Thanks for the link Jenn, I need a few of these (one for DH) so I'm going to try this one out also! Thanks!

MMMmmmm we do have some Fair Trade Coffee also - and that has been (bean lol) very good also. Agreed on the Keurig for now anyway, I just like it stronger than they can make it! I'm headed to Costco on Monday and I'll look for them. :) Thanks!

On my school shopping list this year I have a section for Mom things which was not a priority last year for us (BIG MISTAKE!), and #1 on the list is a new coffee mug and of course, COFFEE! I have a cheap metal mug with a lid bought like 10yrs ago before we had the kiddos. The coffee gets cold in less than 30 minutes. I've read occasionally here and there some of you raving about your coffee staying hot for hours and hours in one day in your mugs. DO SHARE!! Chime in with your favorite insulated mugs, your favorite makers and machines, and your must have brews for the school year. I'm a lover of Caribou Blend and Travelers Roast from Caribou, have a few sacks of Jamaican Blue Mountain in the store room, and a few bags of coffee from Costa Rica as well from relatives. I use a Bodum French Press Maker and letting that coffee sit for 3-4 minutes in boiled water instead of simply draining hot water over it in traditional machines makes for a much stronger and flavorful coffee. My sister is trying to talk me into a Kuerig, but seems like a spendy undertaking. And again, I don't think you are getting the oils outa the coffee! Hit me with your thoughts on mugs and most loved coffees! It's going to be a FUN year and I want to be awake for it!!!!!

Hi there, You've proably already found this link - but wanted to provide it anyway. http://hsadventures.org/home -- just clikc on event calendar. This gal put together an amazing list of events for homeschoolers to access field trip listings at various centers across the cities (Science and Nature etc.), rockclimbing, schedule art classes, plays, you name it. It's awesome to have the whole year at a glance to plan trips around your lessons if you do that type of thing. Hope you are enjoying MN!

Rachel, Thanks for the info on this group - I didn't know they existed and will be checking them out in September for sure. Do you ever attend these?

Thanks for your thoughts. Irish that makes good sense. I tend to have too much info handy and then not enough time (or strength!) to use it all. Fawns that's a good point too. I think I'll do that when I'm at the used book store next week. I often get stuck trying to make my curriculum "better" so thanks for talking me down!

We love these and use them often. I have the complete set, bought on eBay I think and last year we only used the sections on Columbus and then Pilgrims. I plan on using them more this next year. Book 2, 3 and 5 seem the most relevant to me. I have the I can draw series by Usborne so we already know how to dray animals (Book 6). We probably won't use book 1 (on the farm) but the rest there are always use for. Even the polar regions has application with a study on the poles, habitats and wildlife. A book for older students, middle school grades maybe is Draw and Write thru History. I got it in my pack but it's way too hard for us. Pilgrims, Pirates and Patriots. It's super cool also. Maybe there are more in this series I haven't checked yet. So no you may not need the full set - depends on how you want to use it. If you want art instruction time filled then Book 1 and 6 are good for that, 6 especially for habitiat study/science. I will be using Book 5 (America set) this year to supplement American History. My library did not carry these and I'm glad I bought them. But no I guess it's not a must have. We put the boys finished work all colored into special History Expedition Binders and they like to look thru it and tell the stories they learned. Have fun with it!

I am an overpreparer - and I like having multiple resources to pull from when putting together lesson plans. Is this something I need or is this more of a nice to have piece of material? I did not have these last year but have seen example pages online. My library doesn't carry them. I used a few CK lesson plans last year and we had fun with them, and I see now where this would have been a value add. There are cross curricular ideas and of course recommended book lists. Will I be able to keep track of all these book lists I'm gathering from multiple sources???? lol Not sure how that's going to happen or how I'm going to have all I need from the library on the day I need it. Ug! I'm just not sure it's a must have. I'm teaching 1st and 2nd grade in a few weeks and PreK. I'm using SOTW (have all 4 levels on it's way HURRAY! So exciting) and that looks super complete I plan on following that plan and adding in some American History. I could use the CK handbook for additional resource, just not sure if it would create more confusion or be a true asset. I have the book list from Duffy's Curriculum Review also in my teaching binder along with a few others from a few blog sites and this site. I pulled alot of poems and short stories of our own last year from the Random House Book of Poetry for LA. The CK Text Resources book looks nice as a resource for tons of poems, stories, and songs -- already printed out for you. THe Arts Supplement also may be nice and we could do a study of each artist we view as well and pair with a geog lesson. But I digress . . . Are there many who use these full resources from CK? It seems like so many people simply pull from the internet and create their own plans and printables. Or rely on Sonlight or other to direct them. . . I don't have time for that and get too distracted/stressed sometimes trying to pull it together myself every week. Suggestions from those that have used the Teacher Handbook and Text resources? Thanks for your thoughts.

