After buying everything we'd need to use it a second time, we've decided it would be best to send dd. back to CS along with her big brother. So no ECC for us this year. I'm not sure how I would of had time for it anyway.

I only used the science/bible part, with other math and phonics. It was still well worth the money to us.

I'm in the bible belt, and know I'd better keep my mouth shut about our old-earth beliefs, at church or any homeschool group.

My 1st grade ds. will be doing ECC along with big sis. I got him the Evan Moor Beginning Geography workbook to do. He'll have a passport, color the ECC student sheets for each country, play the game with us, and listen to some great read-alouds from the book basket list, which have many age appropriate books listed. He'll also enjoy all the little science projects, and will listen in on Wild Places, and Hero Tales. He will not listen in on or do anything with the God's Design Ecosystem book. I would not add another teacher guide. I think it would be very frustrating learning about two different countries, or cultures at the same time. And your already going to have your hands full with the Bible notebooking in MFW 1st. If I we're you I'd focus on the 3rs. with your two littles and just let them listen in on ECC if their interested. ETA again: that IMO your year would go alot smoother without MFW 1st. You'll be busy enough with your youngers doing the 3rs., and they'll be going through the bible when they start their history cycle.

I felt very drawn to it as well, and now we are loving it! Go ahead and take the placement test and order some light units. Then you'll know what to do.

I'm thinking ahead about this same thing and have been trying to find which level of Singapore people switch to after RS B. We're only on lesson 13 so I've got some time before I have to make this huge decision. I hope you find peace about which way to go soon.

Since you like VP's resources, you might consider their online history courses. You and your ds. can watch some samples on their website. My ds. couldn't get enough.

I can feel your agony. I actually ordered 3 math programs for my ds. RS B, CLE 1, and SM1A, as if there's even enough time in the day.:tongue_smilie: After looking at SM I've decided to wait and maybe use it as review next summer, but CLE will be a great supplement to RS for some extra writing practice. And by gosh it's just so sweet! It's really given me a lot of peace where my daughters concerned as well. Stuff really sticks after a couple spirals through. But, I will still have her sit in on our RS lessons, which she doesn't mind. If I were you I'd use your CLE, and purchase the RS games. There's an instructional dvd that explains all the games for you. It makes a great supplement for any math program.

Homeschooling with a Meek and Quiet Spirit, is by far my favorite homeschool book! Thanks so much for sharing.

I can relate. I bought TOG yr.1 4 yrs. ago after using MFW ECC my first year homeschooling. CTG just did not appeal to me, but I still needed to combine a 5th and 1st grader. I spent hours planning and spent way too much money on books for the first two units. Well, after 16 weeks of doing so much history, I was completely burned out, and sent my kiddos back to the local christian shool. I'm not blaming TOG, there were many other factors going on, including a surprise pregnancy. But, I too didn't have complete peace when hitting the purchase order button, and now I know why. My kids have been back home for awhile now, we've completed our history cycle, and I'm so excited to be doing ECC again with my youngers in the fall. It was my favorite year.

My dd., who turns 10 July 30 only finished 3/4 of BJU4 Math and English. She was using the distance learning and was very miserable so we quit. I decided to go with CLE, and after looking at samples, intuitively ordered the 400 series for Math and Lang. Arts. We've gotten started in 402 for both, and it's perfect. It's not too easy or too hard. We will continue with both daily throughout the summer. My question is, will I be able to consider her a 5th grader in the fall, or are we looking at a transition year? I wouldn't mind a trasition year, since she's so young for her grade, but she definitely would not! The other curriculum in my signature for her will be started Aug. 1st.

Starting with first will be perfect. And you can completely rest easy now, because Abeka provides a very solid foundation and is very easy to teach. Feel free to skip stuff that seems geared for a classroom, and any review you feel isn't necessary.

You really don't need to do anything, because Abeka K starts out teaching all the letter sounds, and reviews everything taught throughout. I think the child will be very bored if she goes in knowing too much. I would just read good books and play fun games, because she's going to get her feel of plenty of phonics with Abeka.

My brain can't handle HOD samples either, and I almost get heart palpitations as well. I always exit out of the site shaking my head in bewilderment. There's just too much creative thinking, writing and narrating required. It looks very complicated, and time consuming. I can't even imagine doing more than one guide. I also like that I can add my own math, and lang. arts. to the MFW grid.

IMO, Adventures just wouldn't fit with her ages. 10's too old, and her others are too young.

You should look at Hands and Hearts history kits. They have everything you need to do many meaningful hands-on projects, plus notebooking and mapping pages. Great supplement to Sonlight.

I think some books in Core 6 were just beyond my reading level. Lot's of difficult words I didn't know the meaning of, or could even pronounce.

I've done most of core 3/4, 4/5, 2, and 6. Core 2 was much easier and enjoyable for me than 6. Core 6 moves way too fast, and most of the read-alouds were very difficult and boring for us. I decided I never wanted an IG telling me what to read and when ever again. I did not like just reading little snippets here and there from books in core 4/5. Love all the selections though in 3/4, and 4/5! I think the IG can be nice for the accountability it gives you, and the sense of accomplishment you feel when you've done everything. So, I think SL can be a blessing in seasons when you feel you need that. Although, the core 6 IG became a curse for me, because there was no way I could keep up.

If you go with SWI-A, the DVD's do all the teaching for you. So, the TWSS is not crucial IMO. I used SWI-B wonderfully without it, and plan on using SWI-A without it as well.

I got mine done.

I've just converted our dining room into a cozy school room.

Yes, I laminate them. Then I decorate with them, placing them in a basket on the book shelf next to our history spines.

Here are the one's I purchased from the 2-week introduction: How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World All in a Day Somewhere in the World Right Now Me on a Map Children Just Like Me People From Here to There Miss Rumphius What a Wonderful World National Geographic Picture Atlas of Our World Around the World in 80 Pages Celebrations! The Usborne Book of People of the World Maps and Mapping

I'm looking ahead, because I'm very excited about NL science, and VP's self-paced online history courses for my ds. We'll start next year, and use them throughout his elementary years.

Rightstart!!!