I think I remember some people interested in the SQUILT music curriculum. If so, I saw this deal and wanted to post it so other knew about it too. I think it makes each volume somewhere around $6.30. The sale goes until 3/3/14. 30 % off SQUILT

Konos has this timeline. It might fit what you are looking for. It goes up one side of the chart with dates and then down the other instead of in a straight line which is a unique set-up. I've also had my eye on some products from Knowledge Quest.

I found Rose, Where Did You Get That Red to be a worthwhile read. He has an interesting perspective on how/when to introduce poetry and several exercises that could be helpful.

Here's a link to Augsburg Year 1. There are 8 volumes of drawing instructions available free on google books. I think the exercises would be right in line for K or 1st but would require some teacher input. I plan to use some of the exercises although I'm not quite sure how I'll work it in yet. Here's a link to the other volumes on an old thread too.

Thanks! I also used the code on the Magic School Bus kits I've had my eye on. Now I just hope my son finds these as fun as I hope he does!

I second the advice to have an honest conversation about both of your expectations and roles in the family. Try to set aside a time when you are not upset and both of you can communicate freely - ie. after the kiddos are in bed. We have a version of this conversation every Sunday night at our family meeting because my husband works full time and is earning his PhD. His time is very precious right now and we both need to be on the same page about what we are accomplishing that week as a family and as individuals. When he is home, he spends almost every second interacting with our boys. I know he is tired and just wants to chill out, but he feels it is a strong priority to be playing and wrestling and reading to/with our boys. It is not something he does FOR me. It is a priority for our family as a whole and we all work to make sure he has that time with the kiddos. I also second the advice to get creative about how to structure your day. Think through how you can combine subjects, get the older kids to help out more, maybe let housework slip a little in the name of getting school work done. I'm not sure what all you can do because I'm obviously not in your shoes but I'm sure there are some ways to streamline and make your day more efficient. I'll throw a prayer out for your family as you work through this. Blessings!

I'm currently reading through TWJ and thinking of ways to implement it as well. "No More, I'm Done" was described to me as a practical way to implement ideas from TWJ and I'm going to use it for next year in conjunction with WWE. You can get a full preview here to see if it might be what you're looking for. I feel like it has the hand holding I need as a first time writing teacher. I'm hopeful that I can implement more of BW as my son gets older and I get more experience. HTH!

I really enjoyed reading through portions of Comstock's Handbook of Nature Study mentioned above. My library had it so it might be worth checking yours. There are some great ideas in there that you could modify for the animals and plants in your area. My plan for the summer is to take our bug jar, net, hand magnifier, and a notebook to the forest a few times a week and just draw what we see. I'll probably get a regional insect field guide and maybe a plant one too. My son loves bugs so I imagine most of the summer will be spent scooping up different creepy crawlies and figuring out what they are. :laugh: Then, maybe we can find a library book to read about what we find. I'm planning to keep it very simple. We are using BFSU for science during the school year but I love nature study in the warmer months.

This is my goal - it doesn't need to be pretty, just legible and without pain or fatigue.

Thank you for these resources! I'm leaning towards taking him in to an OT just to have a look and get some advice. His grip is closest to the fingertip grip shown in the 2nd article but the pencil is on the diagonal towards the webbing instead of straight up and down and the pinky/ring finger seem to just rest against the pencil, not curl under for support. The pencil doesn't rest on any finger but is gripped by the tips of all his fingers. I need to take a closer look to see if he is forming a C shape or collapsing his hand. My issue is I don't want to harp on him every time he writes or draws because I want it to be enjoyable for him. But I don't want to get into 3rd or 4th and have him hate writing because his hand hurts all the time. He doesn't write enough now for there to really be any fatigue. If the grip will be functional, then I want to let it go but I don't have enough knowledge to know if it will function well down the line. An OT's advice might be needed to help me decide.

Thank you for all of your wonderful advice, dmmetler. I think we are going ahead with recorder next year!

Thanks! Would you consider the books I mentioned above good for just starting out or do you have another you would recommend?

what do I need besides a recorder and a beginning recorder book like Nine Note Recorder Method by Gardner or Recorder from the Beginning by Pitts? Do I need a resource for beginning music theory to teach how to read music too? Anything else needed to properly care for the recorder? This is for myself with limited music reading ability and my 1st grader next year. Thanks!