I've got a 7yr old boy who I think is doing pretty well with writing but I'm posting something of his for the first time to get your opinions. I did a variety of things with him last year for first grade in his area, but no formal "program" and we did alot of story writing, and copywork of poems from the Random House Book. About halfway through the year he would dictate a story to me, I'd write in on our white board and leave it there for a few days. Then he'd take sections of it each day and write it out, then draw and color a picture for each page, then we put it in a book when he was complete. As the year went on his story became longer and longer. Up to about 20 sentences. Following his interests with nature he would read a small living book from the library (about bugs, planets, etc.) the same book every day for 3 days then on the 4th day he would writie a summary of what he remembered. And of course draw a picture or two on another page to compliment it. These were small books about 15 pages with pictures. His writing assignments became just a breeze and very fun for him. I'd like to keep that going. Here is a sample of the one he wrote about fireflies. This was a first draft. I really like everything I've seen from SWB and I'd like to give WWE a try for second grade in Sept. Which level do you think he is ready for? Thanks for your thoughts.

Wow thanks Lori D. I look forward to pouring over the lists you posted for me. And yes it was Honey for a Childs Heart, but I think I'll grab that one plus Books Children Love. Thank you both!

I need a resource book that lists books I can use for free reading for my son and also for my read alouds throughout the school year for first and second grade. Last year My 6 and 7 yr old boys really enjoyed My Fathers Dragon, we read all 3 stories. We read the first two Little House books and will do more this next year. We are reading through the Boxcar Children Series and I'm looking for additional resources. I've got the classics covered from a lapbooking site I found I think but need more to choose from. I don't know anything about the newer books that have come out in the last 20 years. I've picked and chosen so far from what I've seen at Sonlight, and a few other publishers. But I sure could use a solid resource for my needs. Also, my 7 year old son tears through readers from the library like wildfire. He is reading at a high 4th grade level and I want to keep him busy reading. Is there a one stop resource for him for short books with boys interests or do I need to plug through reading lists at the library and check each one for his interest? Magic Tree House is fun but he is losing interest at a little now. (He's on book 25!) I thought I found a reference book for lit for all grades at christianbookstore.com but now I can't find it. Any advice appreciated!

I've decided on SM Standards Edition for the fall for my boys (along with some Miquon and MEP fun because many of you have convinced me and I've accepted I AM a math geek lol). I'm searching for Singapore Standards Edition curriculum for levels 1 and 2, and I'm planning to get the Student Text, Workbook, and HIG along with challenging word problems supplement I saw somewhere. My question is: Do I also need to start locating Teacher's Guides? They are 49.00 each new, and I haven't found too many used Standards Edition TG's at the homeschool sale/swap sites I monitor. What is the difference between the HIG and TG? And do I need both? I have manipulatives galore so I'm good there. Any advice appreciated!

Thanks for all the great info on this thread from eveyone. I may check out Miquon also for my first grader as I'm not sure he qill master the concepts my other guy did last year quite as quickly. Sounds like some say Singapore 1A/1B was not as strong for the first graders.

Thanks for all the great replies. I do love math and I think I might give SM a try - others have said try Horizon also and a friend has that I can check it out to see what I think of it.

