chore completely on their own. We go back and correct things as necessary but for the most part they have done a great job! And yes, definitely take advantage of those early years where they are eager to help- it is so refreshing to have a little helper with a happy attitude!

You are welcome! And that has happened here too, which is why I started the calendar. :thumbup:

:lol: I think I need to be cut off!!! I know it doesn't sound like it when I said I bought 100 of these crazy books, but I am a very thrifty person. So if I buy something it is because I see a need in what I am purchasing. I also print out a blank calendar for the year that is specifically for the Scholastic books and I go through them to mark when to use them. If I didn't do that I am sure a lot of them would be pushed aside and not used.

I have a child in my house that sounds similar to the one you are describing! For him, consistency is the ONLY thing that works. The other kids and I were fine just following a routine, but he NEEDS structure and does best when he is told what he needs to do every minute of the day! So I spent a good amount of time creating a schedule based on MOTH (which I swore I would never do!) and it has really helped us all so much! They know what to expect and when it needs to be done. We are still working out the kinks, but it has been great. Even if I have to be out of the house or an otherwise occupied they know what they need to be doing. As far as chores, that is built into the schedule. Every afternoon there is time set aside for the 3 oldest to do a "monthly chore" (a chore that only needs to be done once a month). These include things like washing windows in a certain room, dusting, wiping down doors, wiping down kitchen appliances, etc. There are enough chores for them to do one a day Monday through Friday and get them all done by the end of the month. I let them choose which chore they want to do and then it gets crossed off the list until the next month. This saves me a ton of time cleaning and frees us up to do other things on the weekends. It is hard when your kids are young and you aren't sure that they can do certain chores, but they just may surprise you! I have been putting ds4's clothes away for him and this week I decided to let him try it on his own- he did a fantastic job! So don't underestimate what the little ones can do. I figure the work they do is better than what I can do since most days I don't have enough time to do it anyway!

We went from PAL to All Things Fun and Fascinating without using the TWSS. I did watch the $10 overview DVD they sell. Also, if you haven't already, join the Yahoo group- there are so many helpful resources in the files. And on IEW's website they have recorded webinars that deal with each individual unit. That way if you get to one you don't really understand how to teach you can look there for help. The author of ATFF makes it very easy to teach and the student resource book that you can download for free once you get the book is very helpful.