Autistic, speech delayed 6-year-old is beginning Kindy tomorrow... We're starting out doing some fun worksheets and working on getting comfortable with writing, letter sounds, and the overall rhythm of school. He already knows his alphabet, shapes, colors, can count, etc. So, reading, speech, and writing our the main target areas. The first half of the year (August-December) is going to be mostly playschooling and just adjusting to a schooling rhythm. In January, we'll reaccess and add in more formal studies if I feel he's ready. It's not a race - he'll get there whenever he is ready. 🙂 AUGUST-DECEMBER READING: Reading Eggs, LeapFrog Letter Factory on Prime, flash cards, playdoh, stamps, + fun worksheets I've found or created WRITING: TG&TB Pre-Writing and transitioning to Level K + lots of art & coloring MATH: Math Seeds & continuing recognizing & counting numbers over 15 using manipulatives, flash cards, playdoh, tangrams, etc. SCIENCE: Magic School Bus, StoryBots, and just learning through living OTHER: continue working on speech, listening, & fine motor skills JANUARY-WHENEVER READING: can't decide between Rooted in Language Pinwheels, TG&TB, or Sound Foundations Bear Necessities. We'll also be continuing Reading Eggs. WRITING: TG&TB Level K or Handwriting Without Tears MATH: Math Seeds & either Kate Snow Math (Math Through Confidence?) or TG&TB Level K Math SCIENCE: continue Magic School Bus, StoryBots, and just learning through living ART: watercoloring with us 🙂 OTHER: continue working on speech, listening, & fine motor skills

BIBLE: daily devotions (maybe from the "Think, Act, Be Like Jesus" or "I Am - 40 Reasons to Trust God" devotionals) + using the Bible app for kids HANDWRITING: continuing cursive with TG&TB MATH: TG&TB's New Math + an advanced level of TT GRAMMAR: TG&TB LA + G.U.M. Drops Grammar WRITING: a mix of Writing & Rhetoric Fables and Brave Writer Partnership Writing + freewriting VOCABULARY: Evan-Moor's A Word a Day SPELLING: SpellingYouSee Americana READING: independent daily reading from at-and-above reading level books + read alouds HISTORY/SOCIAL/GEOGRAPHY: I create my own history unit studies using living resources/documentaries/docuseries/TV shows/etc. We'll also be adding the Horrible Histories books this year. The absolute history & geo basics will be covered through MiAcademy. SCIENCE: MiAcademy + documentaries/docuseries/TV shows & whatever experiments he does with my husband. We'll also be learning about dinosaurs this year, per his request. TYPING: probably Typing.com ART & MUSIC: continuing clay modeling, drawing (Manga & TG&TB), and watercolor courses LANGUAGE: continuing Spanish fluency

We school from Jan-October, so my kiddo won't begin 5th grade until January, but I wanted to play along anyway. He'll actually be in a combination of grades 4 & 5 BIBLE: Apologia's Who is God + daily devotionals that make emphasis on our relationship with Jesus and who we are in Him GRAMMAR: Grammar Galaxy + G.U.M. Drops WRITING: Essentials in Writing (EIW) level 3 HANDWRITING: TG&TB Handwriting level 4 SPELLING: Sequential Spelling READING: independent reading + discussions -- no formal literary analysis. LITERATURE: read alouds from an ever-growing list of books I've pieced together MATH: Teaching Textbooks levels 5 & 6 SCIENCE: finish up Mystery Science + interest-led learning (dinosaurs, the human body & health, and weather/natural disaster/survivalism are in the plans thus far) HISTORY/SOCIAL/GEO/CULTURAL: also interest-led, though I am considering using Curiosity Chronicles. For now, we're planning on continuing with a mashup of ancients & American history, using a variety of sources (BYL booklist, documentaries/docuseries/films/TV/crash course) + art notebooking the most significant or interesting parts. ART: watercolor & drawing course at home MUSIC: continue piano lessons & general music appreciation

We tried the math for 2nd & 3rd grade and stopped using it both years and reverted back to our "old faithful." I felt like it was busywork yet not nearly enough at the same time. My son, who struggles with language arts, enjoyed LLFALE because it was "easy", yet he retained little to nothing and learned more in a week of EIW than he did in more than half a book of LLFALE. IMO, much, if not most, of the LFALE just felt like twaddle and unnecessary. (Though, for what it's worth, our family is all about short, direct, intentional lessons that teach us what we need to know so we can chase rabbit trails and dive deep into what sparks our interest based on what we're learning.) We also tried Rebecca Spooner's Bible curriculum Master Books publishes, and we ended up shelving it the first week. It's artsy and beautifully done - but we believe differently than her. We aren't young earth creationists. It just didn't jive with our family. That's our experience. I don't want to deter anyone from using what could potentially be good curricula for their child. Their "For a Living Education" series is lovely and much more lighthearted than most other curricula I've come across. Many children benefit from a gentler approach, especially when it comes to math. But, for our family, it's a no go.

I have a struggling speller in grade 4. We've been using the online version of SS for a little while now. Both of us really appreciate and are enjoying how the program uses word families and word patterns to teach. The way the program builds on itself without my kiddo noticing such a big jump from easy to more challenging words has been a much needed breath of fresh air for us when compared to previous curricula that left him in tears of frustration. He is actually enjoying spelling now! However, we both hate the online voice that dictates which word to spell. It's terrible, hard to understand, and just all over the place. I, myself, at times have even had difficulty trying to decipher what the word is that my child is supposed to be spelling. For those who have used the online version of SS, does the online voice get better, or should we consider possibly transitioning to the book version instead? And are the books straight to the point without any twaddle or busywork like the online program?

