Are there any books you liked/didn't like? Thanks! Lisa

Thank you Jane. Do you just show them the card and have them say the sound? Do you give examples of words with that phonogram or have them spell words? Or is the point just to be able to develop immediate recognition with that sound and move on? Thanks again! Lisa

Title says it all. I am not using them with a particular program, so I'm not sure if there's an effective way to use them. I have the Spalding ones. Lisa

I've been trying to read my PMs and I can't! I need to send someone paypal money and their email address is in a PM.

Thank you Julie. Part of me is thinking about Elson Readers in addition to read alouds/audiobooks of quality books. I already have SOTW and planned on reading that! You are all making me feel better at taking it slow.

Thanks for your advice. This is why I have hesitated in looking at lit programs. I have not required any reading on his part over the summer, as I was doing REWARDS Intermediate. It was great, but we will follow up with REWARDS Secondary. It's very easy to get overwhelmed by all of the choices. My friend who homeschools has reminded me that this year is to get him reading on grade level. She said all of the other stuff is a bonus. It's certainly hard after reading WTM. SWB really needs to write a book for struggling learners!

Okay, I think I understand. I can buy the instructor's guide and pick and choose the books. Thanks for helping!

Wow. Sonlight is extremely expensive. The website overwhelms me! Aren't there lit guides that I can use that would be less expensive?

Thanks for the suggestions. We are almost finished with REWARDS Intermediate and loved it. It really helped him to take his time and "read" the words instead of guessing. I am actually going to follow up with REWARDS Secondary because of the more difficult vocabulary. I am also doing Don Potter's Blend Phonics and will follow up with Webster's Speller. I really think much of his problem is reading via sight words. He just guesses at larger words. Blend Phonics is helping with that definitely. And I'm sure Webster's Speller will as well. For fluency and comprehension (which ds really struggles with), I bought Reading Assistant through the co-op and Lindamood Bell's Visualizing and Verbalizing. But... That's where I like the idea of narration and outlining and notebooking. Because I'm new to this, I don't know quite how to do all of that. But, if ds learns to do comprehend and express himself in increments (maybe WWE or an old-fashioned Reader), he may actually improve dramatically. He has had many years of relying on sight words and good behavior in the ps. Now, it's time for him to believe in himself and gather the skills that he never knew he had. So, back to literature. This is a boy who hasn't completed a novel in years. He would start, but never finish. The amount of books I bought this boy to try to find "his genre". He has heard me read TONS of books aloud, though. Off to check into Sonlight. Thanks again. I am astounded at the help all of you have been to me. ETA: We will also be using IEW!

This is my first year of homeschooling. Ds is a 7th grader and reads at a fourth grade level. I am feeling very good about the many decisions I have made so far, except literature. I don't want to overwhelm him. Many of the lit programs have tons of books to read. I also think I want a literature based history program to kill two birds with one stone. How should I handle this? Another note. I really like WTM's need to do copywork, narration, dictation, outline, notebook. This is not something he is used to (coming from ps), but I think it could really help him. Any ideas how do go about this? We are currently using Spelling Wisdom, which is fabulous. I am trying to keep my goal simple this year. Get him reading on grade level. Because of this board and all of your support and wisdom, I know I can do it. Homeschooling wasn't even a consideration when I first stumbled across this board. Thanks to all of you. Lisa

I just saw this the other day also. I would love to hear some reviews. Anyone?

I tell dd the three levels she can use during her Starfall time. I also tell her she must go from left to right, learning the lessons. I actually just printed off an entire workbook/journal; we'll see how that goes. We're doing more structured stuff, so it may just be fun work on the go.

Yes, I do. I use Spelling Wisdom, though. The title and author are at the top of the page and we discuss the author's history and importance. HTH!

The Tale of Despereaux was my all time favorite read aloud. Actually, anything by Kate DiCamillo. Because of Winn Dixie is fabulous too. Of course, we read these before the movies came out. Have fun reading!

My 10 yr old ds has been obsessed with Japan for 6 years! I don't think it's a passing phase for your son. Dh got him Japanese language software, but we haven't used it yet. It's not for kids though; I don't think it's going to work well. I did just see a program recently, but I think it was for preschoolers. We just took ds to the art museum again, so he can see the Japanese section. And we're repeating a vacation at a New York family camp, because they have Japanese culture sharing there! He just had a Japanese birthday party! It was a blast. Enjoy your son and Bob!

How about one more idea for you. Miquon with Singapore. It's a really neat program. Here is a chart of their overlapping concepts... http://www.singmath.com/SM_Miquon.htm I am using a mixture of for my two younger ps'd kids, but am intrigued by Miquon. I also have the RS al abacus (love it).

Okay, bear with me. Itunes will automatically recognize and allow up to six ipods. I don't need to do anything special? This is good news. Thanks for the heads up on searching for a specific book!

Okay - just got out my set. It is definitely too difficult for her now. But, I will check out the original HOP for her. Thanks again. Lisa

You know, I actually have a Master Reader set from a few years ago!! I think that might be perfect for their situation! Thanks for the idea - it's fabulous. :001_smile: Lisa

Thank you everyone! Let me see if I got this straight... Only one ipod per computer. That's really disappointing, especially for those of us with larger families. I don't have that many computers. :001_huh: I still can't figure out how to see itunes audiobooks directly on his ipod touch. Only songs and podcasts show up. So bummed... Thanks again! Lisa

My cousin has asked for advice. She has a rising fourth grader (going to ps) and wants to work with her on reading. By my observations, she doesn't read higher than a 2nd grade level. She reads cap like camp, sad like sand. She needs to learn basic phonic and retrain her eyes to track from left to right. My cousin won't want anything too hands on and complicated. I just received AAS 1 and 2 in the mail today. I was thinking of letting her use that and my PP book. Would Blend Phonics or Word Mastery be better? I feel like both of them would need the rules explained explicitly. Can you recommend a computer site or software? This is a STUBBORN girl; I'd like some of it to be enjoyable, but not too babyish. Thanks!

Please help me! I am so clueless about all of this. Ds has an ipod touch with songs on it. We would like to get some audiobooks on there for him, but his computer has crashed (itunes account was on there). Can he download audiobooks directly from the ipod touch? When we do an itunes search, only songs and podcasts show up. Also, can there be two itunes accounts on one computer? My account and playlists are on my laptop. Can he have a separate account on my computer? Will all of his current songs on the ipod have to be erased in order to do that? Thanks! :) Lisa

You ladies are fabulous! I have downloaded some stories from storynory, librivox and audible kids. I'll be sure to check out the rest! Lisa

This was a great link. I saw it when you first posted it. Just picked up my copies of MEP workbooks/manuals from Staples. So excited to start. Wish we weren't leaving for vacation tomorrow... Lisa