We used "More Starfall" with our 1yo. It was more for Daddy than for the 1yo, because he would stay up late with her and let me go sleep. It gave him more things to share with her on a website that entranced her. It saved his sanity. So maybe I should say......age 41. :laugh:

For the second daughter I nannied, getting her to do printing was a struggle every day. (She was in first grade or K). She expressed interest in cursive; possibly because it is what older sister was learning. I can't remember because it has been so many years. I thought the mom was crazy when she bought younger daughter a cursive book. ....But it was awesome. And no more struggles over handwriting. And she learned to print just fine on her own. It was ALL good. You should go for it!

We are using Saxon Phonics. Dd turns 6yo tomorrow! :party: She is in "Kindergarten" but we are on Lesson 44 in Saxon Phonics 1. We used Saxon Phonics K (although dd already knew all the letters and sounds), and I have Saxon Phonics 2 in storage. Pros: --Secular --Assumed to be continuous of K through 2nd, and will touch all the bases (see below). --Flashcards for everything --Little books that come with lessons are word appropriate. (Kids can read the words easily). --Spelling is included --Child learns sounds and writes letters really well by the end of K. --Every 4th or 5th lesson is an assessment to ensure if your child is on track and how to review how to help your child review what was missed. Cons: --Workbooks and most supplies are just black and white. Very little color. --In Saxon Phonics 1, there is periodic review of a letter and its sound AFTER working with special sounds. :confused1: I can understand reviewing the letters and sounds at the beginning of the year (and the first 4 weeks MOSTLY does that); but then curriculum will talk about dividing words into syllables...and then teach letters M, and E and ck in the following lessons. The curriculum will discuss digraph th or ng or suffix -ing and -ed; then teach you the sound of the letter U, and W. :confused1: We are on Lesson 44. We still need to cover letters X, J, V, and Y. Why not review all the letters at first on a fast pace (1/day) so they can be skipped if one's child is competent? Why not then spend a week on CVC words for review before moving on to blends, and finally to digraphs? --Saxon K teaches CVC words REALLY well. Then, beginning in Saxon 1, it is assumed that your child already knows how to do blends (br, cl, gr, ld, thr, shr, etc). :confused1: Blends do not exist in the lesson material of Saxon Phonics. Magically, your child must figure this out on their own. I have had to supplement heavily and take weeks off from Phonics until we could continue. Why not take a week to cover each family of blends? --We're on Lesson 44 of Saxon 1, and the curriculum is still making the child recite the alphabet. Why not do daily alphabetizing of letters or words (which they do some days, but not others). Or cover blends :glare: --We're on Lesson 44 of Saxon 1, and they have us do some of the dumbest things. I read two words, and dd must tell me if they start in with the same sound or not. She is not even asked to identify the letter. It's just dumb. :confused1: What a waste of time. Summary: Saxon K was adequate. Saxon 1 so far seems really messed up!!! FWIW, dd IS learning to read and write well. BUT if I had to do it again (and hadn't already spend my budget for it), I would probably do one of the below curriculum: Abeka -- I would live with the religious content and pre-screen the stories that are a worry for me. The workbooks are colorful, the program is truly thorough and teaches the kids to be really good readers. The games are fun and not a struggle. I know this because I taught two girls to read using Abeka when I nannied. You know that it's something special when your atheist friend (me) is bragging about what a superior program it is. or Cursive First -- I am enamoured by this system. Most of the rest of the world teach their children cursive before printing. I'm just curious.

Here's another vote for the full subscription of Starfall. We have totally gotten our money's worth out of it for our 2yo; and there are things on the subscription that are used by our 6yo, too. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- For the mouse, we have a "Tiny Mouse" for little hands. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- In the category of "not an online game," I recommend: Reader Rabbit Playtime for Baby and Toddler (Make sure you get a copy that is compatible with your computer software). RR for Baby and Toddler is super for motor control and the toddler (or preschooler) understanding how to move the mouse and watch the screen.

We have been using "My First Piano Adventures" for a couple of years. (These were mentioned above by Alte Veste Academy.) Dd will turn 6yo in two days, and she has completed the Book A. We are half way through Book B. ***I highly recommend that you get both the Lesson Book and the Writing Book for each level your daughter plays.*** The two books dovetail nicely at coordinating theory in the Writing Book that supports songs in the Lesson Book. There is also a Christmas Book for each level (A, B, C). Be sure to photocopy the advent calendar at the back of the book for your daughter. ------------------------------------------ If you need help with theory, Usborne has a couple of old versions of music theory books. Music Theory for Beginners There is also an Internet Linked one. It's not well rated on Amazon, but don't you believe it. It is very similar to the one listed above. (I have checked out both from the Homeschool Library). --------------------------------------------- I also have a list of homemade piano games that I play with my daughter to reinforce practice and to teach theory. Anyone who is interested, may PM me with a private email address, and I will try to send it to them. (The file is 11 pages, and is too long for PM within the Well-Trained Mind mail system.)

