DD is 4. As for chaotic, my schedule work schedule can start at 7, 9, 3, 11 and run anywhere from 8-24 hours long. (I work in public safety) DF can't even be explained other than he went to work one day at 1 am and got home 2 days later at 10 am (he works on the railroad)

Does anyone have any advice for getting into some semblance of a routine? My work and DF's work schedule are extremely chaotic, and as such, the only routine that has developed is wake up, breakfast, (playing or work or whatever else we need to do...) and then at the end of the day, bath, story, bed. I feel like a routine will make everything easier for DD, especially when we "officially" start school. Any advice for starting a routine or modifying it to accommodate work schedules? She can be extremely resistant to change.

My DD (4y.o.) was in the nursery at church one day while I was attending service. They were doing something with birds, and the teacher asked her to act like a bird. Instead, my daughter picks up a bat puppet. Teacher: (Trying so hard to get my daughter to participate) "Oh, look, you have a bird puppet!" DD: "It's not a bird, it's a BAT. Bats are MAMMALS! Birds are not."

I'm almost in the same situation as you. For Latin, I've ordered a copy of Wheelock's Latin. Which I know is fairly heavy text, but this is not my first self-taught language. So much of the English language is based off of Latin, especially the sciences. As for diagramming sentences, I had never even heard of diagramming until Weird Al's song "Word Crimes." In the same vein as this, can anyone recommend a good, fully comprehensive grammar book for an adult to look through? The last time I remember learning grammar was in a 7th grade.

Wow, I can't even do multiple digit multiplication in my head. That is impressive. :) I think I have a solid idea of what I'm going to be doing with her curriculum wise, it's just when to start it. I'm thinking other than working with PP for the rest of the spring and summer, I'll start throwing some of the curriculum stuff in randomly to see how well she does. If she does well, we'll keep with it.

Aimee- you're right, I didn't even think about her picking up sight words. Math-wise, she's doing well. We play with a lot of manipulatives, and play math-war with cards. Nothing formal.

Aimee- you're right, I didn't even think about her picking up sight words. Math-wise, she's doing well. We play with a lot of manipulatives, and play math-war with cards. Nothing formal.

I don't know if she adores it yet. I was think about having her write short letters to people over the summer (copywork-esque) to get a feel for how well she likes it. And thanks all for the advice!

Ellie - Thank you. I guess I just needed the validation to use what is appropriate for HER at HER skill-level. Even if from a stranger. :) I'm completely new to this, and have everyone and their brother telling me that homeschooling her is theworstdecisioneverhowcouldyoudothat?! I can already see the comments from other people when we "officially" start. "Shouldn't she be using K level stuff?" SebastionCat - The curricula that I'm looking into she is more than ready for, even though they're marked for "first grade." Which is were my own concern comes into, about how quickly it progresses, and how heavy the get into the subject, since the only way I can look right now are the samples online. And definitely NOT declaring until mandatory. I don't need that headache yet.

Hi all! I'm a new member, though I've been a lurker for some time. I've always known I was going to homeschool DD, who is now 4. I've been helping her to learn to read and write, though it has been sporadic the past few months, since I'm *finally* completing my degree and DF has just started the job of a lifetime, which has unique demands. (He can be gone for days or weeks at a time.) We haven't done any "formal" reading or writing lessons in about two months. We were working our way through Phonics Pathways, but only got as far as the first few consonants, no real words or sentences. A few days ago, she surprised me by picking up my phone and reading my text messages to me. She needed help on a few of the larger words, but did very well. I can only credit this to us reading a lot together. Sometimes the only thing we do all day is read. As far as writing, we've only practiced the vowels in upper case. Today she asked me how to spell "apple" to label her picture. I spelled it to her informally, because she's always asking me how to spell words, or spelling a nonsense word to me and asking me what it says. When I got back to the table that she was at, she had the word apple written (legibly!) under a scribbled red ball. Which brings me to my question... I've been reviewing exactly what I want to do with her for next school year, starting around August or September. I know that for the school district's purposes, she would be in K. (We aren't going to declare yet.) However, would it make sense to start her with 1st grade curriculum? I was planning on going barebones next year, and just using my copy of TWTM and the library heavily. Over the summer we are going to be working on reading and writing more.