Hi, our situation is about to undergo a huge change, and I could use some guidance/advice/perspective... I've homeschooled for 4 years, but this fall my kids will start at a local b&m school (traditional, small Catholic school, 2nd and 3rd grade). We follow a classical model, and when hubby retires from the military, we are choosing our retirement location based on the location of a few well-regarded classical model schools. Until then, I want to maintain our use of the model, so they will be well prepared for 6th grade and up, dialectic and rhetorical level work. Any recommendations on how to do this without overloading them with extra work outside of school? Next year's school is traditional, and has a reputation as academically sound and even challenging, preparing K-8 students well for the top high schools in the area. I plan to continue our chronological historical read alouds, nature study outings and a Brave Writer-esque language arts focus. What am I missing? What guidance (books, websites, etc.) can I access to help me do this organically? I've always wanted a classical home environment, so this is more about our family culture than simply keeping up with school work. Ideas?

My rising 3rd grade ds has been diagnosed with short-term memory deficiency. The developmental pediatrician recommended a highly incremental math program with lots of review. So far we've been using a medley of Math Mammoth, Ray's and Life of Fred. I've been less than systematic in facts practice, using flash cards, xtramath, and various games to reinforce. I was planning to reorganize our MM lessons to spread out review, possibly adding another source to make fact practice more intentional. But I've been lurking on the boards and reading about CLE and Horizons, and I'm wondering if a switch would be sanity-preserving. My rising 1st dd is so far not a fan of the MM workbook, so a switch may be in order anyway. I hesitate to add the learning curve of a new program to my plate, but bottom line I need to find what will be best for my kiddos... Opinions and insight greatly appreciated!

Hmm... 3rd grade... We attend Aquinas Learning, which includes: History (ancient) Science (earth and biology) Latin (flesh out with Song School...?) Catechism (Through Christ's Church) Virtue (PACE, includes bible and saint stories) Civics (types of government) Art appreciation (tied to history) Music appreciation (ditto) Good books (as assigned) Copywork (great words, weekly) IEW (PAL level concepts) On our own: LA/Lit/Reading: CLP Nature reader, Treadwell Reader, Classical House of Learning Literature (Ancients grammar level) Writing: Classical Writing Aesop, Bravewriter lifestyle approach, HRTL (cursive program using phonograms and Webster's syllabary) Unsure of continuing AAS... I feel like I'd get better results if spelling is integrated into our copywork and literature, but unsure how to proceed. Math: MM 3A/3B, Life of Fred (really interested in BA though...) Egads this seems like a lot... fortunately most of it is through our program. But still. Feels writing/LA heavy, which we haven't done formally yet. Definitely my weak area right now for this young 3rd, reluctant writer boy.

Well I started out trying curriculum... and then went to informal activities... and at this point I'm happy if we get through a short, FUN reading lesson without me getting kicked in the ribs as she flees from the couch. She's now 6.5, and can sort-of-read, but she spends our lesson time making elaborate books about her fairy houses, her (imaginary) sisters and their planet and language, and planning her journey on the Appalachian Trail with daddy when she turns 16. And shouting out the answers to big brother's math problems before he has a chance to answer. So... I worry and I don't worry. You know?

Just the Foundations Guide, honestly. There are lots of supplements, and you may want the timeline cards because they have so much enriching history info to offer. The overall idea is just to present the memory work as is and drill using whatever "tricks" you come up with. Membership to their community share site will provide you with every printable and audio technique you could ever want, if you need assistance in making it "stick" for your kids. Their audio CDs have all their own recorded songs and chants on them for car schooling, too. Good luck!

You could try Secret Stories cards. The program is made for schools, but I think you can buy sets of the cards on teacherspayteachers.com. The cards create images out of each phonogram to help memory ("th" is sticking out its tongue, the "ar" is riding in a car, etc). I'm thinking you could just use them to reinforce whatever program you have. My VSL would love them, come to think of it. I use OPGTR and she runs for the hills. Another idea is the Phonics Farm from IEW. Their PAL Reading program includes a poster of a farm, with a set of stickers for each phonogram. The haystacks are all the long "a" combinations, the cows are the "ow" sound and the long "oo", etc. pricey at $29 but it includes a lot of background material and a phonics notebook your child can put together as you work through the phonograms. I made it into a wall chart and we add to it when we learn each phonogram. It really makes OPGTR "fun" and visual. It was a good supplement for us. (My youngest isn't at the "vowel team" level of phonics yet, so she hasn't started our Phonics Farm. Which is why she still runs away...)

Hi, I've used Ray's with my K and 2nd kiddos on and off. I really like it. The books are in order. The Primary book is 1st and 2nd grade, they go up from there. You would only use one at a time. I switched over to using the digital books (free online) and so I'd be willing to sell my Primary and Beechick's Parents' Guide to you if you'd like to try them out.

I am in a similar situation. We did ancients in the fall, and just joined a new community that is doing American. I won't have time to go back and cover everything we missed in-depth, but I don't want to skip it either. I am about to hit purchase on Simply Charlotte Mason's Stories of America. It's short stories, poetry and maps from Columbus to present day, in 2 volumes, targeted to elementary students. I'm hoping it will be the right amount of info for my K and 2nd. I love the Joy Hakim History of US books, but they would be too much for us right now. Next cycle! ETA: the site lists the books as appropriate for 1-6 grades.

I bought the sheets for using with the wood pieces and made photocopies on card stock, then laminated and cut them out. Worked great.

I think he is very young to be able to get an accurate picture of his specific learning style. Most young kids are tactile, kinesthetic learners until they start to grasp abstract concepts. Most of the learning style "tests' I've seen recommend starting to discern around age 8. Check out www.kidzmet.com for info.

