My husband and I have purchased Dell refurbished laptops for a long time. They come with warranties and mine is 9 years old and I still use it without issue. http://www.dell.com/us/dfh/p/laptops I would spring for the DVD player...you'll probably use it more than you think.

I completely agree. A lot of dark detail including hangings of French citizens and mental instability. The eloquence and detail with which Dickens writes will also be very hard to follow for young ones. It is one of my favorite historical fiction pieces, but I would not read it to my young children. Have you DS listen to it (audible has a great version).

FWIW, we tried SS Spanish and it was too much for us....which is along the lines of what you're feeling about CAP Latin products, so you are probably right. Subsequently, I decided to switch to teaching Latin first and after too much looking around I decided on someone else teaching us aka DVD. So I got Prima Latina and it is dry but I make it fun learning along with DS and playing memory and speed matching with the vocab cards I make myself. Then DS "teaches" Daddy what he learns...which is just plain funny. I love Prima Latina and plan on using the next level DVD Latin course from Memoria Press because it is so easy, open and go, and we can it fun in the meantime.

We are getting close to starting Who Is God...I'm putting the lesson plans together now. Based on your kids' ages, I'm thinking the 2 youngest would not get much. Since I haven't read everything in the book, I'm not sure about their stance on Catholicism. I also use Bible Study Guide For All Ages student pages (they have levels that match your kids abilities, except your DD2...but she could listen😀). BSGFAA is strictly Bible based and I have not encountered any bias toward any denomination in 3 years of using it. It's open and go with the student pages. You can also add maps and timelines but that is optional. There is also a music CD that we listen to randomly but not necessarily with the student pages. DS has learned a significant amount using this program!

We love HomeArtStudio as well! K or 1st grade would work great for all of your kids. If you google HomeArtStudio and go to the website, you can see some of the projects they do. Your pre-K could do most of Kinder level and certainly help with 1st grade level.

You've gotten great advice so far! I echo the fact that your kiddo is not behind...no worries. I do want to second math mammoth though. I have used Singapore and MM is much more straight forward for kids who need simple...I also was a former math teacher. So much is about the right curriculum to match your kiddo. Bottom line, you love your kids and that's of supreme importance in this educational journey! 😀

I am looking at lesson 405...the Primary student teacher guide. It summarizes both books enough for younger ones to understand. For example, "Ezekiel spoke God's words and said, "Jerusalem and the other towns of Judah will be destroyed and their idols smashed!"" This was only 1 of 8 parts to the lesson's story sheet. I've always used the student pages and the summaries are great for elementary kids. DS has learned so much!

I completely agree with Storygirl. I just want to add an additional consideration. The skills and abilities of 6 year olds is all over the place so be sure to identify the teacher's expectations and be sure those expectations are realistic for your child.

IMHO, I'd skip pencils all together...they require pushing down to see the writing, they break, they encourage erasing thereby shifting the focus from whatever kids are writing to needing to erase. We've always used gel pens and it is very smooth with little pressure required from little hands. Plus you can get fun colors which we like as well!

Take a look at The Critical Thinking Company's website. They have several books designed for this purpose at different levels. We haven't taken any standardized tests yet, but are going to use their books to help get ready.

Donna Young had excel files for lesson planning on her website...it was free but there might be a membership charge now.

I plan to use This Country of Ours by HE Marshall. I've only read a few chapters but it seems good so far plus I'm going to add living books.

Wrapping up this year: Poetry and Scripture memorization (IEW & mommy) MM2A Prima Latina BSGFAA Unit 3 Biblioplan/Bible ancient history Noeo Biology I AAS2 IEW PAL writing Cursive writing - NAC + Startwrite Guitar lessons HomeArtStudio/Composers/Mind Benders Summer: we school year around - usually 6 weeks on, 1 week off plus fun days or long weekends sometimes So we'll go right into "2nd grade" Poetry and Scripture memorization (IEW & mommy) MM2B then MM3A Prima Latina (slowly) BSGFAA unit 4 TruthQuest American History for young students Noeo Chemistry I AAS3 IEW Bible Heroes Apologia Worldview series...start with Who Is God? guitar lessons swim lessons HomeArtStudio/Composers/Building Thinking Skills

Just off the top of my head...Math Mammoth - you get get pdf files of the books and print what you need each time you need it.

I second Biblioplan and they have free samples on their website that are substantial. If you prefer using more of a spine, Mystery of History by Linda Hobar. With the text use the companion guide that offers projects, timeline, map work, and additional optional reading lists broken down by age.

I'm making my way through planning Truthquests 2 year American history with living books. They have an abundant list of many topics....might be worth a look. I've just started reading some to screen the ones we'll use when we start so I don't have absolute favorites yet.

We are really enjoying Noeo Science Biology I for my 6yo. It is open and go - you buy the package and it includes everything you need for the experiments and the lesson plans. Very easy and fun.

If she'll read library books - children's biographies or short well written stories about the topic or event, you could use the list in WTM, Biblioplan, Ambleside Online, or other living books type curricula. If you are doing a 4-year cycle, you'll come back again and revisit the important events/people.

I got mine from Walmart and it works for all of the above! It's thick, clear, and inexpensive.

Phonetic Zoo is an independent program and it has a placement test as well to get the right level.

Mystery of History - world history America the Beautiful, Notgrass Truthquest History Beautiful Feet

Because I wasn't sure I could do it myself, I bought New American Cursive, but it doesn't have an abundance of practice so then I bought Startwrite software at Rainbow. Now I create my own practice sheets with words and soon sentences. Startwrite has multiple cursive fonts and you could create your own program with just that....which what I recommend. :) I started when DS was 6-1/2 and it working beautifully! He also wanted to learn cursive and was also writing in pretend cursive, so I was where you are now.

I second the others about using the worksheet generator that comes with MM because that is exactly what I do with my DS. Math is intuitive for him as well but I want to be sure he has some understanding of how it works so I bought Two Plus Two Is Not Five for extra review. What I do is, give him a review sheet, either worksheet generator or Two Plus Two page and assign 1 (sometimes 2) pages of MM. I had to detach myself from "I need to do 2 pages a day to finish" at whatever timeframe I chose...no easy thing for me!

When I am overwhelmed, I step back and plan out step by step how I can piece it all back together - you can do that too! :001_rolleyes: What we cover now is: writing (IEW PAL writing - starting composition), 15 min/4 days per week spelling (AAS2), 10-15 min/4 days per week penmanship/copywork (MP books and my own using Startwrite), 10 min/5 days per week public speaking/memorization (IEW poetry memorization with additional scripture passages - DS gives a recital to hubby and I plus a set of grandparents after learning 10 poems and 10 or so verses), 15 - 20 min/5 days per week cursive penmanship (NAC + my own Startwrite created pages) 10 min/5 days per week For narration I use our history or science readings. When I add grammar, I am going to use Fix-It (IEW). For spelling after we complete AAS3, we will move to Phonetic Zoo. My 2 cents: For a rising 7th grader, you could start with PZ (take the placement test) and Fix-It Grammar. Keep on using TWSS and you could buy SWI-B so Andrew can teach for you. You don't necessarily need copywork if you have composition and it will help with feeling overwhelmed. Tie in public speaking with memorization you create based on history (famous speeches), Bible verses if you that is important, or poetry (which develops complex language patterns) of your choice. HTH even a little. :)

Depending on where you live, you could also join a local like-minded homeschool group for parks days and field trips as well as special holiday events throughout the year.