Thanks!

We use TOG 3 days a week. Normally, that breaks down to 2 days on history and 1 day on geography. If the geography is light that particular week, we add our own geography component by reviewing what we previously learned. We usually read one of the recommended core history books on day 1 and narrate. I also go over the same section in SOTW if we have the energy but that is totally optional.We will start our project for the week or if the projects are smaller, we do 1 this day and 1 on the next history day. I find that we usually need to spread the projects out though. On history day 2, we usually read the literature book they recommend or another of the history options and do/finish a project. The books suggested as read-alouds in the assigned reading pages have been hard for me to find so we have skipped them but if I could locate them, I would plan to do them on a non-history day just for further reinforcement. I have almost exclusively used the books they recommend because my library has most of them but I have randomly pulled some of the library shelves if I couldn't find the ones recommended and its been fine. My son has loved the books and will usually sit through the entire selection without needing a break which was a surprise to me. I thought we would need to break up the core books over a few days but that hasn't been the case. He doesn't want me to stop reading! At first, I read through all the notes. I found them fascinating and they really gave me a feel for what all TOG can be, especially in the higher levels. Now, I just scan them for highlights. If I'm really unfamiliar with a particular area we are covering, I read them more in depth but I haven't needed to do that much. I read all the books for the week aloud since my son is still young so I'm very aware of what he is learning. I will definitely read the notes in their entirety when we hit dialectic and rhetoric stages though.

My 6 year old has a very weird pencil grip. He pinches all his fingers together sort of on top and on the side of the pencil with no fingers underneath for support. I correct him every time I see it and he will awkwardly hold it the right way for a while and slip back to the other hold. I asked my husband to give instruction a try to see if it might help and he looked at my son's grip and said it is the same way he holds the pencil. We all compared grips and I'm the only one who rests the pencil on my lower fingers for support. Is this something I should continue to try to correct? The grip works fine for my husband but maybe it should have been corrected for him when he was little. I don't want to allow my son to keep using the grip if it's going to result in fatigue later down the line. What do you all think?

I think it depends on the ages of your children. Elementary would require grammar, spelling, math, and science. TOG has a writing component that you can use if you want. I'm not using it since we are still working on reading skills. Even after reading is solid, I'll be using something else for my writing program. I don't think it covers music but I'm still in the ancients so it might hit some major composers once we get to that time period. It is obviously thorough in history. It has good geography and literature components. It contains an art and activities section that is more craft-like than actual art instruction but you could use it as your art component in the younger years. I love the Bible and church history component. In upper levels, it also adds government and worldview components. You can download the first 3 weeks of year 1 from their site and work through it to see how it fits your family. I found that to be really helpful in making my decision. My favorite part is all the levels being included. I plan to use TOG all the way through high school repeating each level 3 times. That is worth the money for me! Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in for you since I've only been using it a few months but I love it so far.

Could you link me to the AAL blog with the b/d reversal? I couldn't find it and we are struggling with that here too. Thanks!

My plan is to keep going with math and language arts. We do TOG and BFSU during the school year but will probably stop that in favor of light unit studies in the summer. We will probably do a lot of nature study since my son is fascinated by critters. I'm planning a unit on creepy crawlies and one on dinosaurs. This is my first full year homeschooling so all plans are subject to change though!

Have you done Egypt already? We have a paper mache mummy lined up in the next two weeks.

This looks like it might be a good fit. I was just pulling random resources off the internet and piecing together lessons that looked like I could teach them without too much experience but it would be nice to have it all pulled together.

Thank you for the suggestion but I just can't spend that much right now. I'll keep it in the back of my mind in case I see it used somewhere.

I haven't used that one but my family really likes Seeds Family Worship cds. We don't have a structured time to try and memorize but we just listen in the car and it sinks in!

Help me find music resources for... teaching basic rhythm, keeping beat, tempo, etc. I have NO music background but want to introduce these basic concepts to my first grader next year. Any suggestions on curricula or online resources that have worked for you? Free is, of course, better but I'm willing to buy something if it's really good. TIA!

Yes, I'm always looking for resources on youtube and would love a pre-made list!