Thanks for the suggestions! To clarify: - The kids are excited to be going over there more, but the 6yo has asked for more activities for while she is there. - My mom is a retired children's librarian, so there are plenty of books and reading with her. Any books I send would be more because if we are studying Egypt, "here's a book about the pyramids!," etc. - My parents do not want to facilitate. They (theoretically) won't stand in the way of anything I send that is kid intensive and adult absent. Homeschool is a touchy subject between us, and sending materials is definitely a pilot idea that may be shot down once it actually happens. - They pretend to be offended and sweets-free whenever desserts are mentioned, and I pretend not to see the entire left side of their pantry filled with every candy and cake known to man, lol. ;) I'll look at the DVD suggestions, thanks! Audiobooks sound like good idea that would be fun for them, too.

My kids will be spending more time at the grandparents this coming year. I would like to be able to give them “homework†to take with them. But, they won’t have a real help there to do anything meaty, and I want this to be a fun thing to stave off boredom after their sugar binges and TV marathons, lol. So far I was planning on sending them with - books to read (they have books at grandparents, but something that I can integrate with other activities at home) - MUS Beta workbooks (and number stickers to answer with) - I’ve found Maps, Charts and Graphs which seems to be on the right track but I haven't bought it yet. Does anyone have a fun, light, educational workbook that a first grader would have fun doing? Mazes, word finds, etc? Or ideas for activities I could send with them that would need minimal setup/supervision? I’m not as concerned about the 4yo as the 6yo, though if you have something to recommend for both that would be great. Thanks!

We do Accountable Kids, so the kids earn tickets throughout the day as they complete their tasks. We deem each ticket as half an hour of screen time (mostly Netflix or iPad games). Typically the kids can earn 3-4 tickets a day, though they can't usually spend that many in a day. So tickets pile up onto the weekend, and they can watch up to 2 full-length movies on weekends (ie use 8 tickets), but not in a row. We also have daily set activities on the iPads: - Reading Rainbow while I am making lunch - math drill apps and games while I am making dinner - music learning apps while the other kid is doing piano practice All iPad games are educations or semi-educational. Netflix doesn't have to be educational, but I still veto some things due to dumbness level, lol. We don't treat educational vs non-ed differently under the ticket system.

We liked New American Cursive. My daughter is left-handed so we were looking for something that looked nice but was not overly slanted. (We will use it again for our right-handed son when he is old enough, so its not only for LH). She enjoyed the book, I liked that the binding was on the top so it didn't get in the way of her wrist. Or you could just get the program if you have Windows and print your own stuff. I would compare NAC with Abeka and see if the letters are different, and by how much. Depending on how far your boys got, it may save time just to stick with Abeka so they don't have to relearn anything.

My 4.5yo is doing the 1st grade stuff with his sister (who is actually 1st grade) so it simplifies it for me. He can read, no writing. FLL is totally doable with him, and he does the WWE with us as well, just doesn't do the copywork. He loves MUS and math in general (incl Splash Math). I think the structured learning lessons are good for him because of his personality, but we have to balance with other activities and I am careful not to push him into it; he is allowed to get up and leave the table if he wants (not that he has). I would just go with what your kid would like to do, and intro some programs but don't push or rush it if it seems like she isn't interested. If the lapbooks are working and filling her appetite at this point, I don't see a reason to change it. If you are doing a lot of reading together, you can naturally incorporate a lot of the lessons from FLL and WWE without breaking out a lesson book. Same with math. Maybe get some instructor books for the programs you like and read through the first lessons, then intro the ideas naturally as you go through the day/week.

We do year round, but we probably take ~6 weeks off overall, mostly around Thanksgiving, Christmas, 1-2 in the summer, then random vacations; some of these weeks are more light-work than no-work. I figure since we have doctor's appointments, sick days, days that the engine light turns on, etc, that will interrupt my regular schedule, I'd just make my regular schedule year round to make up for it. We also do a daily routine for school, so 7 days a week unless we have a family outing or something like that. The more-structured learning time rarely last longer than 4 hours unless we have a big art project. Maybe the short hours make the 7 days/year round more doable. (Note: my husband teaches as well, and he is on board with the schedule we have.)

