I just wanted to update since my plans have changed some. My younger daughter has matured a lot and neither of them really want to work together at all. Plus I've learned more about other curricula and adjusted for their changing needs. Daily: Math - Shiller, second 1/4 book 2 and do book 3 Spanish - Galore Park So You Really Want to Learn Spanish; Duolingo Hebrew - Shalom Ivrit; various readers; Duolingo Whole Person - Yoga and Meditate; Recorder Weekly or on Loop: MCT Island Level Mosdos Opal History Odyssey Early Modern BFSU book 2 & MP Astronomy MP Greek Mythology Lively Latin Big Book 1 Tennis and Chess Circle Time with sister: Music appreciation, artist study, poetry, Shakespeare, folksongs all done the CM way; readings of a Jewish studies nature; mapwork and timeline entries, Mystery Science, Draw the World by Draper with Evan Moor Daily Geography

I really have to say that I do wonder what I'm doing differently from others that I don't find this so stressful or time intensive. This is not a criticism of the experience you guys are having. I'm honestly befuddled because I see this complaint about BFSU a lot but it just isn't that way for me. I'll share what I do and maybe it will help someone out there. I have an 8 year old daughter starting book 2 and a 6 year old daughter starting book 1. The 8 year old did book 1 over two years for first and second grades. I just split the book in half for each year and it worked out that we averaged about a lesson every two weeks. I do not have a science mind or a science background. I also don't have teaching experience other than homeschooling. I don't pre-plan lessons way in advance though I am more on top of supplies with book 2. With book 1 I looked at lessons Friday afternoons, highlighting or underlining things to say or ask and putting stars by important concepts. If a lesson had a pre-requisite I go back and glanced at it to remind me what was covered. If I remember or have time I'll check the library catalog to see if they have one of the recommended books. Then, I'd plan about 10-15 minutes the following Monday to introduce the topic. I did not script anything. I just read directly from the book to my child and talk about it with her. I'd prop the book open in front of me and I'd talk her through it formally then and then bring it up informally 2 or 3 times out in the world whenever it naturally occurred to us. Library day is Wednesday so if the library did have a recommended book we got it and read it during circle time Thursday morning. If not, and my daughter seemed like she wanted more info, then we'd use that time to google it, watch a you tube video, or look in our Kingfisher or Usborne science encyclopedias for more info. Sometimes, I had things on hand to do the demonstration during that initial Monday lesson. Sometimes I didn't and it was really no hassle to present it the following week. I usually used that second Monday to have her draw a picture or write something about it in her science notebook which was just a composition book that has the big empty space on top for pictures and lines below for writing. I allotted 15 mins for that. That's it. Seriously. Read the lesson, get a library book, sometimes prep a demo, sometimes not. Most of the program has been remembering to talk about the ideas when we come across them. My daughter made great connections from lessons she learned months apart. Maybe she's science minded, I'm not sure. So timewise, I'd say book 1 took me 20-30 minutes a week of prep/gather/look up stuff time and it took us three fifteen minutes of formal sessions per lesson and several informal moments discussing or observing things outside lesson time just scattered here or there. We do Shiller for Math, which I love, and we did Jot it Down stuff from Bravewriter (which I abandoned) and both of those take or took way more time and brainpower on my part than BFSU. Our foreign languages (Spanish, Hebrew, Latin) constitute way more moving parts for me than BFSU also. I feel like people overthink BFSU. It's not meant to be so complicated. Is there anyway I can help those of you who'd like to stick with it?

