I'm looking for information on a waldorf-based language arts program for 7th & 8th graders. Both are literature-based with discussion, informal and formal writing, grammar, usage and mechanics incorporated into the literature study. I'm shooting for 7-8 books for the school year. 7th grade covers (1400-1700 AD) Arthurian legends, voyages of discovery (explorers), Renaissance, and Reformation periods including poetry and prose, and biographies of notable characters of time period. Creative writing and formal writing assignments--note-taking, outlining, compositions. I can fill in grammar and other areas. 8th grade covers (1700-Modern) short stories, poetry, Shakespeare, biographies from post-Reformation to Modern day (Industrial Revolution, etc.). Much of the same writing as above, more in detail. Including oral reports for both grades. Again, I can fill in grammar. Please include recommended books and resources. I cannot use a text book, must create my own materials, but use real books as a guide. Suggested art, music, history, geography, and science resources for a tie-in is also great. This is for a part-time position at a waldorf school where I will be teaching. I am new to waldorf education, so I'm reaching out to other forum readers to please send me any info/advice you have. The forum has always been supportive! Thanks!!!

I used saxon 1 & 3 this year, and I don't like the meeting book. Once they had the concepts down, I just had them fill in their daily stuff (calendar, weather, daily temperature, graphs, etc.), do any counting they needed to do, etc. and skipped right to the lessons. I bought the meeting book for saxon 2 for this coming year (we're starting soon), but I plan to do the same. I kind of start out heavy and ease up once they get it.

We have the book, "So You Want to Be an Inventor?" by Judith St.George. She's the author of "So You Want to Be President?" Fun and educational read. Here is the link to Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/So-You-Want-Be-Inventor/dp/0399235930

I'm faced with the same problem. I started SOTW1 w/ my 1st and 3rd graders, so I am doing all four years in three by 1. reading more than a chapter a week (not hard to do--they love it) and 2. year round lessons. Each book is approximately 42 chapters (42 chapters X 4 books = 168 chapters divided by 3 years = 56 chapters per year), so if you complete about 55 chapters per year (that's little more than one per week, but some are shorter) you should finish in three years. It's just the introductory stage too, they'll get it again in the logic stage and recall some of the details and stories from the first round. It's not meant to be a hard-and-fast rule.

I'd say it largely depends on your plans for curricula. Are you focusing on the basics or studying latin, art and music as well? Is your child already a good reader or will you need to spend a larger portion of the day teaching reading? There is a lot to cover in 1st and 2nd grade--skill-wise. They're learning to read, and learning to work with numbers. Both tasks need time spend daily. Once your child is an accomplished reader, your workload as teacher lightens. For my ds8, he has become much more independent this year (3rd). Each year, they can do a little more for themselves.

:iagree:We do FLL and it is good to start grammar early--not because they should master the terminology or be able to identify nouns and verbs, but because the more they hear these things from an early age on, the more successful they will be at mastering the subject later on. It's something that should be covered year after year (little by little) to build upon. Don't take FLL too seriously, it's just a good exercise to strengthen your dc's brain. There are no workbooks for this level, it's mostly oral lessons, question and response type lessons. Perfect for that age group. WWE is excellent, but I am of the belief that you can do the suggested work without using the program. I have my ds6 copy sentences and do narrations anyway. Half way through the 1st grade year in FLL they introduce copywork. I use this as my version of copywork (I actually have been doing copywork with him since grade K) and even add to it. I write sentences out and ask him to identify the nouns, pronouns, etc. We use the copywork as lessons in themselves.

Is his handwriting that bad that you need to go back to remedial printing and cursive both? I did remedial printing with my ds8 before moving on to cursive and that helped a lot. He mostly prints for his school work, but he is now beginning to ask if he can write some of his sentences in cursive. I tell him to always write his name and the date in cursive (at least get that much more practice). We are now on the 4th grade level of HWT cursive. I would address the issue of handwriting as you go along--not just in his HWT work. I have had to watch over my ds8 and stop him, have him erase and redo it until I'm satisfied--in all of his school work. I think watching over him and modeling proper letter formation helps much more than just the workbooks and more practice.

