you could try something like All about spelling and use the letter tiles instead of writing. You could also use Dancing Bears and drop the tracing too. We use a combo of both here and it is working good for my non-writer.

We have books 1 and 2 so far and are saving it for 1st and 2nd grade. We'll move into MCT from there. I really like the look of the books and the information in them. I think it will be a great bridge before MCT. I am not sure I would use it for younger then 1st grade though as it does involve writing which may not be quite up to speed by then for the average kiddo.

I think it really depends on your state cuttoffs and the child. I fall into the interest led category as far as starting school goes. If you have a child begging to learn and do work then by all means let them as they find it fun and to them it is a kind of play anyhow. Just as long as you are not forcing a child to sit and do work they do not want to do. DS1 is blowing through a lot of books now and has a ravenous appetite for "school" He's is in week 5 of "pre-k" and is almost halfway done with SM EM K book B and MUS primer. At this rate he'll be higher then 1st grade work in K but we will still be calling it K. I personally was 5 in my first grade year and went on to skip a grade later in life anyway so age/grade level doesn't mean much to me anyway.

My favorites so far have been Real science odyssey which you can buy the experiment kit from homesciencetools.com and the Nancy larson science. The main reason we are using the RSO and not nancy larson is my desire to stick with the classical cycle for science rather then a mix up of the different sciences in one year. RSO is a lot cheaper too :tongue_smilie:

I put library pockets on each file. I then printed out 3x5 card size planner sheets double sided onto cardstock. I got the 3x5 planner sheets from DIYplanner.com. When we sit down to do our school I write down what we complete as we finish it. I put the date in the top of the planner and then as each card is filled I put it into the library pocket on the front of that week's file. For things like MUS, AAS I use progress charts that I keep in the front of our expandable file. AAS had it's own that came with it but for MUS I just made a progress chart in open office and the kids can put a sticker on each lesson as it is done. I also have 3x5 card size spelling list cards and book list cards that I can put our books and such on for that week and then they go into their own library pocket on the front of the file. (each week's file has 3 pockets glued to them) This works pretty effectively for things that are not workbooks or that I do not rip apart and put into files. There is description with pictures on my blog of how it works for us. It shows the files, workboxes and expansible file we use to put this together. I just ordered the last piece of the picture today for completed work (clear wall file pockets) I will be putting these on the wall in front of each kid's desk under their whiteboards so they have a place to put the work they finish that needs to be gone over. So far we are really loving this system because it makes everything flow so smoothly and helps me to keep track of everything without giving up hours each weekend or night.

we plan on using them as a supplement for K and 1st grade. Our main will be FLL in K and Aesops from RFWP in 1 and 2nd. I got mad libs junior off of amazon which qualifies for their 4 for 3 promotion which is nice.

:iagree: My 12yo is using writeshop and loving it and my 9yo is using writeshop primary and loving it too :) I highly recommend them!

If we are adding readers into the mix ....... our lineup is : Dancing Bears bob books sonlight K readers tag reader short and long vowels series mcguffey readers some made by mom and we also own and love the leap frog DVDs

We've tried a lot so far trying to find the right fit :tongue_smilie: things we tried but didn't work: Phonics pathways - got it read it sent it back way too much of a learning curve for me. It was like looking at something alien with no direction. OPGTR - this worked well for a while but it got a bit too dry and shelved it for a while. Came back to it for a bit and although I love the instruction there is too much I didn't like that weighed my decision. DS is confused by the capital I looking like a lower case l and it drove him crazy. I hate that there are "sight words" introduced instead of a way to pronounce and read them phonetically. 100 EZ - this was anything but. The only thing I like(d) about this book was the slider arrow underneath the word which in all honesty did help DS to understand what it was to blend. However the font was way too confusing for him. SSRW - good idea but same thing can be achieved for less money, better workbooks and more consistently. We had a great phonics music CD we got for 4 bucks off amazon that DS liked better, we have like 4 alphabet/blend bingo games, have a bunch of alphabet cards to play go fish with so we sold this one ans chalked it up to a learning experience. Sonlight K - I bought this with my core and quickly sent it back enough said. If my kiddos were older I might have gone the route of phonics road which is my grass is greener plight however I have decided to go with dancing bears. Out of all the programs suggested to me that I really looking into closely dancing bears looked the best to me for the best value. We should be getting it any day now and fingers crossed that this is what we've been looking for!

I was looking for an alternative to rule tunes from PR and came across these and they sound a lot nicer then most little kid sings :tongue_smilie: has anyone heard of them before? http://www.talkingfingers.com/jinglespells/spelling-songs-and-rules.html#

After a good night's rest, talking to DH more and really thinking it out I am going to stick with my original plans and the stuff I already have thanks for the encouragement ladies! My plans are: rest of this year (pre-k) dancing bears for reading a bunch of readers we already have. HWOT pre-K next year (K) keep going on dancing bears start working on Aesops LA by RFWP Write source K Start up on AAS1 For my 9yo who is is need of spelling help AAS1 going at her pace Writeshop primary A ( we've already started this) For the 12yo we will start megawords I believe. I also got a copy of how to teach spelling so we can have some more difficult word lists for AAS as recommended by carmen :) Does this sound like a good and solid plan? thanks again! and thanks elizabeth I will look into those songs!