Older dd will be 6 in 2 WEEKS!!!! In the past few months we have read Little House in the Big Woods Little House on the Prairie On the Banks of Plum Creek Beezus and Ramona and we are now reading: On the Shores of Silver Lake Older dd seem to understand most of it. HOWEVER: 1) We read in the morning before toddler dd is awake or at bedtime when Dad is available to watch toddler dd. and 2) We are extended nursers, so dd5 is still nursing in the morning and evening. I have read these chapter books to her during her morning and evening nursings. (Interrupting her to point out pictures has definitely cut down on her nursing, so we are moving towards natural weaning). ****My point is that I doubt dd would be happy moving to chapter books if she was only allowed to "sit quietly and listen." You may need a plan for your child to color or do a quiet craft (string pony beads, cutting and gluing random shapes of construction paper, legos) while sitting nearby and listening to the story.******

When dd5 was emerging as a reader, this is the system I used with Bob books and the readers for our phonics program (Saxon). I put a post-it note inside the back cover of each book. On each post-it, I wrote: 1) Mom 2) Dad 3) [baby sister's name] 4) Cats 5) Friend (intended as a grandparent, friend of dd5's, friend of mine, etc) Whenever dd read to one of the people on the list, I checked off the name in the back of the book. Each time we had Phonics lesson, I would send her with a book or two to read to her sister or whichever cats she could find. This gave dd5 extra practice without worrying about getting a word wrong. By the time she had read the book 5 times on five different days, she knew the book well. If you think your daughter needs a little extra prompting on the story from one day to the next, read the book to/with her before sending her off to harass the cats. Dd5 received 25c for each book she read to 5 people. ------------------------------------------------------------ As dd mastered these little readers, we put them in a shoebox by her bed. If we put her to bed, but she didn't feel "tired" (yeah, uh, huh....), we told her that she could read her books to herself. This 1) gave her even more practice with the books 2) kept her in bed after hours, and 3) built the habit of reading to herself before bedtime.

A good Atlas. One that is probably less than 50 pages, so it is easy to find each continent and country. (Individual countries are not profiled, but capitals are listed). When we read a story that references a place, we look it up. I had a good atlas, but I can't recommend it because it is OOP. And now I can't find it!!! :crying:

For starters, the game you have is awesome!!!! You will love it!! We have early walkers, late talkers in our family. Younger dd will be 2 tomorrow, and she says a dozen words maximum...and most of those are sounds (beep, hiss, etc). Older dd only said 4 words at age 2. Things we did: 1) Letter of the Week -- but we have realistic expectations of what a non-verbal 2yo can do. Lots of coloring and crafts, and daily review (about 5minutes) of the weekly poster. Our house is crowded, so I would store the poster behind the couch at night, and hang it in front of the tv during the day. 2) My Sound Box books by Jane Belk Moncure -- Any decent library should have a copy of these books. We read one each week combined with the curriculum above. Make the sound, and ask your child to make the same sound whenever you turn a page. If you are reading the M book, before you turn the page, say, "Mmmmmmmm. [child's name] says Mmmmmmmmmm?" 3) Halfway through the year, I made CVC (consonant vowel consonant) flashcards for the refrigerator. Every week, I put one or two on the fridge, and I asked her to make a new word on the fridge with magnet letters in the minutes before lunch. During lunch, we reviewed the words we had done before. Leapfrog has the best magnet letters. Gotta go. Todder is creating chaos!

Nova and Nature from PBS -- our older dd was reciting stuff back by age 4; beware of Evolutionary content ETA: Or cheer for Evolutionary content Bill Nye (our library has a set, but we also TIVO them from Iowa PBS) ETA: Beware of or cheer for Evolutionary Content School House Rock! ETA: No Evolutionary Content evident

Can you check out copies from your local library to read on your own and (maybe) share with your children? We love the Cricket Family of magazines, but we are also secular, so would be less sensitive to evolutionary comments or implications. As an adult, you could read through several copies of Ask or Odyssey in an evening and make the judgment that is best for your family.

