We have swim lessons every night this week. I verified that the swim team isn't associated with the school so I gave DS the free and clear to join if he wants to after the clinic/lessons the next couple weeks. I think he'd love it! Made it through DD's birthday party today with family, replanted a few hostas from the backyard to the front and am looking into next week to see what we have for school. DS has a dentist appt for a filling tomorrow, DD's birthday is Tuesday and we have no school Friday so it's a 3 day school week and Thursday afternoon we have a playdate with another homeschool family. DS 3 math lessons 5 Chapters in his assigned reading Vocab worksheet for his assigned reading (I need to make/find one for his current book, oops) He has 8 Language Lessons left before the end of the year - I don't know what he'll do this week, I've been letting him do it at his pace with much success. DD 3 math lessons 4 "chapters" in Fun with Dick & Jane reader We have 1 BYL Prehistory lesson this week, probably Monday or Thursday, we'll see how the schedule goes. I'm also hoping to start AAS 1 with DS this week, he'll fly through it I'm sure.

Don't be surprised if he is bored in public school and acts out/talks/gets distracted/etc. Most advanced learners with a need for attention cause major issues in a school environment (where one educator is trying to teach 20+ students all the same concept the same way) and is honestly going to better handled and directed in a home environment - 2 hours of enrichment will likely fall light years short of either of your expectations.

We're pretty set for summer here..... We are done May 13th (or sooner) but won't start up anything until May 23rd after we return from a family vacation. They will have 1 Academic Day a week: -AAS Lesson -BYL Prehistory Lesson -Math Lesson + Fact Mastery through Timed Tests and Fun Apps (I've got one working on addition/subtraction facts and the other on multiplication/division facts) DS8 has a week of overnight bible camp, a 2 day overnight scouting trip and is thinking of joining the local swim team (4x a week practices) DD6 has an overnight bible camp, a few day camps for girl scouts We have homeschool group on Wednesdays which we will get back into over the summer And I'll be taking 4 college classes online (8 more total to go for my Bachelors!) and spending time at the lake fishing with my parents as well as spending time at the in ground swimming pool at my in laws.

When we go to the library and he picks out his own book choices, his twaddle is Star Wars or Minecraft. He's very science/techy - would rather read about how things are made, historical battles and biographies than any fiction. DH is the same way. Not me, which is why I am like YES! A fiction non-twaddle book he is enjoying! -- I think the last dozen books I've assigned all but 1 or 2 have been a bust...and they were quality, fun, age appropriate, reading level appropriate picks. We have an abridged version of the Time Machine on the shelves, most of the other titles are unabridged on the shelves so I think it'd be better to go to the library for some of the Illustrated Classics you mentioned - they have plenty. We'll start with Around The World in 80 Days, Robinson Crusoe and Moby Dick (maybe the Nutmeg Press one). His interest in each may help dicepher what he's enjoying exactly. Thank you SO MUCH for the help!

I've been trying to figure out what version we ended up with (it was a random thrift store find). Says: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea by Jules Verne a great adventure story retold by Diane Flynn Grund Nutmeg Press Nutmeg Picture Adventure Copyright 1980 It looks a lot like the Great Illustrated Classics books in terms of illustrations with small captions, but isn't laid out the same and is a paperback with color cover...? It's definitely abridged, but at this age it doesn't bother me.... he typically HATES reading fiction independently and we end up reading only narrative nonfiction most of the time...I read aloud all the fiction lit...which goes over well.... this is the first fiction selection I've handed him in a long time he's been interested in. I LOVE how you broke down the lists into different aspects - I'm trying to get a feel for what exactly he's loving. As he narrates the story, he gushes about each aspect - which is great but makes it hard to pinpoint. We'll add some from each list you gave and see what is a hit! THANK you so much!!!

DS8 just sat down to read a chapter from 20,000 Leagues Under The Sea. He informed me 4 chapters in that he was sitting till he read the whole book. He's at about 5th grade reading comprehension. This is his first look at Jules Verne. What else should I hand him to read?

Apparently my search ability stinks as I am sure that there are other threads here to this effect, but cannot find them. Help me? We are making our own literature/reading lists for the upcoming year and I would love a website that allows me to create them, edit them, share them, etc. Recommendations?

