May I just mention one caution?? If you do opt to move ahead and you break over the summer, be certain to maintain skills throughout the summer. My son finished his K math by Christmas last year, and we moved on to First, and he did great. Then we took the Summer off; had an unexpected move and didn't do any school for two months. When we returned to school after the break he was totally floored. Stopping in the middle of the curriculum was a terrible place to take a break, and he had a terrible time jumping back in mid-stream. Instead of starting the year ahead like I expected, we had to take a big chunk of time to regain those skills, and we are now a bit behind.

Thanks for the input, ladies. Yup, I think ya'll are spot on. I'll just plug away and let them each progress on their own.

I'm wondering if it is reasonable to get my two oldest sons into the same level in math. They are only 13 months apart in age. The 6.5yo is on track to barely finish BJU1 this school year (math isn't his strongest subject). Our 5.5yo is on track to finish BJU K5 at least 10 weeks early (math seems to come very easily to him, and we often double up lessons). In any oral math questions, the younger is often the first to have the answer. We have 4 little ones very close in age, and I need to double up where I can, and they love working together, but I'm reluctant to hold back our oldest. Even though math isn't his strongest subject, he's doing fine. I'd rather permit the 5.5yo to catch up and work a grade ahead of his age, since that seems to be his bent anyway. But I'm just not sure of the logistics in how to get him there. Maybe he could use a different curricula for 1st grade math, and work through it quicker? Or maybe I need to put the oldest in some sort of review text and have him "tread water" for awhile?? Any ideas?? Is it insane to try to get them on the same level in math??

Thank you!

Ah, maybe this is point of confusion. Are you able to articulate the difference for me??

I'm a bit confused about narration. We have WWE 1, and we're on week 11. My son can successfully answer nearly all the questions presented in the text. But should I be orally encouraging him to retell the story to me? Isn't that what narration is? Or does that come later? Should I be content to stick with the question/answer ritual for now?? Thanks!

I'm just getting going with SOTW 1 with my 1st grade 6yo. I'm thinking about having our K 5yo join in, to try to keep the two of them together in history. But I can't get my head around doing narrations with the two of them. My 6yo is really rusty on the whole narration thing, and really needs to do it; it is new to both of us. How do you do two?? Do they together retell the story back while I write it down? Or do I send one child away, and work with one at a time? Today I worked only with the 6yo while all the littles were napping. It was very, very difficult for him to come up with sentences during the narration section. I'm a little leery of adding another child to the scenario unless I have a pretty clear picture of how to go about it. Can some of you more seasoned homeschoolers point me in the right direction??

Just what I needed to know, thanks! I've ordered grade 1. I don't want to push my little guy ahead of what he's ready for, but neither do I want to shove him in the midst of something that is an agony of simplicity and will bore him to tears. Sounds like the comp. questions will balance the easy reading level. Thanks!

We're thinking about adding CLE reading to our curriculum lineup for our first grader. He's first grade, but reads at the 4th, early 5th grade level. Up till now I've just been happy that he is reading well, and I haven't done any type of reading comp with him. But I think it is time to change that. Anyway, I'm thinking about placing him in 2nd grade CLE Reading. Does that sound about right? I'm afraid the 1st grade stories would be just too tedious. The written work in 2nd may be a little challenging, but we could just take it one page at a time. Sound about right????

Our oldest is ready to learn his way around the computer just a bit. I'm looking for computer activities for him - things like fun math fact games, vocabulary, spelling, or whatever. He's 6yo, 1st grade math, reads at a 4th grade level. Please share your favorite sites!

We're using HWT for printing, but their cursive looks strange to me, so we're looking for options. What is your favorite??

Is the TM necessary? This would be for a 1st grade boy. I know I need the workbook....is extra paper necessary, or will there be sufficient practice in the workbook itself? Thanks!

May I please have some suggestions from you more experienced homeschoolers? My son is having a very difficult time slanting his letters consistently. Part of it is my fault - I started out with modern manuscript font, but then let him use ETC workbooks, which show everything with no slant. I just bought the Evan Moore Daily Handwriting practice (modern manuscript) so he could practice just a little each day, and it is like pulling teeth. Slant is very, very difficult for him, and frankly, I really don't care what font he uses just so long as it is neat. He actually can write pretty neatly (when required to), but when he's doing well at being neat the letters are not slanted. He does have some trouble with correct formation of b's and d's in particular; he does the letter in one long line with no retracing. So I think I need to make another curriculum change, but I don't know what to switch to. I don't want to fight a battle over slant, so I'd rather just ditch the Evan Moore book here and now. But what to switch to?? Traditional printing is a completely different style of letter formation, so it seems like that would be confusing for him. I keep looking at Handwriting Without Tears, but that has the wonky lines, which seems like they would present another set of difficulties. So what would you do?

