Oh, also open to any can't miss read aloud suggestions too :)

Hi all, we are soon to start SOTW2 with my dd7 who will be beginning 3rd grade when we commence the book. I am after any suggestions for corresponding fiction books for her to read alongside our studies of this period. She is not a very confident reader but is (just) reading on grade level so idealy I am looking for books on about a 2nd/3rd grade reading level. Any suggestions? I am thinking maybe the "you wouldn't want to be..." books that correspond to this period but other than that I really do not have many ideas. We already own the magic tree house series and idealy I would like some other books along this same line, covering history through a work of fiction that is easy to read. TIA

My daughter is now 2.5 but i started this board at about 18 months for ideas to keep her busy during school time, maybe there are some ideas in here that will help you too http://www.pinterest.com/lauraknight165/tot-school-ideas/ We have done quite a lot of hte activities on his board and nearly all have been a hit

For me it generally depends on how much they have left in the book. If it is not too much left to complete I try to get it done before the end of the school year or get them to do maybe 2 days per week of that book over the break until complete. If there is a lot left then i have no worries with just picking up where we left off after the break. I would never skip the end of a math book.

thanks :001_smile: we are starting level 3 in about 3 weeks time

We use story of the world and i just emphasise that the religious bits are stories rather than fact, as there are plenty of other stories and myths in SOTW my kids have happily accepted this explanation.

My 2.5yo loves doing "school". Some of her favorite independent activities are coins/counters into a money box, matching teddy counters onto patterns by color, playdough (with or without mats), do-a-dot pages using teddy counters on each circle, playing with a large abacus and beading. She also likes drawing/coloring. I have a pinterest board of ideas I have collected for her here: http://www.pinterest.com/lauraknight165/tot-school-ideas/

My dd is a similar age and a similar math level it would seem. I do not generally skip entire chapters unless they are ridiculously easy for her, rather i will print out 1 or 2 pages per chapter for her to do quickly trying to pick the pages that hopefully she will find the most challenging of the lot or just getting her to do the review pages at the end of hte chapter. Having said that though she pretty much skipped all of MM2A and 2B doing about 12 pages from each, she went through both books in level 2 in under 2 weeks (before she officially started 2nd grade).

I would be more than happy to drop it but she loves her workbook and would not be happy to lose it completely especially seeing her younger sister will still be using the earlier levels of ETC. My main focus with her for now is reading (read alouds and readers for her) and AAS so whatever we find will just be because she wants to do a workbook, this is all ETC has ever been for me anyway. I am liking the look of the Evan Moor book too, i think she might like that one.

We are australian and finishing up level 2. I have not modified anything, there have been a few words that we obviously pronounce differently as they appear in lessons they clearly would not do if written by an australian, honestly I just tell my dd that these words are pronounced differently in different countries, we would say .... but in the US they would say .... then i get her to learn the spelling for it anyway :001_smile:

I have a K and 2nd grader, they are combined in history using SOTW1 and science using R.E.A.L science odyssey (life). We don't do "literature" as a subject however they listen to the same read alouds and when we do additional activities based on these books they do them together too.

My 6yo DD has just started 2nd grade. She is advanced in many areas but is a little behind in reading (good at other areas of LA). She loves the explode the code books and finished up book 4 at the end of last year with no issues at all however she is struggling with book 5 as the words are too long and are intimidating her. I think we need to take a break from it and come back to it in a few months however she really loves these books and wants to keep going. I am after any suggestions for LA workbooks that we could use to replace her ETC book for now so that she will still have a workbook but at a more maneagble reading level for now. I have considered just ordering the 4.5 book but i don't think that will help as she had no issues with book 4. So far I have found this which I am considering as visually I think it will appeal and seems to be on her level but wondering what others would recommend. http://www.creativeteaching.com/products/advantage-reading-gr-2-ebook Thanks

I have a Ker and 2nd. For LA they do AAS (2nd only), own spelling based on OPGRT lesson (Ker), ETC, WWE (2nd only), OPGRT, FLL and handwriting. Daily the 2nd does 4 of the above options and the Ker does 3. I just worked out how many times per week we wanted to do each and worked out a schedule to fit them in. Each option takes between 5 and 15 minutes, averages about 20 minutes for the Ker daily and about 40 for the 2nd. For math they are both doing MUS currently. They do 2 pages of a lesson 4 times per week. THis is about 10 minutes for the Ker and 20 minutes for the 2nd. This is then followed by a manipulative activity or exploration of about 10 minutes. We also do one board game daily together covering either LA or math skills (2 days each per week) Other subjuects: Logic. we are covering this 4 times a week: twice a week using a workbook (lollipop logic for ker, mind benders and a few other for 2nd) and twice a week using logic games; rush hour, hoppers, chocolate fix, zoo logic... we have a huge collection and I randomly pick one for each History: we are doing SOTW1. We do reading, book work, computer research etc twice a week at about 1 hour each session (including 20 minutes of listening to a relevant audio story book). We also do a 2 hour art and craft session related to the weeks chapter with a friend every friday. Science: we are using RSO biology. 1 hour per week and 1 saturday morning a month (with a friend). Art: In addition to the history art and craft session we do 1 hour of art skills a week focussing on different techniques. Extra curriculas: swimming lessons 2 times a week to homeschool play sessions girl guides/scouts dance lessons hope that helps.

