I'm not going to buy anymore curriculum until I use up what I already have! (Help me with this mantra!) I do not have to get anything for my 1st and 4th grader in the fall!!! I have Abeka "everything" through 4th grade, All SWB instructional books and SOTW 1 and 2, TOG units, every History and Science resource mentioned in WTM, several Apologia elem. sci books, Classical Writing-Aesop A & B, Stack the Deck-1st couple of levels, Song School Latin/Latin for Children A, Latina Christiana I, PowerGlide Spanish, several God's Design years, two different art programs, every history and lit pockets book from Evan-moor, and a gazillion phonics, math, spelling, etc. workbooks from cost-co,walmart, etc. an amazing library system, my computer, and the internet. So there! (I do have to get older ds stuff, but it's an investment for the other two...right?) Thanks for listening to me convince myself! :) Jennifer Blok dd11, dd9, ds5

:tongue_smilie:Thanks! I forgot about using the spelling rules along with learning to spell the words! Too many things to remember...how did we ever learn how to spell?!?!?

We have been focusing on phonics with ds9 this year. His reading skills have improved, yet spelling... I know that phonics instruction is important, but how can I help him differentiate between all of the different spellings of the same sound? Sample of spelling test: using ir-er-ur words (Abeka 1, list 10) X sirv serve X pers purse X bern burn X cerul curl X tern turn X dert dirt X ferst first X girol girl I can't purchase another spelling program, anything I can make or use from the internet? We already use Spellingcity and making flashcards. Thanks! -Jennifer

We use this cheer to remember the even numbers. All numbers that end with these numbers and 0 (zero) are even!

What do you do when your childen have already seen the movie of a "classic" book, i.e. Lord of the Rings, Narnia, etc.? Do you have them read the book anyway? My kids have seen all of these movies way before they were capable of reading such literature. Now my oldest is able to read them, but does not want to... he already knows the story. Same goes for books such as Bridge to Terabithia, Charolette's Web, Harry Potter... I'm not really interested in doing a major lit type study on individual books right now. I'm just trying to get him to 'read books!' Thanks! Jennifer

Why didn't I think of cardstock? Thanks... maybe the younger ones won't even care if their project is just a little bit different.

It is a little 4x4 block of canvas on wood with a pre-printed picture on it. We were going to color it with crayons and glue on sequins, jewels, etc. I thought of copying the image onto transfer paper and making the extras we needed, but would really like to avoid the hassle! It's just that the starter kit has a sample of each project they have available, and I KNOW that many go to waste, because people don't often use the packaged crafts. We normally don't either, but.... Thanks :)

Did anyone order the starter kit and decide NOT to use the "God Loves Me" canvas art included in the kit? We ended up with more registrations than we ever thought would happen, and are now short on craft supplies. Cokesbury is SOLD OUT of the canvas art projects. (and just about everything else!) Anyone interesting in donating/selling your sample from the kit? Desperate!!!! Thanks! --Jennifer

We used the projects from Apologia's Zoo I: Both are group activities. 1. A game of "Marco Polo" with bells for everyone instead of yelling... not as easy as it 'sounds!' Make sure the playing area is not too big. 2. Find your baby: Each student was assigned a scent (pepper, lemon, peppermint, etc.) and they had to locate their own 'pups' form a large batch of cotton balls prepared with the scents. We had 10 for each student (7) and laid them out on a tablecloth on the ground. Make sure the cotton balls are not too wet and they are not stored all together - the scents tend to mix together. We also used the notebook/lapbook materials from homeschoolshare.com, watched Magic School Bus "Bats!" video, read "Stellaluna," and looked up many websites online. Have fun!

All of the work is done together unless of illness - then we coordinate via e-mail anything that can be accomplished that week. Families are encouraged to maintain the "conversation" at home and to supplement with library books at home in their "book basket" regarding the current topic. We meet at the Library on Tues. and the younger girls do the Storytime while I have the older boys in a meeting room for "class." We are right there in the library to do research if necessary. Thurs is and my house for the "project" stuff. Ok...enough for now!

We are using SOTW with AG, Evan-Moor Pockets, library books, and tons of internet resources: Each student has a binder.... you could set it up as an "add the next thing" or split it into sections as outlined in WTM for olders. Read together the chapter/section of the chapter - as a read aloud for youngers or oral reading for olders (if read aloud, then have a color sheet of the topic to keep idle hands busy) Oral question and answer (m&m's, etc. for correct answers :) ) "Round the Table" type Mapping: any black line master... a different on for each topic or continue on a "permanent" one by adding to the map. Use AG or other mapping guideline. Narration Notebook Page: a prepared page with a picture or place to draw a pic/ lines for sentences (olders come up with own, youngers either dictate and trace or dictate only) This page can come from a variety of sources... homeschoolshare.com, liveandlearnpress.com, etc. Or the Pocketbook pages we do as Notebooking. Literature/composition: Sometimes we add myths/fiction/etc. and narrate or review... sometimes a biography or character analysis.... sometimes we write poems, etc. Project Time: Pick something fun from the AG or other source to go along with the topic... art/salt dough map/clothing/display... the ideas are endless!!! ** We are doing a 2 day a week co-op with another family based on SOTW 1: Roman Empire (current topic) and Apologia Zoology 1 (currently on lesson 10) 2 hrs each day (10-12 T/Th) 1 hr History, 1 hr Zoology (unless a bigger project presents itself). The above activities are them split between two days. The Zoo work is very similar. There are 4 boys ages 10 & 8 that I work with on this and the other mom has our PreK/K girls and is doing K unit studies with them :). HTH --Jennifer

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We put them on index cards and then used rings to create a flash card "Ring of Time." Sometimes they hang on the wall near the time line or they hook in the binders if we need to transport them. You can start anywhere in history and practice going forwards and backwards. The back of the card has the dates, age/era.

Hmmm.... anyone else? Thoughts on how you incorporate "writing across the curriculum?

We have to streamline the number of individual "subjects" for my guys. Their checklist looks like a grocery list.... I am going to incorporate composition/report writing skills, literature genre study, and lit analysis studies in with their SOTW and Zoology work. There is a ton of info, helps, worksheets, lesson plans, etc. all over the internet regarding this "English" work. After trying Abeka LA, Classical Writing, and Stack the Deck, it seemed like we were just writing for the sake of writing. It makes more sense to me to have it "worth" something in terms of learning about a topic, etc. For example - using the folk tale we are reading as supplemental lit for SOTW and explore the characterization or setting- or- work on a descriptive narrative by describing in detail a room in a pyramid or the Trojan Horse or an animal from Zoology -or- work on a persuasive essay by trying to persuade the Pharoah to let the Egyptians go... Creating a genre notebook to record readings from all of their subjects in the appropriate categories (Evan-Moor Lit pockets has a good start for this)... More "writing across the curriculum" as the main focus as opposed to an adjunct to a specific writing program. Anyone else do this? Thanks for you input!