Thanks for adding the link. Wish I would have thought to do that. lol. I guess I was just really excited to find it.

We used Sonlight because everyone else we knew did. What a poor reason to pick a curriculum! It was not for our family and I couldn't understand the love affair with it. However, we have kept some of the books for our reading list. But I was bored to tears reading some of the selections. Sonlight gets my vote for What's the big deal? As far as a curriculum we haven't tried....I wonder what people enjoy about Rod and Staff. It appears to be bland and I can't justify looking at black and white pages all day. I don't know. I would love to know why others use it. Maybe I can learn something new.

So, I was on google books and noticed that Primary Language Lessons is now available for free. I plan to put it into a workbook format with a lot of copying and pasting but its a great resource for extra language arts! Woohoo! :D This made my day!

If you would like a curriculum to go along with your nature study, then Queen's has wonderful books for that. They are multi-age studies and wonderful to go through. They teach like a science curriculum but have the fun aspects of a CM nature study. I would look at Queen's homeschool samples and decide what you like. We started out with All nature sings. LOVED it!

This is why I could NOT use TOG!! :D I am OCD too but in a different way. It will totally wreck my day if I don't check off EVERY LITTLE BOX!! Ah! No boxes is a great reason to not buy :001_smile: I like having the wiggle room.

I just looked at the PAL program and it looked fantastic! I love the farm folder with all of the little stickers. I have girly girls so they would appreciate the stickers and the bright colors. I also discovered llatl....the blue book kit. I didn't know that there was a kit that included readers with it. I have read mixed reviews so I am a little weary of trying it. Thanks for all of the great suggestions. Going to check them all out! ;)

Can you explain what ETC is? Is it a phonics program only or does it have more to it? I looked at a few samples online but I couldn't quite decide exactly what it was. Anything you dislike about it? I would love to spend a solid 15 minutes a day in phonics and no more. The rest of my time, I would like to spend reading with my dd. I love BOB books!

I need a great phonics program for 1st grade. I have been looking and most phonics programs start out with the consonant sounds and short vowel sounds but my dd is reading simple 3 letter words. I am looking for something that will gently move her into blends and reading longer passages. What did you use? Any readers you would suggest?

You could technically use TWTM language books and bend it to CM simply by cutting out a lot of the memorization and redundant repeating of rules. However, I found that it actually creates more work for the mom to do it that way. The difference between TWTM and CM is just a huge difference in how children learn, not necessarily what they learn. So you can use a classical style curriculum and simply make it gentle. And that doesn't mean lighter, just the approach to learning is easier. We started out classical and switched because my children do not respond to the classical approach very well. The article linked above is a good one, and there are several articles comparing the two with a slant to CM style. About the only books from a classical education we have held onto are SOTW and the IEW or Writing with ease books. For language, math, and science, we use a CM approach. Hope that helps.

I am so interested in the scanning workbooks idea! We have been looking at all the options out there and its overwhelming. That would be a great way to save some $$ down the road. What a great idea! Would love to hear more about it.

Start VERY simple! It is so easy to get caught up in looking at every little detail of every curriculum out there and then get burned out before you even start. At that age, learning is way more than workbooks. It's learning math by cooking, science through park dates, and history through a good educational program. Now, as to what I use.....I have a K girl now and we do Charlotte Mason stuff. It's gentle, yet very thorough. No prep time was really important to me. Lessons are very short and to the point. I get most of my stuff from Queen Homeschool Supplies. This year, we are going to use the Math lessons books too. Your child can actually learn math from reading a story. I LOVE this concept!! :) I think you will quickly find out what you like and what you don't. And don't be afraid to scrap something and start new. I tossed everything my first year until I found what I liked. Charlotte Mason inspired stuff was great for me. Never using anything else. Good Luck!!

We are "South of the Border" :) Three minutes from Charlotte.

Thanks for all the suggestions! I looked again last night and I have decided to go with the Math Lessons for a Living Education....I think :) With my older daughter, we struggled to find ANY math that was a good fit. So I am trying to avoid the dryness of most math lessons. I like the idea of learning math through a story or something relevant to everyday life. Gonna be a pioneer for Math Lessons for a LE I guess. It doesn't seem as though anyone uses it when I check other posts. Thanks again!

I am torn between Math Lessons for a Living Education and Life of Fred for my 1st grader. Actually, I keep wondering if LOF is enough at that crucial beginner level, or if you need more. Anyone used Life of Fred that young? The Math lessons for a Living Education by Queen Homeschool Supplies is neat because it reads like a story but has great manipulatives that come with it. Has anyone used this? Thanks! :001_smile:

They have the best customer service! I have had one issue where the wrong item was sent to me. They corrected it and had the correct item here within 3 days. The pricing is great too!