Thanks, Jean. That's reassuring. We prioritize Math and Language Arts because as long as they are "current" with that (and even a little ahead), they can tackle other subjects. We aren't near a major city. I don't know if we can do group testing. We might end up doing an online test or something. I'll talk with the FOL staff and see what they can advise, if that's what we end up using. By the way, if we file a DOI in 2017, do we have to do the test in the same year or in the following year?

Anybody tried Crash Course Kids? I like the original Crash Course and this seems to be a version for younger students.

We use "First Language Lessons." We're going through the second volume and find it perfect for our needs. You only need a few minutes of drills each day, though you may find this extends naturally. If your daughter wants more of a challenge, there are enrichment activities at the end of most, if not all, chapters. There is a good balance of grammar rules and rills, picture analysis, poem recitation and reading comprehension. It ties in nicely with WWE.

Jean that is awesome. Congratulations!

nixpix5, you probably get asked this a lot but here goes. Are you considered "publicly enrolled" because of this? I will check out FOL. Has anyone else here tried Family Academy at http://www.familyacademy.org/? Tried to contact them but no one answered.

Thank you. I too was of the understanding that it is OK as long as you cover all subjects. Not that one has to cover them all every year. But I'm worried my kids will get surprised and frustrated during testing when they encounter questions/subjects we haven't really studied yet.

Thank you. What are those? I keep getting Iowa testing when I google these. Are they national? I was under the impression you go to a local testing provider approved by the state.

We use "First Language Lessons" by Jessie Wise. We love it. It complements "Writing With Ease" too if you use that one. What's nice about FLL is the lessons are short and varied. They are plenty of repetitions so your child remembers what he/she learns. You learn poetry, picture study, narration, parts of a sentence and so on. We are using FLL2 now and it is just as good as the first. I supplement the book with my own exercises. Otherwise I would get the "Big" workbooks for their sections on Language Arts. Hope this helps!

Thank you for WWE and also FLL. They -- along with frequent reading of quality literature -- have really helped develop my kids' language, analytical and comprehension skills. I often find my eldest writing on his own even when it is not part of his assignments.

I hope you all and your families are doing great! Been a busy year for us with growing kids, with the younger very eager to join in and catch up with the older. :) I really like WTM but one thing troubles me. I notice that in certain areas like Science, History and Social Studies, it does not seem to agree with Washington standards. As I understand, WTM recommends you go through history chronologically instead of going back and forth between U.S. history and world history. I really like that. We were planning to teach our eldest U.S. history starting in 2nd-3rd grade once we've gotten that far in history. But in the Washington standards I've found online, it looks like you're expected to cover U.S. history, government and civics from the beginning. How are we going to fulfill state standards while still following the Classical model taught in WTM? It is the same with Science. We have been doing BIology for year 1, Earth Science & Astronomy for year 2, etc. But the standards seem to expect students to know a little bit of everything including Physics and Chemistry. This is frustrating. I know my kids will cover all those subjects in the next 4 years, but it looks like WA state wants it differently. So what can you advise? Also, what online testing services do you recommend? What U.S. social studies / civics and government book do you recommend? Can I buy a practice test so I know what to expect? (not showing my kids, of course) Cam I test my child even before we file DoI just so I can assess his progress? Can my child test for a lower grade? What if the child has to review some lower grade subjects while mostly doing the next grade?

I've never found a homeschool journal out there that's perfect for my family's needs. I guess this is because no two families homeschool in quite the same way. I'm not surprised by this. But I'd like to know if there's anyone here who prints their journals, and if so, what's the most cost-effective way? I know how to design a custom journal/planner. And I know what to put in it. I just don't know what the most economical way to print it is. Any ideas?

I think some confusion is bound to happen at some point. Keep a flag poster or placemat so the kids remember which are the countries and which aren't. And keep a separate U.S. states poster or placemat. We moved and my DS insists we no longer live in the same state! LOL

Classic Starts: Greek Myths Classic Starts: Roman Myths - Reading level would be above K but your kid may enjoy listening to you read them. Read the stories in full first. I think it's a mixed bag. Kinda surprised the story of Cupid and Psyche (which is Roman though) abruptly stops when Cupid dumps poor Psyche. Gods and Goddesses of Olympus - IMHO the best intro for young readers. Simple language and clear, colored pictures. I can't recall which book it is that mentions Theseus abandoning Ariadne, or Bellerophon getting thrown of by Pegasus in the end. Sometimes I wish the authors would spare young readers the worse parts of these myths until they're older!

