I don't recommend ETC online at all. We have used Headsprout for 3 kids and it is great. I started my daughter on it when she was 4 because of a recommendation from a friend who is a reading specialist. This was before I started down the classical education path so I now I kind of cringe when my 5 year old son sits down at the computer to do it but it has worked so well for my other two that I want to use it for him too. I also really like the LOE phonics app.

It sounds a little overwhelming to me just because they are two totally separate programs at heart. I would probably pick one. We do UMS which is probably similar to the HLS approach. Since your cottage school program is only one day there would be more flexibility than what we have since we go two days. We do give up curricula decisions and time flexibility but so far the advantages of: amazing community of children and families, wonderful classroom environment with great discussions and the accountability for me and my children (which looks a little more like the real world, in my opinion). Not to mention they do science, art, music during their school days so I don't really have to delve too much into those at home except for attending performances, visiting art galleries and field trips (which is so much fun!). I think each of those programs is designed as a one day/4 day home program so you might find less time than you need for each one at home.

That is pretty much expected entering public kindergarten here. If you aren't doing what you described by then end of the first six weeks you are considered behind. My daughter went into Kindergarten at 5 1/2 reading chapter books. I never considered skipping her a grade in school. I would be surprised if your daughter is considered top of her class reading CVC words starting K. Someone mentioned writing across the curriculum. That is a huge consideration for acceleration at that age. Your daughter just turned 5 so she will be one of the youngest in her class anyway. There's a lot more going on in K besides those basic skills you mentioned. Sounds to me she is exactly where she needs to be!

I have both and prefer LOE.

We've done xtra math in the past, number run app and reflex math. I think reflex math was the best of those three but we still had gaps and were not fluent. My daughter is starting 3rd grade this fall and needs those facts down before she jumps in so this summer we have gone old school with the flash cards and it is by far the most effective method we've used so far. 10 minutes every night and we are sailing!

We use Shurley and really enjoy it and find it very effective. I think it would complement WWE well. We did Shurley 2 last year for 2nd grade and will use Shurley 3 next year. I'm not sure how it would be jumping into Shurley 3. I have only seen FLL1 but based on that I don't think you would need to use both FLL and Shurley. Shurley is much more straight grammar which might be a good fit if you aren't loving FLL. I think the jingles are pretty important (they are strange but effective) so you will need to find a jingle cd or download it from iTunes. I personally love WWE so I'd encourage you to stick with it if you can!

This is wonderful! Thank you!

I found that is a VERY twaddley book stage. I don't care for Junie B. , Fairies etc. so I had to search high and low to come up with some great books for her. My daughter loved the Littles, Grandma's Attic, Dollhouse Downstairs (several in this series) and Gooney Bird Greene (several in this one too). My son is that age now and I'm having the same issues. He just finished the Littles and enjoyed it.

Definitely don't miss The Penderwicks!

Morning time is definitely not table time here. We are most often on our porch or sometimes in the living room and the kids keep hands busy by drawing, doing the perplexus, using pattern blocks etc. or they move around using our balance board or doing handstands :) I've thought about getting mini trampoline too.

We have English from the Roots up and I have loved it! I get so excited discovering all the connections and teaching so many word roots and the cultural stories that you mentioned. There are a lot of Greek words so that would be new for your children. My dd is starting Latin this year (3rd grade) but we have dabbled in EFRU for the last 6 months or so.

I have a basket of morning time books. It includes D'aulaires Greek Myths, Stories of Great Americans for Little Americans, Collier's Junior Classics, Lamb and Nesbit Shakespeare Stories, Aesop's Fables and Grimm's Fairy Tales. My kids are 5-8. We do some combination of about 3 of those each day. We review our weekly memory work quickly during this time (including our current and previous poetry that we have memorized). I keep this in a binder in our morning time basket. We do "poetry and tea" (aka snack time with tea while mom reads poetry) as a break during the school time. They usually ask to read a few also. They have grown to love it but weren't too sure at first. Now it is something we all look forward to during the day. Our second break time is a game time. This is really for my game loving son. We play something for about 10-15 min as a fun break. Uno, Skipbo, Yahtzee, Brainbox . . . whatever. It's fun and something else they look forward to. I could combine the poetry reading and game time into the morning but we all enjoy those pillars throughout the day (in addition to outside time) and look forward to them. They go to a UMS two days a week and our morning time is short enough the way it is that we can do it over breakfast those days and not miss it. It's the best part of the day.

Hey! I've tried three times and my files are too big for some reason :( I have no idea how to make them smaller!

I downloaded the book and read it in one sitting. I loved it. I highlighted most of it, honestly. I am moderately obsessed with all things Circe, admittedly. I am so inspired but all of the resources there. That is the value to me - I am inspired. When I am inspired and teaching and managing our home from that place of inspiration and firmness (that is a strange adjective but that is how I feel - solid, not shaking or wavering) the goodness, truth and beauty of the gospel overflows from me into my home specifically as I teach my children. This was my first year home schooling (UMS so part time really) but it was a journey. I loved reading this book because it really reflected the journey I was on this year and where I've come. I am SO excited about the deeper changes for this next year as I apply what I've learned through experience, listening to brilliant talks and reading books like this. A few moms from our UMS are going to read and discuss this book together (based on my suggestion) because it is so insightful and big-picture.

