I agree. I'm a former classroom teacher. Even in the upper elementary years, it sometimes felt that the last 2 hours of school or so were mostly a battle. They were DONE. Sometimes I was done. It felt like we were just filling time until the day was over. I feel like it would have been more productive to end the day at around 1:30. (We went till 3:30).

I agree with the bolded. I met my best friend when I was 2. I didn't even know what a best friend. We just hit it off. There were factors that allowed it to continue. We're still best friends. But I know that's rare. I feel like it's kind of like finding "the one". It happens when you're not really looking. Just living life. But I know that's hard for kids (and some adults) to accept.

Following because I'm in a similar boat. My DD6 does fine with ww1 but she doesn't really enjoy it and I've come to dread it because I know she's going to drag her feet and whine and try to get out of it etc...

Nope. I've been to a lot of baby showers and I have NEVER seen this.

I am using, Believe Kids Edition: Think, Act, Be Like Jesus this year with DD6. It's a simple, nondenominational devotional that covers the basics of Christian living. It was just what we needed this year. I'm stuck for next year. What I like about the Believe book is that we just read the intro, read the story and had a great discussion. It used passages straight from the Bible and didn't have a denominational slant (that I noticed anyway). It introduced important topics then allowed me to just talk about it with DD. It was a nice way to start the day. Next year... I have no idea what to do for Bible. I'm looking for: Simplicity: no crafts, no huge timeline on the wall... I don't mind a simple activity but knowing us, we won't do it. Nondenominational. Age appropriate. Not a lot of book work (none is better) Something more than the typical Bible stories. I feel like if we go over creation one more time, she's going to revolt. Substance. My DD can handle some substance. More than I could at her age. 30 minutes or less... It can't be 180 days of curriculum. We have co-op and having to stick to a 5 day schedule is difficult for me. I'm considering just pulling something together on my own, but honestly, I do better with a plan ("Do the next thing" is my favorite kind of plan.) Does anything like this exist? I keep searching, and searching.... and searching. Thanks!

Thank you all for your answers. I'm (more than likely) only going to use grades 2 & 3, so maybe I'll just give it a shot. Thanks again.

Hi. I'm doing some research for next school year. My DD6 will be in second grade next year. For first grade language arts we used FLL1, WWE1, Zaner-Bloser Handwriting 1 & then had a really hard time with spelling. A Reason for Spelling was too easy and had too much busywork. We tried K-12 reader and the words were the right level but it had no guidance. I am a natural speller and don't really know any spelling rules, but I would like her to know them. I need hand holding in this regard. We're trying out AAS, which I know will be too easy but may be what I'm looking for as far as spelling. Anyway, I'm finding that having all these pieces for Language Arts, just isn't working for us. We manage to do FLL but are way behind in WWE because we just don't get to it each day. We're doing ok with handwriting. It all feels disjointed. I don't think it's the curriculum... it's definitely us (or maybe, just me). What I'm thinking of doing is CLE LA 2 next year which would cover just about everything. I feel like writing could be covered through the content areas fairly well. I've noticed, however, that many people skip the spelling but I am not finding any clear reason as to why. I've looked over the samples and the words look appropriate for grade level and I see that they include spelling rules. Am I missing some glaring issue? I'm not opposed to doing a different spelling program, but I want to understand why I would need to first. Anyone with experience want to explain? Thanks.

It is a product. As are any products sold via an MLM company. I have many friends who sell a variety of things via MLM, and to be honest, my CC Director friends are the least pushy. I get a lot more "spam" from Scentsy, Thirty-One and BeachBody than CC. Some directors, I'm sure, are pushier than others. They're probably pushy no matter what they were selling. I know several CC directors, and not one is pushy. I know they exist. I've never met anyone in corporate, so I can't speak to that. In my area there are new communities popping up in areas with no CC community available. Some people who have been driving far each week have chosen to try the newer communities and some choose to stay where they are. Also, there are a couple of communities near by that are full (there's a cap as to how many classes you can have and how many students you can have in each class) and so new communities are being started because there are people being turned away. It's possible that my regional director is just a nice person who doesn't encourage these annoying things and other regions have pushy people in charge who encourage aggressive tactics. I don't know. I can only speak from my experience.