I think that it would take a lot more time for me to find all the resources I need every day and every week. Sure, it's possible, but I don't think I have the time to do all that planning. I know I'm spoiled, but I prefer to buy curricula that is a "pick up and go" model. This is coming from a person who was trained to be public school teacher. Kudos to your friend. She sounds a lot like my sister-in-law.

I know I'm just jumping in on this thread, but I understand your frustration and wanted to share my ideas. If he still needs you to write the narrations, then write them and have him copy it. OR you can write down his narration on your own scratch paper, and dictate it to him--word by word, including punctuation marks and spelling if necessary. I even sound out the words to help my son realize that he *does* know how to spell the words. Then when he's finished, have him read it back to you. Easy as that. He doesn't need to write research papers at this age. Let him get used to getting organized thoughts onto the paper. Let him feel some success before moving forward.

The Writing Road to Reading provides lots of practice and review of phonograms and rules. You can pick it up and start where you need to, just pre-test your child.

Difficulty in retrieving the right word(s) is a part of dyslexia. My son does this and has some mild "symptoms" (for lack of a better word) of dyslexia. He will point to a banana and ask if he can have an apple. He misnames things all the time. My hubby does it too (has dyslexia/dysgraphia). Read some books in your local library, it helped me understand a lot. I was so frustrated as to why he could name a word in isolation, but couldn't read it in a sentence. It's a struggle we're still dealing with. I also recommend The Writing Road to Reading--aka Spalding method for teaching reading, writing, and spelling. It was written with dyslexics in mind but applies to all kids. I'm using it with my son, and my hubby used it with great success 30 years ago.

I have recently started using The Writing Road to Reading, otherwise known as the Spalding Method, which was developed for dyslexics. My hubby learned to read and write using this 30 years ago. He had severe dyslexia and dysgraphia, and jumped grade levels in a matter of months. So far, it works great with my son. It teaches handwriting using a clockface method (good review), teaches 70 phonograms, plus additional phonograms for older students, spelling lists, and 29 spelling rules. Using these basics, your child has all the tools he needs to read, write and spell. Check it out at spalding.org or see the writing road to reading on amazon.com. All additional (optional) materials are not available on amazon and must be purchased through spalding.org. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

I have used the HWT program. It's not very fancy, but quite easy to follow and I like the way they use the lines--just two not three. I usually supplement that workbook by showing my son, "this is the way I learned to write it," and I show him a more fancy way than the HWT model. I started with my ds with some printed pages from kidszone.com, they start with "rockin' round letters" a,c,d,g,q,o, which all begin with what HWT calls "magic c." You can print out a page for each letter, there is practice with the individual letter (a a a), then the letter connected to more letters (aaaaaaa), then words with that letter (dad--after the first two letters are introduced). I thought it was a nice transition into cursive. Another simple idea--just use a notebook or sheets of paper, model the letters, and have him practice each day. When writing sentences that go beyond one line, skip a line to allow space for him to copy below yours. I remind my son to copy my example--not his previous examples--because he will make mistakes over and over. Beyond that, the key is to provide them with daily practice until they can recognize the cursive letters, and produce them without looking at a model. We went from--individual letters, to simple words, to sentences, to paragraphs in cursive. He can now read in cursive as well. Good luck:)

You can check out my blog to see what my 1st grader is doing this year. I do keep it updated, but it is a general outline.

Thanks to both of you! I looked at Artistic Pursuits last night and was pleased, but what's the deal with book one, two, etc. Do I do just one book per year? And if so, which one ties into Middle Ages? Thanks again, I wouldn't have found it otherwise:)

my dd pulled everything out of her hair when she was closer to 1yo, which is why she got bangs in the first place. after a few months, i tried again with all the methods, and she now leaves the clips and rubber bands alone--most of the time. she hates head bands. and the clips do stay in place in baby fine hair. my baby girl is 20 mos and they stay put for hours.

