I don't think Junior FLL would be too much, especially if you get together with another family to do it. You are allowed up to six kis per team. Doing the (non-Jr) FLL without a competition would likely not be worthwhile. However, it will be a couple years before your kids are old enough for FLL so maybe in that time something will come up. Jr. FLL requires maybe 1-2 hours a week for about 15 weeks. Okay, so Technic is a type of Lego set but you can also buy individual pieces. You will find pieces like gears, wheels, axles, etc. These are some examples: http://www.lego.com/en-us/technic/?domainredir=technic.lego.com The We-Do kit includes some technic pieces but not everything you will need. If you go with Technic straight from Lego retail you will want to get a kit that comes with a motor (or buy more than one, making sure one that has a motor) and battery pack. We started off using just the motor and battery pack (with our simple machines kit) with my Jr FLL team, and then added We-Do this year. It's a lot easier to use the We-Do because you have more control of the motor. But you will need the Technic pieces somehow--either from a Technic kit or from one of the Lego Education kits. There are also individual vendors that sell specific pieces online but you kind of need to know what you are looking for before you buy on there. For example, we needed a worm gear so we ordered from there. (brinklink.com) Not that you have free time =) but you could create something like the simple machines kit by buying individual pieces from brinklink. Other than the worm gear it was missing it also doesn't have conveyor type pieces (tank tread, etc.), and it doesn't have enough connectors, gear racks, etc. I was just looking at the Wedo extension kits--they are supposed to be 36 hours of instruction per book. I might consider that if I teach this at co-op again next year.

Hi! We are using the We-do with my Jr. First Lego League team. There is not a whole lot in the kit in terms of lessons. It will walk you through how to use the different features. Honestly my group of 6-8 year old boys would much rather tinker than deal with the "instructions." LOL. So we did a little bit of going through the book and then they went at it. We were using it in the context of completing our model for Jr. FLL. I would say if you used the book you might have four weeks. You need to know that there are very very few legos with this kit. Really to get the best use out of it you need to have a substantial stash of technic pieces. I am honestly not very happy with the simple machines kit either. We have both and even with that I had to buy additional to meet my team's needs. The Jr. FLL kit includes two simple machines kits and some basic blocks plus a large baseplate. The We-do kit includes basically what is on your link and that's it. It's enough to do just the projects they set out, but you will have to take apart the prior project to make the next one. There are not enough Legos to make a project, keep it together, and then build something else. As far as Mindstorms, I am looking at the age of your kids.I think the 7 year old is going to struggle with Mindstorms for a few years unless they are super great with programming. We-Do is a windows-based program and is extremely easy to use. Mindstorms is just a step beyond that. However, I would tend to look at getting a robot as a long term investment. So that would be something to think about. Odds are good your kids will outgrow WeDo but not Mindstorms. That's a hard call. The Mindstorms is significantly more expensive and they have been updating the robots lately. I think there is a new version out?? Another option is to do We-Do in the context of a Jr. FLL team. It is for ages 6-9. Your daughter could also participate. It's not a whole lot of work, and if you get a group of kids together and have them all contribute toward the We-Do then it will be less of an investment. However you will need a good number of other lego pieces to make it work, especially technic. I have been a coach or assistant coach of Jr. FLL for three years now and I have really enjoyed it. It's not a lot of work and the kids learn a lot. There is a video here. youtube.com/watch?v=lZkz7iNC5Eg For ages 9-12, the First Lego League program is amazing--a big step up, and a good amount of work for coach and parents. From a robotics perspective (learning the mindstorms robotics) and the core values (teamwork, courteous communication, etc.) it's just an all around great program.

