TGTB does not teach concepts well at all. Especially if you compare it to MWC and Right Start. There is absolutely no depth with TGTB, it’s all over the place. It’s tempting because it “looks” cute, but it’s severely lacking in actually teaching.

We did MWC Kinder year, TGTB for first grade, and are switching to RS this year for 2nd. MWC was great, but it got super repetitive about 1/2 way through and my daughter got bored. I also didn't love all the index card games. But the workbook was lovely. TGTB was a pretty big fail for us. I felt like 1, it was too spirally, it felt like it bounced around way too much. It also is advanced, I would say level one is more of a second grade curriculum when I look at 1st/2nd grade standards. Especially on telling time. I'm hoping RS will be our winner! We will miss the colorful workbooks. But I'm excited to check out the beauty of play, that could be a great supplement with lots of color! Thanks as always for taking the time to share your vision!

I like the chatty parts. I feel like I’m brainstorming with a friend 😂

I think Right Start or MWC would both be good choices. TGTB is a little weak imo. I think you could go from MWC 1st grade to Right Start C easily enough, you might want to spend some time on B over the summer or something just to be safe. (I assume that's what you meant by having them do the same math? He would definitely be able to do B) I've seen 4 year olds working on Right Start with great success so you could totally start on that, but of course every child is different.

We use right start too! My daughter was struggling last year and we considered changing to math with confidence. A lot of people online said that math with confidence is very similar to right start but less rigorous.

We tried both TGATB and MWC. We love MWC the best. They both have a hands on and game-based approach, but I would say MWC has more. MWC also teaches various methods to get to the answer, instead of doing it just one way. Singapore dimensions is another program that might be a good fit since he’s math-inclined. It is heavy on the workbook pages though and not as colorful, but they include some hands on and games as well.

We’ve been loving TGTB math!

Beautifully presents 👌

I really love your goals. Intentional life is hard to do and it’s great to have a starting point ❤

The Zebra Highlighters don’t bleed!

Perhaps you could use Treasure Hunt Reading to teach the things covered in AAR1? It’s free. I haven’t used it, but see it recommended.

Not a lot of people talk about it or realize it but waldorf is actually pretty spiritual, hence all the extra stuff you're supposed to learn about temperaments and such. It's not really secular by my standards, at least not if you follow it to the T. I love the art and whimsy of it though.

If I were you, I’d just ditch 100 Easy Lessons and move into the correct AAR level where your child is. We did the first 50 lessons with my then 5yr old, and moved onto Logic of English. AAR and Logic of English are so much better for phonics, in my opinion. We are with a charter in Northern CA and also use Good and Beautiful for LA.

I can’t seem to find the the brown booklets to purchased for your book study. Can you possibly share the link?

If you really didn't like teach your child to read you could just do all about reading.

Oh Ashley, I’m so sorry y’all had to deal with so much sickness this summer and that your trip to my neck of the woods was ruined by Covid 😞. You will have to come back to NC and replace your experience with a fun visit! 😂 We tested out summer schooling this summer too and I’m glad we did some learning, but I think we are going to take more of an actual break next summer to give myself and the girls a nice reset for the next school year 🥰. I also feel like we have so much planned for this upcoming year, but I figure we will weed out anything that doesn’t work for us and hone our homeschooling style even more this year! 🤞You are going to have a great year with your daughter! 🥰

Amazing picks! We love FLL. Were Pippi Longstocking and Ronia by Hearth Magic too? I can’t find those ones on their Etsy page.

Secret Garden is one of my favorite books and the Hearth Magic book study looks great. Your daughter and son will love the unabridged edition.

I hope you guys love All About Reading. I wouldn't bother pre prepping the activities. I'm able to cut them out in less than 5 min. I just do it when she is doing math review, or Copywork and such for that day. And thanks for being honest about the pillow smoothie fiasco. We have all been there!! And if you want my two cents, I would start with Little House, then do Narnia, Then Mountain, Then Hobbit. We read the first three this year, and the last three were complex stories for my just seven year old. I think we will revisit Narnia in a few years. And I'm waiting on the Hobbit. I hope you guys get a little down time before the Fall whirlwind begins! Thanks for the workbook rec to go with First Language Lessons, I'm going to check it out!

I’d look into reading simplified. It’ll cost you $40 for a month but it walks you through training and it may help a ton!

I didnt hear are you guys doing needle felting or wet

I would love to see/hear more about those math resources from a beauty of play! They look so cool but it's so hard to tell since there's so few reviews.

