At the risk of sounding unscholarly . . . The Percy Jackson series. My 7 (boy), 9 and 11 (girls) year-old kiddos love them. I was a little disappointed with The Lightning Thief movie. The books are much more kid friendly.

I'll be listening for replies! :bigear:

I added in Writing With Ease Level 1 for 1st grade (although I did not with my older two because WWE wasn't available then). If AAS or FLL dictation overlapped with WWE, I dropped it or moved it to the next day. I wouldn't try to do them all. AAS does provide spelling rules. Now whether the student picks them up easily and applies them . . . well that's another story! :lol: I also added SL readers for reading. And that was pretty much LA for 1st grade. HTH!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/ It's free and fun. It worked great for my 2nd, 4th and 5th graders. We've included Typing Instructor for Kids (purchased from SL) for variety and more drill. You might make or purchase a keyboard cover so they don't "cheat" while you're not looking. :001_smile:

I liked the lit study pretty well, but I felt I needed to (and couldn't) break apart some of the other subjects. DD needed to move more slowly with spelling, but she was a very good reader, so stopping after just a few pages was frustrating for her. I did really like the grammar rule tunes. We still sing those! :lol: We didn't do PR beyond Level 2. Ultimately it was easier and cheaper to buy separately for spelling, grammar, etc., especially when I started combining kiddos.

:iagree: I used Level 2 twice. The lit study was really gentle and mostly fun. I might skip the outlining because I just don't think it's necessary at this age. Also, I think I recall (though it's been years since we've used PR) that some of the copywork might contain sentence fragments. I'd fix these or skip them. What's the sense in copying a fragment?

The best thing I did (at the beginning of the year) was make a one-page table for each kid with all the subjects across the top and 36 weeks (with dates for each week) down the side. I left blank rows (also dated) that were vacation weeks. Then under each subject, if it was a "do the next thing" subject (FLL, WWE, AAS, Science), I simply listed what lesson(s) or chapters were to be done that week), etc. (e.g., FLL Lessons 8-10). For more fluid subjects (reading, Singapore math), I made "target goals." (e.g., Singapore Unit 1, complete by 10/1; Unit 2 by 11/20, etc.). This helped keep us on track throughout the year--so we could avoid the, "Surprise! It's May and you have three more units in math to finish!" I cross off the completed lessons as we go. Beyond that, I make and print out weekly checklists for the kids that list specific subject work. Each kid has his own colored folder with a page protector. A new checklist goes in the page protector at the beginning of the week. I file completed checklists as a record of our accomplishments. I, too, started with K12. It's so easy to get spoiled when someone else does the heavy lifting! :001_smile: But this is the first year I've felt we had a really good system. It lets the olders be independent and gives me focused direction with the younger one. And with the 36-week schedule, I can see at a glance our yearly progress (or lack thereof! :tongue_smilie:) HTH. Good luck! Lisa

That Mr. Darcy . . . . sigh . . .

:iagree: I think the new Bronze requirements are a little advanced for the junior age. My first thought was, a typical junior girl would have no idea how to begin this daunting task or would become quickly frustrated. My next thought was, wow, there would have to be so much adult guidance (I realize that they do need some of this) that the girls may feel no ownership of their actual project. (Shhh, don't tell, but our troop has been guilty of substituting an activity that was more in line with what our girls wanted, or needed).

nt

We're doing LL with two kids together, and I purchased only the CD. Yes, we print two copies of each lesson page (not the answer pages or the other stuff--just the lessons), but I print them front and back so it saves on paper. You will need a lot of ink. I think we've gone through six cartridges (that's 3 each-color and black) this past year (obviously printing more than just Latin), but we don't have the best printer on the planet. We do print in color because it's so much more interesting that way. I try to print out one whole lesson at a time (takes about 20-30 minutes), and then I stick it in the front pocket of their Latin notebooks. We then just work though lesson pages. When we're almost done, I try to get the next lesson printed (my printer would gasp and die if I tried to do all 16 lessons at once. :lol: ). If you truly wanted to conserve ink/paper, you could not print out additional histroy pages. This would save quite a bit of money and time. (We print the extra pages just because I want each child to have a "complete" notebook.) We are ready to begin with Lively Latin BB2 in the next week or so. Since it doesn't have the option of the printed version (at least to my knowledge), we'll be repeating the above scenario, only printing from the online version. Hope your kids enjoy LL; mine do, and they hate everything! :lol: HTH!