I taught my 2nd grade dd cursive early in this school year and I think I'll go ahead with my son who will be in 1st grade next year. There are several studies that suggest that cursive is related to many important developmental functions in the brain but besides that there are two reason I am teaching cursive. 1. It is difficult. It takes a lot of practice and concentration. It takes repetition and precision. By doing something difficult they are being prepared for the other tasks, that are certainly going to come their way, that will require similar skills. The journey and process of learning is valuable. 2. It is beautiful. I want my children to value things simply because they are beautiful. I understand we live in a digital world but there are times when a handwritten note is more appropriate than a text or email (an increasingly rare). I want them to see the same lesson in learning cursive as you learn climbing a mountain - just to see the sunrise. It is beautiful and rare and not many people are willing to do the hard work to get to the top and see the beauty. I want them to value hard work for beauty. My daughter wrote a beautiful poem about spring a few months ago. She carefully wrote it in cursive, in pencil then copied it in black marker. Then she illustrated around the poem daffodils and blue birds. Y'all - it was so beautiful. It took time and effort but to see the end product was something to behold, I'm telling you. It was such a wonderful reminder of why I'm doing this.

Memorizing the skip counting songs first is really helpful. The facts seem to stick better if they have that foundation. We used the Math U See cds even though we don't use that curriculum. My daughter has really picked up multiplication quickly and I think that is why. We do Saxon so there is a lot of review every day - lots of facts sheets.

We moved to Africa when my kids were baby, 2 and 3. I had to bring everything I wanted/needed for 2 years in suitcases. I had to think long and hard about this. I really think I nailed it though. 1. dolls 2. small dollhouse sized people, a lot of various animals 3. play food with plates etc. 4. art supplies 5.small cars, trucks, airplanes 6. balls (I did bring a playmobil dollhouse unassembled and put it together there. That was wonderful too. They played for hours with that thing!) They were able to play creatively with all of that for 2 years and it adapted as they grew.

We memorize math skip counting songs, basic math formulas, a weekly history and science sentence (each put to a tune so they sing them all) related to what we are learning that week, a bible verse a week (sometimes a longer portion over several weeks) and a longer poem every month or so. I agree that there is great value in memorization of poetry. We do not do CC but our UMS uses the timeline song (with permission) so we have memorized that as well. I threw in the President's song for fun and everyone learned it in a weekend :) I like where our UMS is on memory work. It is a weekly assignment/goal but it is all related to what we are learning at the time with the exception of the timeline song and some of the math. It is good discipline and we enjoy it.

I agree here too! I've been really impressed so far in Foundations. It is actually FUN and my just turned 5 yo little boy loves it. I enjoy it too which can't be taken for granted!

The phonemic awareness in LOE is awesome. My 4 year old is in speech for some articulation issues. We started using LOE several months ago. I showed his speech therapist what we were using and she was blown away! She said if everyone was taught how to read that way she wouldn't have a job. My 4yo loves to point out voiced and unvoiced sounds and the kinesthetic learning that is woven into the program is a lot of fun for him (jumping up when you hear a particular sound etc.). I highly recommend it.

Aside from the early onset of puberty I think it is great to have those conversations as a natural part of life as they grow up. My children are 4,6,8 and all of them know about the birth process. We've always used the official names for body parts and explained to them basic anatomy and function. We are Christians so we teach them in the context of how God made their bodies and for what great purpose. My oldest is 8 and she has know what a period was since she was probably 4. Just a basic age appropriate explanation of how a woman's body prepares for pregnancy each month. When the "how to babies get in a mommy's tummy?" questions have come we have said that babies start very small with a tiny part of a daddy and a tiny part of a mommy. The Usborne Body Book has a basic explanation of sperm and eggs so they understand those parts of the story. Finally a few weeks ago I realized it was time to explain the "whole process" to my 8yo daughter and gave her a basic explanation of sex (once again in the context of how God made us). I really wanted to be the first one to talk to her about all of these things. It was SO not a big deal. I'm so glad I got to explain to her how her body would change one day and the baby making details. She got the facts, from me, in the context of our belief system. It really is just a long conversation that starts when they are little and continues as they get older. Don't hesitate to tell her how her body will change. I started developing when I was 7 years old and started my period when I was 10. I SO wish I would have had these conversations with my mom and felt good about the changes in my body instead of ashamed.

We used Biblioplan ancients this year for my 2nd grader. The printing quality of the entire program was SO terrible. It looked like it was printed off of an old printer in someone's basement. Some maps and photos in the companion were just plain blurry. The maps were terrible. It looked like someone tried to design them on a program that only used straight lines. The companion reads like an encyclopedia or high school text book. For what we are trying to accomplish I thought the SOTW, living books (pulled from various lists or what is in our home or local library), SOTW activity book and maps were a much better fit. I don't really see the advantage of using Biblioplan at all. Just our experience.

I have a second grader in Saxon 3. Obviously Saxon is huge on mastering those facts as they move along. Some kids get them straight away and others it may take a year or two of constant review. We use Reflex Math on the computer and I've found it very effective and a nice way to step away from the Saxon workbook for a change of pace. We do the fact sheets in the Saxon 3 book but I don't time her. Don't skip those sheets though! She will get them. If it makes you feel better we are on lesson 109 in Saxon 3 and my daughter just did a page of subtraction facts as part of her lesson today. While it is important to have those facts fluent be patient and realize it might take a couple of years. Audio CDs are great too for learners who grasp concepts better that way. While you are at it throw in some skip counting songs to get her ready for multiplication next year!

I saw this the other day and it looks promising for typing. From Handwriting Without Tears http://www.hwtears.com/kwt It is $6.50 for a one year license.

I got it based on a recommendation from a friend without really researching it. We do it occasionally but I'm not crazy about it. It falls in what I consider the more traditional school model of vocabulary development - not really classical methodology. My daughter's vocabulary is impressive not because of workbooks but because she is soaked in beautiful literature and reads constantly. The only reason I see to use it is that it is a typical testing format for reading comprehension that I'm sure she will see in the future.