Josh, I saw your request above to get permission but I so far haven't reached Courtney. I did message her on FB messenger because she is in the BFSU FB group but no answer so far. She's usually pretty active so maybe she's on vacation? I just wanted to speak about the preparation issue. I see this complaint a lot as well. I have two daughters, ages 6 and 8. I split book 1 in half and did it for older daughter's first and second grade science. Younger daughter will do same. Older daughter is moving on to book 2 this year for third grade. My experience with it is very like that of the OP. Once I understood the method and what the goals were for the program I relaxed a lot. As I look back on my planner I'd say we averaged a full lesson about every two weeks over first and second grade. I'd read a lesson, review and lessons that were prereq's so I could remind her of things if she didn't bring it up, and just talk about the ideas in a laid back way. I scheduled 15 minutes a week for this, and I'd say then I'd informally point things out all week two or three times (whenever it came up naturally). Most lessons, we often followed up with a library book or looking at things in our Usborne science encyclopedia or with a video on YouTube, whenever she wanted it and I often planned a demo AFTER we'd had an initial topic discussion, and maybe not for days after if I had to look for something - and it was fine, no stress and no problem. I really liked the interdisciplinary nature of it and my daughter made great connections between lessons she'd had months apart. I do not think I'm science minded. I'd call myself an interested layperson who reads a lot of popular science. I also do not have a teaching background. I'm an average mom (in this area) and I do not 100% understand the complaints that BFSU is difficult to prepare. I get that people have different needs, challenges, and expectations about curricula. That said, I personally feel that people way overthink BFSU. I feel people think they need to compile supply lists, get books ahead of time, and be super on top of things. It's my opinion this science really isn't meant to be done like that (though it's ok if it is) and that people try to force more structure on it. People didn't teach science in a structured way in the past, they did it gently, with nature studies, observation, reading, and most importantly time - and I feel like that's what BFSU gives kids.

I don't know if Courtney Ostaff is still here on the WTM forums but she used to be and I remember about a year or so ago she posted a loose correlation between RSO units and BFSU threads. I still have it, I saved it for my own use, but I don't want to repost it without her permission/attribution/knowledge etc because it was a fair amount of work on her part. If someone knows her user name and can tag her maybe she can weigh in. With this correlation you can do the RSO units in roughly the same order you did BFSU and if the kids momentarily draw a blank on a concept you can know where to look it up in the BFSU K-2 book. I think she meant the two programs to be used together but I can't imagine she'd have a problem with you using it this way. I'm going to check the BFSU FB group and see if she's in there but someone more search savvy than I may be able to find the post quicker than I can locate the author.

I'm not the OP but I'm curious if any of these online planners have companion apps?

I have a daughter who is 8 and who is having problems with handwriting and with whom I need to do a little grammar this year. Theoretically she's a rising third grader. Previously, I have been following a Charlotte Mason inspired path with her and took a better late than early attitude towards grammar. So I attempted to follow an early years copywork only approach for first and second grade. Well, it probably would have been fine because she does really well with other CM approaches to skill areas and reads, narrates, and spells really well - on grade level or better. However, handwriting has been a huge issue. She hates it and whines and says it's too hard and her hand hurts after two seconds. She can write and makes lists of Minecraft things and captions pictures and other things. But she wouldn't write a letter or note and copywork brings on serious drama. She has sloppy printing despite three years of Getty Dubay workbooks. I keep attempting copywork but abandoned it both first and second grade in favor of continued letter practice. From reading other threads here on the forum and from knowing my kid, I do not suspect a learning disability. I suspect a combination of my own inability to figure out the best approach for her with her own distaste for persevering through hard things. (The stories I have about swimming practice ... oy!) Couple this with my personally considering a move away from CM methods for some subjects as well as the realization that we've done no grammar and she has to take a standardized test this year (third grade in PA) and I'm just not sure what to do. I'd love some feedback on some ideas I've been generating and I'm open to other ideas you all may have and I'm comfortable combining these options, I just don't know which. 1) She loves words and narration has been a great method of output for her so I'm considering English Lesson through Literature Level B. It would take a gentle approach to grammar through reading which is in line with things we've already been doing. However, it would still mean doing the dreaded copywork, at least they would be sentences both familiar and on her level. 2) Continue handwriting practice but switch to a more standard print style than italics or switch to cursive. 3) Or, alternatively, stop handwriting practice all together and accept that we can get back to that in a few years. Teach her to type maybe. 4) I own both Mosdos Opal and MCT Island Level. It's a bigger jump into grammar but she was interested in doing both when I showed them to her. Take a more classical approach to grammar than CM methods do. MCT at this stage has a lot of oral work and letting her do the student workbook for Mosdos would be some handwriting in her day without it being "official handwriting practice." 5) She has shown some interest in mythology and Latin (though we haven't started Latin because we've been doing our family languages of Spanish and Hebrew). She also loves Astronomy. I'm wondering if I go the typing route then I could get the Memoria Press guides for Astronomy and Greek Myths which complement each other and that would be her unofficial "writing but not handwriting practice." Then I could just do MCT or ELTL for grammar but not any handwriting work from either program. ?????? Suggestions ??????? My head has been going around and around on this.

