Hummm, that a great idea. I normally use flat clipboards and the papers come pretty beaten up. Thanks looks like I am adding that to the school supply list. Thanks!:D

I felt the same way, under advice from Myrtle(on this board), I went ahead and did the program myself. I have worked my way from: Singapore 5B-6B NEM 1 - Pre-algebra, about 1/3 algebra 1 and geometry NEM 2 - 2/3 algebra 1, 1/3 geometry, and I will start NEM 3 which will cover some alegbra 1, most of algebra 2, 1/3 geometry, some trigonometry (from the site). I was so worried, I had my dd 5th doing Lial's BCM until I got enough gusto to teach NEM. She'll start in the Fall with NEM & LOF(Life of Fred.... sprinkled in) I think Singapore is a wonderful program, not only did my math ability increase but I am not afraid to teach math. I am not sure why I stunk at it so bad:confused:. I think if you can somehow take yourself through the program then you will feel more confident. If you can't see yourself doing so, I think you may find that any instructor led curriculum at some point may leave you feeling the same way. Eventually, I found that my "lack of math knowledge" was going to limit my curriculum choices. I would have to go with a a video based or DVD program when we hit pre-alg, although there are some great ones out there , I wanted to stick it out with Singapore. If you already know you will not be teaching at the higher levels, then it may be a good idea to check out a video/DVD/Computer based option and find out what would work well to lead into it.

Moody Science Videos are Great!

Funny our plans are so similar, so I have to say it looks great!;) How do you like the looks of Rainbow Science, which one are you using?

Probably a dumb question, what do you use them for? I love "office supplies", just give me a reason to buy them!

I agree:), Beautiful Feet does have a bit of writing but, not much if any writing instruction. If you plan of using LLATL for the writing instruction and grammar than that's all you would need, I would not add the WS. LLATL will use the words from the literature he is reading for an applied spelling lesson. Spelling Workout uses word lists again, I would use one or the other:D. I would probably add science program or use library readers for an overview of science topics. That's my 2 cents:o

I put up a white string in a zig-zag (because of space) otherwise, I would just make it straight. I use the Veritas Press cards, and we use those colorful mini-cloth pins and put them up as we get through them in our studies.

I used this 4 days a week last year for my 4th grader and she will continue to work through it this year. It has 150 days of work, each "chunk" is set up like this: Introduce rule 4 days of practice Cumulative Review Lesson I just assign a page a day, and she got up to page/lesson 68. When she starts is again this year, I will have her do the review pages up to lesson 68 and if she passes them(there is only 6 of them), we will move on. If not, I can go over those lssons, I really like the ease of the lessons, she finishes in about 5-10 minutes :)

When I freeze fresh corn I put a little melted butter and milk in a ziplock and put the corn in. It's a trick my ds does and the corn ALWAYS tastes fresh. I have never tried it with canned though.

We purposely did one 1 week of TOG Y3 over 2 weeks (actually 8 school days) because there was so much fun stuff to do. We listened to SOTW on Audio 4 for an overview this summer, and we will start with the re-designed Y.1 in the Fall (well, Aug. actually). I plan on taking the same approach this year with Year 1. I have a D,UG and LG. On Friday (of previous week) or over the Weekend ( only 2 x a month) I: Read General Information,objectives, and writing assignments I assign books and I put an (M) on any book I plan on reading aloud on the book list page (I am a non-page protector gal, and I DO write in my TOG) I schedule the hands- on, field trips and I write out a supplies page (post it note). Mondays (week 1) Geography- Go over area we are studying, do a transparency map, salt map or cookie dough map. Talk about the climate, flora fauna etc. Do a notebook page for Geography. Tuesdays Vocabulary done "orally" ( we use Wordly Wise for formal Vocab.) Read Aloud Go over writing Project Wednesdays Prewriting Time-line work- (We do Veritas Press Cards on the wall- I put up a long string and I paperclip the card)We sing the song on the Veritas CD. Thursday Read-Alouds Coloring page or Notebook Page on Read Aloud(LG/UG) Notebook Page (D) on Read Aloud Start a "Project" (whatever hands-on I scheduled) Rough Draft Friday OFF (Can work on project if they wish) My Errand Day!Check my Supplies List to see if I need anything for school next week or take a field trip. Monday (week 2) Discuss what we learned last week. I love using the Evaluations for "oral" discussions, I do not give tests;)Looks like we will do 1/2 of the Evaluations page. Start polishing Writing Assignment for Final Copy Work on any painting left need for Geography if we did a salt map, quick overview of land area. Cook something from that area or have it premade for snack Tuesday Finish up any left over Read-Alouds. Tell the kiddos they MUST finish History readings for Thursday. Pass in Final writing Assignment If time allows work on hands-on project or reading Wednesday Time line work- (We do Veritas Press Cards on the wall- I put up a long string and I paperclip the card)We sing the song on the Veritas CD. Finish up any Project's do SAP's Thursday Finish up 2nd 1/2 of Evaluations page, make a notebook page and illustrate on something they did not know before we started. In the afternoon I file ALL notebook pages,SAP's, and Geography stuff. This way their folders are clean for Monday's. Friday OFF (Plan for following 2 weeks) or take a field trip. I want to add that the writing I mention is for TOG (topic) only. They are also working on something from Science/Poetry as part of their LA.

