I buy the cheaper, Walmart brand yogurt that has added fiber and then make the kids smoothies by adding frozen blueberries, raspberries, a little milk and a little honey to the yogurt in the blender. The smoothies are thick like ice cream (be sure to add frozen fruit), so it's a real treat! I then take the leftover smoothie mixture and pour it in popsicle molds for healthy snacks later on. It adds a good amount of fiber to their diet in a fun way!

I really like HOP!! I love the readers, and I'm glad there is no "written" component so we can focus on learning the sounds. I think learning a few sight words at a time is necessary to become a good reader. Obviously, there are a lot of words in our language that don't follow the rules!! I do like to combine HOP with the following: - Explode the Code workbooks (for reinforcement) -Happy Phonics (fun phonics games) -Victory Drill Book (to build fluency) -All About Spelling (to focus on the rules) Just a side note, an acquaintance of mine had his kids in the local private Christian school and pulled them out because their phonics program didn't work for his kids (I think the school used Abeka). Anyway, when he put them in the local public school, they had to be put in remedial reading programs for 6 months just to catch up with the public school kids! The local ps is an excellent school that uses a mix of phonics and sight words. I know that a majority of those kids are reading way above grade level and have done really well with that balance. I personally agree that one extreme or the other is not the way to go.

I like to start Wordly Wise in the third grade - after they are reading well. I spread the lesson out over 2 weeks in 3rd grade.

I'm using the Vocabulary Cartoons book this year with my 5th grader (the first in the series). We're using it as a "word for the day" resource. Each day, he copies the word, the part of speech and the definition and writes an original sentence that lets me know he understands the meaning. I've put the words on post it notes (the sticky part only) and stuck them to my kitchen cabinets so we (ds, my dh and I) will be reminded to use them in our conversations. Also, if he hears the word being used in public or sees it in his reading, he gets a small treat.

:001_smile: Don't you mean water and 10 teaspoons of sugar?! When I was a little girl, my mom mixed cold coffee with Coke when I asked to try her Coke. Needless to say, I hated it. Now I'm almost 40, and I still can't stand soft drinks! :D

Have you ever read the book Home Sweet Homeschool by Sue Maakestad? I highly recommend it!! (I found it at my library.) She homeschooled all her kids (8- I think), and I don't think she even had a high school diploma at the time. All her kids went on to have great careers in engineering, computer science type stuff!! (It's been awhile since I read it, so I'm not positive about the details.) The book is basically a "You can do it!!!" book loaded with encouragement! If you need a cheerleader, she's your girl! :001_smile:

When I was a teacher, I used a ticket reward system that worked pretty well. You can buy a big roll of tickets at Walmart; while you're there, buy a bag of candy or some other small reward. Bring a "ticket jar" to class. Have something out for kids to work on independently while everyone is arriving (color sheet, etc.). As soon as you see someone sitting quietly on task, say, "I see that Johnny is sitting and coloring quietly." (Tear off a ticket at this point and hand it to him.) Before you know it, everyone will be trying to "earn" a ticket as well. Then, after you read the Bible lesson, anyone who answers a question correctly gets a ticket. Continue to give tickets throughout the class to reward the behavior you want. At the end of class, everyone writes their name on each ticket they earned. Put them all in a jar and draw out one or two or three- those kids get the small piece of gum or candy or other reward. - Works like a charm. :001_smile:

I've been thinking about vocabulary bc of the book I am currently reading Bringing Words to Life by Linda Kucan. In the book, she talks about how inadequate a dictionary is for teaching kids the meaning of a word. My kids get so frustrated when I tell them to look up the word, and the meaning includes more words they don't know!! Her suggestion is to use the Collins Cobuild English Language Dictionary which is actually for ESL students. In this dictionary, for example, the word sparse is presented as "Something that is sparse is small in number or amount and spread out over an area". I think I might try to locate that dictionary!!

I would love to hear your opinions!

I used Saxon 1-3 with my older kids, and they did fine. By the time my 3rd reached Kindergarten and started Saxon 1, I was SO sick of it!!! I hated the lack of color, and I felt guilty about not doing the meeting each day. I ended up ditching it 1/2 way through the year and bought MCP. However, I did not buy the teacher's guide, so I felt like he was just doing worksheets and not really learning math. This year I've been doing Abeka 1 with him, and so far I love it. It's colorful, has review built in, games and other activities to do (like a "thinking cap" section), and I know it's a solid program.

