Hank the Cowdog and Geranimo Stilton. My ds loved BC and now is onto those two series.

I just wanted to reassure you that you won't be holding your oldest back in the least. I used Core K for my advanced 1st grader this year and it was great. Some of the books are very thought-provoking and mature. For instance, we ended up having a mini-lesson on types of governments and a discussion about dictatorships and oppression when we read The Apple and the Arrow. We're now just starting Core 1/B for his 2nd grade year and enjoying it a lot. I think we could spend many extra weeks talking about Egypt. I hope you enjoy your choice.

Yes, the second book is more of a country-oriented geography book. In fact, I just ordered it to add to Core 1. I e-mailed the author to find out if she plans to write any more..if not, maybe she'll think about the suggestion.

You can absolutely use the SOTW AG for Core 1! Core 1 falls mostly into SOTW1. I'm not using the AG but I am using SOTW alongside CHOW because we can't get enough history reading, it seems. Ds keeps asking for more.

Are you talking about the book by Ann Voskamp? If so, you should know that it reads more like an Earth Science book instead of what most of us think of as geography. I'm not sure how well it would go with Core 5. With that said, it's a great book! We're using it for science this summer and I can't wait.

I read somewhere on the Noeo site ages ago that the difficulty goes biology, chem, physics. I can't find it now, but I've been basing my progression on it. I used chem this year with my 1st grader (it's been perfect) and will use physics this coming year for 2nd grade saving biology for 3rd grade because I'll be folding my next ds into the fray and want science to be fun and easy for him. They say it doesn't matter which order you do them I'm but I didn't want my next ds doing physics as a first grader. He's an advanced learner but only average in maturity so I think some of the concepts would go way over his head.

My 5yo taught himself to read just before he turned 3. He didn't need any instruction, he just did it. There really wasn't a need to formally teach him if he was capable of learning it by osmosis. We will start SWR for his K year to fill any phonics gaps and teach spelling. Unless your ds really wants to start "a program," you don't need to start anything. He seems like he's doing great without one. Writing is a whole 'nother ballgame IMO. I let my oldest go and he taught himself some bad habits. It took awhile to get his grip straightened out and we had to start from scratch to teach him proper letter formation. He made his x with four lines starting from the middle among other things. Because of that, I've been more diligent with my littles. I've been putting comfy pencil grips (called the pencil grip) on ds5's writing utensils since he started wanting to do school with us to force him into a proper grip. Thankfully, he and ds2 have naturally good grips but I wanted to make sure. We've been dabbling in letter formation with a salt box for about 18 months now and will start formal cursive instruction in K. I didn't push him, just made sure that if he was going to write, he was going to write properly. The salt box is a great tool for little ones as they use their finger and learn proper formation without paper and pencil getting in the way. Plus, it's fun.

:iagree: This is exactly how we do it and are very happy with the combo.

We are loving Core B! I hope you like as much as we are. You also might want to check out Noeo Science. It's a bunch of great books like SL science but focuses on one discipline per year. We're having a good time working our way through Chem 1. My ds says his favorite subject is science experiments.

We use the textbook for teaching and the workbook for (nearly) independent practice.

A lot of the 2 int (Grade 3) readers have sequels so you could get those from the library. I don't usually let ds read too far ahead in his official school readers but get him a generous load of library books instead. However, he just couldn't wait to read the Littles so we made a deal that he could read a sequel when we get to that book in the schedule. He will often finish a book on his own time but he still has to read it to me during school. He doesn't mind rereading it at all. How else will I know what happened? :D

If you have all the books for 1+2, you could just use the library to do Core 1. Most of the books besides the spines (which you should already have) are only used for a week or two. There are a couple of exceptions like Missionary Stories with the Millers but you could either buy those or just not use them. We are having a lot of fun in Core 1 and we could easily extend it out a few months if we wanted. I would hate to rush through it using 1+2 if it weren't necessary. Then you could do the same for Core 2. From what I've heard, 1+2 is comprised of a lot more Core 2 books so you wouldn't have to use the library as much.

We are also really like How Great Thou Art. If you don't mind gathering supplies, Artistic Pursuit's preschool book, The Way They See It, is great. You probably have all the needed supplies anyway. They keep it simple for that age and suggest you don't buy anything expensive. I used it for my oldest when he was in K along with my next boy and we had a great time exploring art together. Now that he's older and has enough FMS development, we're using I Can Do All Things from How Great Thou Art to learn some fundamentals.

I use Singapore as my main math but supplement with Horizons for the type of review you're talking about. Horizons' lessons cover several different topics. We actually do 1 lesson of each everyday. Once my ds masters a concept, I don't make him do more than 4-6 problems in that concept per day in Horizons. For instance, once he had his addition and subtraction facts down, I only make him do enough addition and subtraction problems to keep the skill current. Right now, he has to do every multiplication problem because he doesn't have those facts down cold yet. Doing that makes the workload manageable but still accomplishes the goal. Hope that makes sense. I'm directing dinner traffic and nursing right now.

I agree with the others. We use SWR for phonics and spelling, FLL for grammar and WWE for writing. It's not too much for my ds. FLL is gentle and the lessons are short. We do it 3-4 times per week depending on how the week is going.

:bigear: my 2 yr is a sweet tornado...well, sometimes sweet. Right now, I depend on my preschooler to entertain him/steer him to acceptable activities while I'm schooling/nursing his brothers. However, the preschooler becomes a K'er next month and the 2yo will be without a playmate for some of the schoolday. I would just take turns between the school age boys but they love to do school together.

Here's what I'd do so take it FWIW: First, I'd explain that Jesus does know each and every one of us. Then, I would acknowledge the similarities of the soldiers with Jesus and how grateful we are to them. If needed, I would explain the the soldiers are just regular people, not God (but he probably didn't mean that they were like Jesus in that way).

I remember doing times tables in 3rd grade so we must have learned it then (OR ps in the early 80s). We could have started in 2nd but I doubt it. Ps schools here don't learn until 3rd grade (using TERC) but we started with 2nd grade math using Singapore. I don't really count it in Singapore 1B because it's just a little conceptual intro. Mastery isn't required.

5yo couldn't do it and is a natural reader. He started reading just before 3yo and is reading fluently at a 2nd grade level despite no reading instruction. 7yo could do it with no problem. He reads at a 5th grade level but isn't as natural reader as my 5yo (meaning he didn't pick it up by himself and didn't read fluently til 5).

So cool!

Core 1 is now called Core B. Core A is the old Core K. Just didn't want you looking at the wrong one.

:iagree: my ds really enjoys PCM but it isn't a review book. It's a book that allows him to explore more advanced topics but written for his age in mind. We don't use it consistently, it's a fun extra.

My 1st grader also reads around a 5th grade level. Assigned reading here is where he reads aloud to me. I use SL's reader packages which schedule a certain amount of pages per day. We are currently using the 3rd grade readers. Sure, it's very easy for him but the topics interest him more than most higher level fiction and he is building confidence reading out loud. He does choose slightly harder material for his free reading. He reads so much in his free time that I'm not concerned with improvement.

I started my ds with manuscript but switched to cursive at the beginning of 1st grade after he begged to "write fancy." His writing improved immediately. He no longer has to think about where the letters start or letter vs. word spacing. After seeing how well cursive went this year, I'll be starting my other dc with cursive from the get-go.

SL P4/5...put the fun in our K year. SWR Miquon math We used more than that but those were the real gems for me. We did keep it pretty simple and it was a great first year of hsing. ETA: for geography, I highly recommend Evan Moor's Beginning Geography. Perfect for the K year and ds and I really enjoyed it.