Sonlight's reader packages are great.

We are similar except that I don't use a formal handwriting program; we practice during spelling. We also do grammar 2-3 days a week and add comprehension (McCall-Crabbs A) 2x/week. This is with a ds that reads at a very high level and spells above grade level (but I wouldn't call a natural). Otherwise, the same.

This is another thing we do. Ds has already read several Encyclopedia Browns after reading the one included in Grade 4-5 Readers. He'll just read the next one in the series when he gets to the it in the schedule. We also add "by the same author" books. The Littles, Wizard of Oz, In Grandma's Attic, and Third Grade Detectives are a few more I can think of off the top of my head.

I let them read to their hearts content and we reread them when they hit the schedule again. My dc enjoy reading them more than once.

I'll do that. I'm pretty excited about Elementary Physics too. DFiL is a physics professor so I'll be interested in his take on it.

We do a monthly budget of $150/month. It's been the same since my first since adding more dc hasn't cost much. Most of my programs are non-consumable. It was nice to spend less than $100 on Kinder this year including 3 math programs.

I don't. I am able to keep my SL cores (5 of them so far), Noeo science books (two levels) and other school books on two large bookshelves in our school nook. My boys re-read books constantly so I would have a hard time putting them away. I have room for about 3 more cores before I need to figure out where to put more books and convince Dh that living in a library is a good thing.

I'll sign your petition!

It can be overwhelming at first. Here's a site that helped me a lot. http://www.swrtraining.com/id26.html. It is getting started info by an SWR trainer. I just followed the steps and was more confident when I finished. Building your own log is one of the most important steps.

I did WWE2 and FLL2 this year with my 2nd grader (just turned 8). The writing assignments in FLL2 are so short, we just did both. It wasn't too much for my reluctant writer. We did skip most of the enrichments, though.

:iagree: My ds doesn't have any trouble switching between the two, either. He would only use the standard algorithm for problems that don't lend themselves to be done mentally.

I just bought the Lollipop Logic books after he looked at the samples. He said they looked fun. I figure that he's bound to learn something from them and I'll let him work through them at his own pace. He finished DEL very quickly so I can imagine he'll do the same with these. After he finishes, I may decide to challenge him with BTS or go on to Logic Countdown.

Looks like we're in the same place with our rising 1st graders... It's always hard to know which way to go. I think my guy will do better with the easier material. He's been doing DEL this year and loves it so I was hoping to find something similar for next year. He handles challenging material well but there comes a point where he will shut down. He's always been that way. Potty training was not fun.

Thanks for this. I might get them for him for the summer and then move on. Now I'm also rethinking Logic Countdown for ds8. He's been doing Critical Thinking K-3 so he'd had plenty of exposure. Now, he would probably think they're fun so I may get them for him to work on during our 28 hr vacation drive. Off to look at samples again...

I combine for science but not history, but seem to be in the minority. Since we used a literature-based history program (Sonlight), it is easier for me to keep the kids separate. That way, each one is working at his level without tweaking. We are using living book science program, but it has been easier for the boys to share and still be using appropriate material. I understand it is easier for some families to stay on the same subject but we like to branch out.

Is this all three books or just the 1st one? I was planning on buying this for my rising 1st grader.

We're using portions of it this year when it fits in with what we're studying. Ds6 will just do the songs but I think I'll have ds8 do the workbook too.

I've thought that too :001_smile: You should have seen the look dh gave me when I told him we were growing mold for science this week. He even said, "that's the one type of plant we can keep alive" :lol:. Priceless. In my defense, I am successfully sprouting an avocado pit right now. Dh doesn't have much confidence that we'll get to the planting stage but I'm ever hopeful.

The author has a lot of the books on CD and he is so funny! We check some out from the library before road trips. We often think that our dog would be just like Hank if we owned a ranch. Hilarious!

This is why I decided to hold off on WWE for ds6 this year. He's actually been following along and narrating well with ds8's WWE2, but all the writing would have frustrated him this year. Next year, he'll breeze through WWE1. FLL will be funny since he has easily picked up everything just by listening in and has a great memory. I figure it will be a good review. My 3yo will be in this situation. Technically, he'd make the K cutoff (Agust bday with Sept 1st cutoff) in 2014 but no one here sends their summer birthday boys to K. We have a lot of red shirting. He would be the youngest boy in his class and likely the most immature. Plus, K here is a full 7 hour day. However, he will probably be ready for K academics. I'm glad we homeschool and don't have to make any decisions about sending him or not. I'll call him K but reserve the right to change my mind later. I figure we'll have to decide what grade he's really in before he gets to high school but it isn't an immediate need. :D

The science police haven't caught up with us yet! I would say that we are science-heavy but most of that is reading living books. We do experiments but that isn't my main focus and I haven't stressed over them. We are growing mold right now but that's more of a talent so it almost doesn't count as an experiment. :tongue_smilie: I think my dc have learned more from their independent, fun science reading than from the curriculum we use. We do use and love Noeo (which is reading a lot of living books) and they've learned a lot from it but it doesn't compare to them diving in to a topic on their own that they really care about.

This is what we do. I don't start my dc early but both of my olders have been doing 2nd grade work by the end of Kinder. We still call the year they are 5 turning 6 Kindergarten and the following year 1st regardless of what materials they are using.

Gooney Bird Greene, Hank the Cowdog, and Mrs. Pigglewiggle are some of our favorite funny reads. I love hearing my boys cackle when I read something funny :001_smile:.

We are trying to patiently wait for both. Thanks for the update. I hadn't seen it yet.

I didn't use the HIG for 1A/1B but did start using it once I got to 2A. I use all of the mental math exercises included in the back. I've been using CWP since the beginning and just started using IP with both boys. I use CWP after we finish a complete level. Horizons has more lessons than Singapore so I just keep on using alongside CWP. I use IP concurrently with each level just to provide my dc with extra challenge. It isn't something I expected them to do entirely on their own, but neither one of them are finding it too difficult and ds8 is asking me to buy him IP4B because he really likes decimals. As you can tell, we really like math around here :tongue_smilie:.