Oh my goodness. We will be sending you vibes of comfort. Perhaps you need to just get out of the house till DH returns?

Pest control came for a consult yesterday, they are coming to treat for wasps and a few other pesky bugs on Thursday. This is nice timing because it means we can grill out after all on Sunday for DD's birthday party (there were 24+ wasps around/under the deck with the grill and I was NOT moving the grill). I completed my summer financial aid form, scanned it and emailed it yesterday. Got lots of cleaning done yesterday (the basement looks MUCH better) and floors all swept and mopped (another sweep Thursday and then a sweep and mop on Saturday and we'll be good for Sunday company). I'm still adjusting to having ZERO carpet and all hardwood. I registered DD and DS for a swim clinic with the local high school. $30 for 8 lessons. How can you beat that?! Our scout friends say that they had a great experience with them too last year!! I confess I am pushing DS to swim team but he LOVES to swim and race with swimming. So why not? DD is one of those kids who wants to GO to the pool, not SWIM at the pool. I wonder if the summer swim team is part of the public school system or not. If it is I may need to dual enroll in the fall (EWWW) which might mean I have to revamp a few things. Anyway, need to finish the front room today organizing wise and going to try to push some more math today (DS has 8 lessons left (probably 2 weeks) and DD has 23 lessons left (probably 4 weeks)). We have REALLY wound down school since we finished up our History and Science last month.

We have 4 weeks left of class here, then a week-long family vacation then we'll be starting up a relaxed summer schedule. Week goals: -DD has a b-day party Sunday afternoon for family so we're filling this week with cleaning :P -Call pest control tomorrow to spray for wasps (they are making a nest under the back deck and NO WAY am I going in there after it) -Complete summer financial aid application for my summer college classes

It might be only mid-April but we are done with regular school on May 13th and going on vacation the following week.... This mama is in countdown mode.

I could use a positive thread! We end in 4 weeks, so I'm going to go by what will be done then ;) DS8 Singapore 3A and 3B Pentime 3 (We can read and write cursive!) Assigned Readers: Little House on the Prairie, Matchlock Gun, The Littles, Stuart Little, The Hundred Dresses, The Cricket in Times Square, Pirates, and a handful more I can't remember off the top of my head... SOTW Vol. 1 BYL Shark Unit Study & Dissection Anatomy Unit Study & Dissection Advanced to a Bear in Cub Scouts Finished book in Awana Club Order of books of the bible memorized DD5 Singapore 1A and 1B R&S Printing Practice 2-4 Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading (we passed our goal for the year, we are abotu 3/4 of the way done) WE CAN READ!!!!! Bob Books Sets 1-5, Scholastic Phonic Readers, Dick & Jane readers SOTW Vol. 1 Anatomy Unit Study Solar System Unit Study (this might not be 100% finished at the end of the school year) Finished up first year of Daisy in Girl Scouts Finished book in Awana Club Order of books of the bible memorized What we didn't finish? - DS was using R&S English 3 and it was working...but it was a fight. So we left it and switched to Queen's Language Lessons and are very happy now. - Gymnastics. We did a full semester, does that count?

This is a touchy subject, but I need help. I may not be politically correct in my terms - forgive me - and correct me. I need some help! We just moved from our rural hometown, population 5,000 to the capital city of our state. We were in a town in which 50% of households spoke Spanish as the primary language. Our kids were exposed to (and ironically indifferent) to diversity. We attended the Baptist Church in our hometown. We loved it. We were typical Baptist members in terms of our actions - dressed up every Sunday, children were seen and not heard in church, Since moving to the city, we have went to over a dozen Baptist churches in suburbs but they have come up very much lacking. The congregations are older, the youth involvement is smaller. There are two Baptist churches left on my list, both in the city, and I feel compelled to go try them out before having to look to a different denomination. Both have a predominantly black congregation (I see one or two white families in the photos on facebook). My children are used to diversity in terms of culture, anything I should do to prepare them? What about me? My friend said there were some differences of culture - like ushers v. greeters even? Am I making something out of nothing? Tell me it'd be like any church visiting where the community embraces us, talks to us, makes us feel welcome?

