Thank you, thank you, thank you for this thread! It has been such a blessing and exactly what I need right now. When I first began homeschooling I followed TWTM to the letter. I used the all the recommended curriculum and schedules. I wanted so desperatly to give my children the best education possible, and I thought I could only do that by following "the book" exactly. But as the years past I drifted farther and farther from TWTM. I found other resources I liked, read more homeschooling books, met more homeschoolers. We became more eclectic than classical. Looking back I realize that this shift was probably based on the homeschoolers in our area. The few who call themselves "classical" don't do much Latin, or logic, or rhetoric. They follow the 4-year history cycle, and that's about it. Anyway, I became unhappy with our eclectic, workbook-y approach. I was really drawn to CM and began to try to implement her ideas. At this point life got really tough, I adopted nine kids, moved house three times, got remarried, converted to Catholicism, was pregnant and gave bith to twins... We spent six months not doing school at all and then did a year of Sonlight just because it was the only thing I could handle. It was fine, we loved the books, but it wasn't the education I really want for my kids. This year I'm really determined to get back to where I always wanted to be; classical, but not stuck to following anything word for word. I want to make sure we do Latin, Greek, logic, rhetoric, get back on track with chronological history, study the great books, do rigorous math and science. This thread has really reminded me that I can do it and I'm not alone. Again, thank you from the bottom of my heart. Arwen

DD9 loved the activity book because she's the bookwork - geek type person. Next year DD7 will be starting and I'm going to get the activity book for her because she also likes bookwork. It'll be a while before I do LFC with DD6 but right now I can't see her wanting to do the activity books. So, it depends on the child.

Here's my 1st grade plan for DD6 and DS6 Explorer's Bible Study: God's Promises Story of the World Vol. 1 - I love this this series it isn't Christian but it does cover major events in Christian history and is wonderfully written. My own biology plans Nature Study - We've just discovered the beauty of nature studies through Green Hour, you may want to give it a try. Explode the Code 3 and 4 - This is an eight book phonics curriculum which we really like. It is simple yet effective. Language Lessons for the Very Young - I'm excited to start this because it's the kind of thing I like. I just hope the kids like it too. Informal French - We will be doing this with a variety of materials and maybe a co-op. Violin lessons Art appreciation which we will tie in with history Cultural cooking - We will learn about and cook something from a different country weekly. Poetry memorization - This is the only memorization we do until 5th grade because I don't think young kids should be bogged down with too much. There can be lots of meaning in poetry which makes them a good thing to memorize and the rhythm can make memorization easier. Copywork Handwriting Without Tears 1 DD will do Miquon but I'm not sure which book because whe roars through them and DS will finish Saxon 1 and start Saxon 2. Both Miquon and Saxon are great math curricula depending on learning styles. Lots of reading and read alouds - This is the best part of our day, don't miss it!:)

Here are our 2nd grade LA plans depending on strenght in each subject: Below Average: Explode the Code 2 and 3 Reading Read alouds Handwriting Without Tears 2 Informal French Poetry memorization Copywork across the curric. Language Lessons for the Very Young Narrations Average: Explode the Code 5 and 6 Reading Read alouds Handwriting Without Tears 3 Informal French Poetry memorization Copywork across the curric. Primary Language Lessons Narrations Above Average: Explode the Code or informal spelling Reading Read alouds Handwiriting Without Tears 3 Informal French Poetry memorization Copywork across the curric. Primary Language Lessons Narration Classiacl Writing Aesop A I'll pick and choose from each category depending on dc's needs.

We also have this book and enjoy reading in while doing CW Aesop. I love the links!:)

It's buyer! I watched the convention video last night and I'm very happy with AG. I need to do it as well as DD.:001_smile:

I'll hope she does.:)

Thanks! That looks excellent and I also saw Language Lessons for the High School Student which might be good for DD12. I think I need to drop the "eek!" part of this thread title.

She was in BC?:confused: :banghead: I missed it. :banghead: How on earth did I do that.

That helped a lot! Thanks.:) Are there any samples of Language Lessons for the Very Young online?