I have the first level of Artistic Pursuits. You can look at the TOC on the website; it has an art history component that talks about where we find art... in caves, in pyramids, on walls, etc. that basically follows art from ancient times to illumination of the Middle Ages. It's listed as K-3 but I see no reason not to use it with a 4th grader.

Yes, I mapped out a weekly schedule of sorts... We did the first lesson this past week and my DD5 loved it. She loved learning to read from a "real" book. It will be worth the effort of mapping the rest out. I think I'm going to camp out in Hop On Pop for a month or so and explore all the phonetic families in it. As for my DS7, I'm adapting the technique to our subject reading. Monday we'll use a passage from Write Through History, Tuesday: CLP Nature Reader, Wednesday: Religion/Catechism, Thursday: current chapter book (ELTL), Friday: weekly reading comp from K12reader.com I already have ELTL for grammar and will use copywork from that when needed, so the one passage per day should work since we will just work on phonics rules and handwriting. We'll also use word sorts and ladders and make a notebook to record the phonics rules as we learn/review them. That feels pretty thorough to me... We'll see! I do have to say that since I need to see the forest and the trees, it's hard to go lesson by lesson with this. I'm reading all of it and making notes on what is learned and when. It's probably totally unnecessary but I hate the feeling of just following along, being a facilitator instead of teacher.

Just a quick question: where do you go to find out if material is contrary to Catholic teaching? For example, the discussion on Apologia. Where can I find information on the Church's stand on evolution? Is it all in the Catechism? I guess that would give me a reason to finally crack it open...

I just bought BW's the Wand, for my 7yo reader and my 5.5yo eager-to-start. I anticipate having to adapt for each of them, but I figure I almost always end up doing that with curriculum anyway, and the BW approach is very friendly to customization. (For my 5.5yo I plan to expand on the lessons in Hop On Pop, using all the sections that focus on short vowel phonetic words, until she has a firm grasp (we are currently reading one Bob Book at a time). For my 7yo I am going to move a bit faster. He's reading fluently but lacks confidence, so we are going to make a LA notebook to review the phonics work and grammar he knows before we move into Arrows.) My question is about implementing the program as written (at least as a base to start with). It's wordy and not set up in an open-and-go way, which I anticipated. But does anyone have experience putting together a schedule and/or progression of the program? What do your lessons look like? What does a week look like? What materials do you use and how do you put them together (notebook, binder, folders as suggested)? Thank you!!!

There's a book on Amazon called "The Day Amala Didn't Start School" or something very close. I haven't read it but it looks cute.

This is exactly what we are doing this year. We just moved to Northern VA and will be here for 3 years. I really want to spend 3rd and 4th grades on US history, and GENERALLY line the times up with SOTW. So, this year we are going through SOTW 1 & 2, doing 2 chapters a week. We did start over the summer, but we're scheduled to finish vol 1 the week before Thanksgiving (we are on chapter 13), and will start vol 2 in December. We probably won't get to go indepth for the most part, but at the Grammar stage my goal is to hook them with the narrative, so we won't take too much time with extra activities. We are going through the correlating bible stories, since SOTW doesn't go too far with that. We are also using the Usborne IL Encyclopedia and several children's books, as stories interest us. So far it's been the perfect amount. The activity book has suggestions for read-alouds for each chapter, but I'm sure someone out there has made a list or two if you aren't planning to buy it.

Whitehawk, that makes me think I should start both my kids at B and just let them progress at their own pace. I might have to call the company for advice. See, this is why I always return to assembling it myself, since I already know where my kids are in each of the materials I have been using.

So, next question: is Essentials meant to be done after Foundations is complete? Or are they separate programs, simply designed differently based on the age and experience of the student? I don't see it being a continuous program.

Thanks! We have not started any rules, and have just started going tgrough the phonograms with RLTL. But overall I'm getting the vibe that attempting to piece it all together myself isn't worth the effort...

I'm hearing the siren call of shiny new curriculum... Here's what I'm working with: 7yo ds: oldest, boy, reluctant to lessons, good reader (mid-3rd grade?). Starting 2nd grade. 5.5yo dd: let's just say she's decided against homeschool and will teach herself, thank-you-very-much. I want to follow Spalding, and already have used the following: OPGTR, AAS 1, Progressive Phonics,ETC, Plaid, k12reader.com, Reading Eggs, Reading Lessons Through Literature... and just bought a used copy of McRuffy K. I am starry-eyed over LoE, but having trouble committing since I already have so much to work with. I looked at the placement advice on the site, but it's not clear to me where I would start my son. Foundations B? Essentials? How long should each level typically take? I really want to integrate LA, and to teach the same system for each kid, even if at different levels. I always talk myself out of buying new curriculum by saying I'll piece it together from what I already own, but honestly just the idea of all that organizing is making me tired. My plan was/is to use the practice words from OPGTR, phonogram cards from AAS/RLTL, and make spelling notebooks, starting with "letter stories" we made up together last year. Make copywork sheets free online each week... Readers from PP? Any and all input is appreciated! ETA: DS enjoys OPGTR, and won't tolerate workbooks. AAS was good but he dreaded it, even the tiles (which surprised me). DD is enticed by fun characters and games. When I showed her the McRuffy, she was suddenly interested in learning to read (she is currently able to blend CVC words, Bob books, and the beginner PP books, which she likes). I have been working on D'Nealian with both of them, but haven't used anything formal for instruction. We could use something more directed and intentional. I like what I saw of the LoE writing materials. I really just feel I need to be more organized about phonics instruction. My neuroses may be the deciding factor, as I will NEVER stop doubting my ability to cover all our bases and provide complete instruction...