Thanks for the link! And... Cafi Cohen was the author I mentioned above.... :grouphug:

What books do you recommend to get started with High School prep? I'm looking for something written to the teacher that will address issues such as credit hours, extracurricular activities for transcripts... Actually, I'm not sure what I need to know! With 9th grade looming ahead of us, I'm feeling inadequate. We've homeschooled since the beginning with a hodge podge of curriculums. In the past I've printed titles for books recommend here, lost the list in our last move, and now can't find them on the board. :glare: Several were written by the same author... Thanks!!

bump :001_smile:

I'm not the original poster, but would love the recipe. It sounds like a really thoughtful gift!

TWTM helped me figure out what in the world I was doing! Before TOG we used combinations of TWTM, Sonlight, & Mystery of History. I love Sonlight books, but they are not on a classical cycle, and I would end up with 3 cores because my children are not close enough in their learning levels. MOH and TWTM are fabulous, but getting the recommended supplemental books was a daunting chore. This year I worked hard to find something different due to the cost. But by the time I found 3 different programs for my 3 very different children I would have spent the same amount of money and not had something that could be used again & again. TOG will take us all the way through High School, so I can stop looking for the next new thing! ~what a relief!

3rd year of Tapestry... using Year 3 with LG, UG, and DIA :grouphug:

:iagree: The problem is.... some in the In-Depth catagory are just great books! I still look at that column each week to see if there is one we just don't want to miss.

We have vocabulary words formally introduced in three of our weekly studies, not to mention all the new words in science, history, etc... Is this enough for a 6th grader? We are using: Christian Light Education Reading pulls vocabulary words from the weekly reading and uses in workbook exercises... it looks like from 4 to 6 words per week. Institute for Excellence in Writing, about 4 new words per week must be used in writing I.E.W. Poetry Memorization CDs lots & lots of new words memorized in context of poems.

:iagree:Especially my Tapestry of Grace books.

:iagree:I have a "master" page in the front of my planner that tells me how much should be done each week per subject. This way I do know what should be done weekly! Also... I make my own planner by priting out a pretty detailed schedule, being as specific as possible. I make 36 copies of this schedule and stick it in a notebook with our attendance sheet, etc. Therefore I only need to enter lesson numbers or page numbers each week. (kids names, subjects, books, supplementals are all there to be checked off.) I know this sounds simple, but it took a while for me to figure it out! :001_huh:

Well, we're only on chapter 2... I just wanted to say that the DVDs have won over a dd who insisted she did not want to learn Spanish. She really likes the the spunky teacher. ;) (same dd just couldn't get into LfC.)

Ava, is this map online? :001_smile: I couldn't find it at the CFAF website, but would love to hear more about music in/near Warner Robins (Houston county.)

Does anyone know of a good art project using pipe cleaners? I can find plenty of projects involving making bugs. :001_smile: Yet, I'd like to tie in the project to teach some art principles. It would be great if I could also bring in some art appreciation in the same lesson. The kids in our small coop range from 2nd to 8th grade. Any ideas from you artsy folks?

We also started at 3rd and are now in 8th. It is one of the few subjects I have never felt the need to change. It's easy to implement, especially if you start at the beginning. We do the lessons orally and use all the worksheets and tests. My dd could do it independently, but when I've not read the lesson with her I'm not capable of helping when she needs it! It is much more grammar than I ever learned in school.

I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety. Psalm 4:8 :001_smile:

:iagree:This is our 6th grade plan also. It will combine both living books & a more comprehensive literature curriculum.

You all have given me such good information! It is going to take a while for me to research & digest all that has been mentioned. Thank you so much for the help! :grouphug:

We start the first Monday after July 4th and finish by the end of May. We started this back in the states when it was too hot to be outside in July & August anyway. I continue because it gives us plenty of time off during the year, yet the kids get a real summer break, the whole month of June.

Thanks for the ideas ~ I really appreciate the input! Any other thoughts? Yes, I've had him evaluated by the public school system, but they haven't identified any specific problem, only saying he is delayed. When we get back to the states I do plan on having him privately evaluated, but not sure what type of therapist he should see. I do know he has delays with receptive and communicative speech. Actually, this is backwards... and I don't really understand what he is thinking.... he knows all his letter sounds and can sound out a word in a very choppy disconnected way... "c...a....t," but then he just can't put those sounds together into a word "cat." After 2 1/2 years of phonics he was becoming very self-aware and discouraged that he could not read. I started the R&S mid-year and it gave him a great sense of accomplishment. I don't plan to continue with sight-words, but he needed to know that he is smart & capable of reading. As for Reading Reflex, I've heard that recommendation before. I just wonder if he can handle additional letter sounds if he can't even master the short-letter sounds and 3 letter words. Any thoughts on that? Can you tell me more about these methods? How do they differ from phonics as taught by TOGTR, or Explode the Code? (I've taught 2 children to read using these resources along with simple readers - so I understand them and would like to relate other methods to them.) Wow! This looks like a great website. I haven't watched the "phonics intro movie" yet, but do plan on it. Does her methods of teaching phonics differ from TOPG?

My 8 year old ds will be repeating 2nd grade this coming year. We just can't move on with his delay in reading skills. Now I know we should have started him a year later in K. We have and continue to slowly trudge through The Ordinary Parents Guide. He just doesn't get sounding out phonics; we're on about lesson #40. Explode the code doesn't really give much success, and we are stalled out about half way through book #1. At the same time we've been working on theOPG, we've gone through most of 1st grade R&S reading. He felt real success in reading as he memorized words through the R&S sight-word based methods. We cannot continue with R&S because it progresses much too quickly. Now what? I think maybe a colorful workbook would be helpful for him. He'd need to start back on 1st grade level. As for grammar: we've tried FLL but he just does not retain any information orally; after trying it several times over 2 years he has no idea what a noun is. We tried language lessons by Queen homeschool, again too oral with no retention. Hence, the need to just start at the beginning. Please help!

Me too. I've been very happy with them.

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What do you use? Do I need all these? Handbook for Reading Letters and Sounds 1 Letters and Sounds test book Language 1 Home School Phonics, Reading, and Spelling 1 Curriculum Spelling and Poetry 1 Which readers do I need? It seems like a lot of readers~! Run with Pets Tiptoes Stepping Stones Secrets & Surprises Bridge Book Kind & Brave Aesop's Fables Strong & True Animals in the Great Outdoors and Down by the Sea

:iagree:I would hate to sort blocks after each use, several times per day for years. oh my! I bought the sterilite box with a hinged lid, so the lid never gets misplaced. perfect.

My kids are just not natural spellers and after trying several programs *I* needed something they could do independently. We've used the new Mastery Series for about a year and a half now. They love them. Recently, my schedule relaxed a bit and I decided that I had time to work with them on spelling again. Also, I realized my oldest is entering 8th next year and I'd like her to "master" spelling before High School. So.... I bought Spelling Power. Here's the good news: My kids, who were behind in spelling before the Calvert CDs, placed at their grade-level or above in Spelling Power! :party: I am going to continue with Spelling Power at my pace. But, since they love & beg to do the Calvert CDs, and they can do them independently, I plan for each kid to finish the Calvert program also. just my experience...