I have not used this program myself, but a friend pulled her kids out of something similar (it was called Connections Academy) because they were not willing to work off-grade level with her son who has auspergers (sp?), ADD, and sensory issues. He was three years behind grade level in math but was forced to work at grade level because they could not make accommodation for him. The parents were told that they could before they enrolled, and then informed that a new OH law prevented this. I am only telling you this in case this would influence your decision. I would ask very specifically about working off grade level if I was going to ever consider it, but for an opposite reason--my kids are above grade level in a couple subjects, and on grade level in others. Otherwise, I do have another friend who used K12 and liked it--but her daughter did not have any learning/sensory/behavior issues.

great thread! I am going to take notes!! Well, I am not sure what reading level we are talking about but my eight year old has read: Time Warp Trio (series) Mrs. Piggle Wiggle (this is a series) The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph and Ralph S. Mouse We read a couple of books by Dalgliesh --The Bears on Hemlock Mountain and The Courage of Sarah Noble How to Eat Fried Worms We are currently reading the first of the Half Magic series by Edward Eager. My impression is that it is too hard for my son, although its lexile is about what he has been reading. Anyway. There are five books I think.

I have no idea if my six year old is ADD or not but I know he hates being timed! I agree about dropping the timed Xtra Math. My ds hated it and never improved. Finally I went to just straight flash cards and that went better. He did get a bit bored again so we started doing them in silly talk. I know that's weird but somehow it helps him focus and enjoy it. I can't really comment on the rest, except to say I have certainly had days when I wanted to quit also. Hang in there!

I am using the world version of this. My kids are 6 and 8. I think perhaps because of their ages I struggled with it at the beginning of the year. Let me offer some things that have helped. First, you really do need a very good atlas. I started off with a $2 Scholastic one I bought used and it just didn't cut it. My stress level has dropped since I "splurged" for the $8 used Usborne one. LOL. Second is I am really not a fan of the Uncle Josh's blackline maps. I do have an older set, and maybe that is the problem. Honestly since we use them weekly I would rather have them electronically. I do believe they sell a CD version of the Uncle Josh's but I am not sure if they are updated from what I have. We just unbound the book and scanned it and use those for my kids. However, some of the rivers are not consistent with our atlas and sometimes I just want something with the countries pre marked. I recently purchased a set of outline maps from Scholastic during their $1 sale. It is an e-book so I can easily print. Also the countries are labeled on some of the maps. Since your kids seem to be older, I think you will likely not have this problem. The other thing is you will find the Trail Guide has references to the Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide. You can get on without it, but I suspect that as my kids get older I will be using it more and more. So in case I am not clear in order to use Trail Guide you will need: a set of good blackline maps and a good quality atlas. Other books it will refer to but you do not have to buy are: Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide and Geography Through Art. They do sell a CD with the Trail Guide to World Geography. I am not sure what is on it. There is a CD with the Ultimate Geography and Timeline Guide. Unfortunately I did not find the maps on there helpful either. I would say this curriculum is pretty secular, although they do sell a Trail Guide to Bible Geography. I can't say I have seen Bible references yet in our current (world geography) book.

I didn't see it mentioned, so I just wanted to say we really liked Primary Arts of Language: Reading and Writing. It covers the phonemes (reading), letter formation, writing sentences, writing paragraphs, and spelling (includes All about Spelling 1). So all you would need to add to round out your language arts is your daily read aloud. Everything else is pretty much there for K-1. I did start using First Language Lessons for my two because I wanted more memory pegs in terms of definitions of grammar terms (this is a classical thing). Anyway, I didn't do that until we finished PAL. The decision to homechool is a huge one--and like you I felt totally overwhelmed at first. It may help if you have friends that homeschool to ask what they use and to look at it. You don't have to do what others do, but I find having something in my hands and seeing what is included in it really helps me place if it is right for us or not. Someone might have mentioned a homeschool conference. They are a great tool but can be terribly overwhelming also. If you go, do it with a friend and/or your dh. Ours (in Cincinnati) has helpful sessions on different types of homeschooling, what to pick based on your child's learning styles, etc. I found those sessions very helpful. Also, although the exhibit hall was crazy big, I really appreciated being able to go in with a list of things to look at--it helped me from getting the deer in headlights effect from the endless booths with homeschool curriculum vendors. =)

Following also!

So far I have been doing FLL with my two kids together (grades 1 and 2 this year). We will finish FLL 2 this school year. I am definitely moving on to FLL3 for my oldest in the fall (3rd grade), but what are your thoughts about also doing it with my 2nd grader if he has handled FLL 1 and 2 okay? My hesitation is that the workbook is quite long and the content (sentence diagramming, etc.). I do own Rod & Staff Preparing to Build 2 so I could do that with my 2nd while I do FLL 3 with my oldest. I just like to consolidate where I can with their lessons. Thanks in advance for your input!