I have a very close friend and she has used Abeka DVD's for ALL 4 of her children. The oldest two are now in college and her younger 2 are in 6th and 10th , they are ALL extremely bright children. She said she would get so stressed out when she ventured out on her own. She felt she was a much happier person when they had school all planned out. With that said I think there are some trade offs. My first disclosure it that I have never used Abeka DVD's but I have several friends who do, so my comparison is based on what they tell me. :001_smile: - I finish at 1:00 every day/They school sometimes up until supper 5pm. -My children have no homework/ Many times they do -I can school anywhere I want to, meaning we school many days at the pool, at the park, I just grab the books and go/They must school where they have access to a DVD player -I love to venture off on "rabbit trails"/There is not much time for "special interests" -I love to schedule/No need to, it's all done for you -I Love using books that I choose/They do that for you -I am not really thrilled about the TV time my kids already get 1-2 hours a night, I think I would pull my hair out if they were sitting in front of a screen for most of the school day/ This doesn't bother them at all -I want HS to be when they find their interests and do what they love/They have a rigorous HS workload These mom's are happy with how their homeschooling is going as well as I am. They could 't do what I do and I couldn't do what they do. There is no shame in either path. I think there are many "roads" to achieve the same result it's more of a matter of what's gonna make mama happy because you know, "If mama ain't happy, ain't nobody happy":rolleyes:

My oldest are almost 10 and 8, they are so excited. I plan on having the 6 year old involved. I am going to take the newspaper articles (the ones that get generated when they go through the "apply to be president".) I will roll them up and rubber band them, and have the 6 year old act like the "newsies" yelling, "Hot off the presses, who will you vote for!" or something like that. She will pass out the newspaper flyer's.....she was begging for something to do:)

Okay, on my search to give my children a basic yet thorough understanding of the Presidential Election, I have found some free sites. I plan on Introducing the process of the election by having them watch this, then we will make a ballot box (shoe box decorated red,white & blue), and we will put their pictures on it and I will make ballots. I will have them apply to become president whereas in the end of the application you will be able to print out a newspaper article with their names on it(very cute). We will watch "How Does Government Affect ME?", and I will have them create their "Future Voters Card" I will print out these two biographies about John McCain and Barack Obama. I will print out and read where each candidate stands on Education, Iraq and Healthcare, and they will have to come up with their stands on these same issues. We will make a project board 1 side for each child the ballot box and ballots will go in the middle. Best part, we will have a family bar-b-que. My oldest two will work the crowd for their votes. At the end of the day(voting) we will have elected a president. I am guessing this should take no more than 3 weeks, guess its time to plan a cook-out for the 2nd week in August :auto:. I on making make red, white and blue desserts, cookies and we will have streamers and balloons. I will make a red, white and blue sheet cake, I will pipe on the name of the election winner before we serve it :) Just some ideas to toss out there:D