phonics road

Yeah I know dramatic right :lol: But seriously just when I think I have figured it out that lingering doubt or desire floats on back and ruins my resolve. :tongue_smilie: I just can't decide whether or not to go the PR route and if I do where to start in it. economically it doesn't make sense to buy PR but I just can't get over the benefits it might have to my DC. I need help to hold me back or push me forward LOL Here are some points that I am tossing around to make my decision: I already own AAS 1-3 Already own Aesops LA from RFWP ( 3 copies in fact for all 3 boys :tongue_smilie: ) Already own and use MCT island level with my 9yo littles will go through dancing bears for learning to read first so should have a good grasp on phonics and might need to move faster then AAS not sure though? We like materials as secular as possible as we have a blend of religion in our home and prefer to teach it separately to avoid leaning any one way too much. I like a lot of hand holding, like what to do and when to do, lists, instructions and time savers We already own writeshop primary a-c and writeshop 1+2 I hear there is much more and better instruction on syllables in AAS and I don't want to miss out on that I have a 9yo DSD that is in serious need of phonics/spelling help but since she is already reading I don't want to move too slowly for her yet not too fast that she doesn't get all she needs to help her The rule tunes, grammar tunes and markings are soooo tempting though as my DS1 loves little tunes and really latches onto and memorizes songs easily. I wish there was a way to incorporate that into AAS that didn't involve mommy "writing" rule tunes herself. :lol: I am almost even considering just getting PR1 and doing it alongside AAS just to get the rule tunes and markings and then not going past PR1 because we don't need all the other LA but can I justify another 199 for another spelling program? ACK help me I suck at decisions! :lol:

I just finished setting up a nice little 5 gallon aquarium in our schoolroom today for some added decoration and an opportunity to have a school pet :tongue_smilie: I also thought it would be a good science tool down the line and good for the boys to get to observe fish and growing plants. That said does anyone know of any good projects we could do with our aquarium that would be fun for a younger child? Right now it is a tropical setup with a heater keeping the water a nice 78 degrees but we haven't added any fish yet. my google searches are not bringing up anything noteworthy though.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/search.php?searchid=5759359 HTH :)

I found them searching for OG readers and they do look really nice so I am curious if anyone has seen or used them before? http://rlac.com/store/Books-to-Remember.html http://rlac.com/store/Steps-to-Success-Series.html http://rlac.com/store/Phonics-Readers.html http://rlac.com/store/Go-Phonics-Readers.html

yep I ended up going with A1 , A2 and then into B and C afterward :) Thanks so much for the recommendation and advice!! :)

What are the best supplementary readers if you are teaching your DC to read using one of the Orton-Gillingham methods? We are starting dancing bears and DS love little books and I was wondering what the best readers would be to go along with it for him. We have Bob books already but he is wanting more. :)

DS1 is my super perfectionist. It almost scares me at times. He's been like this since he was pretty young too (probably since around 18 months old) I is very very hard on himself but at the same time very very determined. He will beg for things like handwriting sheets but then when he can't trace them up to his standards he freaks out but refuses to quit. He will sit there and erase and do over until he feels it is ok for him. This carries over to so many things too like playing sports, stacking toys, you name it and it probably frustrates him. It's almost like he knows what it should look like or do but his little body just is capable of it yet and that makes him nuts. DH was outside last week kicking around a soccerball with him and he got sooooo upset that he couldn't kick it the way he wanted (the way pro soccer people do) Or the other day he had his coloring book out and got really upset because he couldn't stay 100% inside the lines. Granted this is the kid that could count to 20 by the time he was 19 months old and new all of his letters and his sounds before he was 2 just from videos and learning on his own so he is a bit accelerated. It's just so hard to get him to let loose and be a kid sometimes instead of an adult stuck in a tiny body. He doesn't want to get dirty, he hates messes and likes things to be in order. Past all this though he is the sweetest most caring kiddo I know. so you are not alone but if you figure something out let me know as I'd love to help DS relax more!

I just got AAS in the mail and I ordered the cobweb the cat book which says on it "All about reading level 1 book 3 " and all throughout the level 1 TM it schedules the "readers" as all about reading. Will AAR be pretty much using the AAS TMs along with the readers or are they releasing a different set of TMs to go with the readers? The release dates that you mentioned correspond with the release dates given on the site for the readers due out. and if you go to http://www.all-about-reading.com it shows the cobweb the cat as being the first released component. Can anyone who has read any info clarify if AAR will have different TMs from AAS or will they use the same and just add the readers?

Dontcha love me with all these questions! :lol: We are going to go into dancing bears for learning to read and we are going to start at bear necessities A1. Should I go ahead and buy A2 and then dancing bears B and C? If we do A1 through book C would that give us everything we need for learning to read fluently and then we could go into PR1 or AAS1 for spelling in first grade? Thank you all for helping me to find this program it looks perfect for us :)

Awesome! I love school room pics! I LOVE the trofast system and it's on DH's waiting list of stuff to build me :lol:

yep :) I loved the system but couldn't justify the funds. It cost me less then the startup package for one child to make it myself :)

http://homeschoolinginthemountians.blogspot.com/2010/09/our-new-chore-system.html thanks for looking! :)

Here are all the bygel components from Ikea http://www.ikea.com/us/en/search/?query=bygel Hanging file folder organizer http://www.orientaltrading.com/ui/browse/processRequest.do?demandPrefix=11&mode=Browsing&requestURI=processProductsCatalog&xsaleSku=62/1155&sku=59/9024 The paper organizer http://www.walmart.com/ip/9-Compartment-Organizer-White/11019262