Thanks for the encouragement. It was a difficult start last year and I was so stressed out! I got frustrated bigtime early in the fall, threw MUS out and grabbed the TE's for MCP which gave me some ideas of where to start more foundation. Really I made most of it up as I went along. I did use the decimal street examples alot from MUS regarding place value - both boys loved talking about the ten house, the hundred house etc. We worked math families using the MUS blocks to reinforce, and using our 7 ft white board I wrote problems on the board daily for him to complete then reinforced them with the MCP workbook pages. Then once he had them mastered to 20 we moved on to add/subtract with carrying. Honestly I thought what I was teaching was what every first grader should know. I found out from other public school nieces/nephews that WAS NOT the case at all. We did money with real money, time can naturally for him and we do mental math as we run across things day to day. I also did this by accident with him with writing. We just did so much of it every day, now he writes 2-3 pages at a time withought blinking, spelling at a 3rd grade level he picked up from the copywork I had him doing. I will be using AAS with both boys in the fall, I guess we'll review the first 2 levels quickly for him then move ahead to wherever he needs to start in Level 3 or 4. I definately saw he needed more for his interests, and I'm glad I pushed ahead and we did so much more last year. I think I may grab SM 2 and can borrow Horizons from a friend plus have MCP to fall back on for more ideas. Since I have all the levels I can easily pull from them if/when I need them. It doesnt really give me a simple one stop math solution, but maybe there isnt one! Still learning and thanks for all the advice!

Thanks Bill for such a complete answer. Much appreciated. I'll check out Ma's book - I've seen it referenced on a few other math threads. I love math and I want my kids to love math. I'd like them to have a solid mastery of all four functions plus fractions and percents by the end of third grade, but I don't have any comparison of how realistic or aggressive that is. There are of course more pieces than that to teach them - I also don't want to overload them so they end up hating math. Can I use the MUS blocks as manipulatives for Singapore? My search continues - altho I am leaning toward Singapore. I have a lead on a US set of 2-4 A and B plus teachers materials but it is the US Edition and I think I want the Standards Edition.

Sorry! I checked My Content and no post was listed from a few days ago - so I asked again. Thanks for the info - next time I'll know where to look! :coolgleamA:

I would appreciate some advice for my 6 and 7 yr old boys with math for fall. I am new to this and having completed just one year I find myself unsure of what road to take up next. Last year I started with MUS Primer and Alpha for both boys (then starting K and 1), and ended up going back to Modern Curric Press Mathmatics which I had used with my K boy the year before because of the fabulous layout of the TE's and more problems per day to choose from. I want to believe the MUS is vigorous enough because I read good things about it, but I'm confused looking forward why they wait until Gamma for Mult and Delta for Division .Isn't that behind bigtime? I don't want my children behind in math. I'm eclectic in nature but stress out when I think we're not doing enough, which made me throw out everything at about Oct 15th last year and hit the 7 ft whiteboard with the boys and just "do math" for 3 months. I wrote problems on the board each day and we built our math facts with MUS blocks. I took mostly from MCP schedule and we used the MUS blocks to reinforce the math facts we learned. We watched a couple MUS videos her and there but just a few . At end of year my first grader knows his math facts to 20, can add and subtract with carrying (adding is still easier for him.) He gets place value to 1000 (taken from 2nd grade MCP book), can tell time to the minute, and add change past 5.00 and do simple multiplication. My K boy has mastered his facts to 12, and time to the half hour, change to 1.00 etc, I moved them up through the next level MCP books as we needed higher material. Also we've utilized a subscription to IXL to fill in the blanks from what I may be missing teaching them. But I thought we'd utilize that more than we did. **I guess I'm just new a little shocked that something as important as math curriculum is so different content wise from pub to pub. (Spoken like a newbie yes -- insert laugh here veterans!) ** I've been looking at Singapore Math as I've read it's more advanced in content. I've also heard the SM teachers manuals don't realy explain math very well and are vague. Experiences anyone? Math Mammoth seems to have a lot of support as well. Math Mammoth fans chime in! Before I left work at Pearson I grabbed all the MCP Math TE's and workbooks for each of my children along with a few other MCP programs. Score! Should I change everything and try SIngapore with them next year? Or are their TM's lacking? Has anyone tried both SM and MM that could share with me the major pros and cons and their thoughts? FYI: I'm the one who buys too much curriculum, and then gets lost trying to use them all. I really want a simple approach to math next year if that's possible. Should I continue with MCP and just push ahead like I did this past year or switch out and try something new? Thank you for any thoughts! I think they are doing well and I want to continue that path for them. Oh - does anyone know of a resource online that shares what math programs have resulted in what test scores for college prep exams? Would be interesting to see. . .

