:iagree: I'm rebelling against the common belief that my FIVE YEAR OLD is better off away from her family for 8+ hour days, surrounded and educated by a system that is focused on creating good citizens, not creative, independent thinkers. (My personal opinions, though I'm not unfamiliar w/ public school, having taught in one for 5+ years.)

Maybe someone who uses it can confirm. I can't say beyond what they replied in the above email. I decided to hold off on the program until both my kids were readers and just go straight to the Intermediate program... :blush:

My kids are about your kiddos' ages and I emailed BSGFAA and asked what level to get and what I needed for a year. Here's the reply I received: ETA: I asked for what I'd need for 3-4x a week. So it sounds like Student pages + bible cards/timeline, CD optional and Teacher Guide not necessary.

Same here! :lol: Another one here with a small space. I feel like I am constantly purging *stuff* just to keep it all manageable. The minute the kids start to play and bring out toys, it looks like a tornado has gone through.

Ellen has such enchanting comedic timing. She's so fun to watch.

:iagree: This sounds like me. Being an introvert doesn't help; I have several acquaintances (mom's of playdate friends, etc)....but it's hard to take it to the next level.

Wow, that is an awesome site! Thanks for sharing, it was new to me. :)

I have a JumpSport too and I LOVE IT. We used to have an Urban Rebounder but that thing squeaked so badly....We also had a cheapie from Walmart and it was so stiff that it hurt our ankles/feet. The JS is quiet and bouncy and lovely (has bungees, not springs, so no squeak). I use it to "run" in the evenings while I watch t.v. Great investment (yes, it is pricey!) but it really is one of the best rebounders out there.

I've never heard of honey-baked lentils and rice! Is this a common food? Sounds delicious. Can anyone recommend a good recipe?

:thumbup: I thought that the eye rolling and huffing wouldn't make an appearance until the tween years (at the earliest!) Ah...live & learn.

We're doing a pretty relaxed Kindy here (haha, I didn't think it was so relaxed until I saw what others were doing. :D) Anyway, our first grade looks like it'll be laid out like this: CLE Reading/LA CLE Math Bible: Long Story Short **These will be our only daily subjects.** We'll also do geography (Evan Moor), science (Complete book of...), and art (Teaching Art to Children) 1-2x a week, pretty relaxed/flexible. Add in a few library books that fit in with science + read-alouds & that's it.

Not free, but next year I'm using Jumbo Fun with the Alphabet from Evan Moor. This is the 1997 publication (ISBN-10: 1557996032 | ISBN-13: 978-1557996039). I had bought both this and the new/revised version from Evan Moor and liked the older one sooooooo much more. It has: Anyway, I think it looks awesome and I was able to find mine used on Amazon for just a few dollars + shipping. Might be something worth looking into.... (I like free, too, but I also like having this all at my hands for ease of planning.) *Let me reiterate: the newer version of this book STINKS (all reproducible busy work pages...lack the bibliography, recipes, games, etc. that make this so well-rounded).

My fave lunch salads (but they don't have many veggies... :tongue_smilie:): BEAT salad: bacon (I use turkey), egg (hardboiled), avocado, tomato. Roughly chop/crumble. Top with salt & pepper, dash of lemon juice. YUM! (Might would be good over salad greens??) Tuna/bean salad: tuna (drained) mixed with white beans (navy/white kidney), salt/pepper, dash of lemon juice + whatever you want (tomatoes, chopped cucumber, spinach, feta)

Ditto. I can never find a cami that comes up high enough in the front (without having extra strap) for my preferences.

kalanamak ~ oh, my. I have a prickly daughter and your note nearly made me weep. I'm glad you "forgave" your mom. Dear Mom, I'm sorry for all the times I rolled my eyes and mentally thought how you knew NOTHING. And now I have a DD who, at FIVE YEARS OLD, thinks she knows everything and who insists on doing everything her own (wrong) way... and huffs and puffs when I (gently) try to guide her. Love, Your daughter, who wonders where they learn that huffing and puffing...

I have no suggestions, but only wanted to let you know that you certainly aren't alone in the planning ahead. I have a K'er and a 3 yr. old and I have their curric. mapped out until 8th/6th grade. :D **That said, the minor details of my plan change weekly...but I think it's great to look ahead. I don't want to be jumping all over the place; I like to know that we are on a relatively set course.

Very neat. I might try that. My DD (5) also mixes up /n/ and /m/ quite frequently.

This was my *favorite* story when I was a young reader and I paid a hefty price for it a few years back when it was OOP. (Luckily for young girls now...it is back IN PRINT, LOL.) Oh well, live & learn. Still love it. :D

Awesome! That USA study looks handy. Thanks for posting.

I don't plan on using the whole series (mainly since we started these mid-Jan and I don't feel like rushing through and wearing ourselves out trying to finish them this year). For my oldest we: will end up skipping A, E, & probably G and end up using C, D (just finished these two), H & I Book F...I'm not sure. Might use it for this coming summer, as a travel/fun workbook. There are lots of cutting/pasting pages. My 2nd will be using the ones we skip (ha, how's that for frugal) and I'll probably purchase just H & I for her.

Yes this. Book D introduces letter shapes (using the alphabet in handwriting practice, but no systematic learning of sounds/letter name). Book D also begins some sound matching (i.e. find the pictures that begin with /sh/). This continues into Book E (and others). I've never seen Sonlight's books (other than the online sample).

Maybe lapbooks would be fun to make. Carisa's Tot School has units on fun stuff, like cars and dinosaurs.

Or as a 2ndary question: Can anyone compare THE WORLD GOD MADE to OUR FATHER'S WORLD? They look very similar in content, but OFW seems to be expanded a bit...but still fine for K'ers.

I'd be interested in hearing more about CLE LTR. I'm not familiar with AAR, but LTR is intended for use with 6 yr old/1st graders, right? Perhaps that is why is seems less fun/do-able? (I'd like to hear, though...we have LTR on deck for next year.)

I'm so jealous. We purchased MFWK this past fall, so we have the older edition. I wishwishwish we'd had the new one b/c I think it would've made life so much easier. My DD really enjoyed the creation unit at the beginning. Definitely take some time to read the MFW idea forums and check out some blogs. So many times, for different letters/units, we'd finish up only to stumble across a super-cute idea that someone else had done (that I wished we'd seen). So definitely take some time and read through it, do some googling if you want to add in extra fun stuff. MamaJenn's blog is filled with awesome ideas; she has handwriting pages for each of the badge phrases too.