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I’m one of those weirdos that gets excited about buying school supplies. I get giddy with the smell of new crayons, the sight of clean un-crinkled pads of paper, the feel of never-opened textbooks. Call the guys with the straight jackets — I’m too far gone for help. 
Before the actual shopping is the almost-as-good, pre-shopping, making-of-the-list. The point where I sit down and research curriculum options, compare, and make my list of things to buy. My pencil and pad are better than chocolate! Well, almost. 
So I’ve got my list and I’m ready to shop, shop, shop! Last year I bought most of our books online and I’ll probably do the same thing again this year. Princess will be going into second grade and Drama Queen will beginning Kindergarten. Their school year will probably look a lot like this:
PRINCESS
- Math: Math-U-See, Beta Level
- Spelling: A Reason For, Level C
- Handwriting: A Reason For, Transition Level
- Grammar: First Language Lessons For The Well-Trained Mind, Grade 1 &2
- Science: A Reason For, Level A; Group Project – A Great Big Book of Everything; Gardening
- History: The Story of the World, Ancient Times
- Piano: Piano Lessons by James Sebastien, Primer Level
- Art: A ‘How to Draw Animals’ book
DRAMA QUEEN:
- Math/Language Arts: The Complete Book of Alphabet and Numbers
- History: Follow along and participate in activities with Princess
- Science/Art: A Great Big Book of Everything (Joint project with Princess. A book we are making together.)
You may notice that the handwriting, spelling, and science for Princess are all made by A Reason For. We’ve never used this before, but I ordered and looked over the brochures and these are something that I am really excited about. I’d definitely recommend looking over their website – at least for the language arts skills. I’m also considering getting Drama Queen a few of their readers.
In a few weeks all those school books will coming streaming in through the mail and they’ll each get stacked neatly on the shelf in anticipation. Ahh, the euphoria.
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First, I have to say that I am glad to see that I am not the only one who gets excited about school supplies. I was the same way with office supplies when I worked outside the home, too. I used to go by the supply cabinet everyday to see if there was anything I *needed*.
I have used A Reason for Science (level c) and A Reason for Handwriting (transition level). Both were great.
My son, who was in second grade then, loved the handwriting.
I loved the science because it came with all of the materials to do the experiments. It seems like it is too simple to be complete, but it really contains a lot of information.
And since they are actually doing something, not just reading about it, they seemed to retain it a lot better. (Imagine that!)
I used it with a 2nd and 3rd grader, together.
The internet is great, too, for any topic you want to expand on.
ROFLOL!!! ME TOO!! Would ya believe I wandered around Staples today, “just to see”?? A sales clerk kept asking me if I needed help finding something! lol I LOVE shopping for school supplies and curriculum. Those lists….ahhhhh….I love lists….I make lots of lists….
We have used A Reason For Writing (now Handwriting) for ten years. It’s the only handwriting curriculum I’ve ever used and all of my kids love/d it. I just realized that your kids are the same ages as mine. D1 is going into 2nd grade and D2 is going into Kindergarten too. We also use MUS and we’re covering Ancients this year too (just not with SOTW, though I’ve used that too!) I love this time of year!!
Thanks, Charity!! I really want to get the science, I love the fact that it comes with the special materials included. It’s just a matter of fitting it into the budget. If not, we’ll you’re right. There’s a whole lot out there on the internet!
Cool!! I’m excited about the Reason For stuff.. I was already having Princess write memory verses as part of her work, and this just looks even better! I planned on starting SOTW last year but never was able to get the curriculum. But now I am planning on using it with both girls this year and keeping them on the same subject, just tailoring it differently towards their learning levels (mostly just involving the kindergartener on the story-telling and some hands on activities.) I think this is a better plan anyway because I get to keep them on the same cycle each year rather than having them on different topics. Drama Queen will absorb whatever she absorbs and whatever she doesn’t, well, we’ll get back around to Ancient History in a few years and she’ll get it then. But really, I think she’ll absorb a lot because who can’t get interested in pyramids and mummies!
In the meantime, it’ll be a lot easier on me– and I like that!! 
Very cool.
[...] in on Saturday. I’m praying it goes well and I’m able to make some money for more school books. That’s two birds with one stone. More books, less clothes to keep up [...]