I’m watching for updates on both your kiddos and your pregnancy too now, congratulations!! I have a kindergartener and preschooler and a new baby, so I feel like your kids are each about a year ahead of mine so it’s fun to see what you all are doing! I used the sonlight preschool and preK with my oldest last year and have just started going thru the preschool books with my second now. We have loved all the books, so if you have those available and are wanting to do more read aloud I highly recommend reading them, even if you’ve already read them! I was surprised that my oldest wants to sit and listen to all of them again 😊
Oh that's so cool that you have similar aged kids! That's funny that you bring up Sonlight because that's just what we did this week! We started up the Preschool programs again with the books we hadn't finished and it went so well so far! I'm really excited. The books are just so fun. :)
With my 6 & 8 year old boys, I've done more formal learning for electives, but what I keep going back to is getting books from the library. Its been the most engaging and i see the most retention by simply reading great books and talking about them! We add in some activities/field trips as we can, but the books are just the best!
I love that idea! Do you have a way that you find good quality books from the library? I feel like when we go and just take books, most of them end up not really very good quality ones and it has deterred me from going as much
I use Sonlight. We love it! We started when my daughter was in 1st grade. For your age of kids I would suggest HBL K, which I believe is the one you referred to. 😊
I have a current kindergarten and 3 year old preschooler. So definitely nice to watch because your boys are just a little older than mine. We are using a lot of the same curriculum now. I have definitely made it my news years goal to spend a bit more time with my preschooler because he is so eager even though not much is sticking. It’s funny how the expectations change between first and second.
I know some people don’t teach science and history much until end of elementary/beginning of middle school. Because like you said it doesn’t stick much. The younger years it’s just fine to focus more on the basics - reading, (hand)writing, and math.
Ohh! I’ve wanted to read Charlottes Web with my kids, I forgot about that one! Thank you for the reminder. I’ll have to look into The Chocolate Touch too. Thanks for the recommendations :)
We have Heartwood Hotel next up to read right now! We just finished Vanderbeekers of 141st St! And we are doing Mr Popper’s Penguins now. We have done the wild robot series before, boxcar children, charlottes web, Stuart little, etc. my kids are 5, 4 and 3 and sometimes it’s noisy during read alouds but I at least try and read a chapter at bedtime.
Oh I’m so glad it helped!! I think I’m going to do a video soon about how we use AAR and TGTB together for first grade so hopefully that will help too :)
We are doing TGATB Math and LA, with Explode the Code. I bought IXL for a year with Christmas money, and we are trying Prodigy with my son(he really likes Math and numbers). He's in kindergarten, and Prodigy is for 1st grade, but it's free, and I am able to sit next to him to help him. Im watching for both. My daughter is 4 and my son is almost 6.
@ make sure to search prodigy math game or play prodigy. They have an app for the parents to track their kids’ progress. Unfortunately, some things are behind a membership, but there’s quite a bit for free. My son loves battling the creatures and catching what the game allows for free players. Hope this helps.
Great video as always! It's funny you talked about history and science because I am planning for when my son is in second grade in the fall and asked my best friend who teaches and grade this year how much she covers history and geography because I only plan on doing history according to our picture books from five in a row next year (this year doing abeka history once a week) and she said she doesn't even cover it in her class becsuse it's just too much going on ..( the kids are in school all day!) Her friend who is a second grade teacher covers history but not science lol. So I'm not worried and you shouldn't be worried lol I get picture book ideas from home learning year by year book (from Amazon) . I'm against box curriculums also never tried it and won't. 100 devotions about God ans science we read during lunch and also of picture books when snuggling. Charlotte's web we have been listening while driving.
Thank you so much for the recommendations!! I’m going to get the home learning year by year book, I’ve heard really good things about it and have wanted to get it for a while. I also have wanted to read the 100 devotions about science and God too so I think I will get that one next! It’s so encouraging to hear about how school teachers aren’t doing much in these grades for science and history haha I didn’t really think they did but it’s so helpful to know for sure. Thank you for sharing!!
I’m doing the same thing with TGTB LA. My son is doing TGTB with a few AAR lessons sprinkled in. We also switched from TGTB math to MWC (Apologia math for my older kids) and will never look back. TGTB math did not work for my kids. It was too scattered and didn’t stay on any topic long enough for it to stick for my kids. I think it works good for kids who are very math minded. But that’s not my kids. 😁
So interesting how we’re having such similar experiences!! TGTB and AAR really is the perfect pair in my opinion! And I totally agree, TGTB math is just so scattered, it seems like too much at this age
I think keeping Science and History simple is definitely the way to go. But for my daughter she actually found lots of interests because of exposing her to them in the young years. 🤷🏻♀️
I could not have imagined doing this while pregnant. You are a Rockstar. My kids are close in age to so I get how hard it is keeping up with toddlers while pregnant. Add homeschool to ..😮
I’m watching for updates on both your kiddos and your pregnancy too now, congratulations!! I have a kindergartener and preschooler and a new baby, so I feel like your kids are each about a year ahead of mine so it’s fun to see what you all are doing! I used the sonlight preschool and preK with my oldest last year and have just started going thru the preschool books with my second now. We have loved all the books, so if you have those available and are wanting to do more read aloud I highly recommend reading them, even if you’ve already read them! I was surprised that my oldest wants to sit and listen to all of them again 😊
Oh that's so cool that you have similar aged kids! That's funny that you bring up Sonlight because that's just what we did this week! We started up the Preschool programs again with the books we hadn't finished and it went so well so far! I'm really excited. The books are just so fun. :)
With my 6 & 8 year old boys, I've done more formal learning for electives, but what I keep going back to is getting books from the library. Its been the most engaging and i see the most retention by simply reading great books and talking about them! We add in some activities/field trips as we can, but the books are just the best!
