When I was in 4th grade, my teacher taught our class to draw using Bruce McIntyre's "Time To Draw." I loved it. (I still have those drawing lessons to this day! And something must have clicked because I am a professional artist now.) I don't believe you can buy that book anymore, but I bought his "Drawing Textbook" to use with my daughter and it is essentially the same thing. It truly takes you step by step from drawing lines and shapes to 3-D to shading and on. It is a bit old school but it will get the job done. http://www.amazon.co...e/dp/B000GTZZ9Q ETA: Rainbow Resource also has it: http://www.rainbowresource.com/product/Drawing+Textbook/002584/5b9c1ec635a2c985fd342533?subject=16&category=7125

Also, Nadene at Practical Pages has some wonderful printable Artist notebooking resources... http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/free-pages/famous-artists/

Okay, here we go... Let me preface this list by saying that I am a homeschooling newbie, but I am an artist, so I have been researching this subject for many moons now. These are a few links that I have collected. Hope a few of them help! Concordia University Art Lessons by grade http://www.cuchicago.edu/experience/arts/visual-arts/art-lessons/ The Renaissance Collection http://www.renaissanceconnection.org/main.cfm Squidoo Artist Study Links http://www.squidoo.com/cmartiststudy Jimmie’s Collage Artist Study http://jimmiescollage.com/category/charlotte-mason-homeschooling/artist-study/ Red Ted’s Art Blog Exploring The Great Artists http://www.redtedart.com/2012/04/13/exploring-the-great-artists-30-art-projects-for-kids/ Garden of Praise Painting Studies http://gardenofpraise.com/art.htm Web Museum Artist Index http://www.ibiblio.org/wm/paint/auth/ Dick Blick Art History Lessons Plans http://www.dickblick.com/lesson-plans/discipline/art-history/ Artcyclopedia http://www.artcyclopedia.com/ Khan Academy Art History https://www.khanacademy.org/humanities/art-history

My daughter sits in my baby's booster chair when working at the table. I probably should just buy her one for herself...

The two I ended up deciding between were MM and CLE. I chose MM in the end... Now, I can't remember why... ha ha. Probably had to do with the spiral versus mastery.

Thanks, everyone! I think we are going to try Growing With Grammar, and add in some of the fun books that have been described.

Well, it's not free (it's $27.95) but my daughter loves the Garfield Typing Pal. http://garfield.typingpal.com/

Yeah, I thought it would be fun to read "A Street Through Time" with my 7 year old a few months ago. Well, the "plague" street gave her nightmares for a week. "Mom, I don't want the rats to give me disease! I don't want them to throw my body in a pit!" Oops. Mommy fail.

I spent a few days (and a lot of paper and ink) printing it all out, but it was still much cheaper than buying the other curriculum I was considering (Teaching Textbooks.) We started MM on Monday with my second grader. So far, I love it for her (and I am not a math person, by any means.) I think she is really going to be able to "get" math through MM. We shall see. Also, I second Ellie's suggestion of chopping everything up. I took all my stuff to Fed Ex/Kinko's and had the spines removed, then placed the work in folders according to our weeks. Plus, my dd is a lefty and it just helps her with writing anyway.

Sooooo... what is the consensus on grammar in 2nd grade? Can I wait until 3rd grade? I just started homeschooling last Monday and everything is going great so far. But I keep opening up the Rod and Staff 2nd grade book and closing it again. I just wonder if it really needed yet. Is it just the Rod and Staff format which is causing me hesitancy, or formal grammar in general? I would love to hear opinions. Thanks thanks.

BTW, I researched math til the cows came home and settled on Math Mammoth. It looks like everything we need: mental, not overwhelming or drill-like, complete. You can pace yourself how you want, but if you do one lesson a day, you can also be finished by June. It is also very affordable. (And MEP is free!)

For what it's worth (I am a newbie like you!), I am doing the same thing-- my 2nd grade daughter starts school at home in January. I started making the decision to homeschool in September, so I have basically been researching and picking curriculum for four months. Here is what we are doing: Math: Math Mammoth and MEP (for extra math) Grammar: Rod and Staff Spelling: Rod and Staff Phonics: Explode the Code workbooks Reading and Narration: books from library Extra Reading Comprehension: Evan Moor workbook Handwriting: Handwriting Without Tears Copywork: Draw Write Now and bible verses History: Story of the World, Volume 1 Science: interest-led (Magic School bus DVDs and books, Let's Read and Find Out Science books, lapbooking) We are going to start Writing With Ease later, but right now, we need to focus on the actual mechanics of handwriting. In planning, when I started to freak out, I just tried to focus on a few things... first, all she really needs right now are the 3 R's. Readin', writin', 'rithmetic. Everything else is icing. Second, I think we all know how much time is wasted in the school classroom. I needn't worry about not doing enough. If I have the basics covered, she will do fine. Third (and this will be the toughest for me), I can relax. We are not on the school system's schedule or track anymore. We are allowed to have our own priorities and pace ourselves accordingly. I am allowed to enjoy this journey. Anyway, hope that helps! Again, I am new also, so take what I said with a grain of salt!

