D'Aulaire's Greek Myths--my dd has read this over and over again for years. Don't Know Much about the Kings and Queens of England The American Girl Series especially if you have girls: Felicity's World, Josephina's World, Kaya's World, Molly's World, Kirsten's World, Addy's World, Kit's World

It is nice to see what others are doing at this age. I have been planning to go deep rather than having dd graduate early, but it's hard to know what that will look like. We have been slowing down in math (her least favorite subject), but I think that we will cover a lot of history, writing, and literature over the next 7 years. I've just started looking at the AP list of tests too and trying to decide where to fit those into the schedule.

LOF Fractions seemed to cement the concepts in my dd's brain. My dd did the book independently, so I can't tell you if it goes step-by-step. When she returned to Singapore, we had to skip some sections because they were too easy.

If you have a student that loves to read, you could easily do LL7 and add in WTM suggestions too. LL7 (the only one I've used) is pretty gentle and could be condensed. I know my dd read the books much faster than the lessons intended. You can pick and choose between the workbook pages and projects; you don't have to do everything and you will still get the benefit.

I've been homeschooling an only for the last 7 years. She is outgoing and needs lots of social interaction, so it has been a challenge. There have been times, when she was lonely (especially after our move), but she has also learned to entertain herself sometimes. While I am sure that she would love to go to PS to be with her friends all day, I am glad that I've stuck with homeschooling. In the younger years, we had a weekly park day, co-op classes, sports, church and play dates. As dd has gotten older, I have had to cut back on the park days to fit in more school time, but she has an all-day co-op where she has met most of her friends. She has recently gotten her own e-mail address and loves "chatting" with her friends.

We started FLL at 4.5 years. It was still easy enough that I had to move more quickly through year 1. We slowed down more for year 2.

That's terrific! Can you tell us what curriculum you use?

Welcome to the ride! You might want to start subscribing to all the threads with reading lists for advanced readers. ;)

You'll be just fine! You will need to send your letter of intent to the school district at the beginning of your school year. I would list her as a fifth grader, even if you are filling in holes. If you have a bachelor's degree, you can do ITBS testing on your own. If not, you can find different places that will order the test and administer it for you. I use HOPE. I believe that there will be more options on the CHEC website. I wouldn't study for the test unless you think that your dd will have problems making at least the 20th percentile. (The actual percentile that will create problems for you is a little less than that.) Feel free to PM me if you want to ask more questions.

We used it in an earlier grade. Have you looked at the book list? If your dd can read the books, she can do the other parts of the program as well.

We're on year 7 doing history this way. I did use SOTW in the first 4 years, but I added many other books and went in my own order. The last few years, we've used Guerber histories, Foster histories (George Washington's World, etc), History of US, and others. (DD isn't crazy about the encyclopedias, although I use them and schedule with them.) I LOVE doing history this way and it works really well for my dd who always wants more books to read. I have been adding literature studies to our history time as well. For the most part, I choose the books though; I think that I get higher quality books this way. DD (11) has just started picking out a few books on her own. She got really excited about the American Revolution and has explored that on her own for a few extra weeks. This is, by far, the richest and most satisfying of all of our studies.

Thank you both! I like having a plan. Even though I've read of kids on this board taking the ACT and SAT tests early, I hadn't really thought about doing it for my own.

This year, we finally decided to sign up for the Talent Search testing. I guess that I waited too late, because dd maxed out the test except for math. :glare: What is the recommendation for testing going forward? I'm required by our state to test every other year, but I plan to test each year. She will be 6th-grade-age next year--do I have her take the ACT next? Any other suggestions?

The most successful part of our school has been doing history ala WTM. (When I manage to get in science, that has been our most successful method as well.) We started with SOTW at age 4. We are long past SOTW, but we still use a history spine and mix tons of books. We don't do narration any longer, but dd is writing short papers on some subjects. I still go back to WTM to keep my expectations for dd high; we've really needed to work on pushing the output. For us, the emphasis on reading, writing and history has been perfect. I don't pay much attention to the actual curriculum that is recommended in WTM, although I use some of it. All of my successful curriculum purchases have come from recommendations on this board.

Yes, I've been using Tax Act for years. It is so much cheaper than the other options. I don't use the interview, though; I go right to the forms. UGH. I really need to get started on taxes today!

We did the Miquon/Singapore combo. We started early, so I didn't need to worry about placement. I would suggest that you start with the Miquon orange book because it is there that he will learn about the rods and how to use them. The program really works best if the child knows the colors and numbers associated with the rods. I would NOT require that he finish the whole book though, because some of it will be easy. Let him skip around and do the things that are fun to him.

11-yr old: I'm most amazed with her comprehension. She picks up new concepts so quickly and understands logic well. (I'm not looking forward to the argumentative stage. :glare:) She is excellent at language arts. We are doing poetry imitation right now (CW) and she can write her own poems almost instantly. She is also writing her own songs and just learned how to write her own piano scores.

I totally agree! Doing workbooks can be play! My dd loved workbooks at that age and she would do them for hours. I think the key is to have them available, but not force them. Keep them with the toys. Who says that school can't be fun? My dd's favorite workbooks were the write-on/wipe-off workbooks so that she could do them over and over again.

I'm not really familiar with how 4-H works today. I have looked at it some because I really wanted my dd to be in it, but it hasn't worked out. You can join a group or do it on your own. You can choose to do as many subjects/projects as you wish, so if you only want to focus on speaking you can do that. It could also be useful to have her do another type of project and then speak about it. Have you looked on-line for a group near you?

Have you looked at 4-H? It has lots of speech opportunities--it is where I learned public speaking many years ago.

In my view, pre-algebra is just a holding point, until you are ready for algebra. If your dd is ready, then go for it. We have mostly switched over to Life of Fred--the new Pre-Algebra/Biology book is terrific. My dd is not a math-lover, so I am not pushing her to advance. My goal is to finish calculus in her senior year so we have lots of time.

We never did formal reading lessons unless you count reading BOB books. We went through Books A-C at age 3, but dd really took off with reading on her own.

We tried spelling at that age and quit until dd was writing well by herself. One program that we liked was Calvert spelling. It is computer-based and will adjust the lesson if the child knows the words already. It can go quickly and is fun. Each lesson is based around certain phonograms.

Having been in your shoes, I have a few opinions to offer. :001_smile: For reading comprehension and spelling, I would not do anything structured. She will far surpass any reading comprehension book that you can get and be appropriate for her age level. You could start a vocabulary notebook--if you come across any words that she doesn't know, have her write it down with its dictionary definition. That will also help with spelling. We started oral narration with science and SOTW. I typed dd's narrations up for her and she decorated the pages. My dd loved this and I quickly found that her comprehension was excellent. I highly recommend this. WWE wasn't out when we were at that stage, but we did use First Language Lessons. It is quite gentle and even though aimed at first grade, we had to speed through sections of it.

Oh, my. Yes! I could have written your post. I try to use humor to work her out of those situations. Often times, deep down, she knows that she is going overboard. I say things that are even more outrageous that start her laughing.