copy work is pretty easy for her, but narration is something we haven't worked on much.

I have just gotten WWE1 to start with my first grader. I plan to start Jan. 31. We will be going with this school year through June. Does anyone have any recommendation on how I can get her through and ready for WWE2 by the time we start 2nd grade? Or, at worst a way that we can get through WWE1 & 2 in a year and a half? She has been doing FFL1 and is currently on lesson 94, so she's done the narration exercises from that and has done copywork that I've found other places.

I live in a very rural part of GA (3hours from Atl., in a farming community). I don't really know what going rate for horseback lessons would be, but we will be paying $5/half hour lesson for piano in the fall. hth

I think there is a market. I would just make a few samples, and custom make them though so they fit whatever chair folks have. I saw some similar ones on etsy. good luck!

LOVE!! That looks great! That's good inspiration to get my Christmas stuff put up (currently in the schoolroom, which is also the sewing room). May be I'll get to work on mine tonight! I'm thinking of going with elastic to hold it on the chair so that I can use it on the student desks we have or the chairs. . . Thanks for sharing!

a lapbook is essentially a file folder that is (usually) folded a different way (Most are opened up and the sids are folded in towards the middle so that there is a large middle with two smaller flaps on each side) it is filled with mini books, pockets, and other fun ways of showing information that has been learned about a particular topic (books, animals, countries, etc.) check out www.homeschooolshare.com for some examples :)

I don't think they are stiff, but you could use some fabric interfacing just so that they aren't flimsy. I have found some chair pockets on etsy, but I think I need to just get out the sewing machine and do it :glare: (I do have some fabric from other projects in our schoolroom, so it'd look better. . . )

I started off this year with a morning meeting - we talked about and graphed the weather, counted the days we've been in school (with the place value pocket chart, etc.), did some skip counting, talked about the date, etc., etc. Then we had to start doing school at my grandparent's house twice a week and sort of lost the habit of it. I've sort of missed it, but the girls really miss it. Do you do anything like this? What all do you include? I have a 1st grader and Pre-Ker, but am also planning for next year, so 2nd grade/K plans are good too.

do you use them? what's in them? how do you utilize them? I have put one together, but never put it to use. . .

I'd like to have a list of skills that dd can go back and practice. I would like to rotate through, just to keep things "sharp" - I'm thinking for now, 1st grade, and next year. All I can really think of right off is practicing math facts (online as a game)

I sure would like to sew these - I'd like them to be shorter and fit on the back of our school chairs. . .

Isn't there a skip counting song somewhere? May be that would help?

on another thread there was mention of the limited bang for your buck educationally speaking. I'm wondering what are some ways to use them effectively for those kids who would enjoy them? We are going to start Galloping the Globe in a few weeks, and I intend to keep a notebook that will have lots of lapbooking type things in it. What I"m thinking is that since we do school 4 days a week, we can work on the elements during our school time, then perhaps on Friday (our off day), we can put the lapbooks together. I think the crafty part of it is the most time consuming (coloring, cutting, etc). I think it's fun to have it to look back on what we have learned, and can serve a purpose in narrating, copywork, fine motor skills for my younger, etc. thoughts?

I'm thinking that you could "sneak it in" and have them do this as part of lapbooks. Have them narrate a bit about what you've read about your topic into a mini book or a shape cutout for their lapbook. I don't think it would have to be terribly dry all the time.

check out http://homeschoolcreations.blogspot.com/ - she has lots of geography resources listed. she followed galloping the globe, but you could get some good ideas from her. one thing you could do is have a "passport" for each participating child (I ordered a passport with country stickers for $4 from Rainbow Resource) and let the kids earn stickers for each country completed. May be each child could put together a notebook with things that you learn (pictures of crafts/recipes that they make), etc.

what's out there? what do you prefer? why? we are about 1/2 way through OPGTR right now (at the 1/2 way point of 1st grade)

sounds like some good stuff there! any file folder games? what grade is she in?

dd in 1st grade is doing well with it. I've got her only doing 1 lesson a day, though she usually asks to do more. I'm not sure if I should let her do more than one lesson a day or not. What would you recommend once we do finish the book?

we are using Saxon 1 right now, and honestly, I only teach when she hits something she doesn't know. I don't do the morning meeting stuff. Also, I don't spend time reading the script to teach something she knows, or picks up on basically instantly. When we hit something that she's not confident with, we go through it a bit more. I might change my tune when we hit higher level stuff, though!

I don't do this workbox style, but I think it could be easily suited for workboxes. . . Here's what I do now: I have a 3 prong folder with page protectors in it. The first page has a printed copy of our current FLL poem, then the next pages I have written the days of the week. So, in the Monday pocket is everything she has to do for Monday. I have an assignment sheet in the front pocket as well listing things she does, we do together, her chores, etc. To do it workbox style, you could use however many page protectors as you would do boxes, and put one assignment per page. Also, if you wanted to plan ahead, you could have 5 folders, each one with 12 pockets so you could fill them all up at once for the week (that's sounding like a pretty good idea for my younger dd next year. . . )

thanks! I'm going to look into the science one. Is there much prep? I'm sure dd1 would enjoy that.

I think I'm about the only homeschool mom in the world who doesn't enjoy sitting on the couch reading aloud to my kids for hours :blushing: We are doing Saxon math, Ordinary Parent's Guide for reading, FLL, a map skills book that I picked up along the way, God's design for science (AIG science curriculum) - we're doing the animals, and we are putting together a notebook, but it's VERY simple, not lapbook-y ~ she is simply printing a couple of pictures of an animal we choose, writing if it's a mammal, reptile, etc., how big it is, what it eats, etc. I'm doing some copywork stuff. . . It's pretty simple stuff. I'm an open and go kind of girl.

she makes it look fun! thanks for linking!

they will be at our conference in March. I'll stop by and chat with them. I'm going to check out the placement test too. didn't see that when I was browsing earlier :)

I'm thinking about something for us to use next year. I'll have a Kindergartener and 2nd grader. The will be Kindergartener is not catching on to any letter/phonics/reading at the moment. I'm going to start OPGTR this week and see if that will click with her at all. I'm not counting on much - I've tried a few things and she just doesn't seem to be at a maturity level for it yet. She can count some, but not well. I intend to try to focus on that for the rest of this school year (and other math type things). My will be 2nd grader is doing well - almost done with the 1st grade portion of FLL, on lesson 80 something in OPGTR, and would be further if I'd let her. She's reading on about a 2nd grade level, and excelling in Saxon 1st grade math. It looks to me like (please correct me if I'm wrong) that I could do HOD (the one for 5-7 year olds) with them both, and just do their reading and math seperately (and handwriting for Ker). would that one be frustrating for my K and/or boring for my 2nd grader?