to start teaching a foreign language?? I do NOT speak another language - took Latin for 5 years - but I think it would be beneficial for my dd. We are doing preK this fall, and I was wondering if it is too early to add a language - in particular Spanish. If so, what would be the best curriculum for this age. Remember - I have NO Spanish experience. But I would love to learn at the same time! Any thoughts are appreciated! Thanks!

Thank you, thank you, thank you for all of your honest assessments. It is so great to have this board and to get 'real life' opinions about curriculum. It has really helped me so far ... I only hope I can contribute as much as the years go by! Thanks again!

Thank you so much for all the opinions. It sounds like it's a good program. I just want to make sure I choose something that will cover everything. Our family tends to be good at math, so I'd rather have something more challenging than not challenging enough!

Hi. I'm am a planner ... I like to do things ahead. I'm starting pre-K with my dd this fall, but am already looking for curriculum for the next couple of years. I had always planned on using Saxon for Math, but am curious about Rod & Staff. Since their English program is said to be good and challenging, I was wondering if that was true for their Math as well. What has been your experience? Any help would be appreciated! Thanks!

I also appreciate the willingness of the people here to help a new homeschooler! I have found all my 'dumb' questions answered with respect and graciousness - and for that I am very grateful!

Thanks for all these suggestions! I gotta run to Wal-Mart! :)

Thanks ... I need to head over there.

My dd is 3 1/2 and is very interested in maps ... where we live, where Grandma lives, etc. I think this would be a great opportunity to introduce her to geography - both US and World. I am looking for wall maps that would be good for her. What do you recommend? Where do you purchase your maps? Any other thoughts or ideas? Thanks again for all your help!

You will LOVE it! We just have the Wii Fit game - no others yet ... and we spend a lot of time as a family with it. It's great fun! What a great gift!

Born in Oak Ridge, moved to Farragut (West Knoxville) in K ... stayed there 'til I graduated high school!

Suburb of Memphis here - although I was born and raised in East TN!

This has been a GREAT thread. I too have been interested in MFW and wondering how it all fits into the classical model that I am so intrigued by. Thanks for all the advice!

That's what I was looking at FIAR for ... my youngest (a very mature 3) is ready for a bit of structure this fall, and I was thinking of using this for a preK type program for her.

MFW and FIAR? I have been reading through the new version of TWTM, and haven't seen it mentioned anywhere. I know I have seen both of these mentioned quite a bit on the boards here, and was wondering how SWB feels about these programs - especially for the younger kids. How do you feel they fit in with the classical education model? I am interested in these, but really want to follow a classical education plan. Any opinions/thoughts would be appreciated. Thanks!

Forgive me ... BFSU?

I just wanted to say 'thank you' to all of you. I have been reading posts diligently for the past few weeks, and have learned so much from all of you. It is really helping me crystallize what I want to do with my dc. Thank you again! And I look forward to being able to contribute more as our family's journey begins! God bless.

Thank you so much for all your help!

I need some help with the abbreviations used here. I feel like I should be able to figure them all out, but I get confused. Would you mind helping me with them? I am getting ready to start my 3 yo dd in the fall on preK stuff (she's EXTREMELY bright) and am investigating my curriculum choices for the first couple of years now ... so any help you could give me would be great! Thanks bunches. The abbreviations I need now are ... HWOT OPGTR LL(V1) MoH WP If there are any others that are used a lot ... it would be great to know! Thanks again and God bless.

I think I'll start with a much-needed book ... "It's All Too Much" ... that way I am getting two birds with one stone: increasing my reading and getting motivated for decluttering more in 2009!