Bump bump bumpity bump.

Can anyone who has used MCT for LA and/or Mosdos comment on whether it's overkill to do both? Mosdos seems like Lit to me but I've been told there's a lot of overlap. The student is an 8 year old 3rd grader who has had no grammar yet. Thanks.

I have just discovered this and I have to say I'm in love. I've been adapting other CM curricula for various reasons but this one seems to apply CM principles in a faithful way while choosing really awesome books. It has the rigor of more well-known programs without using archaic works. It uses a lot of my personal favorites for history, as well as things we already own, but a whole bunch of neat geography choices. It has real lit based science that isn't so out of date. What I really love the look of is the lit though. It's quality and more modern without being trendy. It includes the Russians. It has a lot of Tolkien. The year 12 special studies look amazing. There is a lot of Ancients and mythology. But what are the problems with it? Coming from AO, Mater Amabilis, Build Your Library, and book choices of my own ... most of this looks normal to me. I'd be using years 1 and 3 for my kids. And I am having trouble finding reviews by people who used it. Feedback? Thoughts? Considerations?

Last year I just googled quotes from the movies and books my first grader liked in order to get her interested in copywork. She was a reluctant writer. "Do or do not, there is no try." "Run, you clever boy. And remember me." "In a hole in the ground there lived a hobbit." "The ones that love us never really leave us." That sort of stuff we did early on while she was still building muscle memory and getting better at making letters correctly. We got into longer passages of better grammar quality as the year passed. This year for second grade I predominantly drew from her lit readings.

So I have received my 3rd grade materials. I've got everything books, workbooks, teachers manual. Now ... how do I schedule this? It's the most textbook-y thing I've ever tried to use!

I've been thinking about it. I've been struggling a little with loneliness and perhaps with unrealistic expectations for our homeschool that mostly have to do with balance (some days too academic, some days not enough). I suspect I would really just be using it for mom support and I wonder if it's a good price for that.

I've been doing more reading and research to plan four our trip and for our pre-solar eclipse learning during the summer and I wanted to share some resources. https://eclipse2017.nasa.gov/activities https://eclipse.aas.org/resources/educational-materials https://theplayfulparent.org/2017/03/13/planning-the-perfect-total-solar-eclipse-trip-with-kids/ https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Eclipse-Lesson-Solar-and-Lunar-PowerPoint-Lesson-Notes-and-Activity-Package-1045131 https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Browse/Type-of-Resource/Projects/Search:solar+eclipse http://www.carolinahomeschooler.com/group-trips-and-events/solar-eclipse-campout/ http://classicalastronomy.com/2016/01/total-solar-eclipse-usa-next-year/ http://www.freehomeschoollessons.com/science-astronomy-weekly-lessons.html (Lesson Weeks 4 & 5) https://www.google.com/search?q=books+about+solar+eclipse+for+kids&rlz=1CDGOYI_enUS677US677&oq=books+about+solar+eclipse+for+kids&aqs=chrome..69i57.11797j0j7&hl=en-US&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8#spf=1 I'm making an outline for about 8 weeks worth of learning. When I get it done I'll upload it as a public doc and whoever wants to use it can use it.

I have a rising third grader and I think I'd like to start a light fun approach to grammar. We haven't done any explicit grammar instruction to this point. I think she's ready because she's begun writing stories but I'm not planning to ruin that just yet by correcting them, they are still in the play stage. I have been CM influenced generally believe grammar is better after a kid is a fluent reader, but we did do copywork and informal grammar (capitals start a sentence etc.) and Mad Libs so she has a basic understanding of parts of speech. However, this child is moving away from CM type methods, and I'm also of the opinion that we'll start Latin in fourth or fifth grade and that will be grammar instruction as well. So I'd like your thoughts on simple, third grade grammar, preferably secular, and she'd be fine with workbooks, a living book, or an activity based approach.

I started older DD in piano in 2nd grade and plan to do the same with younger DD. It's not optional. I require a 15 minute daily practice session. I have not decided what the criteria would be for stopping yet. A few years at least or switch to another instrument. We do swimming in the summer and tennis fall and spring. We also do Hebrew school at our synagogue Sunday mornings, though next year in third grade older DD will have to go Wednesdays as well.

