It sounds like it is working really well--why mess with it? There will be plenty of opportunity for more structured science learning through the years. That kind of excitement and retention is what I'm trying to foster with my DS8, though it only comes n fits and spurts, so we also are doing a light, structured earth science curriculum with DS5. If you want to nudge him in a particular direction, maybe just order a kit you think would be appropriate and pick a day to help him get started?

We loved the Kumon workbooks. The folding ones, not so much. But all other were lots of fun. Someone gave us this book partially used last year and my K'er only now just finished it because I pulled it out only when I needed to give him something busy to do. http://www.amazon.com/Know-My-Numbers-Grades-Preschool/dp/160996344X/ref=pd_sim_14_3?ie=UTF8&dpID=51-Q0Ai2vkL&dpSrc=sims&preST=_AC_UL160_SR124%2C160_&refRID=0CV8PA16QNMTVZ46YNW1 It's not a lot of writing (but there's some). There is cutting, circling, counting, finding, etc for each number. It's fun. (edited to correct the link)

I'm continuing my quest to learn spanish via Duolingo/Getting Started With Spanish. A beginning Spanish speaker's group just formed in my community so I've been attending that. It's a nice outlet.

Our state requires two portfolio reviews per year. My oldest has completed 2 years of school so I have 4 notebooks. I'm planning to do a purge this weekend. I think I will keep: -Each portfolio review form signed by the school district person. This includes a list of curriculum and topics. -1-2 pages of sample work for each subject per year, mostly for sentimental reasons I keep literature lists and photographs of field trips electronically, so no need to keep those. So maybe 10 pages per year per child? We don't keep attendance records and we opt out of standardized tests.

This is what I started doing towards the end of this last year when I was doing book 1 with a 7yo and a 5yo: AT the end of each week I wrote important words or names from the SOTW chapter on our white board (for example, a chapter on Rome might include: Julius Caesar, et tu Brute, Latin, senate, Cincinnatus, Octavian, Agustus, July, August) . Then I have the children take turns telling me something about each thing. I'd encourage using complete sentences and sometimes each child would want to add something to what the other would say. I plan to do this again next year and perhaps ask the older one (a strong 2nd grader) to pick one word and write down the sentence. I will probably ask the younger to pick one word and illustrate it. Maybe something like that could work for some of your kids?

I used the SOTW activity guide but modified some and added a few of my own. Here is what I bought for our year of ancients: Air Dry clay in Terra Cotta [for cuneiform, greek vases] plasticine (never dries out) clay in natural (off white) [Greek columns, statue for the top of the Pharos lighthouse] sculpey in gold and silver [for making various coins] gold washable tempera paint [various Egyptian projects, making a golden apple] (every color would be a good idea if you can afford it) terra cotta washable tempera paint (or mix your own if you have brown, orange, and white) [ziggurat] watercolors in tube form [especially helpful for various "ink" projects] a good quality variety pack of brushes (thick and thin) fancy natural paper that could pass for papyrus [scrolls] styrofoam building blocks that can be glued and cut [pyramids and a Roman Colosseum] cardboard coffins and gauze from the Dollar Tree [apple mummies] a small art set for each child with pastels, colored pencils, and watercolors [various; and used in nearly every subject] good quality construction paper--size 9 x 11 and 11 x 13 good thick white paper (I think we called it Oak Tag when I was little?) this is great to have around because it can keep its shape but still be folded and thick enough to receive paint watercolor paper save paper towel rolls, toilet paper rolls, cereal boxes, fast food "boats", [various, including Phoenician ship] unsharpened pencils [papyrus scrolls, Phoenician ship mast, etc]

For now we are using a 18 x 24" board. The alphabet does not fit all the way across the top so we put u through z in a second row. It works fine on our lap. Eventually we may get a larger board but for now (in level 2) there aren't too many tiles in use. I need something portable since we have a baby in the house. I store it up high and away from him.

Personally I wouldn't rush her too much. Keep doing what you are doing! This summer, read to her, make sure she is out in nature a lot. Teach her the numbers in Spanish or any language you know. Get some good art supplies and let her explore. Get swimming lessons. Maybe Suzuki piano or violin? I've used the Kumon Let's Cut! series at that age and they were a hit. You could try reading lessons if she seems interested, but don't push it. I didn't start either of my older ones on 100 EZ lessons until they were 4. But maybe that would be something fun, stimulating, but not too much?

I supplemented with a Kumon word problem book. I got the 1st grade one and it was super easy. But, at least it was a nice introduction to word problems. Miquon covers some measurement and time. I'm planning to finish miquon for 2nd grade and also supplement with word problems. Not sure if I will use Kumon or something else.

From that list, if I had to cut something, I would cut back on science. Or maybe, just change it to a library books/nature study approach. The child could read aloud to you about science topics and you'd be doing two at once. Do a nature study with drawing and you're hitting art at the same time. Anything science-related that needs to be memorized could be integrated into their copywork or handwriting.

There are some fun activities on Vocabulary Spelling City that he might enjoy. There is an Audio Word Match (like memory) and sentence unscrambling. You can load your own lists in to match what you are working on. The basic app is free.

My (almost) 5yo recently listened to How to Eat Fried Worms and loved it as much as his 7yo brother. I had to explain a few of the references to them both, but they regularly quote it now. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books are always a hit here as well. I read the first Boxcar Children book with my first K'er and he has read the rest himself. I think they are still his favorite series. We get the Magic Tree House audio books at our library and the kids really enjoy listening to them that way. The A.A. Milne Winnie the Pooh collection is my 5yo's current favorite. Not quite a chapter book, but longer than a typical picture book.

