The Bic KIDS mechanical pencil was a game changer for us. It's pricey, but has become our dedicated pencil. Time for work! http://www.staples.com/BIC-Kids-Mechanical-Pencil-Blue-Barrel-with-Yellow-Accents-13-mm-Each/product_463786?externalize=certona

I agree with many of the responses here: while CC is what you make of it, if you add lessons to make the experience valuable, it will take up your week. The parroting-style memory wasn't valuable for us, and I felt like a drill sergeant. If we dug deeper into a topic that grasped her attention, I had to curb her enthusiasm so we could move on to the next memory piece the following week. To expect to satisfy a curious child with "we'll talk about it later" is unreasonable, as is the expectation that, three years later, they'll still remember a sentence they parroted and apply it to an in-depth lesson. In similar fashion, the science experiments and art and music experiences were so rushed into our CC day, that the clock squashed our enthusiasm. Perhaps we are Charlotte Masons living in a classical world... I'm also going to say something that may be very controversial in this group, so I'll preface: every person we met in our community was a gem with lots of passion and lots of love for education and their families. Our director was the most hardworking, detailed, dedicated of them all. The tutors loved their classes, the parents were all super involved. We met excellent quality people. But then we heard from our upline... And yes, I am going to call it that. Because Classical Conversations is a pyramid scheme. When I was a tutor for our community, I was approached to see if I would be interested in being a coach. Or a resource coordinator? Regional support? I don't remember what it was called at the time, but the basic model was: participate in a year of CC, attend this weekend course (which was pricey!) and you'll be qualified to support budding communities in your area. There were lots of presentations about how the company was experiencing growth, showing how you could maximize your earning potential by spreading out and supporting a number of small communities and helping them grow. And you didn't see a penny until after the first successful year of one of the communities you supported (about 18 months after the costly training weekend). I felt very uncomfortable being a part of that, especially when so many of the directors I knew were doing so much to support one another just out of kindness and generosity. Meanwhile, the "stick in the sand" philosophy of CC requires so many supplemental resources now. Flashcards, Trivium tables, pocket inserts. All to make it "easier" to tutor, but costly. Finally, after one of the applications I filled out during hiring for the support position revealed that I was Catholic, my interview turned into an in-depth session of Catholic Apologetics, which left me breathless and shaking. I was told that I should probably look for another program, because the CC Community wouldn't be a comfortable fit for me. I was reminded of the Non-Disclosure Agreement I signed before agreeing to tutor, and told to have a blessed day. It is such a shame to have to leave our community on a sour note, because the actual people I met were so lovely, generous, and kind. But in the end, I felt they were lovely, generous and kind IN SPITE OF what was expected of them by the company known as Classical Conversations, and I dearly wish that wasn't the case. This deviates from your original question, and I apologize. However, it certainly falls under something I wish I knew. If you decide to participate in a CC community next year, I hope you'll have a much better experience.

As a former student of Philosophy, I find the idea of starting my daughter on basic philo. ideas very appealing. I talked with a friend who used a book "Kio and Gus." but whoops! the book is out of print and QUITE expensive! Any other suggestions?

reign, When I think about it, that more closely resembles what we are doing this year. I'm looking through the SOTW book, and like any study of history, there's such a difference between study of "blobs of people moved here and tried not to die" and "This particular man wanted to be fancier than the other men and didn't care who died in the process." The start of our history study, coverage of early indigenous tribes, and the first few chapters in SOTW, fall into the first category. Julianna

Binip, A very good point! This actually came up because we intend to do just that and I wanted to do some reading before we hit the road. Since we are so close to the beginning of the SOTW program, I figure I should at least be thinking of where to insert it. It's my desire to use world maps at periodic points on our timeline mural which will show what's happening all across the world at various points in history. I suppose I'll need to do some research of my own to generate that. Thank you both for the feedback! J

Regarding composition: If she's writing and getting her ideas down, perhaps an audio recording that she can transcribe from later? Regarding penmanship: My daughter's penmanship took a marked upswing when I stopped telling her which letter or work *I* thought was her best handwriting, and started asking her to mark which letter or word *she* thought was her best handwriting. Best of luck! Your love is giving her the best opportunity!

Hi Folks! DD (1st grade) and I are covering History using SOTW. We are allowing ourselves a leisurely pace, and letting ourselves go down rabbit holes when appropriate, because I think that's the best way to stay passionate about the study of history! I have currently purchased only volumes 1 and 2. I love the way SOTW manages the subject of history, but I'm disappointed with the few details about Native Americans. I'm sure they are discussed more in Volume 3, when westerners are interacting with native races during exploration, but I don't believe the Age of Exploration is the first time we ought to visit the topic of Native Americans. Have any of you addressed this? Do you have resources to recommend? How did you fit it into timelines, if you use them? I appreciate your ideas! Julianna

Sorry to bump my own thread, but this I'm really surprised no one responded at all.