DD7 and DD9 are both new to CW but DD9 is a great writer so I doubt she'll have any trouble. DS10 and DD12 have done CW previously. I'll take a look at Harvey's.:) Thanks!

We don't start until 3rd, but now I really like PLL and want to start it sooner. So we might become grammar early people despite the fact that I think doing grammar early isn't good. I just can never make up my mind about things.

If you don't mind could you send me a copy too? We're doing biology without a curriculum for the first time next year and I keep changing my plans. :001_smile:

I thought I had grammar for next year all planned out, Daily Grams and Classical Writing. But guess what I did, I started looking at other grammar curricula and now I’ll never be happy with Daily Grams. I’m in love with Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons, they are wonderful. Oh, they are lovely, but who am I going to use them for? DD7 (3rd grade): She is the perfect candidate for PLL, copywork, memorywork and dictation loving she is kind of a CM girl in all areas of the curriculum. My only worry is that I wanted to start CW Aesop A with her but since she’s never done formal grammar or writing before this may be overkill. I really want to do PLL and CW but maybe if I held off on CW until January then it wouldn’t be so much at once. Or do I really need to drop one of them? Also, should we start at the beginning of the book or in the middle? DS10 (6th grade) and DD9 (5th grade) will both be doing CW Homer B, I think they could both do ILL but again I’m not sure where to start. DD12 will be in 8th grade and is very strong in LA so I think she’s beyond ILL. She is doing CW Diogenes Chreia, is that enough? Is there a PLL/ILL like book for older kids? Is there something else she should use? DD 6and DS6 will be in 1st grade and I wasn’t planning on starting formal grammar with them until 3rd but now I’m thinking about them doing PLL. Should I have them do it or should I stick to my original plan? TIA!!

We enjoyed RS4K, we did a lot of supplementing so that one subject lasted for a year. We enjoyed the experiments, in general it was great! I've decided that, for us, a more child led/discovery/less structured/not using a curriculum approach works best for us. My science loving 5th grader was doing chemistry 1 and 2 this year and loved them. I've also learnt a lot! I have no experience with Noeo, but RS4K is very good.

We were very happy with Harmony Fine Arts, it's a really great program. We decided to drop it and make our own because I want all my kids to be studying the same time period but with age appropriate resources.

I found that doing school helps me, and my kids. It adds the structure that we need to the day and I feel like we're accomplishing something. We don't do as much as we would if we weren't moving but dropping everything wouldn't work for us. Crafts and science experiments haven't been possible, but I've found reading and bookwork a life saver. :) Just find a nice corner and get to work. We'll be doing our first move with eight or maybe ten kids this year and I'm nervous. I half wish I could send them off to school but for the most part I'll be glad they're around. Try not to freak out or get stressed if you don't manage to get everything done (this is advice for me), that's life. Praying that everything goes well, whether you move or not.

We have a good library but still buy more than we should. :001_smile: I like having books ready to go and not be crossing my fingers that they'll make it to the local branch on time. It makes life so much easier.

Another vote for move on. If ds can spell the words than there isn't much point reviewing them again and again. Your time will be better spent on words he can't spell.

We LOVE that series!:) Yesterday we read "You Wouldn't Want to be an Aristocrat in the French Revolution!". I think we have all the books.:001_smile:

Of the science curricula around RS4K is my favourite. It's well written with good experiments. If you want to have one subject last for an entire year you will have to do a lot of supplementing, but I liked that. I've decided to ditch RS4K because I've decided that science should (for us) be more natural and child led with lots of living books and experiments. We've just started and it's going really well. But you didn't ask about that so RS4K is my vote.:)

Is this for you or your kids? If it's for your kids, what age are they?

Do you have any math related games or books around the house? There are lots out there, you might not want to get me started listing them all.:)

For me sticking with WTM worked best. First we did SOTW, then I fell in love with TOG which I bought only to find that I didn't like it so much. Now we're doing SOTW 3 and couldn't be happier. Yeah, I have to track down books and do lots of planning because I have dc of all ages but I'm a planaholic. :) All the best in your planning.:)

Is there a reason why you wouldn't do HWT again? That's my favourite. If you don't mind Christian you could use A Reason for Handwriting which I found good but not as good as HWT.