I have this image of everyone on this board buying and reselling the same copies of "Teach Your Child to Read in 100EZ Lessons" and Saxon Math to each other on Ebay.

Love my Royal Sovereign. We got it at Sam's, and they carry the sheets, too.

Seconding "1-2-3 Magic."

Seconding "1-2-3 Magic."

Love my Kindle Fire, but have not really been happy with the available educational apps (or lack thereof.) Android needs to step it up.

I am an INFP (but bordering on J, depending when I take the test.) Thank you for this thread! It makes me feel better, in all my perfectionistic chaos. It is also kind of interesting to see how many moms with this personality type gravitate toward homeschooling...

I would like to know the same thing! I am starting SOTW I with my 7.5 dd in January.

Just wanted to say that I have found this thread really encouraging in an odd way... (though I am not sure that the original poster will!) I am a stay-at-home mom/ freelance artist (with a toddler at home) and will not start officially homeschooling my 7 year old until January, but these are things that I deal with anyway... whether or not I am homeschooling. I think it just comes with being a mom. It will be trickier, I am sure, to get a little me time and errands accomplished. But honestly, with our family's lifestyle, I don't know that our "paradigm shift" is going to be that huge. ETA: Also, with me as the homemaker, our house would not be spotless anyway, nor would there be gourmet dinner or manicured nails, so I guess I might as well homeschool!! ha ha :)

For what it's worth, I read it by myself when I was 12 and it became my favorite book for the rest of my life.

Believe it or not, I am actually a children's book illustrator! (I have illustrated three books for Blessings Unlimited, a division of DaySpring Cards. Here is some of my art.) I can give you a list of books he can peruse, if you would like. He could also join the SCBWI (Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators) and attend a writer's conference in your area. But honestly, what helped me my whole life is just devouring children's books from the library. I learned more from pouring over them and studying my favorites, than any How-To book. Another thought is my friend, Rich Davis. He was an illustrator at DaySpring for years, then ventured out to illustrate the Tiny books. He has developed his own game that helps teach kids how to draw and be creative, called Pick and Draw. You might reach out to him. He is a wonderful, generous man who loves to help kids! Hope that helps! Feel free to ask any other questions (though I don't know how much help I am!) Ellen

Wow! I've been stalking this forum for so long, and now I feel like I am talking to homeschool celebrities, har har. Thank you so much for your advice! It sounds like I need to dig further into Teaching Textbooks to see if that's a "now" possibility and also CLE. It's funny with researching-- I've discovered that certain curriculum appeals to me that I NEVER thought would appeal to me. Rod and Staff Grammar, for one. I think the name turned me off. I thought no way could something that old-fashioned be for us. But then, when I actually looked at it, it looks exactly right for us. Simple. Thorough. No fluff. Maybe I should really consider the math as well? I think doing Singapore scares me a bit because it's not how I learned. But then, I HATED math, so maybe it would actually be a blessing to relearn it with her in a completely different way.

Hi! I am new here and will be new to homeschooling in January. (Still can't believe I am actually going to do it!) I am pulling my second grade DD from public school at Christmas break. I've basically been stalking you guys on this forum for two months now, and I have read so many threads, it is making my head spin. But your knowledge has been invaluable! If you could give me some feedback, I would sooooo appreciate it. Here is what I am tentatively planning to do: -Heart of Dakota Bigger (thinking that have something fairly planned out for me will help for my first newbie leg of homeschooling) -Rod and Staff Grammar -Handwriting Without Tears -Drawing With Children and Draw Squad (I am a professional artist, so this is as much for me as it is for her!) -Explode the Code for extra phonics practice (unless someone recommends something else better for me) and then ...math. Let me begin by saying that, historically, the combination of myself and math is like a Persian cat in a bubble bath. My daughter is actually doing pretty good with math right now. Doesn't love it, but no huge problems. (She does not care for reading and writing however, which is one of the many reasons that we are going to homeschool.) I have researched our math options til my eyes have glazed over. I am thinking that Teaching Textbooks for next year (3rd) might be a great option for us. But is there something that could tide us over until then? (HOD suggests Singpore, but I am ultimately going to use what is going to work for us. And who knows if we will do HOD long-term.) Ideally, this is what I think might work best for us: -a curriculum that is in-depth and complete, but simple and uncomplicated. (does that exist?) -lots of hand-holding for Mom in the teaching department. I don't want to take myself out of the equation, though. I just need to be one step ahead of her. -visually-pleasing text. Doesn't need to be full-color, just not confusing or boring. -workbooks would probably be a good fit for her, just not too many problems on a page. She gets overwhelmed easily. -I honestly don't know whether mastery or spiral would be a better fit at this point. -she doesn't use manipulatives at school because her teacher said "they don't need them anymore." But whatever. So I honestly don't know if they would be a pro or con. Programs that I keep looking at: Singapore, CLE, Math Mammoth, MUS. Also, I keep hearing great things about Miquon and C-Rods, as a supplement. Would love to hear feedback about that, too. Anyway, I would love love to hear the Hive's wisdom. Thank you!!!! Ellen