I buy a cheap student planner for each child to use as a journal. I write in it once a day or so to record what they actually did. We are very much a "Do the next thing" sort of family. I'm always amazed when I look back at what we've done; it appears to be way more of an accomplishment in retrospect than it feels as we complete each day. As we live in a state with no records/testing/portfolio requirements, I keep very little of their completed work (simply based on my space available and intolerance of clutter), but I always keep their planners.

My 7 year old LOVES the freedom I've given her this summer to 'pick a math, any math' to use each morning. It is the only school work we're doing other than reading tons of good books. She is currently using/choosing between: XtraMath or Calculadder for fact mastery and Beast, MM, or Singapore for main lesson. We have had a busy couple of weeks and didn't get beyond fact practice for several days in a row and she actually said, "I miss Math Mammoth! When can I do some?" Yee ha!

I'd buy the Evan Moor consumable student book ($7.99 per copy, I think) on the publisher's website. It is so much easier than trying to make copies or print your own. I feel comfortable enough that I don't buy the teacher book, but you may feel differently. I bought the Daily geography, Daily science, and Daily Handwriting practice student/consumable books for $8 each for my daughter to use as her independent skill work in the morning while I'm clearing up from breakfast, making beds, and getting the day going. Might be considered by some as 'busy work', but she seems to enjoy things she can do completely independently when I'm occupied with another child or household responsibility.

It is fantastic, direct and to the point, and cheap! My 7 year old blew through levels 1B-3B last year (currently finishing 3B) and has ROCK SOLID math skills. Obviously you won't move that fast with a whole classroom full of kids, but it is so easy to differentiate with MM. My older girls have used it in the higher grades. Nationally-normed standardized test results came back today and WOW! did they all make great strides in math. I think Maria's curriculum paired with a great teacher's experience would be a fantastic combination. Best of luck with your search & kudos to you for being the sort of dedicated teacher every child deserves.

My 7, turning 8-year old, will be doing the following for 3rd grade: Math: MM 3B-4B, SM IP and CWP 3, and perhaps BA Grammar: FFL3 Writing: WWE2/3 Handwriting: Evan Moor Traditional Cursive daily practice Literature: MCT Alice, Peter, Mole Vocabulary: MCT Spelling: ?? Maybe AAS History: STOW Middle Ages & hands-on projects at co-op State History: co-op class Geography: Mapping the World by Heart with Athena's Science: Nancy Larson 2 Ballet Competitive swimming

Does ZB Spelling Connections teach the explicit spelling rules? I have used EvanMoor Building Spelling Skills and Spelling Workout in the past and I liked them okay, but they don't actually teach the rules (at least not explicitly). I'm sort of looking for something that teaches the rules a la AAS, but that is a bit less teacher intensive. Would you say the ZB series fits this bill? My daughter is 7, but seems to be a natural speller; however, I do want to teach her spelling rules explicitly.

We've subscribed at home for years. My girls love it and the older two have transitioned to reading/watching 'real' news now that they're 12 & 14. I credit TFK for their interest in current events. There are several editions: K-1, 2, 3-4 and 5-6 I believe. I think they're pretty accurately labeled with the caveat that the grade levels reflect interest/sensitivity level, as much as reading level. My 7 year old reads at a middle school level, but the 2nd grade edition was perfect for her last year and she'll be moving on to the 3-4 this year. Topics are addressed in an age-appropriate way as long as you go by their grade level recommendations. As far as bias, I feel like they are pretty balanced. Although, I'm a little liberal, so perhaps I'm not seeing the bias another commenter mentioned :tongue_smilie:. I think the price is fair for what you get. My only complaint is that the younger levels are mailed several issues per envelope and you have to 'pace' yourself. The upper levels come bi-weekly (I think...please verify). My girls fight over them when they arrive in the mail and they love to go to the TFK website for the electronic connections. They've participated in polls, written to the editor, played games online, etc. Good stuff, IMO. Please let me know if you have any specific questions.

My older girls proudly identify as 'geeks' or bookworms and I think that is largely due to the rigorous homeschool environment we've created at home. My daughter who is 7 turning 8 in October just finished 1st or 2nd grade, depending on who is asking :). She works daily (Monday-Thursday) from 9-12 on seat work: MM/BA, WWE, FLL, spelling, vocabulary & handwriting. After lunch, we listen to SOTW audio, do science, geography, free reading, and read-alouds (I'll include MCT in this slot) from approximately 1-4. The afternoons are spent on the couch or laying on the floor and are generally punctuated by play, snacks, and quick breaks as needed and are concluded with tea time. It makes for a full day, but I often ask myself, what else would we be doing? We live in Michigan, so much of the school year is frigid and not enjoyable for outdoor play. Fridays are fun days with 3 hours spent at co-op for enrichment classes. We take days off as needed for field trips or plays/operas/concerts. We take the summer off (except for a bit of daily skill work such as math and cursive). Our three older girls are competitive swimmers, so we spend most evenings at the pool. They enjoy seeing their friends and their fitness is admirable. They are learning so many life lessons in the pool that will carry over into life: the value of hard work, goal setting, how to handle criticism, mental preparation for difficult tasks, etc. If it happens to help fund their college educations, so much the better, but that isn't the primary goal. They don't have a lot of downtime during the week, but weekends we're not at meets are relaxed and seem to be enough to fuel their souls. If rigor feels right to you, carry on. Your attitude and sense of "this is just what we do" will rub off on your kids. My big girls have a real sense of purpose, focus and direction that many of their peers lack. They are beginning to feel very different, but in a good way. An unusual situation for a teen girl, I can assure you! So, no. I don't regret the rigor at all.

