Wow! Thank you so much for your detailed description of the items! It really helped. I purchased the workbook, teacher's guide, slate, chalkboard and double-lined paper. Will make our own sponges and break apart some chalk.

Great. Thank you so much for the information. I will go ahead and put 4 away and start on 5 and go from there. I'm glad I asked!

Hi everyone! So we are in lesson 4 of of Book 4 of ETC. We completed Book 3 recently, so I am fairly familiar with how it works. I am in the midst of lesson planning for the next few weeks, and I've noticed that some of the lessons, starting with lesson 6, seem to be a little more advanced than I was expecting. Not trying to underestimate my girls, but I am a bit concerned so I am allotting extra time for these lessons. We just learned syllables, and they do get it (and like doing them!) but the open and closed syllables seem a little confusing. TBH I don't even remember learning open and closed syllables :) I recall reading somewhere that some homeschoolers flip flop books 4 and 5, doing 5 first, because they claim 4 is more difficult. Does anyone here do that? I'm wondering if it's true. I do already have book 5 (my girls really like ETC so thus far we've been going through it pretty quickly, doing a lesson a day or over 2 days) so I could switch over 5. But if the lessons build on themselves I don't want to cause confusion. Guess I'm just looking for advice for those who've used ETC. Thanks! Tracy

Thank you for sharing! The whole-fisted writing approach is something she has always done. We've tried, and continue to try, various pencil grippers that teach her how to hold the pencil correctly. The problem is she tires out easily using them, usually after 10 minutes or so, just because it takes so much effort. And when she does use them, her handwriting is so light it's almost illegible. I'm hoping that with continued use of them, broken pieces of crayon (also recommended by the OT) and the HWT we will get somewhere. She has never liked to write, and complains any time she has to do so, and I'm thinking it ma be because writing is so uncomfortable for her. I'm contemplating adding in cursive next year. I know, for myself, the flow makes it much easier to write, and for longer periods of time. Her twin sister still flip-flops some letters (b/d, p, etc) so I'm hoping cursive will help with that as well.

I am definitely planning on getting the teacher's manual. The total package comes with a CD and the larger chalkboard, the slate, etc. I just didn't know if I needed all of those components.

Good to know. Thank you! I saw a few used slates at a local homeschool consignment shop for a few dollars so I may pick up one there. I'm going to forgo most of the other stuff. What about the paper? It looks like they use paper with different types of lines?

Hey everyone! As I mentioned in a few other posts, we are new to homeschooling having just started in January. My twins are 7 (November birthdays) and in first grade. One of my daughters has high-functioning autism and now that we home school we are looking into various therapists for her. We met with an OT yesterday who suggested Handwriting Without Tears at home. My daughter knows how to write. She can form all letters and numbers. However she still holds the pencil with a fist (something we are always working on correcting) and, according to the OT, has low muscle strength in her hand. Her writing is kind of all over the place. Either way too big or way too small, or both in the same word or sentence. She also has problems over-spacing words in a sentence. Anyways, I am looking at the curriculum and it's a bit overwhelming. Can someone tell me if the manipulatives are all necessary? I'm not interested in the wooden manipulatives because she does already know how to form letters. But the paper, slate chalkboard, blackboard, etc.? The first grade kit is $83 on Rainbow Resource, which is pretty expensive. I will do it, of course, but want to make sure each component is really necessary or if I can just buy the necessary items individually. Thank! Tracy

Thank you Wendy. I think I'm going to give it a pass. While I love the idea, I need to stick to things that will work!

I should probably add, as it may make a difference, that one of my twins has high functioning autism. Crafts and hands-on activities are sometimes difficult for her. We do an interactive language notebook and if her pieces aren't cut "just right" or it doesn't look "pretty" on her page (meaning centered correctly) she gets easily flustered and frustrated and then a meltdown can possibly occur. Even our weekly online art lessons, which are supposed to be for fun, ends up frustrating for her and I end up doing half of her drawing. So if there are a lot of hands on crafty-type activities I'm not sure if FIAR will be a good fit? I love the idea of lap books and crafts and things like that, but she seems to thrive on work when there is a definitive right or wrong answer, if that makes sense. Tracy

You all are wonderful. Truly. Thank you so much! It's great to get various opinions. I LOVE the idea of trying reading out in some other spots. My girls love forts and they would love a bathtub filled with pillows and their "stuffies" :) They are in a phase right now where they are into tornadoes, so I picked up the Magic Treehouse Twister on Tuesday. They weren't quite as interested at first, until we started actually talking about the tornado, but they brought up the book a few times since so maybe they are listening more than I am giving them credit for. But often I ask them a question about something I literally just read and they look at me with blank stares. But I feel like we are getting somewhere! They still like some pictures. I purchased The Secret Garden by Illustrated Classics. It's a much condensed version of the original, and with nice pictures. They seem relatively excited about it. And one of my girls is obsessed with all things horses and unicorns so we have a Magic Pony book lined up as well. Hopefully the further away they get from public school the more they will enjoy it. They seem to appreciate being able to pick the topics. Whatever works! I'm not sure if they are much for busy work or activities. Workbooks work surprisingly well for them, although I don't do them too often. They also like their interactive notebooks and listening to instruction. They don't sit well for My America and My World! Thanks again! Tracy

