I was going to suggest quest clubs as well. You can do it independently and they have a variety of cateragories in which to earn badges. The information is leveled so you can choose the requirements that are appropriate to your children. As you learn skills as a family younger children can do less and older children can do more but everyone can learn together. Their site has sample badges so you can get a feel for the program without purchasing a membership.

I know that you can start RS B without having done RS A in version 1. Is this also true in version 2? or would I need to start with A?

I don't have a specific resource but if you run out of bird stuff you could start a study by habitat and sneak in some earth science. Look at birds by habitat: rainforest, tundra, artic, savana, desert, forest, etc. Or look at birds based on where they nest: cliffs, trees, ground, underground (there is a species of owls that lives in little tunnels).

Science with baking soda. Just search online and you will find lots of simple but engaging activities.

I don't have an answer for you but it will be haelpful for those with more experience to know what level of ELTL you plan using.

My Dd turns 5 in October. We are considering this fall our K-ish year. How things turn out this year will determine whether next fall is 1st grade or K 2.0. In addition I am having baby #3 in August to we have elected to start slow and ramp up half way through. We are starting with: 100 EZ Lessons A Year of Playing Skillfully Beginning Thinking Skills (a bit below her level but she loves them and calls them her brain games) In January I plan on Adding: Right Start 2A Reading Lessons Through Literature Handwriting Lessons Through Literature We also participate in a local Homeschool Coop that my daughter loves. it is strictly fun enrichment at this age. Registration hasn't started for the fall so I don't know what she will be doing (Last spring she did art, number games, and legos).

What you are paying for in AYOPS is the organization. There is, I understand more information in The Homegrown Preschooler

I would say that State capitals is not inportant but knowing the basic geography of the USA (states- location and name, geological landmarks -mountain ranges, major rivers, etc) is worth teaching them. You can incorporate it as you do US history, watch How the States got Their Shapes on Netflix, do geopuzzles, etc.

$120 for the e book alone. 9 months of activities lauded out for you by theme and with activities. So basically $13 a month for someone else to do some of the leg work. You still have to gather supplies but a complete supply list (sorted monthly by individual activity) is provided. You can choose how many activists to do each month, when to do them, and how often. I think of you have time time and inclination to find activities yourself and to put it all together then AYOPS is unnecessary and overpriced. However if putting it all together yourself is, for whatever reason, not a reality for you then I think this will be a good program. It is organized without locking you into a tight schedule. That is what appeals to me. The nice thing is if you want something I between the two options you can get The Homegrown Preschooler for less than $30 and then you have the activities and more in one place and then you just have to organize it yourself.

The e book is $120. As far as I can tell that gives you a theme, supplies lists, and activities for each month. I think that is 9 months so $13 a month. Personally I will not be in a position this fall to do the leg work on Pinterest to come up with my own stuff (brand new baby in August) but my daughter needs something more than just playing with her toys this fall. I like having the September sample because I can try this for free and if it is working for us I will order the e book near the end of September.

The e book is $120. As far as I can tell that gives you a theme, supplies lists, and activities for each month. I think that is 9 months so $13 a month. Personally I will not be in a position this fall to do the leg work on Pinterest to come up with my own stuff (brand new baby in August) but my daughter needs something more than just playing with her toys this fall. I like having the September sample because I can try this for free and if it is working for us I will order the e book near the end of September.

I plan on starting in September with AYOPS with my 4 almost 5 year old daughter. I haven't read The Homegrown Preschooler but have decided to go with AYOPS because I am having a baby in August and I need something a little more laid out. I like the monthly themes, supplies lists, and one page activity checklist. I think if I had to pick and choose from THP I wouldn't do anything. This will be our first year and I plan to reuse this for the next few years as my toddler and baby get bigger. After this year I might get THP to add to the activities outlined in AYOPS.

We just discovered Cosmic Kids Yoga. My Daughter loves it. Depending on where you live you may have a time of year where the outside is miserable (For us in Southern Texas it is summer, for my sister in Alaska it is Winter). This is a nice activity when you need to stay inside but still want to work the wiggles out.