My boys are in 1st and 3rd this year and here's what I days look like: We are using Saxon Math 1 & 3, and love it! We are also using Natural Speller, and it's wonderful--I never have to buy another spelling workbook or text again. Same on the HWT--Printing Power and Cursive--both are gentle handwriting exercises that can be completed independently. I first show them how to form the letters/words, then ask them to take their time and stay on the lines. For LA--I use FLL1 & 3 for grammar and HIGHLY recommend these. My 3rd grader is working on writing strands. 1st grader does two phonics worksheets per day to complement reading program. We do SOTW together for history We do biology studies together for science I do fragmented arts/music/extra stuff Independent reading with each child in the afternoons and at night (2x/day--30 mins. each child) Hist/Sci/Art/Music looks great. Those are always a matter of taste.

going through the same thing here. the small, painted, metal clip barrettes made by goody are best. cheap and effective. once her hair gets a little longer, tie the bangs up front with rubber bands. i still have to redo dd's hair clips, ties, etc 2-4x/day. especially after nap time.

I usually touch him more, give good eye contact, rub his back and tell him how lucky I am to have such a wonderful husband! Sometimes, we get so busy just "doing" life, we forget to live it and enjoy it:)

It does. At least I know I'm not the only one who struggles. Thanks

I'm new here to the forum, but I'm liking what I see. Looking for other homeschooling families in East TN. We live between Chattanooga and Knoxville (about 1 hour to each) off I-75 about 30 minutes. I have two endearing boys that love to do outdoor stuff, build with legos & k'nex, make stuff, hunt for treasure outdoors, and ride bikes. Anyone have some playmates for my lonely boys? See ages below in signature.

I am trying to figure out what to do with my toddler during homeschooling. She's almost 2 and right now her bedroom is right next to the school room. She has A LOT of toys in her bedroom to keep her occupied, and she wanders through the room throughout the day. I have her things on a low shelf in the school room for her to do "school work" and play. She has been quite content playing and keeping herself busy most of the time. She brings me board books and I read them to her. I take short breaks and play tea time with her. But she's becoming more demanding of my time. She's starting throwing full out fits when I don't pick her up right that second. It is really beginning to interfere with hs'ing my other two--who also require my full attention. What do you do with your toddlers when hs'ing? Your ideas and suggestions are greatly appreciated, A.

I'm looking for resources to combine art study into our history study in SOTW: Middle Ages. I was thinking of looking at famous art work/people from the same time periods that we will be discussing in SOTW2 for art study. Does anyone have any ideas on where to begin? Kids will be 7 & 9 next year. Thanks,

Spelling--you can find free grade-level appropriate spelling lists online, but I recommend Natural Speller. It is an all-in-one book for grades 1-12. You work at your own pace. You (or your child later on) choose your spelling lists. It has ideas and activities for teaching spelling, as well as some grammar and other LA skills. It is not a workbook format. I tried a few of those and found them to be a waste of time and money. It was actually easier to write my own lists and go from there. My 1st grader started spelling lists a few months into the school year. We started with basic short vowel spelling words (about 5-6 words at a time). List: had, sad, bad, dad, glad. Just an example. Stick with rhyming sounds in the beginning. It's quite easy for them to sound out the letters in these words, as you can see, so you can start soon! Reading--I really liked OPGTR in the beginning, but then it lost its luster. I use McGuffey's Readers for reading work, learning words phonetically. We review the list (I hand write them neatly in a notebook) of words he already knows how to read. We do phonics worksheets (for extra practice)--Modern Curriculum Press. I don't do sight words. He's learning them naturally through constant exposure. My ds8 learned sight words in ps before he could even read and it caused more problems than it helped. Now we are still trying to undo the damage done. We also do fun reading books at night for more practice (it's important to break up reading times--to me--so that they don't have to sit for one long period of time. Two short reading lessons work great). He has beginning reader books in his room and can choose which he wants to read to me. Grammar--FLL1 & 2 is wonderful and introduced a little at a time. It is engaging, personal, and effective. It takes 5-10 mins. to do and they get it. Funny thing is, he's learning from hearing his brother do FLL3:)

:iagree: I am using FLL3 for my ds8 and he LOVES it. He actually begs for grammar lessons. I didn't use FLL1 or 2 with him and barely cover basics of nouns, verbs, etc in 2nd grade, and he is doing awesome! I HIGHLY recommend this program. As far as spelling, we are using Natural Speller and I'm very pleased. It only takes a few minutes a day (if that) to prepare for the weeks lessons. You can decide which activities you want your dc to do (which is nice b/c a lot of other spelling programs require a lot of writing--which my ds hates--so I can tailor our own lessons to what he can do). He has been very successful with this spelling program. Just know that it is not a workbook.