I love that idea! Do you have a way that you find good quality books from the library? I feel like when we go and just take books, most of them end up not really very good quality ones and it has deterred me from going as much
I use Sonlight. We love it! We started when my daughter was in 1st grade. For your age of kids I would suggest HBL K, which I believe is the one you referred to. 😊
Oh so fun! I can’t wait to do HBL K! I am hoping to buy it soon!
I have a current kindergarten and 3 year old preschooler. So definitely nice to watch because your boys are just a little older than mine. We are using a lot of the same curriculum now.
I have definitely made it my news years goal to spend a bit more time with my preschooler because he is so eager even though not much is sticking. It’s funny how the expectations change between first and second.
Oh how cool how similar our kids ages are. Thanks for sharing :) it is interesting how much changes as we gain some more experience homeschooling haha
I know some people don’t teach science and history much until end of elementary/beginning of middle school. Because like you said it doesn’t stick much. The younger years it’s just fine to focus more on the basics - reading, (hand)writing, and math.
Thank you so much for the encouragement! I want to do some but it does help not to be second guessing that I’m not doing enough
If you liked Ralph S Mouse, the Mouse and the Motorcycle is a must! We're currently reading Charlotte's Web and next up is The Chocolate Touch.
Ohh! I’ve wanted to read Charlottes Web with my kids, I forgot about that one! Thank you for the reminder. I’ll have to look into The Chocolate Touch too. Thanks for the recommendations :)
We have Heartwood Hotel next up to read right now! We just finished Vanderbeekers of 141st St! And we are doing Mr Popper’s Penguins now. We have done the wild robot series before, boxcar children, charlottes web, Stuart little, etc. my kids are 5, 4 and 3 and sometimes it’s noisy during read alouds but I at least try and read a chapter at bedtime.
Oh you guys are going to love Heartwood Hotel! It’s so cute! Thank you for all of the recommendations! I can’t wait to check them out :)
Thank you for going in depth about everything!!! These are both the curriculums I’m most curious about as you’re always one level ahead! Xx
Oh I’m so glad it helped!! I think I’m going to do a video soon about how we use AAR and TGTB together for first grade so hopefully that will help too :)
We are doing TGATB Math and LA, with Explode the Code. I bought IXL for a year with Christmas money, and we are trying Prodigy with my son(he really likes Math and numbers). He's in kindergarten, and Prodigy is for 1st grade, but it's free, and I am able to sit next to him to help him. Im watching for both. My daughter is 4 and my son is almost 6.
I’ll have to look into Prodigy, I’ve never heard of it but my son really likes math too so thank you for the suggestion :)
@ make sure to search prodigy math game or play prodigy. They have an app for the parents to track their kids’ progress. Unfortunately, some things are behind a membership, but there’s quite a bit for free. My son loves battling the creatures and catching what the game allows for free players. Hope this helps.
Great video as always! It's funny you talked about history and science because I am planning for when my son is in second grade in the fall and asked my best friend who teaches and grade this year how much she covers history and geography because I only plan on doing history according to our picture books from five in a row next year (this year doing abeka history once a week) and she said she doesn't even cover it in her class becsuse it's just too much going on ..( the kids are in school all day!) Her friend who is a second grade teacher covers history but not science lol. So I'm not worried and you shouldn't be worried lol I get picture book ideas from home learning year by year book (from Amazon) . I'm against box curriculums also never tried it and won't. 100 devotions about God ans science we read during lunch and also of picture books when snuggling. Charlotte's web we have been listening while driving.
Thank you so much for the recommendations!! I’m going to get the home learning year by year book, I’ve heard really good things about it and have wanted to get it for a while. I also have wanted to read the 100 devotions about science and God too so I think I will get that one next! It’s so encouraging to hear about how school teachers aren’t doing much in these grades for science and history haha I didn’t really think they did but it’s so helpful to know for sure. Thank you for sharing!!
I’m doing the same thing with TGTB LA. My son is doing TGTB with a few AAR lessons sprinkled in. We also switched from TGTB math to MWC (Apologia math for my older kids) and will never look back. TGTB math did not work for my kids. It was too scattered and didn’t stay on any topic long enough for it to stick for my kids. I think it works good for kids who are very math minded. But that’s not my kids. 😁
So interesting how we’re having such similar experiences!! TGTB and AAR really is the perfect pair in my opinion! And I totally agree, TGTB math is just so scattered, it seems like too much at this age
I think keeping Science and History simple is definitely the way to go. But for my daughter she actually found lots of interests because of exposing her to them in the young years. 🤷🏻♀️
Yeah that’s so true. It doesn’t have to be all or nothing. Just exposing them to different things at this age is so good for them
For that age group I recommend Trumpet of the Swan. Congrats on babu.
Thank you!! I will look into it :)
I could not have imagined doing this while pregnant. You are a Rockstar. My kids are close in age to so I get how hard it is keeping up with toddlers while pregnant. Add homeschool to ..😮
Aw haha thank you!! Luckily we keep homeschooling decently minimal so it’s not too bad :)