I've got a 5 1/2 year old too and we're chugging our way through OPG. We don't read the stories for comprehension in OPG. It's just phonics practice. I like it because there are no pictures and no guessing, purely sounding out words. I have her re-read sentences for fluency, but never comprehension. We just got over the hump you are describing. We've been on and off or a year, but now we are officially doing "school" because this is Kindergarten year. What has worked is doing a short 10 min. lesson 3 times a day. 10 min out of OPG - pure phonics instruction, 10 min. out of a bob book.. something more fun to read for comprehension, 10 min. reviewing a lesson, or another easy book, whatever. The key was three time a day, short lessons, every day... being consistent. Last week it just clicked! I've also learned to be a little more patient with dd. I expected her to catch on more quickly than she has, but finally figured out I need to let her go at her own pace and not rush through OPG, but rather take our time, and be diligent in teaching. Maybe in addition to shortening the lessons you could back up 10 lessons or so, work on something easier and practice fluency...??? I'm no expert, but that has also helped with dd's reading as well. Good luck!

I have the TM for first grade and no, I don't find it necessary. If this is his first time doing a handwriting program, the TM's do give a few good tips about posture and grip, but other than that I don't use it. The first grade book is a quick review of the K book. You'll write each capital letter about 3 or 4 times, then it goes into lower case letters. It gives you 6 different lower-case letters to write 5 times each. Then it goes into a pattern where you'll write a new lower-case letter 5 times and the next page is a list of ten words to write once each. It goes in that pattern through the rest of the book, occasionally reviewing more common upper and lower-case letters with a few short sentences to copy. It just depends on how much writing you want your son to do. I would get a pack of extra paper just in case you don't feel it is enough. The wide double line paper matches what you will be practicing on in the first grade book. HTH

Oh man! I'm jealous... still waiting on mine... I've checked the mailbox twice now!

I love Dave Ramsey! You comment made me laugh out loud. The good thing about being on a budget is that you have no guilt when making curriculum purchases... that is, if you can actually stay on a budget! It's well worth the effort though. Financial Peace University is well worth attending as well!!! FPU was the key to buckling down and getting out of debt. In fact, I'm going to attend another one in October.

I just finished watching this lecture. I'm a beginner homeschooler doing lots of research on methods and curriculum. I'm glad I came across this thread as I have learned little more about what a classical education is. While I've been researching and specifically while I was watching the lecture, I can't help but realize how uneducated I really am at this point in my life. I DO want something more for my children, and myself in the process. But that little whisper of doubt always seems to be in the background: how can I possibly give this sort of education to my children when I am so utterly uneducated! A latin-centered education seems to require a completely foreign mindset than what I have been trained to have. Then something that Tracey Lee Simmons said struck a chord of hope. He was talking about how our founding father's received a Latin-centered education. He quoted Jefferson, "'To read the Latin and Greek authors in their original is a sublime luxury. I thank, on my knees, him who directed my early education for having in my possession to have such a rich source of delight.' Simmons continues: "That person, of course, was his father, Peter Jefferson, a man who had no classical education, but made sure his son got it. That classical education was worth the trouble, of course, to Jefferson, and seemed a perfectly self-evident truth to him." I will make sure my children get it too! Thank you so much for the link ;)

Me too! I just purchased the book yesterday. Can't wait to read it!:D