I'm doing Bible Heroes right now with my 1st and 2nd grader. I had done the PAL-writing and was familiar with the key word outlining, writing from that, using strong adjectives and adverbs, etc. So I didn't really feel a need for the video until we got to the story sequence sources portion (Unit 3) which I honestly feel is just trickier to teach than Unit 1 or 2. The manual instructed me to watch the video pertaining to Unit 3 and so I did. Then later in the lessons (near the end), there are two more videos to watch. I do think you could survive without them, especially if you have the syllabus. Or perhaps if you have a friend with the videos you could borrow them for a weekend. It really looks like I will only need to watch maybe three one hour segments total for the whole year.

I would say all classical. Classical Music for Dummies does include a CD of music.

The adventures in art is actually on sale for $70. It's not very clear from their website. I like it but I don't even know that I would pay $70 for it. =) I agree with the pp, one of the problems I had last year was that I had to be all over the internet looking things up. The adventures in art curriculum is nice in that it has embedded links for things. Again though, I didn't pay for it! My plan was just to briefly cover the artists and show works in books or online, and listen to composers. I didn't plan any notebooking or anything. My kids do enough writing otherwise and I would certainly have a mutiny on my hands if I tried that. I almost forgot--I also have Classical Music for Dummies. I cross referenced that against the Harmony scope for music. Are you interested to see my spreadsheets? I can email them to you if you PM me your address.

I'm not sure if I can answer this completely, because 1) I am not using it, and 2) I don't have it in my possession. However, last year I went through each year's syllabus and matched it up with the books I had and some online resources. I will be honest and say despite my good intentions and a very robust spreadsheet matching up each artist with the books I have, I have not gotten to it at all. We are still doing Artistic Pursuits and piano so they are not getting zero art instruction. Here are a couple online resources I found that are helpful for the art aspect: Google Art Project: look up by artist or by name of composition http://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/project/art-project Concordia University Art Lessons by Artist and by grade level http://www.cuchicago.edu/artlessons Adventures in art e-curriculum (I got this when it was free. Not sure of cost now.) http://www.cornerstonecurriculum.com/Curriculum/Art/art.htm For composers try the classics for kids website. They have a page for each composer. There are also lesson plans for many of the composers. There are info sheets on different instruments on makingmusicfun.net. There are also "Hey kids, it's _________" biographies on that site for different composers. Pulling together the music is a challenge I have not yet conquered. We have a number of CDs here and I have noted which composers we have music for versus not. I have not noted any free music access websites, although I am guessing such may exist.

Hmm. .. . well, we read Swiss Family Robinson (full, unabridged 388 page version) and I thought that was really long. I am impressed. Perhaps have your son read through the whole Chronicles of Narnia? It may be close to 1000 pages with all five books.

I might have missed this, but is there a reason you are doing both WWE and Bible Heroes with your 7 year old? It seems that you should do one or the other, not both. But maybe it's because I don't have a good grasp of what WWE entails. I am doing FLL 2 with my 6 and 8 year old, and it includes dictation, grammar, etc. It only takes 15-20 minutes a day. If you can find a way to consolidate the R&S grammar and WWE components, that could easily save you a half hour.

This is my exact problem with DS6. We spent a year almost doing Xtra Math and got absolutely nowhere. He was stuck at 38% all year. He HATES being timed. Are you saying that Facts First is not timed? I have been doing just regular flash cards but confess that even I can grow impatient with that. He takes awhile. It would be nice to have a computer thing to do that was not so stressful for him.

I am curious if anyone has used any of these resources and which they really like and could recommend? I have liked the Scholastic Success with Maps Grade 2 and it's $1. I'm so bummed. I just bought three of these (grades 3-5) for $3.15 each the other week!!

chelsmm you should be able to. I was able to download a file to my laptop and conceptually I should have been able to email it to my desktop. The trouble was that it was a huge file, so it was taking forever to add as an attachment. Can you put it on a memory stick and give that to her? That is what I ended up doing in the end (putting on memory stick, copying onto desktop). Otherwise, you could "zip" the file but if she isn't computer saavy, that might be worse than you walking her through the steps on the phone to order it.

