There is no need to wake everyone. I find that in late-August/early-September when we're re-establishing a school-year routine, I have to encourage an earlier bed time, to ensure an earlier wake time, but once established, they pretty much all wake between 7-8 and are prepared to begin working by 9. This fall will be different since DD1 will be going to PS/high school for the first time. DH or I will need to leave the house by 7:30 to get her to school by 7:40. Though this will be hard on dark winter mornings, I hope to embrace the need to be up & out early. We plan to take turns (alternate days) going to the gym to exercise after dropping her off at school. So long as I'm home/out of the shower by 9, I can sit down at the table with the others (12, 7, & 3) to begin our morning time. All of this assumes an 8p bedtime for the two littles and a 10p bedtime for the two big girls. I wish even the big girls could be asleep earlier, but their swim practice runs until 9 and it take some time to get home and wind down. All this to say that if we couldn't all naturally be awake and ready to begin work by 9a, I WOULD wake everyone because 9-12 is our most important, productive working period of the day and I wouldn't want to miss it.

Just because I'm fairly neurotic, I HAVE to read them in order, but like a previous commenter said, after book 1, you could probably read them in any order. If you're okay being all Willy Nilly and throwing caution to the wind, etc. Kidding, of course!

You mentioned earlier in this thread that you generally prefer secular materials. I'm curious whether you mind the religious content in R&S? I've been so tempted, both by the English and Spelling books, but not sure if the bible references would throw us for a loop. For one, it is not our holy book so I don't even know many of the answers (I guess the TE would help with that), but I'm also concerned it would be confusing/strange for my kids. Any thoughts or wisdom to share?

You'll find no shortage of advice on these boards; I was a lurker for many years before posting, so kudos to you for speaking up right away! I'll avoid specific curriculum advice because you've gotten some good suggestions already, but I will suggest that you may wish to simply use a journal to record your progress, rather than formulating detailed lesson plans from the beginning. Get a good feel for what works for her and then go from there. Enjoy the process. You're a lucky man to be home during the day and be in on the homeschooling action. My husband jumps in when he can and always says he wishes he were with us during the day. My kids have always preferred his read-aloud style to mine (he is a bit more dramatic) :)!

It is a magic moment, isn't it?

I'd be willing to bet he's referring to students who've used Saxon. It has a reputation for producing math students who have memorized formulas and can 'plug 'n chug' all day without much understanding. I speak from experience...my older daughter is unfortunately in that boat currently. We're trying to amend this situation, but are using a combo of SM and Math Mammoth with the youngers.

Every day is a new day and a chance to do something, just one thing, very well. HS'ing is hard. But celebrate the small victories and overtime there will be more successes than failures. There really is a pretty steep learning curve with homeschooling (which seems strange given that you've been raising these children for years already...). Looking back, I was SOOOOOO neurotic the first few years! It was stressful for all of us, and not particularly effective. I'm more mellow now, but also so much more productive. :) The WTM forums will be your friend!

I used several of these (http://www.logospressonline.com/index.php?p=product&id=67&parent=32) with my older girls and they really seemed to like them. We were able to read many books and not be dragged down by over-analysis, but I felt good that even though I wasn't able read/discuss every book with them (while pregnant, nursing, or chasing a toddler) I knew they were understanding the books and could reflect upon them a bit. More than literature analysis, they're really reading comprehension work, but I felt like I was able to use them as jumping off points to do more analysis orally based on their written responses to the questions in the guides.

I can't say that I've btdt, but I'm right there with you. I've read this stuff with my olders, but can't remember exactly when/what ages. This year with my 7 year old (8 in October) DD3, I'll be reading/listening to: The Merry Adventures of Robin Hood by Howard Pyle King Arthur and His Knights of the Round Table by Roger Lancelyn Green This collection of Canterbury Tales on audio: http://www.amazon.com/Canterbury-Tales-Classic-Literature-Classical/dp/9626342560/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1342655021&sr=8-1&keywords=9626342560 I have other things on our SOTW 2 reading shelf, but these were the three you asked about specifically. Other things we'll read or listen to (we really like audio books) are: Catherine Called Birdy Adam of the Road Door in the Wall Wulf the Saxon (G.A. Henty) The Story of Rolf and the Viking Bow (Allen French) And I may try this audio of Beowulf with her (without much in the way of expectations - could be way, way over her head, but you never know): http://www.amazon.com/Beowulf-Seamus-Heaney/dp/1565114272/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1342655381&sr=1-1&keywords=1565114272 Hope that helps! We're doing a weekly co-op class along with our study of SOTW 2. There she will do hands-on projects, map work, timeline, and some narration. I feel like I can really focus on pulling in good literature since I don't have to coordinate all the other 'stuff'!