We used Saxon Math for K (and have continued through Saxon). For Saxon K, there is no writing; Just playing at different skills and lots of manipulatives. There are optional worksheets at the back of the curriculum that you could copy which (if I remember correctly) deal with writing the numbers. If I had it to do over, I would start these earlier so there is not a lot of writing at the end. I also plan to use Math Practice for Beginners for our second daughter. I probably will not start it until we are half-way through Saxon K.

Loverboy's folks live 4 states away, so we don't visit during the holidays. I don't get along with my parents; and I have decided that I am too old to be unhappy on Christmas. We stay home.

:iagree: For the ages of your children, this sound like a fine idea! However, as your children grow, I would try to be aware of what their needs will be as adult. Sadly, we ARE judged on things we don't know. For example, an 8yo who misspells a word, especially an easy word, like "Tuesday," is not likely to be judged. A 28yo WILL be judged for this. (I have seen this!!!) An 8yo who does not quite understand the difference between Washington state and Washington, D.C. will be forgiven. It's understandably confusing. A 28yo WILL be judged for this. (I have seen this!!!) An 8yo who is fuzzy on the differences of the Revolutionary War (what century, who was fighting) and the Civil War can be forgiven. A 28yo will be judged for this. (I have seen this!!!) This doesn't necessarily mean that at a specific age, you need to incorporate a Spelling, Geography, or History course. But it may mean that if you see a gap in Child B's Spelling skills, you work on it. Children A and C may be "natural spellers." If you see a gap in Child A's history, you may guide him/her toward a specific book to read and discuss together. ---------------------------------------------------------- Also, Writing was mentioned above. A poor idea communicated well will ALWAYS get more traction than a good idea communicated poorly. Different parts of our brains are in charge of taking in information and sending out information. If we don't exercise dispensing of information, we are not as strong in that area as we could be. The solution could be something as simple as you asking, "What was the book about?" We are reading Little House books, and I am trying to get dd5 (almost 6) to list two things from each chapter as we read them. -------------------------------------- So excited for you to homeschool in this way!!!! And a little jealous that I am too neurotic to do the same!!!

1) Whatever you are reading, find a good, lightweight atlas; something less than 100 pages. Even better: get the placemats with maps on them: one for world and one for U.S. We have used them to follow Laura Ingalls Wilder's path from Wisconsin (Little House in the Big Woods) to Kansas (Little House on the Prairie) to Minnesota (On the Banks of Plum Creek). We also referred to our map when reading The Wall: Growing Up Behind the Iron Curtain by Peter Sis. (We are reading a lot of Caldecott books this year). Whatever we are reading, whether it is Laura Ingalls, a Caldecott book, or an article in Ranger Rick Magazine about salmon off the coast of Alaska, we take a quick look at the map to show some perspective of where this is happening. 2) These songs: Geography Songs Even learning the first song about continents has given my daughter perspective of where we are talking about.

As a pp said, they only post when they have a really good day. Look at the curriculum choices in my signature. We have these things to do, but not everything gets done on every day. Actually, we're lucky to get just math and phonics done, and that is non-existent on days (or weeks) when "Life happens"*. Likewise, there are some days that are not "deep curriculum" friendly, so we will pick up something lighter from the list on those days. *Life happens: when Dad takes a week off because he has too much vacation, when grandparents come to visit for 8 days, when kids have a cold, when YOU have a cold, dentist day, going to the theater to watch a play, when 6 library books are due today and you haven't read them to the kids yet....

I read this article (the original)! I do think that we need to work on the process of learning: praise of: "I can see you are working hard!" and the value of practice. I'm trying so hard to get dd to make the connection between practice and results. I am a little horrified about the Asian first graders that worked on the problem for an hour. What a cruel thing for the researchers to give them an impossible problem! I also think there is value in knowing when to ask for help or get an outside perspective. One of the reasons that science is so strong in this country is the collaborative aspect of modern science: reading others' research, bouncing ideas off of colleagues, having others' review our papers before publication.

I love the dust bunnies!!! As part of our Phonics lesson, I added a rhyming game each day. I did this because dd5 was not learning what she needed from the set curriculum, and it was required by set curriculum. We had no competitive pressure to learn rhyming during this time, in spite of it being a game. We worked together to find the answers. Just like learning to tie shoes or do cartwheels, we simply practiced briefly each day until the skill was mastered. I have several rhyming games that I have picked up over the years, but I'll bet you can get some free ones online. ETA: If you are app savvy, maybe you could find an app that does that, and let your child work on it every time you ride in the car.