I have a really unmotivated rising 1st grader who really did not want anything to do with learning in K. I kept it simple for her this past year. MEP K for Math, Getty-Dubay 1 for writing, Get Ready Get Set and Go for the Code books for phonics, the McGuffey primer and then circle time with her older sister where she tolerated readalouds, songs, oral Spanish I make up as I go, and fine arts enrichment, as well as a multipurpose category that I call Jewish Studies (which means a children's Jewish Bible storybook, oral Hebrew, crafts and calendar activities, Jewish character building/ethics type stories, and Jewish history which I loop with one going into circle time on any day). This year, I want her to do more, and she is both reading and willing to do more school stuff, but I didn't think she was ready for full blown school of the type her more academic older sister did for first, so I sort of set it up for them to do some stuff together hoping her older sister's enthusiasm and work ethic will carry her along. She's more arts and crafts oriented than big sis also so I've discovered Layers of Learning and instead of following their schedule for history I'm working through their fine arts topics. Daily: Math - MEP 1 Reading/Phonics - McGuffey 1; ETC 1-2 Writing - Getty-Dubay B Spanish - Pimsleur, folksongs, story Hebrew - Shalom U'vracha pre-primer, folksongs, story Whole Person - Yoga and Meditate Weekly or on Loop: Lit - see note below History - see note below Science - library books and circle time science PE - Tennis Logic - Lollipop Logic Afternoon Electives - Nature Study; various Usborne drawing books; Layers of Learning fine arts Circle Time with sister: Music appreciation, artist study, poetry, folksongs all done the CM way; continue our Jewish studies stuff; Mystery Science History & Lit note: The last two years my older daughter did mashups of History Odyssey and Build Your Library for Ancients and Medieval. This was not going to work for my rising first grade daughter who really isn't ready for history. I thought it would be good to organize history for them together, however since older DD has already started history, I have decided to skip history entirely this year in favor of a geography year. I'm taking the BYL Kindergarten program as my spine and doing that for my 1st grader plus Evan Moore Daily Geography, Layers of Learning stuff where applicable, and enrichment from Janice Van Cleave's Geography for Every Kid. We'll also do various kits and games I've been collecting. The BYL K program does a lot of lit readalouds from different parts of the world so older DD will enjoy those with copywork but younger DD will just listen.

My older daughter is a rising 3rd grader and it has taken me a very long time to piece things together for her. She has a younger sister who is starting 1st and I really wanted to work out some stuff for them to do together. Daily: Math - MEP 3; BA for fun Reading - McGuffey 3 aloud Writing - Getty-Dubay D Spanish - Galore Park So You Really Want to Learn Spanish; Duolingo Hebrew - Shalom Ivrit; various readers; Duolingo Whole Person - Yoga and Meditate; Piano Weekly or on Loop: LA - Primary Language Lessons(?); copywork Lit - see note below History - see note below Science - BFSU 3-5; MP Astronomy PE - Tennis Logic - Chess; Logic Liftoff(?) Afternoon Electives - Nature Study; McIntyre's Drawing Textbook; MP Greek Myths Circle Time with sister: Music appreciation, artist study, poetry, Shakespeare, folksongs all done the CM way; readings of a Jewish studies nature; mapwork and timeline entries; Mystery Science History & Lit note: The last two years we've done mashups of History Odyssey and Build Your Library for Ancients and Medieval. I basically did the order the HO way but combined the BYL resources. I also did BYL lit which I personally feel is the star of the BYL show. However, I'd planned to use Mosdos for a while so I wasn't sure I needed to keep on with BYL. At the same time, my younger daughter is a less motivated student than my older daughter and I thought it would be good to organize history for them together. As it is, the only science I plan for my first grader is Mystery Science with big sis and whatever library books she wants. In the meantime, since older DD has already started history, and younger DD is not ready for it, I have decided to skip history entirely this year in favor of a geography year. I'm taking the BYL Kindergarten program as my spine and doing that for my 1st grader with 3rd grader doing that stuff plus Evan Moore Daily Geography and enrichment from Janice Van Cleave's Geography for Every Kid. We'll also do various kits and games I've been collecting. The BYL K program does a lot of lit readalouds from different parts of the world so older DD will enjoy those and I'll pull copywork from those for her. It'll be less work for her than she usually does for history, but she's super interested in Classics, so this will give me time to figure out if I want to go the MP history route with her or not.