We go through lots of "hand wipes" and paper towels for art class, I am finishing up with re-organizing our schoolroom. I have a Math center (two plastic pull-out drawers) with ALL our Math manip's. I have a writing center, using the "The Desk Apprentice" and a student resource writing book I made. I put a electronic dictionary, paper, pencils, erasers, thesaurus, composition checklists, folders as well as the writing plans. I have a portable cd/tape player (with headsets), I bought one of those kitchen round thingies you put kitchen tools in and filled it with glue sticks, scissors, paint brushes in the center, markers and twist-able crayons. I also have floor to ceiling book shelves, and a college fridge slid under the table for water, and yogurt and cheese sticks, my kiddos will take an hour to go find a snack Ü I wanted to add we put a large dry erase board in, I had them cut it to the full size of our bookshelves, then had them cut that in half. We used kitchen cabnit hinges and fixed them to the out side of the book case. So for lessons it looks as if I can closing doors on the book case and I can write on it, when company comes I shut it and wipe it off and the room looks really neat. Then I just open both sides to acess the book case.

I have the 1937 Hershey's Cookbook this is the cake: HERSHEY'S FUDGE CAKE ~1 3/4 cup unbleached flour, unsifted [*]1 tsp baking powder 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 cup vegetable shortening 1 1/2 cups sugar 2 large eggs 1 tsp vanilla extract 2/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (less if using dutch process) 2 to 3 tbsp hot water 1 cup milk mixed with 1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice (to make sour milk) Grease the bottoms and sides of two (9x1 1/2-inch) layer cake pans and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, blending well, and set aside. Cream the shortening and sugar, with an electric mixer set on high, and beat in the eggs and vanilla extract and continue beating until light and fluffy. Blend the cocoa into the hot water to make a smooth paste. Gradually add the cocoa mixture to the creamed mixture, stirring to blend well. Add the flour mixture alternately with the milk to the creamed mixture, beating well after each addition. Pour the batter into the prepared pans. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 to 30 minutes, or until the tops spring back when lightly pressed. Cool on racks for 10 minutes and remove from the pans to cool completely. Frost with Chocolate-Buttercream Frosting. I can post the frosting if your looking for that too!

Election Lessons "Winning the Vote" Many other Free Lessons here

I have used them plenty for SE, great prices. They ship quickly and have wonderful customer service,:thumbup: 2 thumbs up from me.

Please include the quanity, frequency, sequence, and when you start/stop each. Are you a firm believer in copywork? Yes, they normally have only done it in K, once writing well I drop it. Would you do copywork with a dc who is able to write neatly for their age? Nope. I teach cursive early 1st and with the writing we do, it's more than enough. How about dictation? 4 x's a week during spelling. Do you combine spelling and dictation? Yes (above) Do you use a spelling program, track words your dc wants to use and is unsure of, or both? We use SWR, and I have a composition notebook for each child, I put words they misspelled from their writing in this notebook. They get those added to the bi-weekly spelling test AFTER we have gone over the reason of the spelling and they marked them When do you begin a formal grammar program? I alternate from Shurley English and Easy Grammar-Daily Grams starting with Shurley in 1st. Do you use a seperate editing program? Nope, they self edit first, then mom pulls out the BIG RED PEN..lol When do you start a formal writing program? We do IEW from the beginning. K-Narration with me writing narration down and they do copywork until goal for the end of the year they are writing it. 1st- KWO (from science/history)-narration, they write a rough and final weekly. 2nd-same as 1st with more requirements, do picture writing 3rd-same as 1st, 2nd then add story writing 4th-same as 1st,2nd, 3rd and add summarizing from notes 5th- same as 1st,2nd, 3rd,4th and add Library reports,and slide in Poetry study I think you get it:D Would would be your main LA's goal for each year? Such as: K reading well,neat handwriting 2-5 sentences copywork by the end of the year, narrations 1st reading well, cursive, KWO, Shurley 1, SWR 2nd fluent reading, continue cursive, IEW (sample sequence above), Easy Grammar/Daily Grams 2,SWR 3rd reading,everything is in cursive,IEW,Shurley 3, SWR 4th reading,IEW,Easy Grammar/Daily Grams 4, completed SWR 5th reading, IEW, Shurley 5, Apples 1 (1 sheet a day, spelling review) again you get it;) Thanks a bunch! Looking back at what you have done, what would you do differently? Honestly, I would not and have not changed a thing, maybe the consistency has made it work so well. All 3 have taken the IOWAS and they score 1.5-2.0 grade levels above in anything that has to do with language. Language is one subject I don't mess with. It works, it's easy to implement and they don't complain.