I hadn't thought about using sticky notes to write things down for the planner before you put them in, but i will definitely be doing that now. Thanks! Where did you get the magazine holders?

Thank you for your honest review I’m happy I found this because I’ve had such a hard time with all of this .

I had never heard of Hearth Magic until watching this video, but I went to the Etsy shop and they have a Redwall Unit!! That was my FAVORITE book series/cartoon growing up and hardly anyone ever mentions or knows of it! So thank you! I want to check out the Burgess Birds study now as well

😂 omg your dog reminds me of when my dogs walk on our hardwoods while I’m filming and all you hear is their nails tip tapping 🤦🏼‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️. Very thorough review! We had almost a verbatim experience as you did so know you aren’t alone. I don’t think it’s a bad curriculum, but just not the right fit for us. For example, one of my good friends had the best experience with B+R Grade 1 bundle this past year and will continue with it! That’s the beauty of homeschooling - being able to pick what works for us! 🥰 Great review video!

Could you please share a link for your tpt litriture guide x

Does it matter what order they are done in? I’m thinking of just doing individual girls bc the curriculum as a whole is a lot!

For fun and silly books, I recommend Matilda, Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, and Amelia Bedila chapter books.

Mama, don’t feel bad about the reading. Once she’s confident, she’ll explode! My almost 8yo is just now becoming interested.

We love treehouse school house! Love all of this!

We are starting the Kaya American Girl history next week! My daughter is pumped! I hope she loves it as much as your gal has. :)

Thanks for sharing! I want to incorporate a lot more unit studies this upcoming school year. My brain needs to change things up often, and I think my kids would love learning something new in a shorter time frame.

thanks for sharing. I also have the Hearth Magic Secret Garden book study and can't wait to start it. Do remember which Hearth Magic unit is for kindergarten?

This was such a cozy video! Especially going through the summer crafts and recipes. Thanks for sharing!

Ronia is amazingly good. We especially enjoyed the audiobook. There is also a television show that we enjoyed.

Thank you for the review. You explained everything very well!

I already have the majority of these books, and most of the dolls too, or at least clothes that I can dress up another doll in the proper time period. FYI, I’m not a fan of Josephina either. I found her annoyingly shy. I wish my kids were a little younger, because my almost 13 yr. .old has moved on from these books.

You should check out Ruby Reads read aloud posters. She makes some fantastic posters that help you engage with the book in creative and fun ways.

These look like wonderful stories for girls. My hope is that someone would create similar books for boys. I'm a history nut, so I would enjoy these.

What is a Tk-er?

I can totally relate to your daughter wanting to pick up litter everywhere you go! My oldest daughter is the same 🥰. I never thought about bringing gloves in my bag (that’s a great idea and will make me feel better about it 😂).

Your kiddo might like a book my own kiddo loves, called 'Rewilding' by David Steen. It's about the animals almost lost to humans impact on the world, and the way scientist are trying to bring them back to our natural habitats. There are more than 30 different animals and they're all a page or two of information. The 'Ecosystem Guardians' she might like as well, we've read the one on Wolves and I know they have one on Whales, but I'm not sure how long the series is. If your girls want to go all in and this passion continues, I'd look at 'The Book of Wilding' by Isabella Tree. If you have it available from your local library, parts of it could he super resourceful right now. But it's hefty and pricey, so I wouldn't recommend it as an impulse buy.

I like the storytelling basket! I’d like to implement something like that!

Your reflections have been so helpful as we are moving into first grade. Also, using sheet protectors with brads for the book seeds is so smart!

Logic Of English is really great if you want to look into that. It doesn't have a ton of parts and you can go as slow as your child needs. & there is a lot of parent support!

That's funny, my daughter hated explode the code ( we even pulled it aside for a while) at first and now she loves it 😄.

Thank-you so much for your full review and for the other videos you’ve filmed sharing pieces throughout the year! My girls and I will be starting this in the spring semester; they’ll be in second grade. This series sparked my great love of historical fiction back in elementary school, and later of genealogies. I think my girls will love it too. So glad y’all had a great year with this program!

My kids are so excited every time we pull out THSH nature study. If you're not already in the fb group it's helpful! I really like pulling out just a few weeks since my kids are so little, knowing that we cycle through it manyyy times over the next several years!

We did Montessori reading approach, and transitioned to Charlotte Mason readers and poems to help with pronouncing words they don't understand but can figure out with the rhyming. I do not teach grammar...there is no need and it may be an unpopular opinion...but I was a writing Tudor in college and never have I thought about adjectives and predicates 😂 not even in my day-to-day