We are a little over half way through c with my 6.5 year old 1st grader. I plan on starting D when we finish c in a month or so. The lessons in d are much longer and I hear that people split them so I'm prepared to finish out our first grade year with D and continue it into 2nd. I use English Lessons Through Literature for our grammar, copywork, narration, literature, picture study. It complements LOE well. I love the way LOE is fun and multisensory but feels "schoolish" so I balance it with ELTL which is so beautiful and simple. There will be a little bit of overlap with the grammar but it will just provide reinforcement. Seems to work for us.

My 6yo ds is in book 2 of Saxon 1. He was in public K last year so he is getting a little late start in some concepts (they don't teach any money, time etc until 2nd grade at our public schools) but overall is doing OK. I want him to stay in Saxon because he will switch over to our University Model School by 3rd grade - although they work a year ahead in Saxon. I think we will get there. Anyway, I'd just love a little support in Math. I was thinking of doing Kumon or checking into the Tabtor program. He definitely needs a lot of practice with math facts which is appropriate for a 6 year old. Does anyone have experience with either program? It would make me feel good having someone else helping with math a little bit. Thoughts? Thanks!

You can do timed drills with all of them at the same time. Even the younger kids can do add/sub if they aren't doing multi yet. My older two use old fashioned flash cards with each other taking turns drilling. I've used some apps and computer programs that have been mentioned but I'm moving back towards flash cards, recitation and timed written tests.

I shar(ed) your confusion. Basically this isn't a WTM or even classical education forum as you might think it would be. There are many different curricula and resources to use within a classical framework (some of which might be suggested in WTM) but the scope is very wide here. It is a good source for information and reviews and I've learned so much but it is confusing when your expectations are different than the reality.

We love Saxon and work a year ahead. It is very predictable. You teach the lesson and they do the worksheet. Exactly what you referenced wanting to do. I love the constant review and spiral of the program. I would have enjoyed math so much more if I had learned this way.

We do SOTW but I found the Simply Charlotte Mason Stories of the Nations and Stories of America. I like the narrative form like SOTW but the stories appeal more to me and aren't trying to do so much. I have to use SOTW at our UMS but I also read the SCM stories because I enjoy them more (sorry).

We review memory work (history and science sentence songs related to our studies, poetry, speeches etc.). Also: Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans Burgess Bird Book Ergermeier's Bible Story Book Blue and Red Fairy books.

I chose ELTL because I love how it puts literature at the center of the study with poetry, picture study and copy work mixed in. I value poetry and picture study but it is hit or miss sometimes. I am excited about it being right there in front of me. As far as the grammar specifically I haven't done it yet so I'm not sure how it compares. (I've just dabbled in FLL 1). It seems like a gentle and solid approach. My older kids do Shurley and this method just seems so much more cohesive and enjoyable.

I am doing both ELTL and WWE with my first grader this fall. I really love WWE at that age and oral narration is a strength of his so I think he will enjoy it. We do WWE then move to IEW. I am smitten with ELTL and think it will be a fun program with all of the literature and poetry. I love picture study and I am excited about it being worked in for me so I don't pass by it when we get rolling. I think they will compliment each other well. The amount of copy work in ELTL seems really minimal to me so I think the additional writing will be fine especially since ELTL is only a 3 day a week program.

Logic of English Foundations C and D (phonics, spelling, handwriting) English Lessons through Literarure (copywork, literature, narration, poetry, picture study, gentle grammar) Saxon Math 2 Story of the World 3 (early modern) We are studying birds all year as our spine for for nature study (with Simply Charlotte Mason's guide and Burgess Bird book) Bible - The Bible :) Violin So excited!

Reading aloud is the cornerstone of our homeschool and a big piece of our family culture. My kids are 9,7,6 and 2 and we read aloud about an hour a day not including listening to audio books in the car.

I personally think Unbroken is a fantastic book that I enjoyed very much. It is not "historical fiction" it is a biographical account of the life Louis Zamperini. His life was very inspiring and there is quite a lot of redemption in the story. My husband and I have had a few great discussions about the title and how it relates to the story . . . that being said I'm 36 and can handle some degree of violence as it relates to real life (as in this story) even if it is disturbing. I would not have my 10 year old read it but I would read it with a high schooler because there are many character and spritual lessons to be learned from this book. I felt I needed to defend it on this thread :) Carry on . . .

Yes my two oldest attend a UMS. Ours meets 2 days a week (T and Th) it is K-5 this year adding 6th next year (6th and up will be 3 days a week). This is the 2nd year. We have a headmaster this year who is very knowledgeable and has been a huge asset so far. I still think we have a way to go in learning how to break the workload between home and school and prioritizing. For example, I don't think teaching cursive at school is a good use of time. The school days are very, very packed. The workload at home is manageable. Overall, I think it is a great blend of the best of both worlds but with that you also get some of the bad of both worlds too :) Pros: Amazing community of moms, dads and children. It is an honor to be a part of such a wonderful group of people. Our kids really have a great time at school and have great relationships. I enjoy having a little bit of time "off" (being honest here). I am able to attend Bible study, volunteer in the community and go to appointments alone. I think the children really get a lot of value out of classroom discussions of literature and poetry. They get Latin instruction from real Latin teachers. It is great to have accountability for memory work. It is great to have someone keep me moving ahead when I would potentially slack off. Cons: We have no choice in schedule. Our schools starts after Labor Day and ends before Memorial Day. The time in between is very, very busy. If I could choose we would start earlier in August and take more breaks during the year and spread the work out a little bit more. It feels rushed. I'm happy with almost all of the curriculum but with the parts I don't like - oh well. They know that there are always going to be people who aren't happy so they aren't quick to change things around. However, we are still in the early stages of the school and I'm hoping there are some changes. Overall we are enjoying it. It is quite expensive and after another tuition raise this year (plus books, plus uniforms) I'm starting to question if the value is there for the younger grades. I definitely see it for grades 3 and up (once they start Latin). I know every school is different and has different challenges but I do think there are a lot of benefits and UMS is going to grow in popularity.