Glad I could help!

No she doesn't write a rough draft on Monday, just reading and summarizes, it's similar to KWO, they are writing important facts,dates,events,conflicts etc. Check out Unit IV for a better explanation, I don't think I'm doing it much justice:) She narrates before she rough drafts, that helps her to see the "big picture" (beginning , middle & end), and she often narrows her topic naturally by narrating. This is when she will be glancing over her check-list, and she may pop in a stronger verb, quality adjective or even pop in some alliteration while narrating (into the recording) in a natural way than trying to add it in later. When she writes on Wednesday, she is to start writing/typing her rough draft (while listening to the recording), this has given her 2 days to "digest" her topic information. She completes this over 1-2 days. As far as adding the new stuff from WT2. You could make her an index card of the old requirements, and "new" stuff. While she narrates back to you, refer to the index card of the "old & new stuff" . For example, "Why don't you start your next sentence with a preposition", " You have 2 openers in let's try to add in the last before you finish". You could even record this dialog, so when she sits to write it she can play it back, and it will remind her to "add" her new stuff. My dd will glance over her checklist (index card of old and new requirements), and add them in while she is talking, it's been a much easier process than I though it would be. Hope that helps some.

Alternate yearly with Easy Grammar/Daily Grams and Shurley Grammar starting with Shurley in 1st:D

Personally at her age, seeing she has already done KWO I would move her into summarizing. There is really nothing more to gain from KWO, its a skill that teaches the student to pick and choose quality words that will help her understand the topic she is reading.Then she can, by looking at her KWO narrate back the contents of the paragraph. Pretty basic, although summarizing can be used in the same way. Here is an example of what my 5th grader would do: Monday: read and summarize(on paper). I alternate subjects, I have her pick 1 topic each week she is to summarize from. The subjects she needs to cover are History , Science and Art(Artist)/Music (Composer) and the 4th she is allowed to choose entirely on her own (those seem to be the best papers Ü) Tuesday: Narrate to the tape player (recording), using her summarizing sheet(I created) and adding in things she remembered on her own. I like her to do this because it teachers to write in a more engaging style not so dry, she speaks wonderfully and sometimes it does not transfer that way on paper, it has done wonders for her. You could have your dc narrate is back to you instead. Wednesday- Start typing out your paper(great for typing instruction) Thursday- Finish typing paper and print. She goes over it and edits in blue, when she is finished she gives it to me I edit in red to show her what she missed if any. I take note and add any spelling words to her weekly spelling she did not catch. Friday- Go back to the computer, edit corrections and print final, pass in to mom. She got so used to this system by mid-year she was finishing in 3 days because her typing was so fast. I am hoping the same will happen this year as I plan to spring Poetry on her the other two days.

I have my dd write from her Science and History (5th grader) since she was in 3rd. We have also used IEW for several years. I think you are trying to alpply KWO instead of what is sounds like you are wanting to do which is summarizing. If you are looking to do summarizing (outline)by writing down important facts and then spitting them back out to produce , a paper say on a history chapter of the Civil War, you would fast forward to Unit IV of IEW. I would never expect a child to KWO a chapter or several pages, maybe this is the confusion? I have never seen or used WT but I would suggest you pick 1 writing curriculum as your "teaching" curriculum and let everything be an offshoot from that:001_smile:

Shurley English, IEW, Bob Jones Math, Singapore Math and SWR seem to be our mainstays of 5-6 years :001_smile:

We like SET, Made For Trade, Clue, Cranium, Apples to Apples , Borderline and Professor Noggins;)