Classical Conversations doesn't provide transcripts, grades or diplomas. They aren't a school. They have a transcript service and I'm not sure, but I don't think you need to be a CC parent to use it. It's basically an online software that allows you to make pretty transcripts that are able to be printed or sent via email to universities. It's just one product you can buy, if you wanted to. As is CC... a product, that some people find worth the cost and others don't. There are homeschool methods I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, but I know they work for other people. It's the beauty of homeschool. I do what's right for my family and you do what's right for yours.

I agree with above. Don't worry about it. I taught at a private school where I gave the SAT 10 to first and fifth graders and the science questions were pretty random tidbits. There was no reading at all on the first grade. I read the questions aloud and they chose the picture that best answered the question. It was pretty standard IMO. I think you could read the "What Your First Grader Needs to Know" book and be fine.

I'm looking through the Grade 1 and it looks pretty good for a free resource. I was planning on using CLE LA 1 but now I'm wondering if this could work. My DD is a bit advanced, I wouldn't use this with a first grader who wasn't reading yet though. I'm curious if anyone has tried this because it does look like it could work but I'd love to hear from someone who's used it.

I'm also interested in the Knowledge of Nature curriculum... but I know that's fairly new.

Just looking into options before making any committments for next year. Anyone use any of her stuff? I'm looking specifically at the Geography curriculum for a first grader.

I don't want boring, but I can't do FIAR. I've done SOTW in the classroom a couple of times and the students of vary ages seemed to enjoy it and loved the hands on activities. You should have seen their faces when I said we'd mummify a chicken. I already own SOTW and the Activity Guide so I think I'll just try it and see. If it's a bust, I'll just do something else. I don't want boring, but I can't do FIAR. I've looked into it, but I just can't see it clicking with me. She might like it, but I don't think I'd stick with it. I've done SOTW in the classroom a couple of times and the students of vary ages seemed to enjoy it and loved the hands on activities. You should have seen their faces when I said we'd mummify a chicken. I already own SOTW and the Activity Guide so I think I'll just try it and see. If it's a bust, I'll just do something else. It's hard for me to do buy something when I already have so much stuff. I have SOTW 1-4 and Activity Guides, Mystery of History 1 , Math Mammoth 1 and OPGTR. So really, all I "need" to buy is Art, Science and LA. If I use what I have and only buy what I need, that frees up money for fun things like art supplies & field trips. (Then the SL and MFW catalogs come in the mail and I second guess everything.) Thanks everyone!

She likes to write. CLE is a little writing intensive but from what I see, it's not more than she does at school right now. But I can always re-evaluate if it's too much.

I'm not sure if I "need" the reading program though I already own the phonics and she wouldn't be able to read from the last parts of the book. I figure I'll use it and if we drop it, we drop it. My problem with the just reading good books is I've learned that I need a plan... even if that plan is a workbook. If we have the pages we're supposed to read and do we'll do them. If we're supposed to read, read aloud, read independently it MIGHT get done but not consistently. My hope is that the reading program will keep me in check. She does love to read on her own though, but I don't want to make that part school. CLE LA includes penmanship, spelling, and grammar. I forgot to add that I'd probably to WWE 1 because it seem so short and gentle at this age. I find MM busy... but she doesn't. She's a very different child than I ever was. MM would have made me cry. I think you're right about science. I might just go ahead and "wing it" with some encyclopedias and let her take the lead there. She loves doing experiments. Thank you everyone! I feel more at ease now.