Saxon is designed with about 1/4 - 1/3 review before new concepts are introduced. I personally would start at the beginning with 2 and move at a faster pace if you feel it is stifling. It truly is an incremental approach to math and the time, reps and automaticity is what gives them a lot of confidence as they tackle tougher concepts. I believe multiplication is introduced in 2. Also new concepts will be happening in the meeting that will gradually turn into "mental math" as they move through the levels.

My daughter loved biographies at that age. There are some great "My First Biography" series. My son likes Cam Jansen and The Littles too. We have a library of MTH books and he reads them all the time.

We love Reading-Literature series by Harriet Taylor Treadwell. It starts with primer and goes up to level 3 or 4 perhaps? Maybe a little out of reach for most 4 year olds but she would grow to enjoy them so much as she gets older. The stories and poems are fantastic. They are on amazon.

We start of with read aloud time. I have a basket with various books. We are currently reading Dickens Stories About Children, My Book House set, Collier's Junior Classics, Grimm's Fairly Tales. Lovely way to snuggle up and warm up our minds and imaginations before we do any seat work. Poetry and Tea is our mid morning break and, yes, my 7 year old tough boy loves this part of the day. We have tea and shortbread and I read poems. Sometimes they steal the book out of my hands and read. Sometimes we work on their current poetry recitation or try to recall old ones. We all look forward to this pause on our day. I'm loving the piano and chores in the morning ideas! I might have to try that!

Randall Goodgame - Slugs and Bugs. He has the only Books of the Bible songs I can handle.

I wouldn't skip it. I would just do a week in one day. I often do more than one day and many times the whole week in one day. (We have used it as a supplement to school writing in the past). That amount of copy work is still very easy for a 2nd grader. You would miss out on some great passages of literature if you missed the whole book and it builds those narration skills so nicely.

I would NOT use PAL. We use it in our UMS so I don't have a choice about it and it is my very least favorite part of the curriculum. There are so many better options out there. The only thing I enjoy about it is the poetry that is used in the lessons. The farm folder is so annoying. The letter stories are overkill and confusing to my left brained child (what about a princess??). I really love Logic of English and am using it with my kindergartener who is at public school this year. I love the combo of LOE and WWE. I'm a huge WWE fan and we always have done it as a supplement because we enjoy it so much. But of your two options I would go with PHP :)

A nice telescope or sky binoculars. You have to have amazing star gazing up there! It doesn't matter if you are formally studying astronomy or not - it would be a wonderful learning tool! I would go to as many performances as I could manage time-wise. Audiobooks galore.

We copy the solution graph pages. It is a big jump learning how to copy the problems and not just answer them in a workbook format. I like how neat the graph paper makes it! As others have said we also write on the tests and fact pages. We've never had any problem with the books binding.

English from the roots up is fun! It covers greek and Latin roots. I actually enjoy it so much - ha! We do formal Latin and of course I think you shod get started if you are holding off on it but Enlish from the roots up would be fun for what you were asking about :)

I thnk Sonlight is a good place to start for a last minute decision. We used it for K4 and K5 for my oldest. I used readers 2 grades ahead for her. I'm sure they will exchange yours to get you at a level that is appropriate. I'm not familiar with the cores now because we are doing something different but I would enjoy the wonderful literature selection and not worry too much about history integration. I know it is popular to do so in some circles but if you hold fast to it you end up reading a lot of mediocre historical fiction at that age and especially with ancients. The books and literature rich environment is what is so great about SL. I wasn't crazy about the LA program when we did it. If I were you I'd stick with WWE and FLL and find a great phonics/spelling that you enjoy. WWE seems easy but the skills it builds are fantastic and difficult and not taught in public schools. Add some poetry reading/discussion on your own. I wouldn't hop around math too much if you can help it. I'm not familiar with TT but I'm sure it is similar to other programs with a lot of review at the beginning. At least give it a year and make a better decision once you have some experience and aren't in the initial home school whirl wind. Resist the urge to jump ship and try to tweak what you started. One of the biggest changes for me was learning to see the value in work we were doing that isn't easily measured. School typically has a lot of "work" to show you how much they have accomplished. I found at home I didn't have as much to show but the time we spend reading and talking about great books, as well as poetry and exploring the world around us in less conventional ways (sketching a rock vs doing a rock worksheet) is so much more valuable and beautiful. Use the tools (books) SL has given you and go deep with them and most of all enjoy!

Google Art - very high resolution - that is what our UMS uses for picture study