This is what I’m thinking: Bible: Starting Strong Math: Singapore Math 5A/5B, Life of Fred (Kidneys—Liver) Handwriting: Can-Do Cursive Spelling: All About Spelling 5 Writing: W&R through Schole Academy Geography: BF Geography History: Story of the World 4 Science: The Elements, Mystery Science Where I’m having trouble is with reading and grammar. I feel SO drawn to Lightning Lit 4. Using it for reading and grammar (skipping composition) would really satisfy my desire to SIMPLIFY next year. But DS is just now starting to read for pleasure. I worry assigning so many books might backfire. So we might do interest-led reading instead, plus something like Fix It Grammar or Editor in Chief. ETA: He’ll also continue homeschool PE class and piano lessons.

I would continue with AAR, honestly. (It’s “been wonderful for him,” it covers comprehension and other basic reading skills really well, and it resells like a dream.) Instead of switching to another reading program, I would supplement with books you choose yourself. It may seem like he won’t read this or won’t read that. And I’m sure he is resistant! Reading is still challenging and few of us enjoy doing challenging things. But no one knows his ability and interests better than you! I just don’t think you’ll have as much success working through an assigned reading list. Also, I would not dial back on solid reading INSTRUCTION for a struggling reader. I have a reluctant/struggling/picky reader myself, and I found the stage you’re in very difficult because AAR doesn’t easily “line up” to any particular book leveling system. To supplement the readers, I went to the library by myself an hour before closing, set up camp in the early reader section, and flipped through books until I found 10 that might work. We’d buddy read the 1-2 books he didn’t reject (too babyish! not funny enough!) and then I’d head back to the library. Rinse. Repeat. Eventually, we hit on a series or an author he liked. Then we were really in business! All this to say, I feel for you. But I would be surprised if switching to another reading program did the trick.

We recently finished the multiplication book and started the division book. My son shed so many tears over timed fact fluency apps. He truly could not handle the stress and as a result, he did not seem to retain the facts long term. I proposed switching to the Facts That Stick books and I’m glad we did! I take the books apart and and put the game boards and practice sheets in page protectors. Every school day, he alternates between playing a game (against me) or doing a practice sheet (with dry erase marker). Is it totally thrilling? Nope. It’s rather boring, actually. But it doesn’t take long, it isn’t stressful, and the facts really have stuck! A total win for us.

I can’t think of ANY overlaps between AAR and WWE. AAR does include some basic teaching on things like point of view, onomatopoeia, and synonyms/antonyms. There are also a few questions per story that focus on predicting outcomes or evaluating cause and effect. No narration, copywork, dictation, or grammar. AAR is just a truly great reading program. AAS includes dictation and starting in level 3 (I think!) a section in each chapter called Writing Station where the student spells a few words and then uses them in an original sentence (or two). There is discussion of homophones, for sure. No narration or grammar teaching that I’ve encountered. Just a solid spelling program. WWE focuses in on writing, using oral and then written narration, plus copywork and dictation. (For what it’s worth, the dictation has been WAY too hard for us at every level, so we just do AAS dictation. Actually, we’ve had a better experience with MP Intro to Comp than WWE. It’s similar but simpler.) But even WWE doesn’t include grammar! You’d use FLL or something like Fix-It Grammar for that. Hope those details help!

I’m making a list of ideas for next school year. DS turns 10 this summer, so he’ll be a young 5th grader. I’d like to spend some time on research skills. How to find accurate answers to questions — online or in the library. How to use those resources in your own writing. I know this isn’t brain surgery, but does anyone have a resource or approach to recommend for teaching these skills? I’m not sure how best to proceed or how much to expect at this age.

Homeschool. We used to write E-mail. Then it was e-mail. Now it’s email. That’s the trend, generally. As time passes and terms become more familiar to us, we tend to drop the uppercase letters, spaces, and hyphens. Just smooooosh it together.

I call the shots where so much of our homeschooling is concerned. When my kids express an interest in studying a specific topic, I try to say yes. So we are going to “do” WWI to some degree. It may not be much more than a few picture books, a read-aloud, a recipe, and a museum trip. Certainly not in-depth by anyone’s measure. Thanks for the suggestions and the caution — I’m grateful for them both!

You ladies are always so helpful, so I’m coming here first! We’re about halfway through SOTW 2 but my boys want to take a break to study WWI this summer . . . and I’m rolling with it. 😎 They love history — thanks, SWB! — but they’re still little. They’re finishing up 3rd and 1st grade now. Do you have any favorite resources for young kids interested in WWI?

Thank you for the advice and encouragement! In retrospect, we probably should have gone on to data/probability while we kept working on multiplication facts and long division in the background, but we didn’t. 😬 On the bright side, he’s really “got” those concepts now. So, onward!