Thank you so much - all of you. I'm so inspired by your dedication. In my heart I know that life is not about "easy" and "convenient", and the most rewarding things we do are often the most challenging! I also know that I'm going to blink and my kids will be grown. I just needed a reminder. :001_smile:

I feel a lot like you do about fb. There are only 3 (out of over 100) people that I am glad I got back in touch with - the rest of my "friends" don't mean much to me! I've had several people request a friendship, and then when I wrote something on their wall (a question about how they're doing etc.), I never heard back from them!! I'm wondering what the point is for those people!! So much of it makes me feel like I'm in high school again.. :tongue_smilie: The more I think about it, the more I want to close my account too! I was just fine without all those people in my life a few months ago!!! It feels like a big superficial waste of my time.

Thank you, Tammy!! That is exactly what I needed to read!!! :001_smile::001_smile:

Today was our first day back to school. My sister and most of my friends now have quiet homes and are planning lunch dates and shopping trips, and long "to do" lists with all the time in the world, etc. I love my kids, and I do enjoy homeschooling them, but there are times.... :tongue_smilie: I would love to hear from some of you veterans who have graduated kids from homeschool that it really is worth all the hard work when it's all said and done.

Congratulations!!! Any money saving/ frugal tips for the rest of us?? Do you follow Dave Ramsey?

Can You Find Me by Critical Thinking Company is fun to do with kindergarten- first grade.

If he's into animals, mine are enjoying My Big Book of Animal Devotions by William Coleman.

If you have a sweet tooth, you can try Agave Nectar. It is sweeter than sugar, but has a low GI. I don't handle carbs well (although I'm not diabetic- yet). Anyway, I bought some Volcanic Agave Nectar and used it in baking yummy treats like banana bread and chocolate ice cream, and my blood sugar did not sky rocket like it does after eating sugar. Not all agave nectars are the same. I bought one brand at the whole foods store, and it did raise my blood sugar. The Volcanic brand you buy online, and it is certified low GI. If you are interested, they also sell a cookbook using their nectar. The chocolate ice cream recipe using the agave you can find by googling David Lebovitz's Agave sweetened chocolate ice cream. YUM!!

When my oldest was in 1st grade, I tried to cover a lot, but now that my 3rd child is in 1st grade, I've become quite the minimalist when it comes to his education! As long as he's reading pretty well, writing, and understanding math - I'm happy!! I do plan to start All About Spelling with him and a little memory work. Everything else is gravy!! I will probably do a "subject of the day" that rotates among the following: map skills (library books and a simple map skills workbook), science (lets read and find out series from the library), history (American this year - basically reading stories about the highlights of American history), and a Kindergarten thinking skills book - maybe. He'll do some art, music, Spanish, PE etc. at co-op on Fridays. I think your plan to read, read, read is excellent!!! Stay relaxed and enjoy 1st grade :001_smile:.

I spent the last 2 days cleaning and organizing my school room. I was hoping it would put me in a better mood about school starting tomorrow. Well, I'm officially in a better mood! :)

:iagree: I can't stand Calliou!!! Who in their right mind would create a show with such a whiny kid as the main character!! Talk about fingernails down a chalkboard!!!! My kids like Word World a lot.

I read this on the internet and thought it was a good idea for using a poem each week: On Monday they add the new poem to their notebook. We just have them in a folder with the three prongs. We 3 hole punch the poem and the add it to the back. They also put a page number and write the title on the table of contents page. We read it out loud together. On Tuesday, we circle the word wall words in yellow and the rhyming words in orange. On Wednesday, we circle all of the nouns in blue and on Thursday we circle the verbs in green. On Friday we illustrate it. Every day we read the poem, girls may read one stanza and boys the other, all girls and then all boys, etc. They really like doing this.

I like the idea of an individual word wall in their binders, but I'm afraid if it's not on the wall, we won't look at it very often. I read about using a tri fold board - then each child has their own words, board, etc. and we can fold it and put in away if we need to. Still thinking about it...

I ordered Daily Grams for my ds to do this year along with Jr. Analytical Grammar. He does one "Gram" a day, and each day has a mini review/lesson that includes punctuation, capitalization, sentence combining, etc. I bought the book that has the answer key in the back so he can do the program completely on his own. I'm planning to focus on writing his first semester and do the grammar course after Christmas.

I know a word wall is invaluable when teaching in the schools (my husband is a middle school teacher and is required to use one). Also, I think the elementary schools are required to use them around here. I think it's a good idea because it can be used with so many different types of words (content area, commonly misspelled words, vocabulary, sight words, etc.). Also, the words are in front of them during school as a constant reminder. I'm wondering how to do this with three different grade levels and not a lot of wall space. Any ideas?