This is one of the reasons my 9- and 10-year-olds (at 4'8'' and 4'11'') still sit in a booster. They are all legs. We have a Suburban, and in the back seat, the shoulder belt hits them almost fine, but the lap belt is way too high on their abdomens. Most people I know gave up boosters around kindergarten. :confused: I think it's a shame.

:D We spent a total of 7 years in OK. Enid and Altus are, um, small. But the people on and off base couldn't be any nicer, and the AF communities there are close-knit ones. Loved the training bases--fewer deployments! Fairchild was lovely; would have returned in a heartbeat!

I feel cheated!

Nine years old and still going strong. Have never had any major issues. Fuel pump whines, but has for years . . . I hope I didn't just jinx myself . . . :tongue_smilie:

:seeya: Would love to have a NT meetup.

My biggest complaint was the inability to "break apart" the program (I know, a complete program is *why* people like it). The reading was too simplistic for dd in Level 1, and I wasn't a fan of the grammar exercises in Level 2. We did enjoy the Level 2 Little House study, although I think you never should have a child copy a sentence fragment as part of a copywork assignment. Watching the DVDs ahead of time adds to prep time. I just found it much easier to address the dc's needs by having separate programs for each subject--grammar, reading and spelling. HTH

At Christmas it's homemade cookies in a pretty tin or a gift card. After recital it's been anything from a bouquet of flowers to a Target gift card to airline flight passes. It's not required by any means, but we spend a lot of time at the studio and are close with the teachers. Plus, my hat's off to anyone who can wrangle a class of 12 3-year-olds for longer than 15 minutes! :tongue_smilie:

Start early! :001_smile: Ok, just kidding, well, not really . . . but as a fellow birthday-cake-exravaganza-maker (you should see my hula-girl from last year and the gimungus Halloween graveyard/haunted house!), I can certainly sympathize with you. Are there any instructions at all? No? Ok, here's what I'd do . . . 1/2) Start clipping the Michaels coupons! Cake-making can be expensive!! 3/4) Don't wait until the day-of to tackle this one--do it ahead in steps: Bake the layers ahead of time and freeze them, make your flowers/butterflies several days ahead. Color your cake fondant the day before you want to decorate. 1) Decide how big you want it to be. For example, if the bottom layer is 12 in., then get 12 in, 8 in, and 6 in. cake pans. You can make the cakes from scratch, but I always use a mix, but make the pound cake version (extra egg and box of pudding mix). For chocolate, I always use Duncan Hines devil's food (recipe on the side). Bake at least three layers for each tier--from the picture each layer looks to be more than two layers. I believe the Wilton website tells you how many cups of batter you need per layer. 2) Get the big box of white Wilton fondant and tint it peachy-pink with Wilton gel colors (you may have to experiment to get a color you want--I'd try pink and a *hint* of orange. Just do it all at once so it will all be the same. Yes, your hands will be tired of kneading! For the stairs, you'll have to cut out part of the layer on an angle and then "build" the steps out of fondant. Roll out the fondant and cover the cake tiers. You can build the open doors out of this as well. Place each layer on a cut-to-fit cardboard circle. Push three or four wooden skewers several inches apart into the two bottom layers (cut skewers level with the cake layer) to suppor each tier. Stack the cakes together, then use a knife to score the brick lines. Use the Wilton spray color (the canned airbrush/spraypaint stuff) to shade the castle walls. 3) For butterflies, tint leftover fondant with Wilton colors, or buy a box of already colored fondant--pastel colors. You can also use gum paste (I'd probably go this route)--this is a lot like fondant and it dries pretty solid--the Wilton gum paste flower kit is very handy because it has most of the gum paste tools included, as well as the flower cutters, and you have a lot of flowers to make. Use a small butterfly cutter (or make your own) to cut out the butterflies, bend them into "flight" shape and support with cotton balls or wadded up paper until they dry. This can be done days ahead. If you buy the Wilton gum paste flower kit, you can use their cutters to make the small flowers around the base of each layer. Or you could just improvise with non-edible flowers, or pipe them out of regular icing. 4) For the top layer columns, you have a couple of options. You can color more fondant (rose or dark pink) and then form it around a base--even a non-edible one. Pick something, like a popsicle stick or skewer that can be stuck down into the cake for stability. Shape fondant or gum paste into the turret tops and stuff with cotton or paper until dry. The middle section could be a rolled out sheet of fondant (or cardboard covered in fondant) that you've shaped and dried into a cylinder. 5) Make a batch of royal icing. Leave a little white (to pipe around the doorway). Color some pale yellow-green (leaf green and yellow gels--use very little color) and the rest darker green. Pipe vines onto the castle with a #2 or #3 tip. Attach flowers and butterflies with royal icing. Fill in around flowers with a small leaf tip using the darker green royal icing. 6) Attach tops of turrets with royal icing. Cut flags out of fondant. Write Happy Birthday with a #1, 2 or 3 tip (depending on size of flag). Attach to a toothpick and insert into turret. 7) To make it extra special, get some of the Wilton powdery sparkle glitter in pink (this is not cake sparkles. It's like very fine glitter but I can't remember exactly what it's called). Paint it on the turrets and top layer piece with a brush and a little water. 8) Is that it? Then sit back and watch her eyes light up! She'll think you're amazing! Alternatively, you could get the Wilton castle kit. It comes with all the pieces you need to make a castle cake, and it would probably be far cheaper and easier. Hope that helps! Let me know if I left something out!