Thank you for sharing. Both to let me know there is great resale and that I can look for this on eBay or buy during a Black Friday Sale. (I didn't know they had sales)

Just a heads up about Athenaze. Because it it is more advanced text to assumes a level of maturity. I am not talking about the text. The artwork in the book incorporates and mimics traditional Greek art. There is the ocational male nude. It isn't explicit or terribly detailed (a wrestling match or a servant working the the fields), but you should know it is there.

No experience but isn't Jousting Armadillos a text that is written to the student? That might be a good option.

What is it about singing that she likes? How does she feel when she sings or when she hears others singing?

I love the idea of keeping early risers in their beds until a set time. I think I could teach my daughter but I am not so sure about my son. He is that unfortunate not-in-a-crib-but-too-young-to-read-a-clock-age. ideally he would still be in his crib but with #3 almost here i needed to transition him out. I think I will give up on trying to wake up before them and instead embrace the evening prep routine. The trick will be to get to bed earlier.

Well you all make me feel better. I tend to wake up when they do. I tell myself I will wake up earlier but anything before 6 just seems so wrong. Ug yuck!

Everything I read seems to say get up before your kid. Make this time for you to get ready for the day. And then I read the day in a life's where the kids roll out of bed at 8 or 9. My daughter's (4) eyes pop open at 6 am, 6:30 if she sleeps in. Her brother (1) wakes up anytime between 6 and 7 (except the days when we actually have to be somewhere in the morning, then he sleeps until 8). I can't be the only one with early risers. What do you do? Do you wake up at 5 or 5:30?

I recently saw this posted by a homeschool mom on Facebook and I had to share it. Enjoy "My tweens asked me at dinner what a Goth was, as they had heard the term somewhere. From there we discussed a brief history of the Goths, Ostrogoths and Visigoths, why Gothic architecture is called Gothic, even though it was not invented by the Goths, where the term vandalism comes from, who the Huns were and where they came from, and a brief review of the geography of the areas in question. It only now occurs to me that this may not have been what they meant by goth. I hope they aren't envisioning hordes of black-clad, black lipsticked teenagers sacking Rome."

We are just embarking on our homeschool journey. I have been lurking on the forums here for almost three years but now that it comes down to actually beginning I am looking for a little reassurance that my plan for the upcoming year is reasonable and am open to any critique on that plan as well. My daughter has a late birthday and will be turning 5 mid October. She is sort of in that limbo stage of should she begin Kindergarten or not. We are currently in a low requirement State and I can call this year whatever I want. However she is definitely ready for *something.* She has been wanting not just to be read to but to know what the "words say." She loves to run, climb, and jump as well as to color, draw, and "write" letters to cousins and grandparents. I should also mention that we have a son (19 months) and are expecting in the beginning of August. In light of all this we recently began 100EZ lessons (and by recently i mean we are on lesson 6). I wanted to get farther along and have it a solid part of our day before baby #3 comes and throws everything into chaos. My plan is to continue with reading lessons in the fall along with the program A Year of Playing Skillfully. I think the combination go formal reading lessons and a hands on play based program will be a good fit for her. I also thought the do-as-musch-or-as-little-as-you-want aspect of A Year of Playing Skillfully would fit right in with a new baby. We will hold off on formal math until the new year and begin RightStart A in January or February. We may or may not being a handwriting program at the same time. We currently read aloud quite a bit and will continue to do so. Depending on how the year goes (poking along with indifference or soaking it all in with eagerness) it will be PreK or K. So my question is, Does this sound okay? Tell me this is doable or alternatively tell me where the pitfalls are. Mostly tell me to make a deep breath and go for it.

I am interested in this too. I have a 4 year old and it seems right up her ally. I would love input from someone who has done this.

Interesting.

I read the title and had to laugh. Just the other day Susan Wise Baur posted a day in the life from 10 years ago onto the Peace Hill Press Facebook page. She talked about her son sitting down with his lesson and basically forgetting all the Latin he had ever learned.