CLE math 1 uses those number rhymes, except 5 is 'down the trunk and around the tree, add a branch it's five you see' and a few other differences. Alphabet Island has great rhymes for the lower case letters. Here's a few of our favorites: For Active 'A' draw a circle nice and round. Close it up and come back down. 'C' comes before 'd', so start with a 'c' to make Dancing 'D'. Now a line to the top, then come back down and stop. To make Everloving 'E' just like that, first draw a line that is flat. Then circle back like a 'c'. Oh! You did that perfectly! For Goofy 'G' start with a 'c', now close it up as tight as can be. Then down you go below the line, and add a hook to his fishing line. Sloppy 'S' is quite a sight First circle left and then circle right. Handwriting Help For Kids has some good ones for capitals, but they don't rhyme. The one for A is 'down the slide, down the slide, walk across the bridge'. My boys like those ones, too. HTH!

MFW1 moves very quickly with little review, IMO. I suggest waiting until she is blending and reading cvc words without difficulty first, either with MFWK or something else. Even then, you may need to take it slowly with MFW1 and supplement with extra practice and other easy readers. HTH!

Whatever you do, don't get The Messenger: The Story of Joan of Arc starring Milla Jovovich. I wish I had never seen it as a kid and years later I dread the images in my head from this movie.

How exciting for you! We loved MFW K! Be sure to check out the MFW message boards and the yahoo groups for more ideas and helpful stuff. My oldest has many good memories of our first year of homeschooling with MFW K. Happy Homeschooling Box Of Books Day to you! ;)

Here's some free online readers: I See Sam books Progressive Phonics (You have to register for free.) http://Starfall.com also has printable readers. Here's a library book list: Step Into Reading Level 1: 6 Sticks Big Egg Cat Traps Ducks in Muck Hot Dog I Like Bugs I Like Stars Jack and Jill and Big Dog Bill See the Yak Yak The Berenstain Bears Big Bear, Small Bear The Berenstain Bears go in and out The Berenstain Bears go up and down Real Kids Readers Level 1: Big Ben Dress Up Hop, Skip, Run I am Mad! I Like Mess I Like to Win! Mud! My Pal Al No New Pants! Spots The Big Box The New Kid The Pet Vet Wash Day Green Light Readers Level 1: Dot and Bob Rick is Sick Sam and Jack Jack and Rick A New Home Jan has a Doll Down on the Farm The Van Just Clowning Around What I see Popcorn Todd’s Box Get up, Rick! Other books: Hop on Pop Go, Dog, Go The Foot Book Old Hat, New Hat My First I Can Read Book: Bathtime for Biscuit Biscuit Biscuit and the Baby Biscuit and the Little Pup Biscuit finds a Friend Biscuit goes to School Biscuit wants to play Biscuit wins a prize Biscuit’s Big Friend Biscuit’s day at the Farm Biscuit’s New Trick Chicken said, “Cluck!†Go away, Dog How Many Fish? I See, You Saw Loose Tooth Oh, Cats! Pedro’s Burro Ruby bakes a Cake Sid and Sam Splish, Spash! The Day I had to play with my Sister Thump and Plunk What’s that, Mittens? Whose Hat is it? Green Light Reader Level 1: Rip’s Secret Spot Sometimes Come Here, Tiger! The Tapping Tale The Big, Big Wall Best Friends What day is it? Lost! Big Pig and Little Pig Cloudy Day Sunny Day Six Silly Foxes Daniel’s Pet Big Brown Bear Rabbit and Turtle go to School Step into Reading, Level 1: Boats! Mouse Makes Words Wheels! The Pup Speaks Up Elmo says Achoo! Too