We are HOD users and use Christian Light (http://clp.org) for Language Arts and Reading. We have had great success with Christian Light. We do use the DITHOR books as we love her choices for literature! They are fantastic! HTH

I have tried HST, and I vote for OLLY. It's amazing, and the new update just came out, which made it absolutely perfect for me. It would be difficult to find anything easier with more features than OLLY. If you try OLLY, use the weekly view to enter assignments. The monthly view gets full and runs slowly. HTH! :)

We homeschool year round. We are on week 21 of LHFHG and LOVING IT! I have a 7yo dd and 5yo ds in the program, with my 3yo tagging along. They all look forward to it every day. The activities are a HUGE hit around here. They really help the lessons to "stick" in their memories. Out of the blue the other day my 5yo son said, "Mom, I LOVE homeschool!!" Today he said "These activities are SOOOO much fun! I just LOVE them!" The huge smiles on their faces confirm that HOD is a winner in our house! They are learning a ton and having fun doing it! My 7yo just finished the emerging readers which were amazing, and just started level 2 DITHOR. We are thrilled with DITHOR as well. Carrie's book choices are top notch, although you can use anything you choose. Truly HOD is an answer to prayer for us! :) Anita

Here is a link to some great free printables to use with Seeds Family Worship Memorization. HTH! :) http://www.biblestoryprintables.com/BibleVerseVisualsSeeds.html

We love love love Seeds Family Worship. If you have a MOG subscription, some of the Seeds albums are on MOG.

Oh, just my opinion, but I would use K with both of them. It's very "meaty" with the added literature/library suggestions and the suggestions on the MFW K message boards. I would hate to miss K, and both of my olders (same ages as yours) are just loving it! :) MFW 1 has a lot more writing. I have glanced at the TM for 1st, but not close enough to see if phonics can be sep. Anyway, I wouldn't overload myself and the kids with K and 1 at the same time. Especially if my oldest is just now officially beginning K.....

Hi! We are using MFW K (half way through it) and LOVE it! MFW is such a blessing to our family! We are also "conservative" and chose not to use Sonlight for the same reasons that you stated, so I completely understand. I have a dd age 5 1/2, ds age 3 1/2, and ds almost 2. Sounds like our children are about the same ages. I can not tell you how much we have enjoyed MFW K! My daughter and middle son both actively participate. We use the science/history/geog. portion, along with calendar, numbers, and some of the phonics games. The children have all learned a ton. I love how MFW ties in the Bible with each lesson,and the children remember those lessons so well. It has made for some amazing discussions that I never though would come up at this age. So to us, using MFW K has been priceless! We are not using the phonics with my daughter. Her reading was already above the level of MFW once we began the program. She is excelling with Christian Light's Learning To Read Program along with their Language Arts (another incredible program-workbook based). http://clp.org/store/by_course/150 http://clp.org/store/by_course/151 She does well with workbooks. I do believe that MFW K phonics may work better with my younger 2, however my middle son already knows all of his letters and sounds and is beginning to write letters. I will probably begin the MFW K phonics soon with him to see how it goes. In MFW K it's super easy to separate the phonics from the other parts, if you decide to use another phonics program. I'm wondering how easy this is to do with MFW 1st, and I'm not sure about that yet. Hope this helps. If you decide to use MFW, take advantage of their message boards on their website. There is a TON of info and amazing ideas from those who have used the program. I check it before I begin each unit. This program is a God-send. Please let me know if I can help in any way! :) Anita

I LOVE LOVE LOVE the Well Planned Day Planner. :) http://www.wellplannedday.com/plannerswpd1011.html

Lauri ABC puzzles and other toys by Lauri Jumbo Stacking Pegs Toy trains/cars Puzzles Wooden lacing beads Large bowl of rice or pasta with spoons, cups, toys, etc. in it Playdoh Clay Quercetti Fantacolor Junior!! Beans in a bowl with spoon the transfer to another bowl

I have used MFW and reviewed Sonlight and MFW TMs again today at our homeschooling fair. I have to say that for me MFW is the clear winner. Not only is it well organized, but it has everything that we were looking for in a curriculum. What helped me the most was hearing David speak about MFW. It answered many of my questions. I can tell you where to hear him speak if you think that would help. Just pm me if you would like to listen. :)

Beautiful room! Love how you organized the closet! I have to go back and look again so that I can be inspired with some great ideas for our room. :)

We love these for Bible!! BJU Bible Truths Grade 1 Positive Action Bible K and 1 Christian Light Bible Grade 1 My Father's World Curriculum

The Bible Rod And Staff Read Aloud Chapter and Short Story Books The Empty Pot/Demi (Oh NO...there are WAY more than 3!) LOL

I have looked at this curriculum, and it seems to be the same as Horizon Preschool curriculum. I believe that both of these curriculum were created from Weaver Interlock, but unlike Weaver Interlock the other 2 include workbooks. HTH. :)

The things that are working very well for us are: CLE Math CLE Learning to Read and Language Arts (My dd hugs her light units and declares her devotion! LOL!) My Father's World K Five In A Row We are just beginning Positive Action For Christ and CLE Bible. Both seem amazing so far!