When I ask my son about what we just read he still has a terrible time articulating what he just heard. He's 6yo, 1st grade, a strong reader. We're on week 4 of WWE, but I'm noticing that the narrations in this book are just questions and answers rather than a retelling. Specific questions he can do, retelling is terribly difficult. Should I be content with the question/answer style narration at this point? How do we get beyond that level? Is that covered in the next WWE book, or perhaps in CW Aesop? Please do advise!

Many Latin programs for early elementary seem to target families with zero Latin background. My husband and I were both blessed to receive 2 years of Latin in college (and another 2 years of Greek). We're nowhere near fluent in Latin, but we shouldn't need anything that laboriously explains every detail of the basics. It doesn't bother me to have the basics spelled out either; but if there is something great on the market that requires a little background we should be good to go. So...what Latin program would ya'll recommend in this scenario?? Our oldest is just 6, but he's reading well - i.e. Boxcar children, Little House, so I'm thinking of letting him start Latin within the next year or so.

I'd like to give the workbox system a go! I've enjoyed browsing the different discussions on the forum & various blog links. I'm wondering if those using the drawer system can quickly chime in and help me with these two things... (This year we have 1st grade, K, & PreK) 1. How many drawers do you actually use? (vs. how many you anticipated and purchased when you first started out...) Is 7 drawers a realistic number?? 2. What brand/size drawers did you purchase, and where did you purchase them? Thank you so much!

What would you do?? My oldest son did Kindergarten last year, and completed Math U See Primer by Christmas. He completed it, but had a very poor grasp of place value, and didn't do well with the inconsistent review. We continued on with BJU Math 1, and completed the first 25 lesssons or so by the end of the school year. He seemed to do well with the gradual introduction of topics, and really loved the variety and color. So far so good. Then we spent the summer moving to a new house, and did no school at all. And now that we've started up again, he is having a really hard timing remembering what he learned last year. We've spent the last 2 weeks reviewing and it is still quite difficult for him. Number sequence, in particular is very difficult. He counts pretty well to 100, but if I ask him what comes after 14, or what comes before 9 he has a hard time coming up with the answer. Soooo, what to do now? I could purchase another copy of the BJU workbook just to get those first 25 lessons and let him get another run at the work. Or I could purchase another math text that would bring him up to speed - but what? I had a Horizons K math laying around and we did that up to the point where they start subtraction, but the sequence and pace isn't a good fit. Suggestions please? What would you do?

Is there any way to get just a section of the workbook??? We started first grade math last year because my son finished MUS Primer by christmas. Then we moved this summer... and now he has forgotten alot and clearly needs to repeat. I've spent a couple weeks reviewing with other worksheets around the house, and practicing the difficult concepts, but I really think he'd do better just starting again. But how can I get the needed workbook pages?

We're just getting started with All About Spelling. I'm confused about the correct way to review the cards. We're on step 3. When the manual says to review Phonogram cards, does that mean to review ALL the phonogram cards, including the ones in the "mastered" section? Or to only review any cards that happen to be in the "review" section (we don't have any filed there).

We did MUS Primer last year, but there wasn't alot of retention. BJU Math is a much better fit for us. More hands on, more review, and a gradual introduction of new concepts.

We're just getting back into the school routine. My oldest turned 6 over the summer, and is an avid reader (~3rd grade level). However, he still finds writing very tedious. How much writing is reasonable at this age? We want to help him exercise and develop those writing muscles, but not push him to the point of permanent hatred of schooling! He does okay with his Writing With Ease assignment if that is the only writing during the day. But if I have him write out every math answer, and give him a couple BJU English worksheets it becomes quite a chore for him. How much writing did your students do at this age? Thanks!

We got our Latin Centered Curriculum book today, and it looks great! One thing I noticed right off is the suggested schedule for K-2 lists 20 minutes for math. Does that really work for most kiddos? My son is 5 and way ahead in reading, but average in math. We use BJU 1, and last year I did oral drill, then the lesson sheet (both sides) then the review sheet (both sides). And that really felt like a lot of seatwork for that age. I'd love to trim down the assignments, set a timer, and shelve it for the day when the time is up. If he's moderately successful at staying on task, would 20 min be a realistic amount of time to acheive good solid progress??

We lean strongly toward Latin Centered Curriculum, but we have 4 children close in age, and I'm always looking for ways to streamline and combine teaching time. Does anyone use Sonlight as a tool in a Latin Centered Curriculum? If so, how exactly would one go about blending these?

Is it 1/2" or 1" or?, does anyone have a copy handy to measure for me? Also, is it difficult for students to have the model sentence written a different size than they are writing? I'm wondering if maybe we should just use our own paper and I should write out the sentence first in the correct font/size...but oy! what a bother!

Is the workbook easy for a 'just learning' child to write in? Or are the pages perforated to make it easy to tear out? I'm thinking about getting the student pages from Peace Hill press and keeping the workbook unscathed to use as a TM. Also, do ya'll take a full year to go through each level? It just seems so simple. Does it really take a child that long to master the level 1 concepts? Thanks!