It's not just that "only men were scientists" in the past. Women were either blocked from the lab, or their accomplishments/abilities in science were unacknowledged. Including: Marie Curie was turned down for membership in the French Academy of Sciences. She earned not one, but TWO Nobel Prizes in not one, but TWO different fields. She was brilliant, brilliant, brilliant....but not good enough for them. Lavoisier is well known for his stoichiometry experiments. His name is inscribed on the outside of our university library with other great thinkers. Who knows that his wife was his lab assistant, and a very capable scientist who worked side by side with him? Rosalind Franklin was badmouthed by Watson, Crick, and Wilkins. Some attacks were that she didn't make her hair/clothes/face pretty enough. Wilkins thought Franklin should act less like a colleague and more like the underling she was;.....and then we find the historical document of the letter from the university president inviting Frankin to run the DNA program. Yeah, I get cheesed off at these sorts of things happening again and again and again. It makes me hold my girls and tell them that I hope in their world, they will be appreciated for the contributions they can make. We're planning to supplement when we get to higher levels of science.

We do use a boxed curriculum, but listed below helped immensely: Bob Books Sight Word Readers -- Dd5 would read the two set sight words when they showed up in the book, and I would read the rest of the words. --Also, as she read the Bob books and the Sight Word Readers, I put them in a shoebox by her bed. She was allowed to stay up later (in her bed) if she was reading. These books gave her great practice. --I would also put a post-it note in the back of each of the Bob books: 1) Mom 2) Dad 3) Sister 4) Cats (or dog, or fish) 5) Friend (or Grandpa) Dd5 would read the book to each person on the list. This gave her practice reading it 5 times to reinforce the words. --Flashcards of CVC words with a picture and name on one side, and just words on the other. Put two on the refrigerator each week, and have your child build them using refrigerator magnets every day before lunch. Review past weeks' words during lunch.

With a toddler and a napping baby, don't even think of beating yourself up about it!!! I mean it!!! We have a toddler in the house, and "Official Science" doesn't happen at our house either. I have a curriculum that we have done some experiments from, but not for months and months. Sad, because we are a very science family. However, kids are learning all the time. 1) We have no set science time in our house, but we read aloud from many, many, many science sources: --Southwestern Publishing's Science book (think Kingfisher, but probably not as good). --Magazines: Click, Wild Animal Baby, Big Backyard, National Geographic Little Kids, etc --Lots and lots and lots of books from the library. 2) Last year, we learned a lot by earning badges for Frontier Girls (similar to Girl Scouts). We did volcanoes, weather of all types, all the major Phyla of the animal kingdom, etc. 3) Trips to the zoo and science center, and discussions of whatever we have seen there...enriched by what we have read or learned at home. 4) LegoEducation products and SnapCircuits are teaching us Engineering and Electricity respectively. 5) Loverboy is THE BEST at just taking the kids out in the yard and exploring. This morning, they came home from exploring the neighbor's field with a 5-gallon bucket of rocks! :lol: 6) My child watches WAYYYYYYYY too much public television. (She is watching it this instant). Wild Kratts, Dinosaur Train, and Fetch with Ruff Ruffman are regular views on her own, but she also wrangles getting to stay up late by professing interest in watching Nature, Nova, and Nova Science Now with me. As a result, she knows soooooooooooo much more science stuff than if we had solely worked on the established curriculum. Dd5 stuns me all.the. time. with the science concepts that come out her mouth. I'm sure that if you really sat down and thought about it, you would have a list rivaling what I have listed here.

With enough love, we can solve any problem.

I can never have the relationship and conversations with my parents that I need to have. However, not all is lost. I get a second chance at a parent-child relationship. I get the chance to be there for my kids in the relationship and conversations that THEY need. I'm going to do the best I can. And I am humbly blessed with a partner who knows what he is doing in this area.

DD is only 5 (6 in December), so this is what we have done so far: 1) Our local library has this video on Veterans' Day. We have checked it out at least twice for holiday studies. It is a nice easy introduction to the holiday. Do a search at your library and see what is available. 2) YouTube has some good clips of educational materials. I think that this one is actually from the video listed above. ALWAYS PREVIEW YOUTUBE CLIPS ON YOUR OWN BEFORE SHARING THEM WITH YOUR CHILDREN. 3) Field trip to a cemetery to identify graves with flags and talk about their status as veterans.

From the deeper storm coverage that I have heard, the job of getting the power back on will be complicated by the flooding. So much of the infrastructure is underground in many of these metropolitan areas (NYC was profiled; not NJ). Workers in many areas can't even START on electrical work until the process of pumping out the underground infrastructure tunnels is in place.