I personally think SWB's LA stuff is hard to beat. In our house, FLL (grammar) and WWE workbooks (writing, can also be handwriting practice) are staples because they're highly effective and always get done. I also am a fan of Wordly Wise. Because Sonlight can be a little 'light' on the output side of things, Wordly Wise is a good way for the girls to have daily written work required of them and it can be done independently. I think the reading comprehension section is particularly valuable. I am a recent convert to AAS, but will admit that it will be expensive beginning with an older student. R&S would be my back-up spelling program (after have recently researched this exhaustively) if you are not bothered by the religious content. Other than Language Arts, I would agree with previous comments to begin with the basics and add in art and foreign language down the road (a couple of weeks or months or semesters into your hs'ing journey). You most definitely don't have to purchase those now. If you're anything like me, you would have them sitting on your shelf and it would drive you crazy if you're feeling overwhelmed and can't find time to implement them right away. Once you are established with your core subjects and are feeling like you're on top of things, you can add them in to spice things up! Good luck & have fun!

I'm replying mainly to bump this thread. I used Plato's earth science several years ago with my two older girls. They were maybe in 5th and 7th grades at the time? It seemed thorough to me (the actual content), but they were really not fans of the method of delivery. I've found that they 'check out' when using asynchronous, software driven classes. We abandoned it mid-course, which bugged me at the time, but I'm getting better at dropping things that are not working for us, even though my instinct is to finish what we've started. I don't necessarily mean this to be a negative review of the product in general, just our experience with it. I really wanted it to work. Your mileage may vary significantly (hope it does)!

Last year when we did Vol. 1, I followed the schedule set by our co-op class. Each Friday, the teacher would plan a hands-on activity to go with the chapter, complete the map work and do a little discussion with the kids. At home, we would read (or listen to the audio or both) the chapter, narrate, and read any supplemental books we had checked out from the library. We did 1-2 chapters per week. We did one research project/in-depth study each semester (my daughter chose ancient phoenician glass making first semester and Greek mythology second semester), plus a final project on a an ancient person of special interest to our child (she chose Cleopatra). It was nice having a class to present to, but the same could also be done with family. This year, we're using the same co-op class to study Vol 2. I could certainly do all this on my own, but it is very NICE to have one subject in which we follow someone else's schedule! If someone gives me a deadline, it is going to get done - that is just my personality! Not sure if we would have completed 3 large-scale projects/presentations if left to my own devices! So, I didn't really plan, but followed someone else's plan! If you think this would be helpful for you, could you partner with one other family and get together to share your work? Just an idea...

For what it is worth, I always seem to get less done while pregnant, than during the first year with a newborn (but then I have difficult pregnancies and easy babies :)). Definitely don't worry about covering history and science this year! Make a weekly/bi-weekly trip to the library and DO try to choose a variety of books: history, science, music (CDs), art, poetry, plus good fiction. Don't make yourself a complicated list and don't stress about following any sort of order or methodology. Teacher her the three R's and read lots of good books every week. If you want to get crazy, listen to the SOTW on audio. My girls have heard it literally dozens of times and never seem to tire of it. Those stories are like old friends to them. Have fun!

Just bought one at Target for $20 yesterday in the back to school section. Has a nice aluminum frame and seems high-quality.

But there were few times when I scratched my head for a bit trying to decipher a picture or some such! Although, as we went through more of the books, I seemed to get better at 'thinking' like ETC! My girls used up through book 6, I think and I never felt like the TE would have added more.

My kids have attended a couple of b-day parties where pony rides were offered. We've never hosted one ourselves, so I have no idea about fee structure, but I think that would be a viable business if you live in an area where such things are the norm.

The tough thing is that this business of raising children is so long-range in scope that we don't get a lot of quality feedback on our success (or failure), until it is too late to correct our course, if needed! That scares me. However, I really like the people I'm raising. They seem confident, happy, at ease in themselves, full of character, and purposeful. I have to assume then, that what I'm doing is working to a large extent. So, we'll just stay the course. As to the specific issue of lit analysis: my girls are all readers. We take the summer off school, but they do a lot of free reading during this time. During the school year, the older two have teacher-led English classes, but my DD3 (age 7) will be doing MCT Alice, Peter, Mole collection. All on the couch, all with me, all followed by afternoon tea. I like that there are only three books at this level (I have a terrible completion-compulsion and if there were more, darn it we'd finish it!). Beyond these three books, she'll just read for pleasure. She tends to pick easy, sweet, older girl-oriented fiction (e.g. Betsy Tacy, All of a Kind Family, B is for Betsy), but she is open to other things which I'll sprinkle in for variety. We don't get around to foreign language until 7th grade; I don't teach any sort of critical thinking/logic; art & music is all outsourced, somewhat sporadically but is high in quality. I just can't do everything and I'm finally becoming okay with that. My kids aren't burned out. I feel like what we do, we do well. But we certainly DON'T do everything. Thanks for starting this thread. Good food for thought.