We are using Artistic Pursuits but my kids are in 1st and 2nd grade. What I like about it is it 1) is not crafts and 2) incorporates a little bit of art history. Pretty much every lesson is based on some historic work of art. We have only done book one so far (for grades 1-3). I am starting book 2 next week. That one has prints of various famous paintings as well. It is well laid out, written at their level, and the projects are easy to follow. The negative would be that I am not skilled in art so sometimes that aspect of how much do I direct versus leave to them can be difficult. I am a very hands off art teacher. If they say they are done, I might encourage them to put some more background color in, etc. but if they say no, we are done. I have not done or heard of the videos the others mentioned--I am curious to know grade level for those. I plan to keep doing Artistic Pursuits through probably 6th grade but after that I am not sure.

Edit: found it! Go to this link and click on "sample now" http://www.hmhco.com/shop/education-curriculum/math/math-in-focus-singapore-math Can someone post a link to the teacher's manuals online for MIF? I didn't realize you could access them there. Thank you.

I guess we should probably be keeping our in-text work but I don't worry about it. We write it on scrap paper and it gets recycled. I do use the workbooks. I have used the Extra Practice workbooks before. We used them as a sort of "summer bridge" for math. I do have the teacher's guides (we are in 2A and 2B presently) but I very very rarely open them. Usually it is for a "Put on Your thinking cap" problem I can't figure out.

At our co-op they are offering an "Animals and their habitats" class for grades 1-3. I don't think she is using a particular curriculum but they are making lapbooks. I facilitate a Jr. First Lego League team during one of our co-op periods (ages 6-9, max 6 per team). One person is running a math games class--they just play all sorts of math games. There is a Science Fun class but that is totally up to the teacher what is covered. It is a mostly hands-on class. As mentioned by others, we do have Galloping the Globe as well. We do have FIAR available for this age, also art, general music, and musical theater. Next year I am thinking of teaching Bible Heroes (IEW product) which is for 2nd graders. We'll see!

I've been using Bible Heroes, which is an IEW product, for my 1st and 2nd grader. I like it. It is very structured. If you are familiar with the IEW method of key word outlining,writing from the outline, using dress ups like strong verbs, adjectives, etc., it is just a junior version of that (slow introduction of concepts and easier source texts). The product does assume that you can watch the Teaching Writing Structure and Style videos. I did find watching them helpful when we got to the story sequence. We are on track to finish this school year. Since neither of mine are particularly fast at copying or dictation, what we usually do is I scribe first and they copy. The first day we read the text, develop an outline, and they copy it. We also go over vocabulary words (included) and any games (included). Day two we develop our first draft, make edits, and I scribe the final. Then for Day three and four (we only do four days a week for this) they copy the final and draw a picture to go with it. I hope this information helps!

Thank you for all the suggestions! I think I have been too focused on getting the reading done and need to just set a time frame and let him be done. I don't want to reward his delay tactics (food, drink, etc.) so I will have to be more diligent to be clear on my expectations (don't steal my drink, etc. LOL!). Honestly I don't want him to read 30 minutes a day but sometimes it stretches into that, so I just need to set a timer or something and let him know I do expect focus in that timeframe. Like several have mentioned, I do need to keep him moving through the day because he has a lot of energy. And, yes, sugar intake probably needs to be curtailed also! Although he is only 6, he is able to read at a second grade level. So I think I am also kind of struggling with challenging him without burning him out. I don't want him to hate reading because of our reading times. Thank you for all your input!

I wouldn't say he is struggling to read. Depending on the day he is more distracted or less, but today he was distracted from page one. So it literally took ten or fifteen minutes to read a paragraph or two because he kept stopping to get a snack, a drink, pick his toes, play with the blanket, etc. LOL. He does okay with our regular math--MIF--but Xtra Math is a drill program. He hates it. He sort of likes Math Bingo because it isn't timed. I don't know anything about KONOS. What is that?