Thanks so much, Laurel. I'll see if I can find that thread that you are referring to, it would be helpful.

Hmmmm. Thank you for the responses. I'm starting to think I may need to do some more foundational work with my dd before moving into MCT. My dd is simply an emerging reader at this point (at best, we are still doing a phonics program but, she is reading pretty well) and we have not even done any formal grammar with her yet. I was thinking she would be done with our current phonics program by this Fall however, and would be a stronger reader. I think I may be jumping the gun here though. If anyone has any recommendations for beginning grammar, and LA in general for a 1st grader, that would be very much appreciated! What would be good prep in these younger years to move into MCT later on?

I am interested in hearing from those who are using MCT with a 6/7 year old. How is it working for you and your kiddo? I noticed that the MCT website says that it is geared for 3rd grade and up (Grammar Island) yet, I have come across some posts showing that some are using it with the younger set. Are you able to pretty much use it in its entirety/as written or do you find you modify quite a bit? I am still familiarizing myself with MCT but, I definitely like what I see so far. Thanks!

Thank you everyone for sharing your wonderfully creative ideas, just the kind of stuff I was looking for.:)

Now that's a way to cultivate a love for math, some warm beer and darts.:D

I had a similar question some time back and thought it worth sharing with you. http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=130360 (PS Not implying that your post/question was "dumb" as *I* mentioned in my post title from my past thread!)

Wow, more fantastic ideas, thank you so much! My daughter is going to be thrilled with these ideas.

Wonderful ideas, everyone. Thank you for sharing all of them with me!

All of these are great suggestions, thank you so much. I can hardly wait to do the activity with sidewalk chalk, my daughter is going to adore that one!

This would be for my 6 year old that is using Singapore 1A and working on number bonds. I am looking for ANY ideas but, would like to stay away from basic drill and flashcards for right now. Thank you!

Actually, LHFHG is this... The "Learning Through History" part of the program gives an overview of history from creation through present day. Bible stories are integrated with history stories. This allows students to see how the Bible fits into history and how we got to where we are today. (Taken from the HOD website)

Initially, when considering TOG, I concluded that it was way out of my league as far as depth of material and variety of material to choose from (the buffet aspect seemed too overwhelming). My position was that I was just not qualified to teach at that standard since my own educational background is very limited. I felt intimidated by the idea of taking on a program that would present so much stuff, and in such great detail, that I am not familiar with. Specifically, history is a subject that I am really learning along with my daughter. Programs that totally held my hand felt safest to me. Programs that tell me exactly what and when to cover material seemed the smartest route to ensure that I would not make any mistakes and mess up my daughter! I figured I would utilize other programs during the early years so that I could gain experience and eventually be prepared to teach TOG. I realized however, that I could seize this opportunity during my daughter's early years to go ahead and start TOG now so that we could slowly learn how the program works best for us. I figure she is so young that if I totally mess up for the next year or so (not including math and reading) we still have plenty of time to get it right, when it really starts to count. I intend to approach TOG Year 1 in baby steps, just using pieces here and there and then eventually adding more in as I see fit. I guess for me, I believe that TOG is the best that I can offer my family in terms of education. Getting an early start will help me develop into the best teacher I can be with the program that I believe is the best choice for us. I hope I am right!

Congratulations! I took the plunge recently as well and am really looking forward to the wonderful material within TOG. My daughter is 6, will likely be 7 when we start. And although I had some trepidation in the beginning about using it with a young one, a good friend of mine really helped me to discover the benefits of starting in the early years. I love the flexibility within TOG and the teacher notes are my favorite component at the moment.

We just bought this one for my 6 year old: The American Story 100 True Tales From American History By Jennifer Armstrong. http://www.amazon.com/American-Story-True-Tales-History/dp/0375812563/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1266804609&sr=8-1

I'd be very interested in hearing about this.:)

Thank you, Tina. I appreciate the input as it is helping me to decide if the lapbooks are necessary for us right now.

Thank you, TracyP. I appreciate your reply. I was able to do a search and found some additional info and pics of the lapbooks which helped me to understand them better.

Monica, Thanks so much for your reply. I do have a question, what are you referring to exactly when you say "booklets". And, if you can help...how many lapbooks are there (approx.) for each unit? I mean is there one for each topic in a given unit? Thank you.

I am interested in reviews of the lapboooks available for use with TOG and sold by TOG. I am preparing an order for Year 1 (for a LG student) and I am debating whether or not to purchase the lapbook supplement. If anyone has them, or has used them, I would appreciate your comments about them. Thank you.

Lucinda, Thank you so much for taking the time to share all of the specific details of your schedule. I am finding it to be very helpful to really organize TOG in my brain, and helpful in seeing that I may actually be able to pull this off! Thank you everyone for taking the time to share, it is very much appreciated.

Thank you, Tina. I just took a quick peek at the link and I look forward to settling in with a cup of coffee to read over your blog. It's really very helpful for me to be able to see how others use/plan their time. Thanks so much.

Thank you, Janice. I will take your advice and check over there.

Janice, thank you. For some reason, all the links for all the levels for weeks 1-3 (Year-1 links) are broken. I can't view those sample schedules at all, I just get some type of error page. And of course those would be best to view since I have all of the 3 week samples downloaded! I wonder if anyone else is having trouble viewing the weeks 1-3 schedule sample?

Dana, thanks so much for sharing this. I can really visualize what you are saying and it makes great sense to me. I was planning to take one of the weeks from one of the sample units to actually plan out as if I were actually going to use TOG---to see if I could pull it off. I think I may give your method a go.

Thank you, Elinor. I appreciate seeing how you plan/break up the assignments daily. I am needing to see other's "order of things" to really clarify how TOG is implemented daily. I've got all the components of TOG fairly organized in my mind, I just need some examples of how it plays out daily. I sure am hoping that someone doing LG can share as well. I have not heard of Skedtrack, I'll check that out. Thank you.