Hello all of you fabulous educators! I need to firm up my math curriculum in the next 2 weeks for my 2nd and 1st grade boys. Please read and advise this newbie with only 1 year under her belt! Last year I used Modern Curriculum Press Math along with MUS. I feel our results were good and both boys are ahead of where they "should be" as I worked with them individually to push them forward. I thought MUS was abit slow and I felt if I continued with it they might be left behind. After about 4 weeks of MUS I kinda quit it and by EOY brought my 1st grader to mastery of addition/subtraction to 20, introd fractions, telling time the the minute. Money he is amazing at and is adding change past 3.00. He ended up about halfway thru the MCP Level B book, which is I believe their second grade material. He is carrying 3 digits, and really enjoys multiplcation but we've just started to 6. I really like the layout of the TM for MCP, it is really solid with many examples and games, and extra activities to reinforce. I liked the blocks for MUS, I like the visual to reinforce concepts- and we'd use the MUS worksheets and watch a lesson here or there, but I didn't think it gave him enough practise to mastery. Maybe had we done just that program I would have seen the same results. Using a 6 ft whiteboard hung low to the ground we did everything from fact families, number lines, and graphing, and even pattern sequencing. Oh we also used IXL math and have a subscription which he thinks is fun to go on the PC and practise. Heard great things about Dreambox too. My K boy is doing well for his age, with addition/sub to 10 mastered, and time to the half hour etc. and I'll take him on the same path content wise I think as his brother this next year. I've read great things about Math Mammoth and Singapore Math. 2nd grader is ready to go into 2a/2B per the tests online. Just not sure what I should do here. Should I change at all or just keep on with the same? I guess I'm having the fears everyone has - I'm missing a component, or a skill set, or (my sanity?? lol) Another program is better than what I have now. . . Am I doing enough . . .Does he get it conceptually. . . I think I'd like a simple straight forward daily plan for math, and I didn't really have one last year which stressed me out and is why I'm thinking about making a change. I do have all the TM's and Student Books for MCP Math in hand up to 6th grade (worked at Pearson and got em free - sweeeet) and there have been great ideas in the TM's I haven't seen in other products TM's. It is an option to just stay with that and as they progress to mastery, push them forward to the next books as I've been doing. I liked the videos with MUS but is that program truly vigorous enough? Waiting until Delta for division? That's 4th grade. . . How is that not behind? We do need more work with word problems, but I see SM has a challenging word problems component I could just buy and add. I've researched and hemmed and hawed. I've bought Cathy Duffy's book and taken the questionnaire. I'm eclectic (like you didn't know that by now) with a push towards classical. I want my boys to continue to be ahead and excel. I guess I'm just shocked that the content can be so different company to company. To stay ahead should everyone just use Singapore? Other tools you've used out there? I know some use an abacus or scales. Any and all advice greatly appreciated. A master at anything was once a beginner and that's what I am. Warm wishes on a great rest of the summer from us here in the deep woods of Minnesota.

Hi there, I'm a new homeschooler getting my first full year past us shortly and I'm struglling with which writing style is best to teach. I have 2 boys 5 and 7, and I've taught them traditional block style but now I'm thinking of using HWT next year along with continuing general copywork which they really enjoy. Their printing is pretty good for their ages but I want to make some of the letters easier for them (small a for example. . . ) What do others do about deciding which font to teach? I'm leaning toward HWT for summer practise to convert them but then I have a problem -- the 1st and 2nd grade grammar books I'm thinking about using next year are done in D'Nealian with writing in the D'Nealian font. What should I do here? Thanks so much from a group of wonderful people who know much more than I! Alissa

Ok great - thanks to both Amy and Lynnita for the advice. I think I'll stick with the plan of SOTW in order then, and maybe add some content for a few they've been asking me about. Thank you ladies! Alissa

Hello all you fabulous homeschoolers! I am looking at Story of the World for my first and second grade boys but was wondering what your thoughts are on doing one volume and studying in depth the ancient time period with my boys, or doing a little bit of every volume, so they I can mix in some of early modern times and the modern age (1600-1990) to round them out. I can certainly see the reasoning for focusing an entire year on one time period, then building on that etc. I am excited to share with them the french and american revolutions and I'm not sure I can wait 2-3 years to do that with them. They have interest in these areas and I want to feed that interest. Suggestions from those who have done this before. Please! To date I've been pulling our history plans together myself, picking and choosing from Core Knowledge Plans and pulling from my library loan, but it's proven way too far above my time constraints to conitnue this. I am excited to get all 4 volumes of this program and have at it!! If I put a time line up that goes all the way around our schoolroom, we could post each relevant event on it and it may help them with the big picture. Thanks in advance, Alissa