MFW K is awesome! We are having so much fun with it, and both of my children ages 3 1/2 and 5 1/2 have learned a TON! We are supplementing with Christian Light Learning To Read as well. They are working very nicely together. I am using some of the phonics things from MFW with my 3 yo, but my 5yo is way beyond the phonics in MFW. We love CLE LTR. If you do decide to use MFWK, I highly recommend getting on the MFW website and getting onto the K forum. You will find TONS of great creative idea on there for each lesson from MFW K. Hope this helps. :) Anita

Thanks! This is great info. I just "happen to" have Phonic Pathways 9th Edition checked out from the library. Yea! Tried this trick tonight and the bed idea seems to have WORKED already! WOOHOOOOO! Thanks again everyone!! I love this forum! ;)

Does anyone have any suggestions for how you made the lowercase b and d recognized successfully by your child? May be having problems with lowercase p and q as well. LOL. Have tried a few things, but still seem to be having issues with these two. What has worked for you? Any good "tricks"? Thanks, Anita

Had not seen the Faber My First Piano Adventures. Went to their website and saw videos about it. Looks great! WOW. Also, saw the online Piano Adventures Primer Teaching Guide With Videos, which increased my interest. How neat! Has anyone use this with a student who has moved on into Piano Adventures Primer? http://faberpiano.com/guide/ Of course they have the online video lesson guide for the My First Piano Adventures as well. http://faberpiano.com/myfirst/videoguide.html I'm excited about this one! Thanks for all of the great advice! :)

Does anyone have any suggestions for a series of piano instruction books that they just love using for their 5 year old? My daughter is very interested in learning to play, and I took piano for years and am able to teach her. Just not sure what books might be best for her age. I am considering "Music For Little Mozarts" and "Music In Me". Small samples of both can be viewed at christianbook.com. Does anyone have experience using either of these, or any other piano instruction books for this age? I am leaning towards Music In Me, but not sure if they may not be age appropriate for her? Thanks! :) Anita

I am using Five In A Row with my children (2 1/2 and 4 1/2) and they both LOVE it. Of course, the 4 1/2 year old is getting a little more out of it, but they are both developing a love of reading using this exciting literature (unit study) approach. They look forward to it every day. The TM is inexpensive on the used curriculum boards, and I have been able to find almost every book for Volume 1 though our library system. It can be as in depth or as gentle as you choose to make it. There are so many options using this curriculum. There is also a FIAR board where many who have already studied the books post incredible ideas. Homeschoolshare.com is another great site to use with FIAR for additional ideas. There is a Christian/Bible supplement for FIAR that you can purchase separately if you choose to use it. This supplement has wonderful ideas for weaving in Bible with each book. Here is a link for FIAR with a books list and sample. http://fiveinarow.com/FIVEINAROW.html HTH. Wishing you a year filled with fun learning.... :) Anita

Thanks so much, Tracy and Betsy. I was hoping to hear this, because there are things that I really like about CLE that I am not finding elsewhere. So if I can teach number bonds on my on, and CLE teaches other math "tricks", that may be the best thing for us. I can't wait to look at the link you gave. Very encouraging!

So does Singapore Standard Ed. use US measurements like the US edition does? And for those using Horizon Math, does it also teach ways to do math mentally, not just teaching by memorization of facts alone. Does Horizon use things like number bonds in Singapore or how the "9 always wants to be a 10" in MUS? http://www.singaporemath.com/v/vspfiles/assets/images/sp_pmhig1b2.pdf Has anyone used CLE for a few years who can tell me if it teaches in these (mental math) ways as well? Thanks to everyone who has responded so far. I appreciate it very much. :)

Anyone have words of wisdom? :)

I am new to homeschooling and trying to find the math program that is the best fit for us. Color or the lack of it doesn't seem to be an issue with my oldest, so that's not really a factor in our decision. I want to use a strong math program that teaches all of the necessary info (of course), however I don't want one that only teaches facts and memorization. I understand the importance of memorizing the facts, however I really want our children to be able to understand math and to be able to visualize it utilizing mental math. I hope that makes sense.... So....we have three children, the oldest of whom knows her numbers, shapes, can count in the hundreds, and is showing a strong desire to learn more math. We have two younger ones as well. We have pattern blocks, cuisenaire rods, and other manipulatives. Anyway, I have researched the many math programs and here are some that we are leaning towards from the various samples and/or reviews online. CLE: I have read that most everyone who uses it likes it, and has had good success long term with it. I also like that it is Christ centered and seems to be very thorough. However, I am wondering if CLE math mostly teaches fact memorization as you progress through their curriculum. I have a 100 level teachers guide, but can't tell from this early level if they introduce things like number bonds or grouping things mentally in order to make math easier and more fun. I would really appreciate some insight from CLE math curriculum users. Singapore: I was able to look briefly at some of the early/primer Singapore books. At the time I just didn't like they way they looked (although I don't remember what I didn't like specifically). LOL. I was not able to see the advancing levels at that time, but have since found some samples online. I LOVE the way Singapore uses number bonds. Does Singapore use other things like this in order to help students visualize math? For those of you who have used Singapore for a long time, do you feel that it covers all of the necessary topics for high school and college math? Do you think that your children have been well prepared using Singapore? My only other Singapore question is regarding their different editions. I have heard to get the homeschool edition of the TM. Also to use the US edition. And they also have a standards edition? Do they have a US standards editions, and what are the benefits to using the standards edition? . Also, someone on the boards recently recommended Miquon, and I have seen that many people use Miquon and Singapore together. I am not sure that I want to use more than one program at this point though, along with manipulatives and perhaps some fun games as well. For those who have used Miquon and Singapore, do you think it might be best to begin young children in Miquon and the start Singapore in a year or two? Sorry for so many questions, but I know that I have a lot to learn from those who are experienced homeschooler. Thank so much! Anita