We finished Singapore Math 2A and 2B (Standards) during 2nd grade, pretty much right on the money. We started 3A at the beginning of this school year and we are just now ready to start 3B. I wouldn't say it's been difficult for DS, but because it covered so many new concepts (all the mutiplication facts! long division!) we had to go slowly. I am absolutely not panicking about being "behind." But I am wondering: Have others had this experience? Were you able to pick up the pace in 3B? Am I understanding correctly that students should finish 6A/6B (Standards) in 6th grade?

It would be SO easy to do Mystery Science with a small group of kids. The instructions and supply lists often tell you how much of X or how many copies of Y you'll need for each student or each pair of students, depending on how you want to do it. Each of the mysteries would probably take you 30-45 minutes to walk through. So depending on how much time you want to spend, you could add on some read-aloud time or even do a second mystery in the same series. We think the read-along mysteries are boring. We also think the mysteries for the youngest grades are boring. Unless you have a decidedly un-science-y group of kids, I would suggest choosing mysteries that are more of a stretch. I have never seen a reading list, but the lessons themselves sometimes suggest a resource or two, as I recall.

Inside Stories by Janice Montgomery from Prufock Press?

We are coming from public school, so I tend to think in terms of Guided Reading Level, where 3rd graders are expected to read at level P by the end of the year. My son is reading level N books comfortably. Charlotte’s Web is an R. Mr. Popper’s Penguins and Farmer Boy are Q. Paddington is a T. Actually, Little House in the Big Woods (one of the 2nd grade titles) is also a Q. I know these leveling systems are imperfect. I’m just trying to explain why I thought they seemed advanced. I haven’t sat down with the books to see how much of a “stretch” each of them would be.

Straightforward question: Are students expected to read the MP lit guide books independently? My 3rd grader is making slow, steady progress, but I know he’s a below-average (cringe!) reader. Still, the MP lit guide titles seem advanced.

This is what my 3rd grader is doing this year: Reading: AAR 4 + reading library books to mom Spelling: AAS 3-4 + SpellingCity for practice Handwriting: HWT Cursive Grammar and Writing: FLL 2 and WWE 2 We are also always working on a Critical Thinking Press book. We did Inference Jones first, and now we’re about 2/3 finished with Editor in Chief.

We used Mystery Science last year (2nd grade) and I loved the format. Engaging presentation of background information + a truly easy hands-on activity for each lesson. DS wanted to study physics this year, so we are using RSO Physics 1. There aren’t any videos but it has a lot of the qualities I loved about Mystery Science. If you haven’t, you should check RSO out!

I’m interested in this, too. We just started Song School Spanish 2, and I guess I’m tentatively planning to do Spanish for Children after that. We’ve done it mostly orally because learning to read and write in ENGLISH has been such an uphill climb. I’m intrigued by the idea of a Spanish reading program like La Pata Pita. You say it doesn’t make sense for non-native speakers? How else do you get started reading in Spanish. Even after Song School Spanish 1, I feel like we know so little vocabulary, Spanish board books are over our head.

Flash cards are really piling up over here. We need to regularly review cards for AAS and AAR. We have math fact flash cards and Spanish flash cards. I even printed out the cards in the back of the SOTW activity book with grand plans to review them regularly. Flash card apps don't appeal to me right now, but we love playing board games. Does anyone know of a good resource for printable board games you can use with flash cards of any kind? Or directions for adapting board games we already have, without a ton of work?

We are doing some books and activities from the BYL unit study on the history of Thanksgiving. It’s meant to last 3 weeks, so we’re just picking and choosing.

Have you looked at Beowulf’s Grammar? On TPT, I liked using a series called Gobs of Grammar as a supplement.

This is what we’re doing for third grade. I would love to hear from others because it’s just our second year of homeschooling. Prayer, Handwriting, Geography OR Life of Fred (30 minutes) Spelling and Reading lessons (30 minutes total) Read aloud to me (30 minutes) Language Arts loop (45 minutes) Math (45 minutes) Science OR History (30 minutes) I read aloud at lunch and bedtime (history and literature). Both boys also do Spanish (15 minutes) and piano (15 minutes) most days. Our days feel long because my son needs lots of little breaks.

I’m also curious to hear from moms who have used it. I’m considering it for NEXT school year when I’ll have a 2nd grader and a 4th grader.

Timeline of Classics from IEW?

Pam Barnhill pronounces it Sahnlight on her podcasts. I don’t know where she’s from, but I wondered if it was a regional thing.

The most recent episode of the Wow in the World podcast (EAR YE! EAR YE!) was on this topic. They have some teacher materials on the website, too. https://tinkercast.com/listen/?m_page=1&m_search=