Many Dogs The Snowball Sunshine, Moonshine Babe the Sheep Pig: Oops, Pig! Watch your step, Mr. Rabbit! There is a Town Linda D. Williams books: (1-3 sentences per page with photos) Bulldozers Backhoes Concrete Mixers Cranes Dump Trucks Earth Movers Step into Reading Level 2: Bookstore Cat Two Find Ladies have a Tiff I can do it! Pizza Pat Quick, Quack, Quick! Bones Smarty Sara The Berenstain Bears Catch the Bus Counting Sheep Pie Rats Ahoy! Wake up, Sun! Sir Small and the Dragonfly Bears are Curious Richard Scarry’s the Early Bird My New Boy David and the Giant Mole in a Hole Noah’s Ark P. J. Funnybunny Camps Out Bright & Early Books: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb Hooper Humperdink - ? Not Him! Bears on Wheels There’s a wocket in my pocket! Great Day for UP! The Tooth Book The Eye Book Wings on Things The Nose Book The Ear Book He Bear, She Bear Inside, Outside, Upside Down Mr. Brown can Moo! Can you? The Knee Book Real Kids Readers Level 2: Did you hear about Jake? I’ll do it later Let me help! My Brother, the Pest Rainy day grump Shoes, Shoes, Shoes Show and Tell Surprise! That Cat! That’s hard, that’s easy The best pet yet The Big Sale The Lunch Bunch Time for Bed? Ready-to-Read Level 1: A Tooth Story Brave Norman Clouds Happy Christmas, Honey Lucky Duck Mount Rushmore Niagara Falls Picnic! Puppy Mudge wants to Play Rain Snow The Grand Canyon The Mighty Mississippi The Pumpkin Patch The Rocky Mountains The Sky is Falling The Statue of Liberty The Three Little Pigs The Tortoise and the Hare Wind Step into Reading Level 3: Arthur in New York Baseball Ballerina Bean Baker’s Best Shot The Best Mistake Ever! And other Stories The Bravest Dog Ever Dolphins! The Nutcracker Ballet Arthur’s Reading Trick I Can Read it all by Myself: A Fish out of Water A Fly Went By Big Dog . . . Little Dog Green Eggs and Ham I want to be Somebody New! I wish that I had Duck Feet Put Me in the Zoo The Best Nest The Cat in the Hat The Cat in the Hat Comes Back Fred and Ted go camping Fred and Ted like to fly I Can Read Book Level 1: A Kiss for Little Bear Baa-Choo! Barkley Barney’s Horse Captain Cat Chester Crocodile and Hen Danny and the Dinosaur Danny and the Dinosaur go to Camp Drip, Drop Father Bear comes Home Grizzwold Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur Harry and the Lady Next Door Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur Johnny Lion’s Book Julius Little Bear Little Bear’s Friend Little Bear’s Visit Morris and Boris at the Circus Morris goes to School Morris the Moose Mrs. Brice’s Mice No more Monsters for Me! Oliver Oscar Otter Ruby Paints a Picture Ruby’s Perfect Day Sammy the Seal Silly Tilly and the Easter Bunny Silly Tilly’s Valentine Stanley The Fire Cat The Horse in Harry’s Room The Littlest Leaguer What’s Going On? I Can Read Books Level 2: A Bargain for Frances Addie’s Bad Day Amazing Dolphins! Amelia Bedelia Amelia Bedelia and the Baby Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower Amelia Bedelia Helps Out Arthur’s Birthday Party Arthur’s Camp-Out Arthur’s Christmas Cookies Arthur’s Loose Tooth Bread and Jam for Frances Custard Surprise Days with Frog and Toad Frog and Toad all Year Frog and Toad are Friends Frog and Toad Together Goose and Duck Grandmas at Bat Mildred and Sam Mouse Soup Mouse Tales Owl at Home Scruffy The Case of the Cat’s Meow The Case of the Double Cross The Case of the Hungry Stranger Who’s a Pest?