My kids got a small box of squigz for Christmas and have played with them daily since. They get made into spaceships, get thrown at the wall like darts, and become obstacle courses for cars. Even the baby loves them so we got him the baby version, PipSquigz. Trio blocks are another hit around here. We have only one small box but they make them into all sorts of things. I'm afraid to buy more because I think they small number somehow makes them more creative with them. They also play with coins a whole lot. They sort them, play store, etc.

I like the looks of these! The earth science ones all say grades 3+. I wonder if anyone has used them with younger kids. My 2nd grader is a strong reader and able to take a chaallenge but I don't know if it would be too much a a stretch for the K'r. I will look through them though! I'm leaning towards Christian Kids Explore now with lots of library books. These kits could be fun too.

Thank you, I took a look! I love the kit. I wish they had more than just astronomy! But I will keep it on my list as a supplement.

I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. To me, from looking at the sample, there's not really much of a spine there, other than the initial notebooking page. It looks like it's just a bunch of related experiments strung together. My kinds and I enjoy reading. We want to do experiments, too, but I really want to read about each subject, and then do the demonstration. I don't know, I guess it could work, but I find my eyes glazing over when I see all of the BI and SS lists together with all of the lab stuff...

This is one of my favorites: http://www.amazon.com/doble-amigos-Twice-Many-Friends/dp/B0000AUHRL Song School Spanish is also fun.

Thanks, everyone! I'm enjoying the replies and will take a look. Susie in MS, I'm glad to hear that Christian Kids Explore gets good reviews from you! Thanks for the info about the vocab. I will keep it on my list! Re: experiment kits. I really do need to pre-assemble a kit, or it will not get done in my house. You know how FLL sometimes requires things like envelopes, first class stamps, or postcards? Well, those lessons get pushed aside until I can get myself together, even with the many warnings ahead of time. I guess it's an issue for me. If I don't have an item RIGHTTHEREONMYDESK, I just can't find it in time to fit it into our lesson time. It's a way I need to grow as a teacher, I suppose. But no matter what curriculum we end up with, I really am going to assemble a kit, put it in a sterlite container under my desk, and keep it there for our science lessons. :o Otherwise there will be no experiments or demonstrations.

It would count in my state (MD). We are doing anatomy this year and are stretching it out into next year for this very reason!

I'm looking for science for my 2nd grader and K'er. I'd like to stick with the WTM cycle if possible, which means I'm looking for Earth & Space. We studied biology this year. We used living books, and a fair amount of hands-on stuff, though science is pushed aside some weeks. It feels like a struggle on my end, even though the kids seem to be absorbing. I love the way Story of the World is structured. I love that it's open and go reading, but there is so much more available, too. I love that there are coloring pages and maps that are basically open and go. I also enjoy digging into one or more of the bigger suggested projects when I have the time, and finding the book suggestions. We use the Usborne encyclopedia weekly along with library books after reading from the main book. It's the easiest, happiest part of my day. I'd really love to have a science like that: Open and go, but with lots of "extras" that could be done when we want to dig deeper. A spine is a must. Not a schedule with 3-5 spines. I want a cohesive story that I can supplement with later. So, Elemental Science is out. I tried their kindergarten program a few years ago and my mind did not mesh with the author's way of planning at all. An experiment kit would be a huge plus. Or, at least a very simple list of truly household items that I could gather this summer and put in a box myself. I've looked at Nancy Larson, but level 1 is pretty much what we've been doing this year. I'm not sure how well level 2 would go over with my K'er. Also I'd really like to stick with Earth science/weather/astronomy. We are YE but I'm fine with a secular curriculum. So far I've rejected Elemental Science, Nancy Larson, Real science 4 kids, REAL science Odyssey, Apologia, easyclassical.com and others I can't think of at the moment. My current #1 contender for a spine is Christian Kids Explore Earth and Space as a spine, but I don't know if it's enough. The sample mentions making your own flashcards and such, and I really was hoping for something a little more complete. Also, there is no experiment kit. So what should I look at next? Or am I just searching for the Holy Grail?

This will be my second go around with K! Ordinary Parent's Guide MCP Phonics A A Reason for Handwriting K (I think) Singapore Essentials A & B Kumon Counting coins Possibly Miquon Orange. We will see how the year is going. He is on the young side and I don't want to push him. Suzuki violin soccer & gymnastics Tag-along with big brother for A Story of the World 2, Earth Science (TBD), and Home Art Studio 2

We alternated Miquon orange with the K essentials Singapore book and a Kumon counting coins book. It was fine and my DS enjoyed the variety. Now we only supplement with a Kumon word problems book and math games.

How old are your kids?

My 4yo loves these videos. My kids especially love drawing the familiar cartoon characters, but they will also do some of the regular objects. http://artforkidshub.com/ I like the adult model along with an imperfect kid drawing next to it! My 4yo is a little bit of perfectionist and he doesn't get so mad when his doesn't look exactly like the model in these videos.

In addition to the titles already listed, my boys (7 and almost 5) enjoy Nate the Great, The Animal Rescue Team Series, The Princess and the Goblin, The Princess and Curdie, and Jim Weiss's Egyptian Myths.