But a search led me to several reviews. I'm intrigued. Looks quite good, and appears to have most of the appeal of IEW, but in a much simpler, less-teacher-intensive format. Do you know whether it is secular? Or could be used secularly? Nevermind - I just answered my own question by reading Cathy Duffy's review. It is not secular. Not a deal-killer for me, but may be for some. I'm looking forward to other responses to your OP! Thanks for the tip.

My girls love receiving Time For Kids. I believe they have a K-1 edition that would probably work for your children. If you go to their website, I believe you can request free sample issues for preview. My older girls have moved on to enjoy CNN Student News. They watch it daily during or after breakfast. They know more about what is going on in the world than most adults!

Not all kids LEARN the why the Saxon way. Does that make any sense? My older girls used Saxon (through Alg. 1 for DD 1 and through 8/7 for DD 2), but needed a little more support to really GET it (we used a private tutor for DD 1 and an online math class for DD 2 for this purpose). I think what Saxon does well is to keep everything fresh and prevent them forgetting concepts by using continual, spiral review. My 7 year old doesn't need nearly as much review (so far) as the older girls did, so MM is a more efficient way to teach her. I haven't ruled out using Saxon in the middle grades though. I voted "to some degree" on the poll.

We strive for a Montessori 3-hour uninterrupted work period in the mornings (generally, from 9-12). During this time, we all work around the dining room table, or spill into the living room if we need more space to spread out or want to sit on a soft chair or sofa to read. I aim to have a prepared environment for my preschooler that includes a snack/drink ready to go when she decides she needs it (so she doesn't have to interrupt me when she gets hungry/thirsty) and fresh activities presented attractively (I might pull out the unit blocks, the Little People, paper/scissors/crayons for cutting & coloring, a few picture books, and Play-dough). I usually rotate the activities daily (most of her things are stored in our basement playroom, but naturally she prefers to 'work' alongside us) and she will go through 4 or 5 during the 3-hours. I try to use a quiet voice when I'm working one-on-one with another child, both to model this behavior and to prevent distracting her. We talk freely during this time, but I try to keep the focus on whatever work is at hand. I usually have her join me in the kitchen to prep lunch while the older kids are finishing up their morning work. Some days she is more cooperative than others, but I find that it often corresponds to how well organized I am and whether I'm staying on task myself! If I get distracted or disappear for more than several minutes (she can stay on track while I throw in a load of laundry, but not if I'm on the computer for 20 minutes), I can almost guarantee she'll get off track too! Hope that helps.

My immediate reaction after reading the linked page was that Alfie Kohn, author of Punished by Rewards, may not feel so positively toward gamifying the classroom. What are your thoughts? Are the badges and levels different than gold stars and trinkets? I'm not sure. We're not really gamers and I don't know that my kids would really be motivated by that sort of thing, but I know that some (many?) would. http://www.alfiekohn.org/books/pbr.htm

Any idea what is the ideal age to introduce the Narnia series? We listened to the audio books with my older girls when they were (??) younger (forgive me, I've had two kids since then, or maybe even while we were listening, so I don't remember their ages at the time). I do remember thinking they were a bit too young to understand much of the allegory. Any thoughts?

I say teach them solid math at home. MM is concise and, in my opinion, pretty easy to accelerate or remediate with AND you already own it :). When I have after schooled in the past, I tried to do it everyday off school (1/2 days, weekends, school breaks, holidays); we were less successful afterschooling math on actual school days. Your mileage may vary. We also made very liberal use of audiobooks, especially for SOTW and great literature. Good luck!

As a previous commenter said, she has been so institutionalized that she can't see the lack of logic in her perspective. Seems like this is a case of: if you can learn literature just by reading and discussing good books, why is there a need of a teacher? Perhaps this merger of schools will be a growth opportunity for her, as well as for her students!

