[Do you know of any free materials/curriculum?]

Here's a few more that haven't been mentioned:

 

Tanglewood Education:

http://www.tanglewoodeducation.com/

 

Serendipity (Waldorf style):

http://www.elizabethfoss.com/serendipity/gnomes_and_gnumbers_a_mathematical_tale/

 

Homeschool Share:

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/

 

Living Math:

http://www.livingmath.net/Home/tabid/250/language/en-US/Default.aspx

 

Worksheet Works:

http://www.worksheetworks.com/

 

Salsa (Spanish-search 'salsa'):

http://dl.gpb.org/vsx/GPBPro/diglib_search/search

 

Also, starfall, enchanted learning, and letter of the week.

[Help me name all the spiral math programs you can think of!]

McRuffy is also spiral.

[OPGTR/Phonics ?]

I tried drilling math facts with flash cards with my 5 1/2 year old and regret it because it kind of took the fun out of school. With the younger years, I will now keep the review alive with fun games. Alphabet Island has fun stories with personified letters to help remember phonics and spelling rules.

[Help Planning a Unit on China]

Here's our China story book list:

 

Miss Frizzle's Adventures in Imperial China by Joanna Cole

The Story About Ping by Marjorie Flack

Tikki Tikki Tembo by Arlene Mosel

Daisy Comes Home by Jan Brett

Day of the Dragon King (Magic Tree House) by Mary Pope Osborne

Ruby’s Wish by Bridges

Story of Kites by Compestine

Moon Festival by Russell

 

Panda & Gander Stories by Joyce Dunbar (funny stories with a silly panda bear, not about China):

Panda's New Toy

Gander's Pond

The Bowl Of Fruit

[Help choosing K phonics...]

I also used MFW K for age 4 and then went onto McRuffy K for age 5. The first half was review of MFW K, but really helped my ds understand letter sounds and short vowel words more thoroughly. The second half goes onto long vowel words with silent e. McRuffy uses lots of board games and card games and only one page per lesson. The readers are funny and entertaining and really got my ds into reading more.

[Math and Movement]

Waldorf style math uses lots of movement activities with bean bag toss games, hand clapping, and jump rope. Waldorf Without Walls has a book on it:

http://www.waldorfwithoutwalls.com/books/math1-3/

 

Active Arithmetic may be what you're looking for:

 

http://www.amazon.com/Active-Arithmetic-Movement-Mathematics-Teaching/dp/8788258742/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275979245&sr=1-1-spell

 

http://www.amazon.com/Active-Arithmetic-Algebra-Activities-Prealgebra/dp/0534367712/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1275979245&sr=1-2-spell

[Please help me...]

Maybe Christian Cottage would be easier since each unit is one theme with different level activities for all ages. http://www.christiancottage.com/Units.html

 

Another idea is to do MFW ECC with Galloping The Globe for the youngest.

[where do you go or have gone after McRuffy phonics K?]

We liked McRuffy K a lot and got 1st grade to continue with it. We hit a wall after 6 weeks and now I'm going to wait and see if he just needs a break or something else. The readers are fun, but the spelling words went up to 10 per week, and grammar started, and each lesson requires writing 10-15 words. With the handwriting on top of that, we had to start stretching out a lesson for two days. I love how all LA is together, but the drawback I'm seeing now is that my ds's reading progress is being slowed down by his lack of interest in handwriting, grammer, and spelling. When I asked my ds if he would like me to sell it to get something else, he said no, he loves McRuffy, he just needs a break. (We started 1st as soon as we finished K without a break until now). So I plan to do just the reading and possibly come back to the workbooks later.

 

If you're going to use FLL and AAS, I suggest just getting the McRuffy readers to go with those and just come up with comprehension questions. The McRuffy 1st workbooks mostly cover spelling and grammer, only one page per week has questions about the reader.

 

You might want to check out Dynamic Phonics by McRuffy, it has all the teaching guides for phonics without the grammer and spelling (it's McRuffy K-3 altogether). You could use that to teach reading with the readers. HTH!

[Is there a program like Handwriting Without Tears . . . but prettier?]

There's also . I used the K book and the stories/rhymes for each letter helped my ds correct his letter formations. It worked great for us for cheap!

[Professor Parrot for Spanish (PreK)]

I found this great DVD from the library called Sing, Watch, & Learn Spanish. The music is great and the visuals show the words being said with kids having fun...even my 2 year old was into it. It covers most basic spanish words.

[Islamic, Hindu Works to Memorize]

One more that is good is an ancient Sanskrit hymn from the Rg Veda.

 

Ekam sat vipraha bahudha vadanti (Rg Veda I.64.46)

 

Truth is one, the wise call it by many names.

 

That reminded me of the Vedic proverb from the Mandaka Upanishad:

 

''satyam eva jayate' which means 'truth alone prevails'

 

Also, this one:

 

Bhagavad Gita 13.16: The Supreme Truth exists outside and inside of all living beings, the moving and the nonmoving. Because He is subtle, He is beyond the power of the material senses to see or to know. Although far, far away, He is also near to all.

[Straightforward, secular science for 1st & 3rd graders?]

