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How exciting! We'll be doing Preparing next and I'm so excited! We are finishing up Bigger and its been a wonderful year!

What do you mean you laminate the book? Just the outside with contact paper? Yes, just a cold laminate with clear contact paper. For the manual it still lays flat, but I never leave it open with my two toddlers around. I haven't found any need to mark the pages. I'm only doing one guide and we have...

I found round labels that are white with a colored band on the edge. I write what I want in the center so it shows on the spine. All the books have the same color that matches the manual. Then I laminate the books. The label is nice to see from a distance that its a school book and then I can put th...

I've covered all my books in contact paper. They all look new despite the attempts to "destroy" them by my 1 & 2 yr olds. First day of school a slobbery baby hand grabbed the manual! At least weekly something happens that makes me glad I went through the trouble to cover everything. I've covered and...

DITHOR can use any book. The book packs have great selections, but you can buy a book at a time or use your library for books. You can get a book list through HOD with lots of recommendations for the different genres by level. You could take the list to the library to find good books. I'd try to get...

Wonderful post! I will have two in Preparing next school yr as well and I've been wondering how to juggle it.

We got our Preparing box on Friday as well! We are all excited! I finished my labeling and laminating process. My 8 yr old asked me if she could have the books when she has kids to homeschool them.

I include my little ones in every way. I have a one and two yr old and things can get crazy if not involved in our routine. When my girls are doing math or other seat work, my boys are coloring. My baby loves crayons and washable markers. I have my two yr old work on pages I laminated. My baby tries...

My second DD sounds like yours. Very high reading and comprehension. We are doing Bigger for her 3rd grade yr and its been great. I was beautifully advised to stay on level with her reading. Even though she can read at a high level, the emotional maturity isn't there. She is very mature, but sensiti...

I did chocolate chips and had my 8 yr old nearly in tears! We ended up having a great conversation and gave them back the cc to "support their family" by sharing with little brother. They had a lively story to tell Daddy when he got home! Loved this lesson and I hope it sticks to their hearts!

This is our first yr with HOD and I combined my girls who are 16 months apart in Bigger. They are in 3rd and 4th grade. My oldest has a speech delay, so in some ways her sister excells in skills like narration. I've loved having them together. They do everything together including their math. I actu...

I'm coming in a little late, but my girls are the same ages as yours and doing Bigger together. We do everything together but dictation and personal reading. I chose to do the English together and have them answer every other question. For narration I chose one and then have the other expand on what...

A girl after my own heart. I covered all "my" books and I'm so glad I spent the effort. With two little boys in the house I've wiped several covers clean in the last month. My books would have looked quite icky from slobbery hands and sticky toddler fingers!

Amazing! I'm hoping to see similar results with my non-natural speller. Within our first two weeks she is doing her capitalization and punctuating properly. Between dictation and R&S she's finally got it!

Looks like great fun! It took me a bit to figure out you were in Unit 5. I was mildly freaking out scanning my manual thinking I had missed the sand painting and how did THAT happen. We'll be there soon!