We use Math U See, if your daughters like hands on learning I would recommend it. My kids have a lot of fun building with the blocks after our more formal class, and there are a lot of cute things that kids (my kids, at least) find funny, like the sounds you can make when you doing plus 9 and plus 8. We supplement with the abacus from Right Start and they like that too, but there is more "play" involved with the blocks. I haven't felt like my kids are behind with MUS, but we are still in the beginning levels (finished Alpha, started Beta). But, if you are just trying to get a better fit with math and something that may make them more comfortable with it as a subject, MUS may be helpful. You can always speed up if you don't feel like they are being challenged, or supplement with another program, or switch after they feel more math-friendly in general. The colored blocks might be good for your younger daughter as she learns to recognize numbers, the colors may help differentiate and associate with the written symbols. As for the writing part of MUS, there are a lot of worksheets that come with the program, no color (in the activity book). With my son who can't write yet, I'll go through the page with him and work through it on the board instead. My daughter can write out her answers on her own but usually joins us at the board anyway because, well, chalk is fun, lol. The pages do not feel overwhelmed with questions, I think there are at most 12 per page (I'd have to check this). The activity pages at the end of each chapter are fun for my daughter (there are coloring activities, etc). For some sections you can go onto the MUS website and printout your own worksheets; it doesn't look as snazzy but if your daughter has a limit on how many questions per page she likes, you can tailor your printout so she doesn't feel overwhelmed. Hope this helps, good luck with whatever you choose!

We have completed NAC Book 1 and I really liked how it was laid out and presented the material. I'm wondering if Book 2 is necessary or if it is just practice sentences and quotes. If so, could we just generate our own practice sheets with their software? Or is there something in Book 2 that is necessary for kids to progress in cursive?

So I have a 1st grader (daughter), and preschooler (son) who is at her level in everything except for writing. I don't know how I'll handle Language Arts with him yet but otherwise these plans are for both of them. Music: piano, instrument introductions with eyewitness book (should last ~3 months, then will need a new book) Math: MUS Beta Art: Drawing with Children LA: WWE, FLL, Sequential Spelling (haven't fully committed to spelling) Handwriting: NAC 2 for her, prewriting and maybe manuscript intro for him later in the year History: SOTW 1 Science: unit studies based on eyewitness books Religious: CCD program, Mass 3-4x a week, prayer breakdowns In general I am trying to move to more open-go things because I am not living up to my ideals in terms of creating from scratch or with a spine. Science will probably need to be revised to something more structured but I just haven't researched enough to choose something yet. Looks like there are some good options above me, though!

For kids, I second the Rainbow Light Stars. Natural is a big thing for us, too, and we have been happy with them. And the kids like them, too. If you find something better, we'd love to know. :)

DD(5) is officially going for 30 minutes. But the past two lessons she has gone over time, for a total of 45 minutes. Her teacher officially starts kids 7 and older at 45 minutes. She said the past two lessons were anomalies and hasn't charged the difference since it was at her discretion (and not because my kid was goofing off or anything), but if they continue to run over she will start her on an official 45 min lesson when she turns 6 (January). I know as a kid myself, I did half hour lessons until I was 6, then started hour lessons. I never thought it was too long, but the first 15 minutes or so were spent on theory, then Hannon and scales for 10-15 minutes, then pieces, so it was broken up.

I've been posting a bit on the K-8 forum, but thought I should give a "hello" in the official board. :) So hello! Our 5yo daughter and 3yo son are in their first year of homeschooling. We are calling it kindergarten for my 5yo, but the 3yo is doing everything his big sister does, so I guess he gets to do kindergarten too. I am pretty set on the few formal programs that I am going to use for the year, but am always open to suggestions and looking for the future years. The forums were a great resource as I was picking out my curricula and finding the first bumps in the road. So thanks to all and look forward to being a more active member!

I am using the Discovery Education Techbook. I am teaching 2 in Kinder. Pros: units are broken down into lessons with a general lesson plan, they have videos and resources available. Multiple grade levels available under one subscription, and does not cost too much per year. Meets state standards. You can choose the units you want to do in whatever order you want (so if you just want to do animals, etc., ignore units on space...though I don't know how far that will get you in terms of material to cover) Cons: it is subscription, and tech based, so no hard copy. If you like experiments, you have to pull it together yourself (but they do give you ideas). The activities they DO provide are geared towards a full classroom ("share with your partner", "compare to other groups"). Provided activities can be kind of boring if you aren't a full classroom, so you have to either tailor them or just skip. I am starting to use it has a spine and a planner to give me a starting lesson, then finding books at the library to read from and using their suggestions for art projects and science experiments. Free trial through hsbc so you can look through it and see if it works for you.

Okay, this sounds like an odd question, but after watching the discussion of Apologia: Does anyone find that using a Catholic/Christian science program is better than a secular one? I am using the Discovery Education techbook as my spine, which has been working well for me. I haven't been working in a religious aspect into my science lessons; I am not intentionally keeping them separate, it just hasn't come up. Is it because my kids are younger? As they get older, do you recommend sticking to a more religious program?