My kids have all been early/strong readers and seemingly natural spellers. I actually like Wordly Wise a lot in this situation. It can be handwriting practice (if you require them to write neatly and slowly, and assuming that they already know correct letter formation), obviously it is vocabulary work, can be used to study spelling patterns (you will have to explain the spelling rule behind some words), and the reading comprehension section is fantastic, in my opinion. Because it is largely independent work (rare for anything at this grade level), I think it you get a good 'bang for your buck' both in terms of cost and in terms of the subjects it can be used to cover. What I consider ideal for LA coverage for grades 1-2: grammar writing vocab/spelling/handwriting (combined or separately) great read alouds and independent reading with narration If you're not already sold on a grammar/writing program, take a look at Voyages in English by Loyola Press. The grade 1 and grade 2 books are work texts (grammar and writing combined in one volume per grade). They're straight-forward, cover all the essentials, are inexpensive, and they get done. I've had good results using them with my girls. I don't like this program from 3rd grade on b/c it is a hardback text (expensive and very schooly - most activities are geared toward a classroom), but I love the 1st and 2nd grade books. Hope that helps!

I agree with previous poster that consistently using the same testing tool helps for comparison purposes. We know a local math tutor who annually offers the Stanford test. I like using someone else to administer the test, too. My kids take it more seriously and I find the results more objective (I know they would ask for help if I were giving the test...). Even though I live in a state that does not require testing, we do it annually. I'm surprised by the number of times I've pulled the testing reports out for various purposes. I'm glad we have been doing them. Plus, I consider test-taking a skill to be learned like so many other things. We did the ITBS one year, but it was an older copy of the test and I didn't care for it (can't remember specifically why).

Puzzling through difficult stuff is a skill best introduced young. And for a bright child, few things are truly difficult for them in the lower grades. BA is a good stretch for my rising 3rd grader. She definitely doesn't understand everything, but so far has not gotten to the point of frustration. My older girls are MUCH more resistant to things like this b/c I didn't lay that foundation when they were younger. Could you just use/read the guides without doing the practice books, if that is the part you/they're not enjoying? My daughter actually takes it to bed with her...go figure!

Bump for the afternoon readers

I am planning to use Nancy Larson science this fall with my DD3 (age 7). In trying to decide which level to use, I'm looking ahead to the planned release of the later levels. It looks like Level 4 is available on the classroom side, but not yet on the homeschool side, which makes me think it must be coming very soon as a homeschool product, but perhaps not? I'm inclined to think my daughter (who has had a great science background due to a co-op class and local science museum class for 3 years) might find Level 3 a better fit for her this year than Level 2, but I'm concerned that I'll get 'ahead' of the NL program and we'll exhaust the available levels before more are released. Know what I mean? Anyone with any inside knowledge? I suppose I could contact the company, but that would make WAY too much sense. Thought I'd ask here first...

It can take a very, very long time to master the multiplication tables. Like your daughter, my girls could sing/skip count the tables with no problem, but reciting the tables were a different matter. It could just be a developmental thing that she'll eventually outgrow. If her progress is solid in other areas, I would just keep to the course, plodding methodically along and not be concerned about her being behind - so long as she is truly understanding concepts and not just 'plugging and chugging' without understanding.

We're doing a lot of different things for math this summer, including a bit of BA here and there. Our big focus has been developing fluency with multiplication facts via Calculadder and XtraMath. She'll do a few BA problems here and there (she is on the Skip Counting chapter of 3A). However, I think she has read the Guide 10 times. Takes it to bed with her. Since she is young (7), I'm just letting her play with it, be intrigued with math, think it is funny. She has asked me several times when I'm going to buy the next book; I take that to mean she really likes it.

I have a question for Boscopup. I don't know how to quote previous comments, so bear with me. I'm curious about your transition from AAS to R&S spelling with your 8 year old. I'm trying to figure out what to do for my daughter who will be 8 in October. She is an advanced reader and seems to be a natural speller, but I would like for her to learn the explicit spelling rules, so I want to introduce a spelling program this year. A friend has AAS levels 1 & 2 that she has offered for me to use, but I haven't yet set eyes on the full program. I can't wrap my head around it and therefore can't decide whether it will be overkill for my situation. I'm tempted by R&S and have looked at the samples for both the 3rd grade and 4th grade levels. From the one sample lesson I can see, it looks like the 3rd grade is a little more phonics-ish, while the 4th grade samples appear to be pretty hard-core spelling rules. Having obviously seen both, where would you place a child like my daughter? Also, is there built-in review of the actual spelling rules with R&S? I suppose I could always make a flash card/review card for each rule as it is introduced and have her review them regularly. Your thoughts, please? Oh, one last thing. How much religious content exists in the R&S spelling books? I realize the publisher is a christian organization, but I'm not sure how much is sprinkled into the spelling books.