So, you're the Julianna who was already using my name when I got here! It's not a common name. Good to meet you! And thanks everyone for the insight. I really like the idea of a summer supplement. That might be just what will work for my niece (they're still on the fence) I'll keep digging!

Hello, Ladies and Gents! As a new home schooling mom, I feel bombarded with all the thousands of options of curricula available to choose from. I've been digging for the past year, and it seems like a bottomless pit. As a library employee, I might give myself and others a chance to get through it all. I am working on a proposal for our library director to consider adding a section to our library of homeschool materials (teacher guides, textbooks, all the recommended books in literature courses, etc.) Home School families could be the bread and butter of libraries (who are often hurting for a boost in circulation numbers). Libraries could be a tremendous help for home school families who simply can't buy every curriculum that looks like it might be a good idea. We should be a little more thoughtful about how we can work together. I'm looking for your input in any of the following areas: 1. What books would work well in such a collection (and which are all consumable and wouldn't be a good fit) 2. If you had a library like this near you, would you use it to preview programs and then buy them, or would you use the library's copy and save money? 3. Would you travel out of your town to use a collection like this if it was good? 4. Would you consider donating to such a collection knowing it would be helpful to others? 5. If this sort of collection was near you, how would you hear about it (aka, how can I promote a collection like this once we get it up and running) 6. What else should I know on the topic? Here is my (very preliminary) list of materials I've already researched for my own daughter. When I list materials like Five in a Row and Beyond the Page, I'd like to see the library get the teacher's guides and a copy of all the books on the reading list (possibly with a note pasted on the inside cover explaining that expansion materials are available for the book if it's a hit in your family). Spell to Write and Read Institute for Excellence in Writing Apologia Usborne Encyclopedia of World History Your Baby Can Read Math U See Singapore Math Five in a Row (Before, Beyond and Above and Beyond The Story of the World Usborne Illustrated Encyclopedia of the Natural World The Latin Road to English Grammar Charlotte Mason's Original Homeschooling Series Sonlight Curriculum Peak with Books Beyond the Page

Does anyone out there have any experience with this? It seems very expensive and fluffy to me, but my SIL is starting to think about homeschooling my 7yo niece, and she found it during her own research, and wanted some feedback. I wouldn't mind having a few of their curriculum books to look at ideas, but I shy away from pre-packaged curricula that come with a big heap of books I can get out of the library. Ka-ching!

We just went through this, too. I know well the helpless feeling watching your husband slowly crumble under stress, combined with the swell of pride that he will do ANYTHING he needs to do to provide for his family. When it happens, and it will very soon, you are all going to feel so amazing. God provides. Sometimes we provides an opportunity to work on your patience (and prayer!) skills, but he always ALWAYS provides. Please keep us updated!

So I'm pretty new to the WTM forums, and I had to laugh that this is a running thread! We are also selling our house. My husband spends 10 hours a week in his commute (driving to a job that is 15 min from my parents' house, no less) and I am chomping at the bit to move. The change will: Give my daughter and I 10 more hours every week with my husband. Save us tons of money in gas and car repairs. Get me closer to my parents and elderly grandmother. Connect me with a part time job at the public library (my dream!) Give us a chance to take advantage of lower mortgage rates. (We're looking at houses that are twice as "valuable" as our current house, but with almost the same monthly payment.) And give us a very needed emotional/physical fresh start. Two weeks ago, while getting ready for an open house, I was running around, cleaning, scrubbing, laundry-ing, etc. My husband called me down to the basement: "Sweetie, you should know that water is pouring out of the pipes into the crawl space..." Over the past week (during which time my husband and I were both sick, and my daughter chose to be massively constipated because she's potty training, she's three and even wacko Freud was right about some things) we had to completely disconnect the kitchen sink, our dishwasher, our laundry and the downstairs bathroom. This weekend we dug a huge hole in our backyard and had a crew of friends and family (for whom I am so completely grateful) come to completely reroute the whole plumbing line out to the city's drain. Which we discovered mid-process spends some of it's time running up hill. Pouring the water BACK into our house, instead of away) Saturday night closed with what we suspected was a total end of the project, my husband (coughing and hacking) just had to fill in the hole. And yesterday morning, my husband started to fill in the hole, while I stayed inside frantically catching up on all the laundry, dishes, cleaning, etc. And I hear "Sweetie, you should know that water is pouring out of the pipes and into the hole..." SWEAR WORDS!!! We had to start all over, cutting back into the pipes, digging a bigger hole, replumbing, discovering more disasters and problems. The process involved capping off the old terracotta line and all the pipes that led into it. We thought we had it all sorted out, except for when it started to rain (!) at the end of our fixes for the day. And I hear "Sweetie, you should know that the rain water is pouring down the downspout into the pipe we just abandoned and... into the hole." That was an easy fix. But seriously. My brother remarked that maybe this house is just our cross to bear. And we'd been worried that we hadn't given ourselves enough opportunity to reflect over this year's Lent! What makes this the worst is that it was a huge, messy, colossally stinky project that still requires a lot of clean up. And when we're done, we don't have anything new and shiny and update-y to show our potential buyers. We just fixed what should have been fixed before. I'm so frustrated. It feels like we're never going to move. It feels like we'll be stuck here forever. And I just needed to share all of this with you. Even though anyone who was brave enough to read this far down is a stranger, you and I have more in common than I do with most of my friends (who have no kids, rent or have brand spanking new homes, refuse to accept my passion for keeping my daughter home for school, don't see why I want to be close to family, etc.) I feel alone, with no improvement in sight. Easter can't come soon enough. Thank you for listening. Really.