Thank you thank you thank you!

You could look at the copywork books of Handwriting through Literature from Barefoot Ragamuffin. You wouldn't need the phonogram stuff but that could do extra duty as spelling review if you wanted. Or just scroll down to the bottom for the copybooks. It's also easy to use only the workbooks from the higher years of English Lessons through Literature and do those. Just pick the year with lit you already plan to do. http://barefootmeandering.com/site/lessons-through-literature/hltl/

I had heard of this series last autumn and hoped to start it with my oldest daughter who is a rising third grader, but I read the other thread Jess linked above and sort of put it out of my mind. This thread though really makes me appreciate it again. Is it silly to still be searching for (and beginning) what looks like a quality but defunct curricula?

I have a 6 year old kindergartener who has done almost all of the mysteries for the 7-10 year group with her older second grade sister with some writing adjustments. We do them once every other week because BFSU is our main science curriculum so I consider Mystery Science "fun school". She likes it, looks forward to it, and I think we have Mysteries (as they stand) for another 3 or 4 months. If they add more we'll do more. I guess if I were to do it as a full curriculum, I think I'd make an effort to either check out the library books they recommend for each Mystery or substitute their selections for what's in the library. And I'd certainly look ahead and do some Mysteries over two weeks instead of one, some benefit from it, like weather observation for example. To be honest, I'm not personally of the opinion that a first grader needs 36 weeks (an academic year) of "official" science instruction, but you could easily get 30 weeks just out of what's available now, plus library, plus stretching a few out more than one week. I didn't have Mystery Science when my older daughter was in first, we just did BFSU and child-led Astronomy, but my current Kindergartener will probably do 14 BFSU lessons spread out over the year and 10-12 Mysteries and that will be plenty.

I just went to look at this and it's neat. Two questions: 1. Do you have to assign times to things? The examples all do. I currently just use the spiral notebook method and write a list of things to do for each kid and they typically choose the order they do things in for themselves. 2. Do assignments and/or chores roll over or do I have to re-input every time? Math is typically just do the next thing so I'd want to input "do Math" as a daily recurring task, but we might only do geography once or twice a week.

I personally like and use Tapatalk on my iPhone regularly, however I never use Safari, to access the site or otherwise. I use the Chrome app for iPhone, which is great because then my bookmarks are saved across all my devices. I occasionally access this forum on my phone via chrome because the search is better than Tapatalk. I have three Yesterday's Classics bundles and 35-40 PDF books downloaded from archive.org (plus a variety of curriculum downloads) in my Google cloud storage and I've used 33% of my allotted space. I really would prefer to use my Kindle Paperwhite to read the Yesterday's Classics stuff but last year I broke one on vacation and read some books to the kids directly (via Chrome) from mainlesson.com and it was fine. I've accessed Mystery Science lessons from my iPhone, the pdfs from Easy Classical look fine on it, and the I view the Ambleside Online weekly charts constantly on the phone as well. When I am using my phone, I mostly import pdfs to the iBooks app. My kids use the BrainPOP, Duolingo, and YouTube Kids apps on my iPhone a lot. I also use a paid app called Flashcards Deluxe ($3.99) which I like because you can import/export from/to quizlet.com, Google Drive, or Dropbox and it uses the Leitner method.

Well I can't speak for the OP but I'm following for recommendations too. I have an 8 year old British history lover who can sit through long multi-part documentaries just fine, though it is better when they show reenactments, locations, or artifacts more than the scholars on screen. She just looses the thread of it watching someone sit there and talk. On this topic, she's mostly interested in battles, intrigues, and things that focus on Margaret of Anjou (because she thinks she must have been an amazing person to get all those men to fight over stuff). She's very interested in how this all results in the Tudors becoming the Tudors. Bonus points from Mom if the documentary does a good job keeping participants clearly labeled about what side they're on because I don't love sitting there with our book and having to look up every name mentioned to help her remember what side the person is on. If it helps to know, my daughter likes the Lucy Worsley type shows a lot. Thanks.

How's it going? Any thoughts on the process?