Thanks everyone, some great lists there :001_smile: yes the reading is a little rusty but as i have read literally hundreds of classics in the past I am hoping I will get back into the swing of things without too much trouble. I do enjoy having a list to consult though and even check off to show progress.

No doubt this has been done a million times but I am having trouble finding any relevant threads on the topic. I am after some suggestions on clasics or must read books for myself. Any suggestions on threads to browse or online lists to consult? I used to have a good list bookmarked but cannot find that bookmark anymore. I used to read a lot and read quite a number of the classics as a teen/young adult but have not read any recently. I would like to get back into reading some classics but would like some direction on where to start and what books I should not miss. Any suggestions? TIA

I started sotw1 with my girls when the oldest one had just turned 6 (first grade), younger was 4.5 (pre-k). they love it and beg to do history daily (we do it twice a week). We are still only half way through volume 1 but i can see volume 1 and 2 will each take us a year and a half to finish, not sure on volumes 3 and 4 as i don't own them yet. at our current rate though I expect to take 5-6 years on total to get through all of SOTW so i expect by the time we hit the topics in #4 both kiddos will be old enough to understand and cope with it. SOTW1 has been great for my 4yo, she really loves it.

We are done with formal scholing for this year, we were meant to go to the end of next week but I called it quits early this week, I am just done! We are doing Christmas crafts and "school" activities (word searches, reading, letter writing etc) for the next 2 weeks. Will be taking most if not all of January off so that I can plan next year. My girls will be starting K and 2nd grade jan/feb.

We are in australia and jan-december is the school year here. We typically finish school 1st week of december and start up again mid jan. i find it great, we take a long break over christmas which we would probably do anyway due to the busyness of that time of year. i buy my new books and other school related items around november, that way i can give them any games and fun stuff (that i bought for school, shh!) as christmas presents and have everything else ready for me to flick through during the break so that i can roughly plan the year ahead. The start of the school year does not necessarily correlate to grade level changes however. We just continue on once finished the previous books. In some areas we are up to 2 years ahead but in other subjects we are right on target grade wise.

My just turned 5yo has been playing rush hour, hoppers, labrynth, quoridor and blokus for well over a year now and loves them all. She also likes tangrams and pentominoes, they are not exactly games but fun and strategic and definitely doable for 4yo's

My dd loved FLL1, we completed it in half a year (in 1st), we are now going to wait until 2nd grade to start level 2 but she often asks when can we start it. There was a lot of repetition and we did end up skipping or combining maybe 20 lessons in the book but overall it was a huge hit here. However, it really is not necessary IMO, we loved it but would you be missing anything by not starting grammar until later, no!

Honestly I love both and we use both regualrly. My kids prefer the MUS blocks and I like that they have the individual units marked on them, to me it helps them solidify the concept that 4 = 4 units etc. When adding or subtracting they rarely (if ever) count the units but it does help them "see" the answer better IMO. On the other hand I love the c-rods and there is a benefit to having them not scored. They cannot rely on counting (not that mine do) but the main benefit is that we can assign different values to the rods with less confusion as their original value is not scored onto them. We are yet to start miquon (starting next month) so maybe we will get better value out of our c-rods soon but we would usually use the MUS blocks here.

My older 2 are only 19 months apart, they are meant to be 2 grades apart. DD1 is in 1st grade and is working on a 1-3rd grade level depending on subject (1st in reading, 3rd in math and anything in between for other subjects). DD2 is only in Pre-k but she is already working on a 1st grade level in nearly every topic (except writing and spelling). I am using a lot of different books for the 2, partially because I don't want dd1 to get discouraged when dd2 overtakes her which will be very soon and partially because they actually have different learning styles so different curricula work better for their individual styles. I also where possible try not to let "grade level" be obvious on curricula etc, things with levels rather than grades work well here as there is less comparison.

thanks guys, loving the suggestions, there are more than a few in there i have never heard of, cannot wait to check them out

Well it is that time of year for me again, time to place international curriculum orders ready for Christmas and our new school year in January. I am after suggestions for quality read alouds for my girls, I asked this question last year and recieved the best suggestions with the books I ended up purchasing being our favorites for the year :001_smile: so here I am hoping for a repeat. My girls will be nearly 7 and just turned 5 at Christmas (2nd grade and K next year). What read aloud books were favorites in your house at these ages? Any books we cannot miss? Thanks!

I feel if they have the concept down then move on. There is plenty of revision in MUS so they will be reviewing those concepts for a while anyway. I do score our tests and would probably move on at 80%+ score, 50-80% I would spend an additional day or 2 playing and reviewing before moving on. My dd had never gotten less than 100% though so i have never really had to consider if/when to move on. If they are struggling to get the concept then take a break, play some games that cover that concept, review using blocks/lego/money whatever so that you are practicing the same skill but in a different way without the workbook.