Hello! My 7 year old twin daughters have only been homeschooled since the beginning of 2017. So far things are going really well. They are adjusting quite nicely to the curriculum (Explode the Code, FLL, Draw Write Now, Math Mammoth, etc) but we sit down at our dining room table most of the time and I am missing that image in my mind of snuggling on the couch with books and making school a little bit more fun and less "school like", at least for some of the time. I've read very positive reviews on Five In A Row and I'm thinking about giving it a try. My only concern is that my girls are not, and have never been, very good listeners. They know how to read, are good readers and good at phonics. It's just a general lack of interest. Things have gotten better recently as I've started picking up books based more on their interests and less on my idea of great children's literature. We've gotten through two Magic Tree House books and are now reading Grimms Rapunzel. Anyways, I'm a little concerned about trying to make a unit study out of books they may not have any interest in. Of course my hope is for the opposite to happen and they find a newfound appreciation for books when we make them multi-purpose instead of me trying to read while they are not paying attention. I'm still not entirely comfortable in my new role as homeschooling mommy so I prefer a curriculum with the teachers instructions laid out for me versus trying to create something myself. I guess I'm seeking opinions based on our situation. Thanks! Tracy

Good question. I am so not scientist-y :) I have a liberal arts degree for a reason! I am paranoid that they are not getting a well-rounded education, and I don't want my lack of interest in science to impede on their learning. I feel like we should be doing something.

Hello! Per our state regulations my newly homeschooled first graders will have to take a standardized test in April. Right now they take a once-a-week hourly homeschoo science class through our Y and and that's pretty much it for science. However I'm worried about the standardized test. Does anyone know what kinds of science questions (physical,life,health...) may be on these tests? Or do you have a good first grade science curriculum to recommend? Thanks! Tracy

THANK YOU!! You don't know how freeing that is. I was trying to read Little House in the Big Woods to them a few weeks ago and they just were not interested. At that point I almost gave up but then, based on a recent fascination with the Titanic, I picked up the "Tonight on the Titanic" Magic Treehouse book and finally found something they were interested and engaged in. While they didn't pay attention through the entire book, overall it was a vast improvement. Yesterday we rented "Twister on Tuesday" by the same series as they are also fascinated with tornadoes. I'm going to stop forcing the comprehension part and trying to follow specific literature lists and just let them steer me in the right direction on what chapter books to read aloud. I'm hoping that, over time and with the right content, we will get to a point where the comprehension because more natural and we can go from there. I put away our comprehension workbooks! :)

And thank you again everyone for your responses! I'm taking it all in. I've been researching Writing With Ease and I think I'm going to give it a try.

When I say comprehension, I mean that there seems to be a disconnect, almost a lack of interest, in the book. They are very good readers, a d read above grade level per their previous teacher, but seem to space out (for lack of a better term) when I read to them. When they read to me, they read very well but struggle with answering basic questions about the book without quite a bit of prompting. They read fast but it's like the content isn't really sinking in, if that makes sense. Reminds me of my college years when I had to read books that just did not interest me and I would have to re-read the same paragraphs over and over in an effort to actually retain the information.

You are probably right. We've had really good luck with Explode the Code and Reading Eggs, both of which seem to help quite a bit with their reading. The other problem is that they have never really enjoyed being read to. I actually posted about that on here a few weeks ago. I've started reading the Magic Tree House books to them based on their interests (Titanic last week, tornadoes currently) and it's really helping as they seem to finally enjoy, and comprehend, what is being read to them.

Okay so I will drop spelling and the reading comprehension (except Aesop's Fables, as they do enjoy the stories) and probably the writing. We will focus on Explode the Code, handwriting and the FLLOTWTM, since they do seem to be responding to it well thus far and we like the stories in it. Dropping the spelling, writing and comprehension will give us time for more reading for enjoyment. I will probably look more into spelling next year, after we finish up all of the Explode the Code books.

