My personal experience has been that AAR is good for a child who is struggling, but massive overkill for the NT. I think it's better to start out with something inexpensive like OPGTR or Phonics Pathways and then only escalate to the expense of AAR if you actually need it. Not sure how close to 6 the 5 year old in question is, but I have had kids "click" with blending around 5.5 years old.

DD will be 4/pre-K next year. She knows about 20 of her letter sounds, so I plan to work with her on the last few sounds. Saxon K math Gentle + Classical Preschool Various preschool handwriting pages I have left over from my older kids. I ordered her CLE Kindergarten 1 and 2 because it looks like the sort of thing that would make her feel included while the older kids do their work.

Our co-op experience was with a group of this kind...we did it for a year and I will probably never do that again. This year we've used some paid classes. Parents volunteer to do things like cleaning up the church afterwards, being the hall monitor, etc.

Lori, I am always so impressed with your lists! We are doing SOTW 2 this year and this will be helpful.

The vibe is different now. We have maybe 2-3 hybrid schools here, but the demand is there for many more. I personally do not see the appeal, but people are always looking for a hybrid. Lots of people in my area do CC. I am not interested in CC, but I think there are some people who do it because CC will take 4 year olds. It is impossible to find other homeschool groups or activities if your oldest is 4. In this area, not sending your 3 and 4 year olds to preschool is highly unusual and these parents need support, so I can see why CC feels like the solution. Not my thing though. CC is $$$, but the $$$ makes people show up, so I guess there are pros and cons to that. I am in an old school style support group and newer homeschoolers cannot seem to compute the purpose of a support group. I personally love it and hope it doesn't die out.

Some slight modifications, as one does: DS5 - Math - finishing Saxon 1, CLE 1 Phonics - continue pilot Handwriting - Channie's Bible - Awana Everything else - Gentle + Classical Primer He is tagging along with DS7 for history, science, and Latin. He has also developed an interest in Spanish, so we're playing around with that using Spanish books from the library.

VA does have the religious exemption option though.

CC and university model schools are HUGE where I live. Most of the people I talk to irl who do one of those two things do them because they feel insecure about their ability to teach. Not everyone, of course, but a large percentage.

Math - Saxon 3 Phonics - continue on with OPGTR Spelling - AAS 1 Handwriting - sheets I purchased from Claritas Writing - continue WWE 1, move to WWE 2 when finished Grammar - FLL 2 Science - Elemental Science - Earth Science and Astronomy History - SOTW 2 Bible - Awana

DS-almost-5 will be K age in the fall. He is all over the place. Math: finish Saxon 1, probably switch to CLE after that Phonics: continue on with the pilot he's participating in Handwriting: A Reason for Handwriting Bible: Awana

I rarely post here, but I read a good bit. It is a more enjoyable experience for me when I'm reading a conversation vs. reading a thread where one person has to have the final say. I also think one nice aspect of forums is that there is no "main character." Or at least, there shouldn't be. If I wanted to hear one person pontificate on their opinions, I'd go to a YouTube channel or Instagram profile.

1. How many kids did you want before you had them? - 5 2. How many do you have? - 3 3. Are you happy with that number? - not really, but it's all that health will permit. 4. Do you have any kids that are just like you? - yes, just 1 5. How many siblings do you have? - 3 6. What's your birth order? - first

That is such a beautiful thought.

DH and I were both homeschooled. Both of us were looking for a spouse who was at least open to homeschooling. No regrets here.

Yeah, I would definitely handle it that way for someone who has an already diagnosed relative. I'm the only celiac in my family and have never had the DH rash, so that was why we did the blood work + endoscopy.