My DD 14 will be completely outsourced as she is going to PS for the first time! My DD 12 is taking 4 of 6 'classes' online: TPS English and Spanish, LiveOnlineMath for Pre-Algebra, PrePhysics (fall) and PreChem (spring) via Landry Academy. She'll do history, literature, and Spencerian Penmanship taught by mom. My DD 7 will take enrichments via co-op: ballet, SOTW hands-projects, and state history. DD 3 will be 'outsourced' each afternoon as she attends a Montessori preschool. Yeah, I'm not afraid to outsource! :)

:)

This is going to sound strange, because generally I do not care for school-y, textbooky resources, but I love Voyage in English (Loyola Press) grammar & writing for first grade & second grade. Both are consumable work texts and the teacher's guide is not at all necessary. They are very reasonably priced and just the perfect amount of challenge for that age. It addresses both grammar and writing (using a writer's workshop format). My daughters have all done them and it seemed to be a great launch pad for further study (in later grades). I didn't care for FLL 1 & 2, and R&S was much too religious for me, so VIE it was. It is produced by a Catholic press, but is secular. If I remember correctly, Rainbow Resource carries it but I got a better price directly through the publisher. Worth checking both, however.

Thanks, momtothreeboys, for sharing your blog post reviewing Elemental History. Even though your feedback wasn't entirely positive, it might actually push me over into the 'buy it' category. I'm looking for something easy/light to add to our studies and I would be using it with a 7-year old girl, so your criticisms of it might just be assets from my standpoint. Thanks for your candid thoughts. Anyone else???

Wow, this is something my 7-year old will just devour for fun. Even though we have a full docket for next year, I would buy this just for fun reading. We did life science in a big way last year and she can't seem to get enough. Anxious to hear more about it.

I'm curious if anyone used this for the full year and can offer a review. Looks lovely, but I'd like to hear from someone who has actually completed the program. My 7, turning 8 in October, daughter will be studying SOTW Middle Ages at home and doing hands-on projects at a co-op this year, but I wouldn't mind exposing her to some American history. I would anticipate having her read the narrative and possibly the supplemental book suggestions and do some discussion/narration of it with me. We'll likely skip the projects since we're doing another full history program. So, with that in mind, I have two questions: 1) Is it written so that it would hold the interest of a (somewhat accelerated) 7-8 year old? 2) Is it enough to get the 'story' of American history without doing all the hands-on stuff? Or, should I just wait until SOTW volumes 3 & 4 and let her discover the story of America then? I guess that makes three questions! Thanks in advance for any wisdom you can share.

I think FLL 3/WWE2 would probably be a nice fit for the child you described. We're going to add in a bit of MCT for fun, but I really like the progress I've seen with FLL/WWE. Also, it is relatively quick and it always gets done!

My oldest daughter will go to public high school this fall. She attended a private school for k-2 and home schooled 3rd-8th. As I understand it, even in our high-achieving, relatively affluent school district, middle school is the weak link. This is largely due to the focus being on keeping them from killing themselves and each other (I exaggerate of course, but you see what I mean), rather than on stellar academics. Even if it isn't awful socially, I'm told, their experience in public middle school is very underwhelming academically. I will keep all of my girls home through 8th grade, and give them the opportunity to attend high school if they so desire. In order to prepare them for attending a B&M high school, we've done a couple of online classes in 7th grade and several in 8th so that they are used to an outside teacher's expectations, understand how much emphasis is placed on grades, learn to work with firm deadlines, etc. So far, it seems to be a good plan. My incoming 9th grader is very mature, has read tons, is very solid in math, is a good advocate for herself, is secure in her values, has clear goals for herself, and is an extremely hard worker and good time-manager. I'm fairly sure she wouldn't be "in the same place" if she had been in public school for middle school. I think the virtual school with some co-op'ing sounds like a great plan for your son.

I think I would ask for book recommendations at your local library. My 7 year old (turning 8 in October) just finished second grade at home and is having a loosely structured summer of learning. I read or heard somewhere that reading a lot of books that a child enjoys will do more for their reading skills than reading just a few that are at their instructional level. With that said, her summer days look something like this: 9-10a Math - She too is great with math facts, so I'm just continuing on with her learning. She does Xtramath or calculadder to practice timed facts, and then moves on into a lesson in MM or BA (her choice). You might consider using something like Zaccaro's Challenge Math or Challenging Word Problems 1 to give her some good challenge at her level. 10:30-1 Swim team practice/free swim/packed lunch at our neighborhood pool 2-4p Reading - I get a huge bag of library books each week, and so far she has devoured basically everything I've brought home. Our 3 year-old is JUST outgrowing a nap, but we still have a "no feet on the floor from 2-4" rule in the house. It has done wonders for my sanity, and dramatically increased the amount of reading we all do! Our library has a section of picture books for older readers (really beautiful books) that have been a big hit with her this summer. She is also enjoying some series books about puppies, ballerinas, unicorns, etc. that I would NEVER let her read during the school year (totally Twaddle, IMHO!). She has discovered and loved The Boxcar Children books, Beverly Cleary's Ramona series, Judy Blume's Fudge series, and has read & re-read every one of the All of a Kind Family books by Sydney Taylor. Your daughter is a little younger, but some of this may interest her. If you wanted to do more structured learning, you could replace some of the free reading time in the afternoon with handwriting, geography, or whatever else you have planned. I find my kids more attentive and focused after they've had a good amount of play time and are relaxed/a bit tired. Good luck and have fun with her home this summer!