You might like McRuffy science because it is secular, aligns with national standards, is easy to use, and comes with a supply kit with everything you need that is creatively used in many different ways. You can get the science kit upgrades and have them share the 1st grade kit supplies. It's meant to be used 2 days per week, and the younger grades don't require too much writing.

 

http://www.mcruffy.com/1st-grade-science.htm

http://www.mcruffy.com/3rd-grade-science.htm

[Islamic, Hindu Works to Memorize]

For Hinduism, here's a Bhagavad Gita online:

 

http://bhagavadgitaasitis.com/en1

 

Here's a good one:

 

Bhagavad Gita 3.35: It is far better to discharge one's prescribed duties, even though faultily, than another's duties perfectly. Destruction in the course of performing one's own duty is better than engaging in another's duties, for to follow another's path is dangerous.

[Help me: K/1st Math]

My 5 year old and I both liked McRuffy K Math. It was a very fun introduction. Each lesson had hands on exploring and then one colorful but not distracting workbook page. I think your dd could probably start with the 1st grade.

 

The tm is lightly scripted and easy to use. You need to read it ahead of time to gather the manipulatives, games, or cards for the lesson. One thing I thought about the K is that it is very spiral and seems to jump around a lot, although there were weekly themes.

 

I didn't get McRuffy 1st grade math and my ds misses it. I went with CLE because it was cheaper, and now he refuses to do math because it's not as much fun. All workbook and no toy exploration has burned him out. I had thought all the McRuffy manipulatives were distracting him because he would have so much fun playing with them, but now I know that was successful learning, not distraction. HTH!

[Montessori books for toddlers?]

I found both these at my library.

 

Teach me to do it myself: Montessori activities for you and your child

by Maja Pitamic

 

Montessori at home: a complete guide to teaching your preschooler at home using the Montessori method

by Heidi Anne Spietz

[Easy Spanish program for k and 1st?]

There's also Sonrisas Spanish School, which is waldorf style using songs, stories and crafts...no workbook, reading or writing involved. I haven't used it because it's expensive, but I always think about getting it someday as it is highly recommended in waldorf communities.

 

Another one to check out is Risas Y Sonrisas, the songbook has pictures for pre-readers, and also uses sign language.

[*complete* language arts program??]

McRuffy has spelling, grammer, spelling, and handwriting all in one, phonics goes to 2nd grade.

[Different ways to teach Math (SM vs CLE, etc)?]

I've used CLE 1 and Singapore 1A and 1B. The biggest difference IMO is that Singapore is very colorful and cartoony. CLE has only one color and no cartoons and few pictures (they only relate to the math concepts, like a flower with 2 petals to count when you learn about 2, or 3 ears of corn to go with the daily story problem). CLE has a lot more drill and practice with math facts and lessons are 2-3 pages. It reviews a lot and covers many concepts in each lesson.

[1st grade Math]

If you're looking for waldorf-style ideas, Waldorf Without Walls math is only $13:

 

http://www.waldorfwithoutwalls.com/books/math1-3/

[FIAR for K4, K5]

I started out with FIAR, and then found that doing unit studies on countries worked better for us than unit studies on a story book. So, we use GTG and online resources for extra countries, and spend 2 weeks on a country, put the flag sticker on the passport, and color the map and flag. (Ever since Iran, we take a magic carpet ride from country to country, the kids love it!) I check out a bunch of library books from and about that country, usually one is a FIAR book that we row and discuss some of the ideas. I also check out books about an animal from that country. Since the 3 R's are 'schoolwork', world geography stories are just for fun! My kids have come to love the Magic Tree House books...they teach a lot about a country in a fun way. I also add in ideas from Science Around The World.

 

Here's the Geography Index of FIAR and HSS stories:

http://www.homeschoolshare.com/master_geography_index.php

[Anyone here do any Montessori or know of any good Montessori blogs?]

Check if your library has this book:

 

Teaching Montessori in the Home: The School Years

[Diploma]

I'm not sure what you're saying here. The DoE does not issue a diploma for homeschooled students in *any* state. Also, many states won't give credit for homeschooling in that you can't enter in tenth grade and receive high school credit from the DoE for credits that you completed in a homeschool.

 

This thread is about NC allowing homeschools/private schools to issue diplomas. HI doesn't consider homeschool a private school, and the HI doe says that no credits are given for homeschool and it is required that you go to high school or community college + GED to get a diploma. If I make a diploma for my kid, it will have no value here, unlike NC where a homeschool diploma is allowed by the state laws, which is why I said they have it good.

[Help Me Pick Pre/K Curriculum]

I was surprised, too! Now I know to check the library before buying any book!

[Facebook changes in privacy - Can someone explain]

So what are the implications for this? Are we at "Big Brother" yet?

 

All privacy was lost in 2001 to the Patriot Act.

 

I heard that Facebook doesn't let you delete your account if you want to. Is that true?

[Help Me Pick Pre/K Curriculum]

Check your library...mine has BFIAR! I used FIAR and both my 5 year old and 2 year old loved most of the stories. Don't forget about Homeschool Share! Happy Rowing!