Check your library for Teach Me to Do It Myself: Montessori Activities for You and Your Child http://www.amazon.com/Teach-Me-Myself-Montessori-Activities/dp/0764127896 Another book of toddler activities is Slow and Steady Get Me Ready.

Dish soap makes it thicker and move slower. It makes the vinegar and baking soda last longer as well. I learned it from a Schlessinger Media library video called All About Volcanoes. :)

Living Math has reader lists of library books you can use to teach math concepts: http://www.livingmath.net/ReaderLists/tabid/268/language/en-US/Default.aspx

Wow, those were great explanations, Regentrude!

There are 108 active volcanoes and many extinct volcanoes in Japan because it's on four tectonic plates (Pacific, Philippine, Eurasian and North American). Here's a list: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_volcanoes_in_Japan Magic School Bus Blows It's Top goes well with Japan, too. It's a good time to erupt a vinegar,baking soda, dish soap, and red paint volcano! P.S. Susie...May God Bless your daughter's marriage!

Don't forget about Japanese macaques (snow monkeys) that sit in hot springs with snow all around! We also had fun painting blossoming cherry trees. Here's a Japan library book list: Turtle Bay by Saviour Pirotta The Two Foolish Cats by Yoshiko Uchida This Place Is Crowded! by Vicki Cobb Journey To Japan (nice pop-up book) by Joan Knight Night of the Ninjas (Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne Dragon of the Red Dawn (Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne The Paper Crane by Molly Bang The Bicycle Man by Allen Say Taro and the Tofu by Masako Matsuno A Carp For Kimiko by VIrginia Kroll How My Parents Learned To Eat by Ina Friedman The Butterfly's Dream by Ippo Keido Japanese Children's Favorite Stories by FLorence Sakade Old Man who Made the Trees Bloom by Jijii Magic Fan by Baker Crane Girl by Charles Painter and the Wild Swans by Clement Ten Oni Drummers by Gollub Girl from the Snow Country by Hidaka Kenji and the Magic Geese by Johnson Yoshi’s Feast by Kajikawa Carp for Kimiko by Kroll Seven Gods of Luck by Kudler Yoshiko and the Foreigner by Little Moshi, Moshi by London Dragon Kite by Luenn Pair of Red Clogs by Matsuno Cherry Tree by MacCaughrean Emperor’s Plum Tree by Nikly Tea with Milk by Say Long Silk Strand by Williams

I could have written the same thing a few months ago! RS just wasn't getting done with a toddler on a search and destroy mission. So, I got MM 1A from the Light Blue series with intentions to supplement when RS was too much to be sure some math was done daily. I tried to align MM worksheets with the RS sequence, but it was jumping around way to much for both me and my ds...and he needed more practice and review. Now, I'm supplementing MM with RS and it's going much better. I'm following the MM scope and sequence and doing 1 page per day, and then adding in RS activities that go along with it when possible. It's easy to look at the RS table of contents and find the lessons to pick activities from. We love the abacus and my ds uses it instead of drawing on the MM pages. MM is way less teacher intensive. I still have to be with my 1st grader to encourage and correct him, but the lesson is based on the worksheet, not the teacher, like RS. I can be with the toddler more and my ds is learning to work more independently. The Light Blue series is complete by grade level. The Blue series is by subject and covers more than one grade. I suggest going with the light blue for your situation. Be sure to check out all of the free stuff MM offers. HTH! Good luck!

Another consideration may be Christian Cottage. I don't think there's a weekly grid, though. http://www.christiancottage.com/Units.html

We're using ETC 3. Most of the lessons have 8 pages and 4 of them have writing spaces. 3 of these 4 have the dotted middle line, but 1 has these _ for each letter of the word. The word is written above the lines to be copied. Sometimes it's small for my ds and he makes it all one long line with an extension if needed. HTH!

MCP Phonics Practice Readers

It's on 'Appendix page 13' at the back of the teacher's manual. They are hundreds blocks. HTH!

Here's books for teaching Vedic math: http://www.vedicmathsindia.org/book.htm

Thanks for the links! Here's some Vedic math books that I have heard good reviews about: http://www.vedicmathsindia.org/book.htm

There's 2 other medical transcription schools that are respected and cheaper. (I remember Career Step is one, forget the other). I looked into doing all of this a while ago and decided not to because I read that new laws allowed transcription work to be outsourced to other countries and the demand went down. Maybe it's changed since then, I don't know. General transcription doesn't require schooling. There's a few places that hire newbies. Tigerfish is one I remember off the top of my head. Google search about transcription and you'll find more. You can download Express Scribe for free. Transcription forums have overflow work opportunities for newbies, too. Good luck!

Same here. The abacus is an awesome math manipulative! When we tried CLE with flashcards and speed drills, my ds asked to burn them, lol! It works for some and not for others! Rightstart B says that memorizing with flash cards takes away from thinking in math and that brain research tells us our brains do not work as well by associating a third number with two other numbers, rather it is more natural to use a strategy. Instead of memorizing 8 + 7 = 15, you can take 2 from the 7, combine it with the 8 and change it into 10 and 5, or 15. The greatest thing about homeschooling is using what works best for your dc, regardless of what anyone else says is best. HTH!

McRuffy K Math!

Here's some more library books for Thanksgiving: Mousekin's Thanksgiving by Miller, Edna 1621: a new look at Thanksgiving by Grace, Catherine O'Neill Cranberry Thanksgiving by Devlin, Wende Cranberries by Jaspersohn, William Squanto's journey: the story of the first Thanksgiving by Bruchac, Joseph Thanksgiving with me by Willey, Margaret The Thanksgiving door by Atwell, Debby. The Thanksgiving story by Dalgliesh, Alice Squanto and the first Thanksgiving by Kessel, Joyce K The Pilgrims' first Thanksgiving by McGovern, Ann Daily life in the Pilgrim colony, 1636 by Erickson, Paul Harvest song by Hirschi, Ron Thanks for Thanksgiving by Markes, Julie Thanksgiving is for giving thanks by Sutherland, Margaret This first Thanksgiving Day : a counting story by Melmed, Laura Krauss Happy Thanksgiving! : things to make and do by Conaway, Judith Molly's pilgrim by Cohen, Barbara The night before Thanksgiving by Wing, Natasha Thanksgiving by Fabian-Baber DVD: Plymouth Plantation (Schlessinger Media)

I really liked McRuffy tms for math and phonics. I wish all tms were that well laid out! Lightly scripted and bolded for easy glances, one lesson per page, and a small version of the workbook page with answers filled in. Hands on activities are reinforced with one workbook page per lesson/day, and many fun games are included. It helped me become a better teacher. It is very spiral, though, so it's not for mastery style learners.

