I've combind SOTW 1, 2, now 3 with Sonlight 1,2, now 3. But for this one (3) I'm not really using the SL IG and I couldn't possibly read ALL the books! We're just picking our favorites and fitting them in as we go!

:iagree:It's amazing what you can learn with a few field guides on your nature walks! We are doing that this year. We're studying animals (birds right now) and are learning a ton from our field guides!

We read Martha and enjoyed it too! We still love the originals best- but Martha was great!

I also think that FFL3 is great for parents and children with out a lot of grammar experience. It starts with the basics for the child and a script for you!

How about the Egermeiers Bible? Or the Children's Bible By Catherine Voss?

I understand EXACTLY where you are! I have 2 girls (1 & 3 grade) and MY husband in going to Iraq (again) with the Army in a few months! I have done Sonlight with my girls and it was great! You can see on my sig. line that they do everything together except the 3R's. We do Bible together. Then I take DD6 for 1 hour, to do the 3R's, while DD8 listens to SOTW on CD& does the coloring sheet, re-creates artwork, does Song School Latin, or anything else she can do alone. Then we switch. Then we come back together for History or Science. Then we're done! Night time reading is a great way to get in all those SL books- especially when DH is away! Also, you didn't ask about this, but Five-in-a-Row is PERFECT for those ages together! HTH!:)

BJU Reading- I knew better than to try something like that b4 I bought it!:glare:

FLL 1/2 SOTW 1 & 2 OPG Sonlight K & 1 FIAR vol 1-3 BJU Bible K & 1

I voted "other". We are using WWE and it's going great!!!:001_smile:

My dd8 loves it also! It has poetry as well as narration passages sprinkled in with the grammar!

Mine read the books and enjoyed them! We did not do the workbooks b/c I felt like that would take some of the joy out of reading. (However, I was looking for them to read- not do phonics at that time.) If you want reading AND phonics they would be a great combination- but you don't NEED the workbooks to use the books! :001_smile:

We pull words from our McGuffey readers each week and use similar words found in the book, "ABC's and all their Tricks" to teach spelling! This book makes a great reference to any spelling program b/c it has all the words, rules, origins, etc... included!:)

I also think the little book by Ruth Beechick is perfect for that age! Even if you use an offical Curriulum it's still a great reference to have on hand! :)

I don't know about where you could fine samples online- Amazon? But I wanted to recommend homeschool share. They have tons of Five in a Row type unit studies and all the print outs are FREE!

We bought books, paper, wooden letters and the CD. They still sing songs from the CD years later! :)

I let my girls make lapbooks from the printouts on "homeschool share". They are FREE!

We attend a family integrated church. The children are with us the entire time. We have newborns, toddlers, children, teens, parents, Grandparents all together. We all listen to the sermon. Then we take a break, eat snack, fellowship, etc... Then there is a short lesson just for the children. One lady does songs with sign language and tells them a story using a flannel board. Again, we are all in there (and you should see how much the teenagers enjoy the flannel!:)) Then we all share prayer requests and pray together or sometimes our pastor leads us through a lesson on how to study the Bible. I guess we don't really use a "curriculum" but maybe something we do will give you an idea or 2 that you can use!:)

My 6dd is doing Song School. My 8dd is doing Song School and Prima- she is really enjoying both! :)

We are half way through SOTW 3 and stop and do little "unit studies" when we get to something important in American History. For example, we read about Squanto and the first Thanksgiving. After Christmas break we will spend a few weeks on the Rev War and do lots of extra reading and projects. There is so much on American History out there it should work out fine to use SOTW and cover plenty of Amer. Hist.