Super Why! from PBS was a big factor in helping get our kids reading. My 5yo is a little bored with it now, but I think it is because she has seen all of them multiple times, not because the content is actually boring. The episodes were the most help, but the kids like the games on the PBS website as well. We also had a ABC Text and Go by VTech. Kids loved it, I saw it more as a toy but it did help them with learning-without-them-knowing-it. But, it has two modes: loud and louder, so only get this if you are okay with toys that talk. 5yo no longer uses it, but again I don't know if it is because it is too simple for that age, or if they have gotten everything they can from it. Oh! And if you use apps, try Endless Alphabet. It has the kids move little monster letters into order to spell words. When they are dragging the letter, they make the letter sound. Once the word is spelled correctly, it does a little explanation of the word. The words can be big, "gargantuan" is the first one I remember, but definitely helps with letter sounds and gets some new vocab in there. It is on my iPhone and iPad, idk if it is available for anything else. 5yo still likes this even though she now knows all the words.

Disclaimer: I have not used this curriculum! I know a lot of people who have used the program themselves when they were kids and/or are using it with their kids, Mother of Divine Grace. I also know the people who founded the curriculum, and I can definitely state you will not find anything that is contradictory to Catholic teachings. It is a whole program though, and i don't know how easy it would be to extract the history/science from it. They post their book list for each year, but you have to get the syllabus through them. Maybe look at the booklist and go from there? My personal impression of it academically is a bit on the light side (but definitely adequate!), but I also tend to be more heavy on science. If you are preparing your kids for a classical or liberal arts school/education, such as Thomas Aquinas College or Christendom, they will have a great foundation and head start compared to others; really, it does prepare them well for critical thinking. If you want them to grow to be engineers, maybe find a secular curriculum to supplement when they are older (at least for the science). (Oh, and to agree with you: My husband did Seton as a kid, and he totally agrees with you on the dryness. He emphatically stated our kids would not do Seton.) Hope that helps! Good luck, please post whatever you decide so I can maybe add it to my own curriculum! :) (Edited the first paragraph for clarity, I got a little wordy the first time around)

I second the Salsa Spanish. It is not interactive, as in waiting for your kids to repeat whatever the character has said or answer questions, but we stick with the same episode for a week or so, and the kids will reply "Hola" or "Hasta luego" whenever a new character comes/leaves, they "help" on the counting parts, etc. If you want to use the lesson plans you can but it isn't necessary, it can be a click+play and still be effective.

We are using MUS Alpha. 5 yo DD likes it so far. It does come with a lot of worksheets and writing; I end up doing the writing problems together on the board, and any coloring activities/problems I have her do on paper. So I basically use the worksheets as our learn-it-examples. For the review pages (that come at the end of each lesson and go over a bit from all previous lessons) I do have her mostly get the answers on her own, but I help her write out answers so it doesn't take as long. We are having a little bit of trouble in that she already knows how to do things (counting, basic addition, etc) but we are taking the time to spend a couple of days on each of these things anyway so we learn to do them "the MUS way". I am hoping this stage is over quickly, but I see at least another couple weeks before we start to really challenge her. So, just a heads up that it may have the same issues as the Saxon you are trying to get away from.

Thank you all for your suggestions! I will definitely look at all of these. Good to know that HWOT may be a good starter for just the formation, you are right that a style/look can be developed later. And I will keep in mind the paper turning tip, thanks for mentioning that!

I have been trying to choose a handwriting curriculum for DD. She really wants to write and has been teaching herself "stick and ball" letters, and I want to curb this before she develops any bad habits. I am pretty set on doing cursive after some research and just her personality type: she is adding serifs to everything so that her letters are "pretty and professional" (husband does type design so she is imitating him), so I think a cursive would appeal to her. My main concern is what program would best suit a left hander. Cursive First, Teach Me Joy, and A Beka look good, but are slanted; are upright cursive easier for lefties? HWT does a more upright cursive, but I am not as impressed by it visually. I have seen some French cursives that look like they would fit the bill, but I have only found worksheets and not any directions on how to form the letter or which letters to form in which order. I could parse the directions from one program with the worksheets from a French script, but if there is something that already exists, that's what I'd go with. So, any suggestions? And, how do you handle handwriting issues that happen to lefties that a rightie wouldn't know about? Thank you for any insights! :) It is my first year homeschooling (kind of obvious, huh?), and this forum has been a much-needed treasure trove of ideas.