Wow! Thank you all so much! It does feel like we don't have time for many fun things because I have this long list of work to get done each day and by the time those things are finished the girls, and I, are over it and ready for the end of the day. I assumed we should work on comprehension because it's one area where both of their previous teachers' said they struggled in. I always thought that was silly. They were in kindergarten and sometimes it's difficult enough to figure out how to read the words. To expect full comprehension is a little much imo. So should I put off FLLOTWTM? We were a few weeks into our first grade Kumon writing workbook when we got stuck on a section that involved nouns and punctuation, so I added FLLOTWTM because I assumed we needed to work on those things. Is this something we should continue working on? They are responding pretty well to it, but we just completed lesson 7 today so we are very early in the book. Tracy

Hi everyone! I'm still new to homeschooling, having pulled my 7 year old twin daughters out of public school first grade right before winter break. I wanted to get everyone's opinions or suggestions on language arts. I'm a bit confused! Right now we do grammar (First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind), and an Interactive Notebook that goes along with those lessons. We also do Explode the Code (getting ready to start book 4) and Reading Eggs for phonics, Sequential Spelling, Draw-Write-Now for handwriting and a Kumon writing workbook. And we do a Daily Comprehension workbook where they read a short passage and circle/write answers pertaining to the story, as well as A Beka Aesop's Fables for comprehension. So we do grammar, spelling, writing, handwriting, phonics and reading comprehension (in addition to actually reading books, of course). It seems like several of these cross over each other. For example, the girls practice quite a bit of spelling while doing Explode the Code and the writing workbook. Handwriting is being worked on throughout the day, not just Draw Write Now. It's starting to feel a little like some of this is just busy work, as so far they aren't really struggling with any of it. Granted I'm starting in the middle of a school year so some of our current lessons may be overlapping what they have already learned. I guess I'm trying to figure out if each of these alone are necessary? Is there one well-rounded Language Arts curriculum? Or does everyone do each component separately like we are? Sorry if this is a silly question! :) Tracy

Thank you all so very much for all of the responses and suggestions. I greatly appreciate it and know that I'm making notes and researching the suggestions! A little about my little ASD daughter. She does receive speech therapy. She was receiving EC behavioral therapy in PS. Her ASD is listed as "mild" per her developmental pediatrician. She does not have a learning disability however she is quite stubborn and just does not "go with the flow" easily. If she isn't interested, she flat out isn't interested. Makes learning difficult! She also needs a lot of one-on-one attention. She seems to lack self-confidence and won't do much independent work because she needs me there patting her on the back and whispering good job for her to want to continue. Being read to is something neither of my daughters have been interested in. One of my twins is typically developing and she too has a complete lack of interest. Today, while at Target, I asked them to pick out a book and they picked out one of the Magic Treehouse books. It's a start! I started Little House in the Big Woods this morning and then asked and both would rather I read it to them at night before bed so that's what we did. I stopped periodically in the chapter to show them the little pictures and ask questions. They didn't whine but didn't seem to be paying attention either. I'm hoping that adding some fun printouts to coincide with the book will get them excited. If not, I will give it a few more days and then try the Magic Treehouse book. My ASD DD is obsessed with Rapunzel (the Disney-fied version) and I think we own just about every Rapunzel-related book and object! :) As for SOTW, I now feel better about shelving it for awhile. I think that, as a first time homeschooling parent, I am just overly paranoid that I'm missing something or that I am not giving them a well-rounded education. I'm sure my self-confidence will grow once I get more comfortable in my new role. My DD with ASD definitely prefers colorful workbooks so that's mostly what we use. Math Mammoth and Explode the Code are going pretty well along with those workbooks (Spelling, Writing and Language Arts), and they do enjoy reading to us daily although they both have struggled with comprehension so that is something we are working on. We go to the library weekly so I let them pick out their readers. I love the Well-Trained Mind and yes, it is difficult to not want to jump right in and do every suggestion right now! But I need to focus on what works for my girls and do away with the perfect homeschooling fantasy! ;) Tracy

Hello! I am new to this forum and new to homeschooling. I just pulled my 7 year old twin daughters out of public school right before winter break and we officially started homeschooling on January 3rd. One of my girls has high functioning autism and was having a lot of difficulties in the classroom. Homeschooling is going great so far, except for one problem...my girls have a complete lack of interest when it comes to my reading aloud to them. We've been reading to them since they were infants so it's not like they haven't been exposed. I didn't realize how much this would affect things until homeschool. I purchased The Story of the World and I was excited to get started but they just do not want to listen and pay attention. They whine, moan and groan and fidget and therefore retain nothing. Same thing with pretty much any book I read to them, and we've tried a variety. I would like to start a unit study on Little House in the Big Woods and in my fantasy I picture the three of us cuddling on my bed reading a chapter or two a day and then doing lap books or fun activities based on the book but I just don't see it happening. Anyone else have children like mine? I'm wondering if maybe we would have more success with audio books? I prefer to read to them, but if an audio book would hold their interest I would gladly do it. I notice that The Story of the World is available on audio CDs so I'm thinking about giving it a try but I thought I would post here from some of the "been there/done that" parents that have more experience than I do for some advice first. Thanks! Tracy