Oops... I meant OPGTR (Ordinary Parent's Guide To Teaching Reading)

I'm bringing DD5 home next year for first grade. I ran this past my husband, however, all he really cares about is the price tag . He says he trusts me, which is great, but I'd love some actual input! Just for background info: DD5 will be 6 in September. She'll be a young first grader but is advanced. She is currently at a private school doing Kindergarten there. The school does first grade math and it's currently "easy" for her. She's reading at a mid-second grade level but her writing is more in line with K. Socially she's pretty much a Kindy. She's got a good attention span for her age, decent fine motor skills. I'd say she was a cross between a Perfect Paula and a Sociable Sue. She loves workbooks and insists on doing EVERY page but never stops talking and wants me to sit there with her while she does it (so she can talk). Ok... with that information. Here's my plan. I have a lot of this stuff already because I'm a teacher and so I collect curriculum resources :-) Bible: Just cover whatever is being covered in church (we get a print out) and maybe seasonal stuff. I'm considering getting a devotional? Math: Math Mammoth Gr 1. (It may have been deleted, if we don't find it, I'm seriously considering CLE Gr. 1) Reading: OPGTR and CLE Reading (Not LTR) Language Arts: CLE LA Gr. 1 History: SOTW 1 Science: I can't decide between just doing it TWTM way or getting Elemental Science to keep me on track. I can get side tracked easily Then for fun we have a Draw Write Now book that she's excited about and she wants to do Home Art Studio. She's also in gymnastics and will likely take up an instrument (if she can pick one). Anyway.... does this sound like a decent year? I really don't like the idea of "skipping" ahead to 2nd grade so my desire is to use more advanced first grade materials. We also have a lot of other supplemental things we could do if things got monotonous but I want an overall plan. Thanks in advance.

Sorry.. I somehow forgot my password and couldn't log in for days :-) I'd do SOTW but I don't think the principal will go for it. I do have the SOTW readers and will use them when it fits but we don't exactly do a time period. We alternate history and science, so we'll do physical science for three weeks, then maybe some astronomy but then we'll talk about voting in November, back to science for a few weeks, cover american history, do some earth science and then do civics and economics. Geography is covered as well but I can't remember for how long. We honestly do more science than history (I think, I never added it all up). When I taught at this school before I did 1st grade and we used Abeka but I hated it so much I didn't use it. I spent SOOOO much time searching and searching for ideas and I'd really like to avoid that this time around. I'm basically just looking for a textbook/spine that will at least give me a starting point so I don't drive myself crazy looking for something to do. Oh, and this school is extremely hands on so the rule is basically "hands on in every box" so I'm supposed to constantly be doing something hands on (not necessarily crafts though she does love those).

Not sure this is the right place. I'm going to be teaching full time fifth grade at a private school next year. I'm going over the curriculum and have the opportunity to order some new stuff. I'm not loving Abeka history but would like to replace it. Whatever I use will be tweaked but it's nice to have something. We follow state standards and teach from a Christian point of view. Any suggestions?

Aww, I love Henry Hugglemonster

I don't necessarily avoid any particular size churches. I grew up in a small church of about 40-100 (depending on the year). I moved and after lots of church visits ended up at a church of about 200 which grew to about 600-700 before we felt called to become part of a church plant that we are still a part of. We began with about 30 and have grown to about 300 in five years. All that to say that I think there's plusses and minuses to any size church. DH and I sat in our car and prayed for clear direction, discernment, wisdom and unity in our decision when we first came to our current church. We were there 10 minutes and both had such peace about being there. We knew we were home and are active members who feel the we are part of a large family. I think we're as happy as we are because we based our decision on what God wanted for us and not necessarily on what we wanted. Pray and pray and pray some more. God's already chosen your new church.

I'll take Octonauts over Special Agent Oso any day.

No answer, but I'd love to hear other thoughts on this.

I was born and raised in the Northeast and I will sometimes take milk in my coffee. I do prefer it black. I will say, that I'm Hispanic and in general, coffee is taken black or with milk (not 1/2 and 1/2, not creamer). I have never liked the taste of creamer or half and half (and I can taste the difference). When I do take milk it's usually a shot or 2 of espresso and then fill the cup with whole milk. But I don't know if it's a northern thing, or a Puerto Rican thing :-)