I have a 9-year-old in grade 4 and we're actually just switching from Brave Writer to EIW. While I love BW, the philosophy and loveliness behind it all, and the lifestyle of it (which we just naturally follow in our family anyway), BW's LA & writing programs just weren't a good fit for my kiddo. He is very much a struggling/reluctant writer, who I suspect is dyslexic, and he needs structure and routine to *get it*. BW is very free-flowy and easy to tailor to whatever your schedule looks like, and that's fantastic but it doesn't work well for his learning needs. Though we are making the switch to EIW for our "core" writing curriculum, we will absolutely be continuing BW lifestyle (our normal life) and adding in some fun writing projects here and there. BW Arrow's are the Language Arts program (though most of them have some writing project in it), but you can also purchase one of the separate writing programs they also offer. Have you looked at Julie's blog and signed-up to receive the 7 Day Writing Blitz? There is a free Arrow for download, and you can also order the free sample of whatever BW writing program your child is ready for. Implement some freewrites. I believe there are some prompts for those also on her blog (and def. in the facebook group). I would start there and give it a go with your son and see if it's a good fit before committing to purchasing. IEW gives me anxiety just looking at it. Can't imagine my little guy having to use it. It would be a meltdown & tears followed by a mutiny.

We've been using it for a few weeks now. I sent TT an email asking if they were ever going to have an online version and they almost immediately emailed me an invitation setup an online account. I couldn't believe it was so cheap compared to the disc version! I feel like it is below grade level so we're moving through it quite quickly, but my son enjoys the format and interface so no complaints from me.

I haven't had any trouble locating books from the library. Our local library does have an interlibrary loan program where we are able to checkout books from participating libraries in the state and around the USA. If yours has a program like that then you certainly wouldn't have any trouble just as long as you plan ahead to make sure you'll have the books you need when you want them. I live in Texas and have borrowed some books all the way from Alabama. It never took more than a week to receive them. :)

Thanks for the feedback! :) I went ahead and purchased the first three grade levels of HAS at hs buyers co-op to help my 7-year-old get some artsy-crafty learning time in. My littlest (age 2) will be able to use them in a few years, as well. Saving the other links mentioned above to check out in a bit...

Horrible Science, for sure. We're big fans of the Horrible series in our home. :) Sassafrass Science is another, but it has a lot of mixed reviews. It seems most either love it or hate it.

It's not technically a program, but I purchased a wonderful book a while back called Give Your Child the World. It includes a list of more than 600 wonderful children's book recommendations that are arranged geographically and by audience age that teach geography, culture, and tell about the lifestyles of people who live in the locations you read about. There are also discussion notes for religion and other topics if that is something you want to cover. We're using it as a geography study this year (and maybe even continue into next..). We locate each place we read about on our globe, discuss what we learned, and stop and pursue interest-led learning if my DS wants to. I'm also teaching map skills. It has been very enjoyable.

I feel like TT is probably a year or so behind the grade level it says it is while Beast Academy is a bit ahead. TT isn't rigorous but it gets the job done. I have a young second grader, who prefers online/electronic learning, so he is currently using TT for 3rd grade. I could've probably placed him in 4th grade in TT and he wouldn't have been far out of his comfort zone. We did Beast Academy for a while. He loved the comic guide but hated the practice book. It was more trouble than it was worth for us so we put it aside. We may try again later but for now we're comfortable with where we are. Honestly, you could probably do both TT & BA if you wanted to. TT as a core/spine and BA as a supplement for extra practice and logic.

Is it worth it? Or is there something better you'd recommend? :) I also have my eye on Deep Space Sparkle.

I have kind of a boneheaded question that I'm kind of embarrassed to ask. Would you recommended continuing to teach phonics to a second grader who can read fluently? Or should spelling become the focus once they can read well? As previously stated, I have a young second grader who reads at a fifth grade level. He learned to read the way most of us do: through a good mix of phonics & sight words. Because of how well he reads, I assumed our days of phonics lessons were behind us. Then, I started to read the interwebz and it made me question everything. Now I keep going back and forth between thinking that, by dropping phonics lessons early, maybe we missed something he needs to know. He reads excellently now, but, what if in the future when words become more wordy and texts and language become more complex, he has issues because of something we missed by discontinuing phonics lessons when he was younger? Not sure what to do here... I'd obviously rather correct this now when he is younger than him have an issue when he gets older. Once I felt comfortable with where he was with phonics, we dropped the lessons and switched to spelling using Sound Foundations (Apples & Pears), which we will continue to use for the next few years. A&P does have some phonics in it, and I know that some programs do teach spelling to read and write. Will this be enough or should I add phonics lessons back in combined with spelling (Apples & Pears + Dancing Bears)?

Every Acellus high school level biology class (general, honors, AP) teaches evolution. I checked the S&S and evolution doesn't appear to be taught at any other grade level. If you want to skip evolution, then for sure sign up for Tutor mode instead of Homeschool or the Academy so you can skip the material you don't want taught. You can check out the S&S/course descriptions here for more information: https://www.acellus.com/homeschool-services/browse-courses.html