Same here. This will be our second year using CAT.

I selected 2-3 years. We started half-way through the 2009-2010 school year, and afterschooled for a year before that. Sometimes I forget how TERRIFIED I was before I started. I have to remind myself when I read posts from brand-new and soon-to-be HSers. (I'm still terrified from time to time, but mostly it's that I'll never get any sleep. :rofl:)

Another vote for Elemental Science. :)

I wonder if English from the Roots Up might help? I actually bought just the flash cards. We only used them a few times :o, so I can't give a ringing endorsement. But the kids did learn that "photo" means light. :D

Cursive Connections worked well for us. Nice and simple, not too curly. DS8 actually looked forward to doing it every day! Now that he's done with it (took a few months), he just practices by doing copywork in cursive.

Wow! What a great resource!! In what grade would you start this? Maybe a second grader, or advanced first grader?

I knew we weren't going to get through all of SOTW 3 this year (seeing as we didn't do all of SOTW 1 or SOTW 2!!). I estimated how many times we would realistically get to history this year, then went through the table of contents and marked the chapters I really want to get to (e.g., American and French revolutions, Native Americans, slavery). As others have said, we'll go into more depth the second and third time around.

Bookmarked it for DD5. Thanks!

Yay!! :party: That's exactly what I need! I hope you get lots of confirmation that this is a great plan, because I don't want to have to think about it!! :D

The 3rd edition of WTM recommends using SOTW for history in the grammar grades. The ancients would be studied in first grade, Middle Ages/early Renaissance in second, late Renaissance in third, and modern in fourth. After reading a section of SOTW, have the child narrate (which is explained in more detail in the book). For each year of SOTW, you can also purchase an activity guide with maps, coloring pages, discussion questions, hands-on activities, etc. The book also recommends the Usborne and Kingfisher history encyclopedias, and going to the library for additional books on topics that you find especially interesting.

DS8 (3rd grade) is doing history copywork that I make myself. I plan to do continue next year. I think it's working well for handwriting practice, it's a great way for him to get independent history lessons, and he is retaining it. All three kids are doing SOTW 3, but sometimes it's hard to get through because when they're together, they develop a serious case of the wiggles and giggles. :glare:

Do they want people to STOP flying? I don't understand!!:confused:

Sometimes I just say, "Stop making a stinky face." Or I ask if DC has a problem. The answer is usually, "No." Then I say, "Please tell your face. Your face looks like you have a problem."

Maybe For Instruction in Righteousness? For each topic (e.g., honesty, diligence, patience), it presents: --Bible passages with examples of obedience and disobedience in this area --recommended verses for Bible memorization --practical ideas for demonstrating the blessings/consequences of obedience/disobedience Here's the link! http://www.doorposts.com/details.aspx?id=15

I don't know about VERY active, but ES does have an experiment every week. I'm happy with it. I have never used TOPS, but saw it at a friend's house last week and it is chock-full-o activities. Here's the link to "Try This on for Science" for grades 3-12: http://www.topscience.org/books/trythison95.html. There are several sample downloads that you can download for free. I hope you find what you're looking for!

I used the blackline maps for SOTW 1 and 2. Since I got the AG this year, I didn't get the maps. I think the AG map is enough?

For independent reading, DS8 writes his own four to five sentences, which is major progress from the start of the year. We were having daily meltdowns, so I stopped having him narrate indy reading for while. I made a grid on the board (thanks Classical Country Mama!) with Who, What, Where, When, Why, and How in the first column. Then I'd read a paragraph and ask him to tell me a Who. What did happened to them? What did they do? And we'd fill in as many of the other boxes as appropriate. At first he'd say "I DON'T KNOW!!!" so I'd read the paragraph again. And again and again until we had a column filled out. Then we'd fill another column with another Who. Then he'd assemble each column into a sentence. As I said, DS is now doing his own narrations, but he sometimes he makes a chart first. For history and science, all DC orally narrate several sentences while I write on the board. Then they copy from the board. We're not doing ANY dictation. But thanks to Nan in Mass, that ends today!!

Adorable. Let it be. :)

We are doing SOTW 3 this year--I have a third- and first-grader. We have not had any problems. Except for slavery, I haven't found the topics more challenging than SOTW 1 or 2. You can see the table of contents at Amazon. http://www.amazon.com/Story-World-History-Classical-Modern/dp/0972860304/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1300284691&sr=8-1 HTH!

DS8 started Cursive Connections this year and he really likes it. It's attractive, with a nice slant. Not too loopy. Since finishing the book, he's been doing copywork in cursive.

Cool!

You might like Elemental Science? Each week has readings and narration, cutting and pasting, and an experiment. I just started this year, so I haven't used the earth science curriculum (which is what I guess you would use next year?). The website is elementalscience.com. Here is the earth science sample: http://d3r1z7wkgqhj9d.cloudfront.net/EAS20sample.pdf.

The bed trick worked great for DS. This is what works for DD: d says "Don't!" and turns away from the letters that follow it. b's belly bumps into the other letters.

Since I know we're not going to get through the whole book, I've figured how many times we can reasonably expect to do history per month until the end of the school year. Based on that number, I've marked the chapters that I think are the most important or interesting. So we'll skip several, but I think that's OK. Then next year, SOTW4.