I agree it's expensive. We don't have that kind of money. The Montessori school in our area is $850 a month. The classical Christian school is cheaper but not by much.

Thank you all who responded.

How would they teach reading?

I really like the idea of montesorri schooling. It definitely has structure to it with flexibility to boot. My DD 4.5 yrs. She is independent and wants to learn thing on her own. She does love for Mommy to read, and we do a lot of it, on a variety of subjects. I want her to have an relaxed eclectic education. She bores easy and needs variety. She is creative. So I try to be sensitive to her even though it is very different from how I learn

I'm just expLoring methods.

Thank you!

Maybe for him it easier to write it instead of talking about what he read. It was for me at that age.

Alphablocks, it's on YouTube. It's a series. It starts with alphabet sounds then the letters hold hands and sound out words.

What made you chose older math books verses newer?

I have been doing some of the first book with my DD. She is 4.5 and likes numbers.

I've just glanced at it today. Thank you for your response.

Thank you for your response! At first I was going to do Saxon but I found Ray's and I like it better. Doing the work orally for the word problems and math facts, it works for us.

I see a lot of people doing newer math programs. I'm just curious who is using the older ones and why?

At 3.5 my DD already knew the alphabet, their sounds and picked up short vowel sounds in a day. Even with that she wasn't ready to sit down for phonics lessons. She learned those with videos. I waited a couple months. I got Blend Phonics Pre primer and put the words on cards. She would do that but not till she was closer to 4. Blend phonics helped her feel like she was really reading because he used words not two letter blends. At 4.5 she can blend and read a lot if different types of words. She is happy to read her Bob books and lessons in McGuffey Primer. The primer introduces something new one thing, one lesson at a time. So the amount of words on a page won't overwhelm her.

It's a series. Type in Alphablocks season 1 episode 1. It starts with the alphabet. The letters make their sounds and when they hold hands they sound out the word. They actually have an entire phonics program that they sell but it's in the UK.

Don Potter has Blend Phonics which he offer for free on his website. His site has a lot of good information.

My 4.5 DD doesn't like the phonics lesson books. She really likes phonics video's on Youtube. Alphablocks start with alphabet and their sounds then when the letters hold hands they sound out the word. There are other phonics videos plus some have used Leap Frog Dvds.

Thanks Lori for the advice. The one I forgot to mention was and I'm sure you all heard it. What abut socialization? I ask, how much real socializing happens in a class room? We used to get in trouble for taking in class. So there isn't any there. Now they have 20/30 minutes for lunch? Recess for lower grades? What 15 minutes maybe? Before and after school, maybe? My daughter has friends and family to play with plus she is super social and will talk and play with anyone at the park or anywhere.

I'm using Ray's Arithmetic for my 4.5 yr old. We are doing it all orally. She isn't ready for writing work. I like it because it trains her to do it in her head. It's more real life to me. Ray's is free online.

I have people asking all the time about preschool. "Why isn't she in preschool". "Has she been tested to know which peer group she should be in." We live in a rural area. I guess it because of that people really push preschool or headstart. There wasn't any preschool when I was growing up on the west coast. I don't see what the allure is.

Thank you too all who responded. I'm feeling better about the whole thing. I've read through what is required legally. I have to fill out a short form. Only once. Give my home school a name, name and address of attendance keeper. Minimum 186 days. That's all till High School. I have been told that it's important to keep attendance records and copies of her work. To show just in case.

No, nothing like that. Just heard of homeschool horror stories. It just concerns me. Worrying is a bad habit of mine. My 2 sisters and other homeschoolers, I know, personally never had a problem.

Thanks for all the responses. I'm just really nervous about it.

I guess, I can just sign up with HSDLA and register our home school when she hits 7. Covering the legal aspect. I can work with her at her own pace at home.