Pitterpatter, What all is necessary for the Earlybird program? And when did you start it? Thanks!

(This is reposted from the General Board. I didn't realize there was a Curriculum Forum. Sorry to duplicate!) Good morning and hello! I just joined the board after reading Well Trained Mind. After doing a lot of digging about how we want to "do" homeschooling for my bright (gifted? I dunno, I'm partial to my own kid. Go figure.) 3.5yo daughter, I'm really impressed by the depth and intensity of what Classical ed can be. No rush though, right? Because she still sleeps with a diaper.:willy_nilly: Anyway, I'm comfortable with what we've been doing for her up to this point. I started by just doing the "learning" that came naturally for her and our family. I read lots to her, and we talk about phonics rules, planted a garden from seeds, stargaze, make art, DH does lots of hands on building with her, my father shows her astronomy, my mother takes her on walks and cooks with her, MIL speaks German with her, we check out about 50 books a month from the library, etc. I charted all of that on an excel file, and it turns out we were already doing reading 5x a week, science 2x a week, dabbling in history, art, foreign language, etc. Classical Ed, right? Except... um... math. Blech. I guess we have to do math, right? So I did some internet research and came up with three options: Saxon, Singapore, Math U See. I'm looking for insight into the nuts and bolts of these three programs- mainly because it is my dearest desire to not buy all three just so I can discard two of them. The Singapore program is unclear as to which texts fit into our age group: Do we do the Big Books and the workbooks? Which teacher guide? The Saxon materials seem indivisible from the whole curriculum (and we don't want to do that) Math U See was my first pick, having seen it at a conference and liking the reusable quality of it, but WTM didn't recommend it too highly. Of course, if you're reading this and have used another product, I would love to hear about that, too. Thanks in advance for your help. This looks like a great community!

That's indeed comforting to hear. And I'm hardly jumping out of my skin to "do math" any time soon. Of course, we do a fair amount of counting and recipe stuff and such. My question stands, at least for future action. Further insight is appreciated. Also, it looks like I accidentally posted this in the wrong forum. Is there a way I can move it? I may just copy/paste it. AdventureMoms, it's not to be rid of your comments!

Good morning and hello! I just joined the board after reading Well Trained Mind. After doing a lot of digging about how we want to "do" homeschooling for my bright (gifted? I dunno, I'm partial to my own kid. Go figure.) 3.5yo daughter, I'm really impressed by the depth and intensity of what Classical ed can be. No rush though, right? Because she still sleeps with a diaper.:willy_nilly: Anyway, I'm comfortable with what we've been doing for her up to this point. I started by just doing the "learning" that came naturally for her and our family. I read lots to her, and we talk about phonics rules, planted a garden from seeds, stargaze, make art, DH does lots of hands on building with her, my father shows her astronomy, my mother takes her on walks and cooks with her, MIL speaks German with her, we check out about 50 books a month from the library, etc. I charted all of that on an excel file, and it turns out we were already doing reading 5x a week, science 2x a week, dabbling in history, art, foreign language, etc. Classical Ed, right? Except... um... math. Blech. I guess we have to do math, right? So I did some internet research and came up with three options: Saxon, Singapore, Math U See. I'm looking for insight into the nuts and bolts of these three programs- mainly because it is my dearest desire to not buy all three just so I can discard two of them. The Singapore program is unclear as to which texts fit into our age group: Do we do the Big Books and the workbooks? Which teacher guide? The Saxon materials seem indivisible from the whole curriculum (and we don't want to do that) Math U See was my first pick, having seen it at a conference and liking the reusable quality of it, but WTM didn't recommend it too highly. Of course, if you're reading this and have used another product, I would love to hear about that, too. Thanks in advance for your help. This looks like a great community!