Another dialect? Do you mean any foreign (i.e. non-English) language? Or variant of English?

Oh I forgot to mention. My DS does love the "Time Compass" videos. I think its actual title is "History for Kids" or something like that. It's got like 30 episodes about 15 min. long each. Really just the right length for kids. And the animation and dialogue are cute (Caesar says "Don't worry, I'll fix this mess!") It's free on hoopladigital. Your library might have it. Just watch them first so you can make sure the content is okay for your little ones. I guess I was worrying about it too much. I do want DS to memorize some dates and names. I do have History Pockets too and will give it a try! Thanks, everyone!

That sounds great! But what book do you use for history projects? Also what do you do with all that afterward? I'm sure they end up taking a lot of space unless they're all taken down. How'd you make the chicken mummy?!

Thanks, TX native. The "If I Were A Kid" series is good too though kinda rare. It has titles for Egypt, Rome, Greece and China.

Thanks!

Is it okay to wait until 3rd grade to teach U.S. history? I want to teach it in the context of world history so my kids aren't confused. We do teach stuff like names of 50 states, cities, US map, etc. 1st grade.

Any advice here for teaching history to a child who gets bored by lengthy readings? SOTW is wonderfully written but it's just not working that well for DS right now. Also some of the events, names and peoples just go over his head. So what I've done is focus on one major civilization at a time (Egypt, Greece, etc.), learning about its map location, history, mythology, famous people, daily life, architecture, etc. I mention how certain events tie these societies together (e.g. war, conquest, trade) and plan on covering other peoples after that's done. I also plan on compiling timelines to show how everything flows as a story. But how do you do it? I can't imagine spending 60-90 min. on history each time. It's more like 20 min. of discussion. DS likes learning about daily life (especially when involving children) and myths the most. Also is it okay to slow down and spend some time on ancient history in 2nd grade (instead of moving on to the Middle Ages) for better coverage? I'm also planning on introducing human geography in 2nd grade, at the same time we'll study physical geography as part of science.

Success: Saxon Math (but I don't follow it to the letter) First Language Lessons Spelling Workout A and B (unnecessary if your child is good at spelling, but it's good for additional writing and reading practice; plus it teaches a child to recognize the sounds of the letters) Usborne First Book of Nature (GREAT intro to biology) McGuffey Eclectic Readers Fail: Story of the World (just can't get DS interested in it) Mixed: Usborne history books (shorter readings and bright pictures help retain child's interest) Writing with Ease (great course but I make own copywork from what we read) Also it's not a curriculum but I do like the "Big First Grade Workbook." I know some people shun workbooks but this isn't the overly easy stuff like "Brain Quest." I like it because it's got worksheets you can really use: math facts, spelling, grammar, reading comprehension, etc.

Is that the popular phonics primer you're talking about? I hated it too. So I got "The Reading Lesson" and we really loved it. Even my 4 yr old DD reads from it. I don't follow Saxon Math to the letter (and the meeting book is unnecessary I think), but some of the methods for teaching concepts are brilliant! Like how it teaches regrouping with dimes and pennies instead of just telling the child, "Okay you cross over this number and put a 1 over here" or something like that. The rest of the time, I look over the lesson and follow my instinct. I generally know how to teach a concept (based on my child's own understanding and preferences). Glad you find Singaporean Math good though.

I like books better too. But online sites have videos, quizzes, certificates, etc. Plus you can keep track of your completed courses. I think the certificates are useless though. I doubt employers put much weight on that. Maybe in the future that will change.

Isn't there a MOOC site just for programmers? I think it's called Treehouse or something like that. Bu tit's paid.

I've never heard of FutureLearn. Thanks for that. Is Saylor.org any good? There's so many MOOC sites but I think Coursera has the largest selection. Udemy is big too but I don't want to pay for every course I want to take. A flat monthly fee, maybe, if there's a lot of them I like. I get Lynda free through the community library. That's a big plus.