My ds is younger, but puppets and talking stuffed animals have worked wonders for us. It's like I'm not mom anymore and he feels all excited to have someone new to talk to and share his feelings with. Maybe a puppet or stuffed animal with her during school would help. After every problem, the friend could check in and make comments like "that is hard to understand" or "math is so confusing" or "that's so frustrating" or "how do you deal with all of this thinking", etc. Maybe that would give her a different way to express her feelings and realize them. I'm also impressed with how well simple acknowledgment of feelings and freedom to express and release feelings in nonviolent ways works for my frustrated ds. Suppression only leads to future explosion. I've learned to not say things that disregard feelings like "you're not dumb" or "that's not hard" or "this isn't a big deal"...better to say "looks like you're having a hard time" or "those are hard feelings to have". Oh yeah, and I learned not to say "this is easy" because if they do well, it was easy anyway, and if it's hard, then they feel even worse. Same thing for "you did that perfectly", which may lead to fear of not being perfect later on. The book Helping Young Children Flourish helped me understand the importance of letting feelings out in healthy ways. These are the tips from the book How To Talk So Kids Will Listen And Listen So Kids Will Talk when asking about dc's feelings and needs: 1. LISTEN quietly and attentively. 2. ACKNOWLEDGE their feelings with a word. ("Oh...I see...ummm) 3. NAME THE FEELING. ("That sounds frustrating" or "you're really upset", they'll correct you if you name the wrong feeling like in the example from idnib) 4. USE IMAGINATION to fulfill their wishes. ("I wish I could make it so we didn't have to learn this hard stuff.") HTH!