But their website lists SOTW for lower grade history. http://www.stpetersclassical.org/ Also, FWIW, I was supposed to teach SOTW 1 to a first grade class this past year (didn't happen--long story). But I had already mapped out our year (no I couldn't fit every chapter in, so I skipped a couple). I went through the AG and selected additional reading for each chapter that was readily available at our local library. Finally, I went through the AG once more, selecting hands-on activities (approx. one for every week or two) that I thought would be enjoyable--mummifying the chicken, clay projects, coordinating art activities, etc. My proposed schedule was very much like Claire+3's. I think it would have been a really fun year. HTH!

This is our 4th year of HSing, and I found the boards about the same time we started. I lurk quite a bit, but, as you can see from my number of posts, I don't post often (and not near as often as I did on the old boards). This is probably because I can find answers to my questions more efficiently now. Have always been Maisy (well, except for a short time early on when we had an influx of Lisas from Texas--then I switched). Still glad to have this resource--new or old.

We then wrote the chores on one end of the stick with a Sharpie and put them all (chore-side down) in a decorated can. I think this was a Family Fun idea. You can color code the sticks to coordinate with a certain age group, ability level, house zone, day of the week, or whatever. We just draw sticks to decide who does what (we had waaay too much fighting with our past routines). You can put the sticks back in the can afterward for the next day or create a "discard" pile for the week. I have a sheet-protected chart on the fridge where they check off when they do a chore so they can earn chore money (no, I don't pay for made beds, clean rooms, put-away laundry or brushed teeth--that's just part of being in our family. :001_smile:

Check your library for the DVDs--ours has a nice set, and it's even a small library. Depending on your dc ages, you might want to preview the videos yourself first for anything you might not want to discuss at this time.:blushing: Otherwise, Sister Wendy is a hoot!

Mindy, We lived in Spokane for a few years. I loved it there! I really miss skating outside in the park and the big red slide. Ah, memories . . . Yes, it's cold there, and winter seems to last for-ever!! But I guess I don't miss it too much when I can walk outside in shorts here in Texas in early March. :001_smile:

I was at a football game last Saturday evening watching my girls cheer. It was 54 (with a 20 mph wind). I was cold! I forgot my dds' gloves--they were not happy. Needless to say, I looked forward to my after-game Denny's coffee very much! P.S. I never poke fun at people from Florida :lol: