I want my kids to be comfortable with both manuscript and cursive. After reading about "cursive first", I decided that I would start cursive with them younger rather than older. But, I do think it depends on the kid. Since my ds8 had poor manuscript after K (ps), we focused heavily on handwriting in 1st grade. By the end of first, he wanted to try cursive. I think he wrote neater in cursive! This year in 2nd grade, his manuscript and his cursive are pretty good. We use both for right now. My ds6 has started cursive this year (K) because he's very tactile, writes well, and really wanted to do it. His twin sister has much poorer handwriting and isn't interested in cursive yet. Her manuscript is improving, so I plan to start cursive with her sometime in 1st grade.

:iagree: I've worked through about half the first book with my K'ers and 2nd grader. We frequently make the little books recommended by Nebel, and I make my 2nd grader include more sentences in his "books". You could also make the older kids do a more formal science notebook. I think Nebel describes this in his second science book for grades 3-5.

I've used Atelier Level 1 this year with my DS8, DD6 and DS6 (2nd grade and kindergarten). It's been a big hit! I'd recommend starting with level 1. We do a lesson every other week. I'd like to try to sell mine when we're done with it in May. :)

We've used some ETC books (Before the Code A-C and the first four levels of ETC), but now my ds6 and dd6 are finishing up Plaid Phonics A. They are much more motivated to do Plaid than they were for ETC. The pictures are clearer than ETC, I think. There are more poems and stories to read, but not as many direct questions that rely on reading. I think I'm going to stick with Plaid.

Although we are enjoying BFSU, I'd like to splurge and give Nancy Larson Science a try. I can't bring myself to spend the money on it. ...and I'd love to have some museum memberships!

I chose WWE for my ds8 when we started first-grade because I agree with SWB's writing philosophy. He's in second-grade now, using WWE2, and we are also working our way through Writing Strands 2. WS2 is more stressful for my son. Even though he's very talkative, when it comes to original writing, he is stumped! I love that he writes beautiful sentences (copywork and dictation), even though they're not his own words (yet!). I also love the review of punctuation, grammar, and SPELLING that happen naturally as a process of dictation. Although narrations have never been particularly difficult for him, I can see how his thought processes and sentences are steadily maturing.

We use them together, currently FLL2 (old version) and WWE2. We don't do the copywork/dictation in FLL. They emphasize different skills. I like how the passages chosen for copywork and dictation in WWE2 often emphasize parts of speech recently covered in FLL2.

I started using BFSU in the fall after doing the WTM approach to life science last year. Although I love WTM and PHP materials, I remain undecided about SWB's approach to science. I wanted to try something different for science this year. I seriously considered RSO, and I think that would have worked for me. But I chose BFSU because I think Nebel's writing is so amazing, particularly the way he tries to teach serious scientific principles to kids in ways they can understand. I learn from his lessons, too, even though I'm a scientist myself. I think I use BFSU similarly to tracymirko and phroggies. I am not a big planner. For the most part, I choose curricula I really like and just "do the next thing." For BFSU, I sketched out (in pencil) a flow for the year, skipping most of the B-thread for now since we did a lot of life science last year. We've done twelve lessons (from A, C, and D threads) so far. I read the lesson and decide what activities/discussion to do and take a few notes if I am motivated enough (about 30-60 minutes of planning per lesson, at most). We often make a mini-book, as suggested. What I love the most about it is the type of discussion we have and how they talk about the things they learn in real life. I try to use his suggestions for "seminaring" and leading them into new discoveries using Q and A. It's amazing to see how their minds work! I love how they are learning scientific principles about the world around them in ways they can understand. We do a whole lesson every two or three weeks. I'm not in a big hurry because I think the knowledge sinks in better if it's not rushed. We usually try to read a few books from the library on each topic if we can find them. I also add in appropriate episodes from Bill Nye and Beakman's World when I can.

Classic Science (Mr. Q) is 50% off--just this week. Here's a link for the info: http://eequalsmcq.com/blog/2010/12/2nd-annual-holiday-discount/

We're just getting started on this--basically using the geography section of "The Core." Thanks to CindyZ for the world map link. I was just searching for a better one to use last night, but this site looks so much better! I'm going to check out the Draw Write Now book as well.

My kids really enjoyed it even though some parts were a little scary.

I am using Atelier Art Level 1 this year with my kiddos. We are half-way through the second module. It is pricey, but cheaper than art lessons for 3 and my children really enjoy it. I have seen their confidence with drawing and art projects increase. My ds5 loves to draw and clearly has the most artistic talent in our family (at this point). He is perfectionistic about his drawings and often cries and won't continue when he makes a "mistake". However, he is doing great with Atelier! Also, I have seen marked improvement in his ability to handle "mistakes" over the past six months. I haven't read any books on drawing with kids. I usually only allow him one piece of paper to do the Atelier Art projects. If he makes a mistake, he can find a way to work it in or he can quit. (He always finds a way to keep going!) Some of the Atelier projects use a practice paper first to try out some of your artwork before doing the final copy. He also really enjoys the Mark Kistler on-line drawing lessons ("Mini-Marshmallow"). He can stop and start these as he likes and that helps him alot.

:iagree: Also, I'm a fellow lurker/infrequent poster in my second year hsing. I read this book last year and really enjoyed it: http://www.amazon.com/Homeschooling-Familys-Journey-Martine-Millman/dp/158542661X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1289872352&sr=8-1 It's more of an unschooling approach. While I'm not an unschooler, I am always trying to think more broad-mindedly about what it means to "educate" my children. I enjoyed reading about the Millman family's approach to learning and about their reasons for homeschooling. I also like to glean bits of wisdom from "Home Education" magazine. My library carries it so I read it from time to time.

My ds7 (almost 8) also uses http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/typing/ (Dance Mat Typing). I found this site from these boards. He started it last spring. He really enjoys it and seems to be making good progress. He's been working through the first two levels (six lessons/stages, I think) repeatedly and some on the third level as well.

Funny, we just finished this book yesterday as a read-a-loud and we really enjoyed it! We saw the live musical this summer. We thought the book was a lot more fun--way more of an adventure than the movie/play. As I hadn't read the book before, I was also surprised that the slippers were silver!

:iagree:

I have a Roland digital piano (~$2500 purchased 10 yrs ago). It's not the same as a real piano but it's close enough for me. It's a good compromise for our family. I've been pretty happy with it. The fact that it only weighs 100 lbs is a life-saver when we move! Being able to use headphones was helpful when my babies were sleeping! I've just started teaching my oldest on it.

Just wanted to say that I can also relate to the OP. I agree with the rest time idea. I would lose my sanity and my will to homeschool without my kids' 2 hr afternoon rest time. Although it might be hard to start, it is worth it! My kids do well, but there have been times when they tested me about staying in their rooms. I take away their quiet activities/toys if they kept breaking the rule.

My kids have also enjoyed the Usborne Flip-Flap Body Book, starting when my youngest two were preschoolers. They pull it out and read it on their own.

I've tried to gradually increases my standards for my ds7. Last year was our first year hs-ing and he was still forming many letters incorrectly and his handwriting was quite sloppy IMO. I tried to watch him and push him to make his copywork as neat as possible and make sure the rest was legible. This year I'm being more of a stickler because I know that he can do it neatly if he goes slowly enough and because I've noticed that he doesn't complain about the physical act of writing. Fortunately his handwriting is finally starting to get a bit neater.

:iagree: I'm five weeks into WWE2 with my second-grader and he still does this. We did FLL and WWE last year as well. I remind him at the beginning of every session that I will need his answers in complete sentences. Go figure!

My ds7 started NAC last spring. Like a PP, I chose it for its simplified cursive strokes. (I hate a cursive Q that looks like a 2!) We have the first book (fairly pricey, IMO). It is mostly just pages to practice letters and some words/phrases. It has numbers for how to make each letter but not much more instruction than that. The book also has lots of extra spaces to make drawings, but my ds has no interest in this! I also bought the NAC StartWrite software to make our own pages. Although my ds struggles to print neatly, he is doing pretty well with NAC and he likes learning cursive. HTH Jill

This is the beginning of my second year of home educating, and we have been using BFSU for the past four weeks. I decided to use it because it was so different from anything else I've seen. Instead of just covering science "topics" or "content", it addresses fundamental scientific truths and properties. What amazes me is that Dr. Nebel does this in a way that kids can handle. As far as I understand classical education, the grammar stage is not the time for a lot of critical thinking. For this reason, I hesitated to use BFSU. So far, though, the lessons lead students to conclusions based on demonstrations/lab experiments or things that they have already experienced in every day life. My biggest problem is trying to "reign in" my kids after some of the suggested activities! I hope it will continue to work well for us because I am very impressed with the content and with the aims of this type of science education.

My ds7 (2nd grade) really enjoys the third mcguffey eclectic reader. We read a few lessons per week. I repeat them if he has to stop and start alot. He probably reads near a 5th grade level, but I haven't had him formally tested. Jill

1. Quality of education 2. Better chance of instilling a lifelong love of learning 3. Choice of curriculum 4. More time to be a kid and use that imagination 5. More time with siblings 6. Fewer negative interactions with peers 7. No homework in the evenings! Thanks for the great posts! This will be my second year homeschooling. My main reason for starting was quality of education. After reading the WTM, I was sold. Of course, now I see many more benefits, too. If it weren't for the time spent planning, I don't think I'd have any negatives!