We're going through this for our very young DD, who just turned 6. Exact same social wants and lack of grasp that public or private school at 1st grade is sitting for hours, not socializing. She currently has maybe an hour of school work a day. She wants to see her friends more and it became an issue when DS became good friends with a boy next door (we don't allow DD to go into the neighbor's house). I feel your struggle. Edited to add: public/private school are not acceptable options for our family. We plan on giving them the option of private school as of middle school - but no sooner.

Hello! We used BYL 1 this year with a young 1st grader and 3rd grader. The program is CM style and secular. This year we "tried out" the program and took it in bits and pieces with our other curriculum. I liked it enough, we bough BYL 2 for next year and will be using it as our main curriculum. We have found that week-to-week the program moves fluidly and the kids are very engaged. Our older often has additional science requirements depending on what we are studying and I get his independent reading list from the higher grade BYL readers at his level. Typical routine for us on BYL (come fall in BYL 2, but it is similar now in BYL 1): We start the day with copywork and memory work together. DS moves faster through the copywork so he completes his Queens or AAS at that time. Then we move to a half hour or so of Mom reading aloud SOTW and any maps/worksheets the curriculum has on that day. Then the next half hour or so we discuss any vocab before I do the literature reading then do any accompanying worksheets/maps/etc. We take a good hour break. We do math lessons. We do lunch. We do our science or art (they rotate every other day in BYL) - which usually goes from a half hour to an hour depending what we are doing (reading/outside work/etc) We do independent reading/read aloud readers before bedtime. We add in homeschool choir for music once a week. Let me know if you have any other questions I can help with :)

Get better (major stomach bug attacked me and DD) DD light school DS school Keep car hunting (we're looking for a 2003-2006 Suburban with at or under 100k miles for $15k or less) ASL lessons laundry, including folding the mountain of clean in our room

I did not apply myself in undergraduate studies and withdrew from a 90% complete major after getting pregnant with our son at age 20 with a GPA of 2.37. I'm 31 now, enrolled to go back and finish my BA in Anthropology & Sociology (8 classes over the course of a year) from a highly ranked college. Even with a 4.0 on these last courses, my GPA will be under the 3.0 grad school minimum mark. I cannot go back and retake the courses I scored low in - they are not offered any longer. Honestly, do I have any decent chance of grad school if I earn a 3.9/4.0 in the last 8 classes and get a couple Professors from those courses to write me a letter of recommendation? The last 11 years has included earning my associates of arts at a local community college (3.02 GPA), serving as a Family Advocate for Head Start programs, teaching in private Pre-K classrooms and then homeschooling our children. The grad program I WANT may not be an option (Sociology @ State University about 45 minutes from me), though I wonder if I would be able to get into a grad program at the University I am re-enrolling in to get my Bachelors? When I look at online programs that do NOT have a minimum GPA for application, I can't tell whether they are a diploma mill or what. So, give it to me straight. What are my odds of grad school admission?

Our kids are young but our message is: "When you are ready to accept responsibility and raise a child of your own." I understand there are many sexual activities that do not result in pregnancy, however if you partake in the appetizer we believe you will eat the meal. That's our perspective.

Wonderful, I loved listening to every second. Bravo!

We just bought a home. We looked at dozens and those with renters turned us off honestly. As renters at the time, we knew that sometimes renters are responsible but that often they don't care for the home with the regular maintence it needs and fail to inform the owner about small issues. The homes were NOT staged well at all and often were not as clean as we would have expected. Renters tended to delay more as well when making sure they were out of the home when we had an appointment to view the home with our realtor and that really did make an impression - we were late viewing other homes because of X home with renters, etc. They don't want the house to sell when they need to rent it - keep that in mind. We looked at some that had been rentals but no longer had tenants and did not have the same impressions of maintenence, cleanliness, etc as it felt as though the owner had been in to update, repair, etc after the tenants left. This is just our general experience. As a previous renter, I would expect ZERO concessions when my lease was up and was always ready to have a lease terminated after it was up until we renewed. That's the definition of a lease. I'd tell them no if you want to sell. I think it will go better for you in terms of time table and allow you to do needed updates and repairs easier before showing the home.

DD will be 6 but is a mix of 1st/2nd grade materials, so I'll post here... Now-May Finish up Singapore 1B Finish up SOTW 1 Do a geography unit study (continents/oceans) Copywork READ, READ, READ (step readers) Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading Girl Scouts June-August Singapore 2A (1-2 lessons a week) READ, READ, READ (step readers) Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading (1-2 lessons a week) Unit Studies: Native Americans and The Titanic Girl Scouts September-December Build Your Library (BYL) Gr. 2 - History (SOTW2), Literature, Poetry/Tales, Art Supplement with: Queen's Language Lessons for the Very Young Singapore 2A, move into 2B Readers: Frog & Toad, Curious George, possibly beginning chapter books **We aren't using BYL for science next year (Gr. 2 is astronomy and we covered it in depth this year)... I like the idea of a year long nature study...but this is still in the works planning wise. Homeschool Choir, Girl Scouts

I respectfully disagree with this point. I feel the fascination comes from the fact that the Ancients mythology is so similar, not different, to the stories found in the Bible. Our children correlate the ancient mythology to the bible stories in regard to overall character and message perfectly.

January-May -Finish up Singapore 3B, move into 4A -Queen's Language Lessons for Elementary Vol. 1 -BYL Prehistory Unit -Finish up SOTW, start a 2 month continent/ocean study to reinforce what we know (and to assist DD5) -BYL Reader list Gr. 3 -Cub Scouts, Homeschool Choir, Awana Bible Club June-August -Singapore 4A (1 lessons per week) -Timed Tests/Fun Apps to work on multiplication fact mastery -AAS 1 and AAS 2 -BYL Prehistory -Structured summer reading -Cub Scout Camps, Weeklong overnight Bible Camp August-December -Singapore 4B -Queen's Language Lessons for Elementary Vol. 1 -AAS 3 -McHenry's The Brain?? -SOTW 2 -Literature List -Co-op classes: Art and Science -Cub Scouts, Homeschool Choir, Bible Club We are doing BYL Gr. 2 in fall - DS has some independent work and supplemental work.

Personally, we move into gentle formal grammar after we have completely exhausted Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. We do the older 1/2 version and take our time... when it's done (usually by end of 3rd grade) we don't touch formal grammar instruction till we hit 6th grade (we use Queen's between 3rd and 6th, which is not what I call formal) but begin using written vs. oral narration to reinforce the concepts FLL taught.

Though every child is different, I think everything you listed is too much. Why? Because 1st grade is about foundation more than long term retention. First graders do not have the mental development to learn spelling rules productively (we wait until 3rd/4th as do many others) and Language Arts instruction should really be gentler than Shurley in my opinion -- mostly because nearly everything they learn will need to be reinforced and retaught due to the age level. At first grade level, read to him. Read to him until you go hoarse. Read him history books with pictures, not history curriculum (If you lived when.... you wouldn't want to be books}. Read to him literature like Little House books, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, the list goes on. Read with him actively with his phonics and reading using books that are geared to his interests. Abeka is absolutely fine - but by gearing the phonetic readers to his interests he'll blossom. Remember, this is just MY opinion. ;) We have a mix of classical and CM methods, but it keeps the first grader from being overwhelmed, overworked, and on pace to enjoy school as well as time dedicated to be one-on-one with me... while still having tons of time to be a kid. My 1st grader this year: HISTORY: Read aloud SOTW, do some fun map work, coloring or experiment to go with the chapter. Work on narration. (1-2 a week) MATH: Singapore (your Saxon is great) READING: Phonetic step readers (1 a day) PHONICS/GRAMMAR: Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading (1-2 lessons a week)... when we finish we move into the older 1/2 version of First Language Lessons COPYWORK: We are using Rod & Staff 1st grade printing books (1 lesson per day) SCIENCE: Nature study (notebooking as items are collected, trees rubbed) with lots of resources handy to research together (local tree/weed/flower/bird/tracks/scat/etc guides) To summarize, my first grader spends 60-90 minutes of sitting work total daily (not all at once, of course)