Not yet mentioned are MCP Readers and McRuffy Readers (there's McGuffey and then there's McRuffy). Here's a list of library readers compiled by another mama here that I saved and added to: 1.Controlled Vocabulary, Leveled Phonics Readers (for beginning readers who are just beginning to read – starts with short vowel sounds and CVC words and progresses through the various levels of reading) Itty Bitty Phonics Readers from Creative Teaching Press Bob Books by Bobby Lynn Maslen Now I’m Reading series by Nora Gaydos Phonics Practice Readers from Modern Curriculum Press 2.First Books (for readers who have learned short vowel sounds and consonant blends and digraphs and want to read “real booksâ€. Generally very short, with few words on the page but there will often be some sight words or a few longer words that you will have to help your child sound out.) Step Into Reading Level 1: 6 Sticks Big Egg Cat Traps Ducks in Muck Hot Dog I Like Bugs I Like Stars Jack and Jill and Big Dog Bill See the Yak Yak The Berenstain Bears Big Bear, Small Bear The Berenstain Bears go in and out The Berenstain Bears go up and down Real Kids Readers Level 1: Big Ben Dress Up Hop, Skip, Run I am Mad! I Like Mess I Like to Win! Mud! My Pal Al No New Pants! Spots The Big Box The New Kid The Pet Vet Wash Day Green Light Readers Level 1: Dot and Bob Rick is Sick Sam and Jack Jack and Rick A New Home Jan has a Doll Down on the Farm The Van Just Clowning Around What I see Popcorn Todd’s Box Get up, Rick! Other books: Hop on Pop Go, Dog, Go The Foot Book Old Hat, New Hat 3.Moving On to Long Vowels (introduce more vowel combinations but are still short books with just a few sentences on each page) My First I Can Read Book: Bathtime for Biscuit Biscuit Biscuit and the Baby Biscuit and the Little Pup Biscuit finds a Friend Biscuit goes to School Biscuit wants to play Biscuit wins a prize Biscuit’s Big Friend Biscuit’s day at the Farm Biscuit’s New Trick Chicken said, “Cluck!†Go away, Dog How Many Fish? I See, You Saw Loose Tooth Oh, Cats! Pedro’s Burro Ruby bakes a Cake Sid and Sam Splish, Spash! The Day I had to play with my Sister Thump and Plunk What’s that, Mittens? Whose Hat is it? Green Light Reader Level 1: Rip’s Secret Spot Sometimes Come Here, Tiger! The Tapping Tale The Big, Big Wall Best Friends What day is it? Lost! Big Pig and Little Pig Cloudy Day Sunny Day Six Silly Foxes Daniel’s Pet Big Brown Bear Rabbit and Turtle go to School Step into Reading, Level 1: Boats! Mouse Makes Words Wheels! The Pup Speaks Up Elmo says Achoo! Too Many Dogs The Snowball Sunshine, Moonshine Babe the Sheep Pig: Oops, Pig! Watch your step, Mr. Rabbit! There is a Town Linda D. Williams books: (1-3 sentences per page with photos) Bulldozers Backhoes Concrete Mixers Cranes Dump Trucks Earth Movers 4.Next Step (many different vowel and consonant combinations; books are starting to get longer or introducing more words per page) Step into Reading Level 2: Bookstore Cat Two Find Ladies have a Tiff I can do it! Pizza Pat Quick, Quack, Quick! Bones Smarty Sara The Berenstain Bears Catch the Bus Counting Sheep Pie Rats Ahoy! Wake up, Sun! Sir Small and the Dragonfly Bears are Curious Richard Scarry’s the Early Bird My New Boy David and the Giant Mole in a Hole Noah’s Ark P. J. Funnybunny Camps Out Bright & Early Books: Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb Hooper Humperdink - ? Not Him! Bears on Wheels There’s a wocket in my pocket! Great Day for UP! The Tooth Book The Eye Book Wings on Things The Nose Book The Ear Book He Bear, She Bear Inside, Outside, Upside Down Mr. Brown can Moo! Can you? The Knee Book Real Kids Readers Level 2: Did you hear about Jake? I’ll do it later Let me help! My Brother, the Pest Rainy day grump Shoes, Shoes, Shoes Show and Tell Surprise! That Cat! That’s hard, that’s easy The best pet yet The Big Sale The Lunch Bunch Time for Bed? Ready-to-Read Level 1: A Tooth Story Brave Norman Clouds Happy Christmas, Honey Lucky Duck Mount Rushmore Niagara Falls Picnic! Puppy Mudge wants to Play Rain Snow The Grand Canyon The Mighty Mississippi The Pumpkin Patch The Rocky Mountains The Sky is Falling The Statue of Liberty The Three Little Pigs The Tortoise and the Hare Wind Step into Reading Level 3: Arthur in New York Baseball Ballerina Bean Baker’s Best Shot The Best Mistake Ever! And other Stories The Bravest Dog Ever Dolphins! The Nutcracker Ballet Arthur’s Reading Trick I Can Read it all by Myself: A Fish out of Water A Fly Went By Big Dog . . . Little Dog Green Eggs and Ham I want to be Somebody New! I wish that I had Duck Feet Put Me in the Zoo The Best Nest The Cat in the Hat The Cat in the Hat Comes Back Fred and Ted go camping Fred and Ted like to fly 5.Transitional Books (paragraphs; longer books often divided into small chapters) I Can Read Book Level 1: A Kiss for Little Bear Baa-Choo! Barkley Barney’s Horse Captain Cat Chester Crocodile and Hen Danny and the Dinosaur Danny and the Dinosaur go to Camp Drip, Drop Father Bear comes Home Grizzwold Happy Birthday, Danny and the Dinosaur Harry and the Lady Next Door Joe and Betsy the Dinosaur Johnny Lion’s Book Julius Little Bear Little Bear’s Friend Little Bear’s Visit Morris and Boris at the Circus Morris goes to School Morris the Moose Mrs. Brice’s Mice No more Monsters for Me! Oliver Oscar Otter Ruby Paints a Picture Ruby’s Perfect Day Sammy the Seal Silly Tilly and the Easter Bunny Silly Tilly’s Valentine Stanley The Fire Cat The Horse in Harry’s Room The Littlest Leaguer What’s Going On? I Can Read Books Level 2: A Bargain for Frances Addie’s Bad Day Amazing Dolphins! Amelia Bedelia Amelia Bedelia and the Baby Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower Amelia Bedelia Helps Out Arthur’s Birthday Party Arthur’s Camp-Out Arthur’s Christmas Cookies Arthur’s Loose Tooth Bread and Jam for Frances Custard Surprise Days with Frog and Toad Frog and Toad all Year Frog and Toad are Friends Frog and Toad Together Goose and Duck Grandmas at Bat Mildred and Sam Mouse Soup Mouse Tales Owl at Home Scruffy The Case of the Cat’s Meow The Case of the Double Cross The Case of the Hungry Stranger Who’s a Pest?