Thank you! That's exactly what I wanted. I just ordered it. :)

I'm looking for spelling lists for my two kids. My daughter was in private school last year, and she has requested to continue her weekly spelling words/ tests. I was kind of planning on just doing grammar, writing, reading, phonics all together in a more natural way, but since she's asking, I have no problem doing it. I don't really want a spelling book with a lot of worksheets. I am found a ton of fun ideas for practicing spelling, and the children can choose from those ideas instead. But I'm also afraid just to wing it. This is my first year home schooling. :) So what I want is a place to find a list of words that makes sense, not just a random assortment. I am using Ordinary Parent's Guide to Reading for my son. I will likely start my daughter using it - but she will start about 3/4 of the way through, as she is already reading. I could take words from there and add words from the Ayer list. Just wondering if anyone has ideas for me. Thanks! Chelsea

Can anyone suggest an age range for Time Travelers? It looks like fun, and seems like it would be good for younger kids also, but the site suggests grades 3-5. I'm reading the first Hakim book now. I am enjoying it, but I think it is too advanced for my kids (almost 6 and almost 8).

I'm so excited to find out about the Mary Pope Osbourne books/ cds. My kids will be thrilled! I borrowed a version of the Odyssey read by Odds Bodkin recently, and it was too advanced for my two (age 5.5 and 7). They really like Benedict Flynn's Kind Arthur stories, and they love myths, but it was too wordy and confusing for them. They will be happy to hear about the MPO version. I'd be curious to hear how people like the Flynn Odyssey, since we all enjoyed his Knights of the Round Table cd.

We are about halfway through Peter and the Starcatchers. We all are loving it. We also have enjoyed The Sign of the Beaver, the American Girl historical figure stories (especially Kaya), anything read by Jim Weiss, and just about anything from Odds Bogdins.

We have ordered from insect lore because we don't have milkweed around here. (well, not near by). The caterpillars come in a little cup with all the food they need. When they are in their chrysalis, you remove the paper top of the jar and put them in the habitat. once they emerge, you can feed them sugar water, orange slices, or watermelon slices. Release when the temp is above 55 degrees F.

We have two keekaroo (I think that's how it is spelled) chairs. I ordered them from Amazon. They were easy to assemble, and they are less expensive than the Stokke. The quality isn't going to be as good, but for us, the keekaroo was perfect.

I'm still trying to figure out what we will do for Spanish. I have a 1st and 2nd grader, and my Spanish is probably about the same as your's ;) Salsa - free online - http://www.gpb.org/salsa We have a subscription to Discovery Education through my mom who is a teacher. They have lessons that we will likely use too. A friend of mine suggested Muzzy, but I haven't checked it out yet. Our library does have a lot of Spanish resources, perhaps your library does too.

My kids are currently in private school, but we are going to home school starting this fall. We started SOTW 1 recently, and they love it. I read it like I would any read aloud- after school while dinner is cooking, after dinner before clean up, or at bedtime. We have fit in a few activities on the weekends just for fun. We will likely do things differently when they are out of school and doing school completely at home. But this works for now. We also have been doing science this way. When we have free time, we read some science and do some activities. It's fun, so the kids don't mind doing it. I would focus on the 3 r's and fit in history and science when you can/ when it will be fun. Maybe plan out ahead of time what you will do next so that there is little prep when you find the time for history or science.

wow, what an exciting field trip! Thanks for sharing the pictures/ links.

We just started SOTW1 with my 7 and 6 year olds. We read the chapter and do an activity. I don't have the AG, but I can easily find activities on the internet. Satori Smiles is a great blog for ideas. I have the Usborn internet linked book and really like that. We have used supplemental books from the library as well. I haven't had the kids do any map work yet, and we haven't started our timeline, but we will. Right now they are in their last two weeks of school, so we only do home school when we have time. We will start "officially" home schooling in the fall. I am going to order the audio cds. My kids both love Jim Weiss, and it will be great review, as I know my kids will listen to them often. RR also has them for about $25. They are super hard to get from our library.

We love Jim Weiss at our house. We've listened to many, many hours of him in the car! I find his voice to be calming for my kids as well. Our library system was able to get SOTW for me. You might try a library before buying to see if you like them.

HI, I'm new here too :) We will be starting this fall in Massachusetts!

Hi, I'm Chelsea- I'll be home schooling my two this coming year, although we will start in the summer. My kids are soot to be 6 and soon to be 8, so first and second grade in the fall. I have a few plans so far- We have already started REAL science Odyssey Life. We all really like it so far- seems very hands out. We will be doing the animal and plant secions from now through the early fall. Then we will do the human body in the winter. We will be doing Singapore Math. My son is going to do 1A and my daughter will do the 1A book for review and then do 1B. They didn't get a lot of math at their school this year, and I think they will do well with the review. They have both been in private school - my son for kindy and my daughter for kindy and first. We were very disappointed this year with so many things. I have always wanted to home school anyways, though, so I'm hoping we all are happy with the new arrangement. I'm a little nervous about "socialization"- mainly because my daughter really needs a couple close friends in order to be happy and my son needs a lot of social interactions- not with the same kids all the time though, he's happy with anyone! I'd like to hook up with some local home schooling families. We are just north of Boston.

Have you looked at REAL science Life? I'm using that with my two. They are almost 6 and almost 8. It is easily adaptable for both ages. So far it is fun, you don't need much for extra supplies, and it's not too complicated. We have all enjoyed the few sections we have done so far. If you look online, you can get the whole first section (human body) online free. We are starting with the animal and plant sections though, since it's the right time of year to be outside digging for worms and insects :) Anyways, I'd check that out if you really want a curriculum for that age.

I also will have a second grader and a first grader for next year. It's my first year home schooling them. We plan on using REAL Science Odyssey Life for science and have already done some of the preview pages that are available on their site. The kids really enjoyed the first few labs about cells and life. My son is not yet six and could be K or first, and it's fine for him too. He just can't do all of the writing that his sister can handle, so I write what he dictates when he asks. We are going to use SOTW book 1 for history. We have read a few pages so far, and they like it. I will supplement with library books and short videos here and there as well.