Hi, this will show how new I am to all this, but I am SO excited by the concept of afterschooling! DH has always wanted to homeschool his kids, since before we were even married. However, I haven't always been so on board about it. In the last few years I have started to come around and agreed to homeschool one year at a time, with Sir B starting K next yr. Then we adopted our sweet bundle of joy, Sir I, from Korea. He is such a character! We are not sure exactly why, but he has global delays - he has low muscle tone, is delayed cognitively and doesn't have any words. He is receiving a number of different therapies and this is really hard for Sir B. He plays up, wants to be involved etc. I spend more time trying to get him to behave than working with Sir I's therapists. So, I am starting to think about sending him to ps. When I mentioned it to DH he pointed out that we have spent $ on curriculum stuff for next yr, some of which I am already working on with him. And now, enter the concept of afterschooling! But, here is my question: if I continue doing Right Start and OPG with him in will he be bored and act out in a ps K class? He is very social and talkative and imaginative and energetic. Why do you do afterschooling? What benefits do you see? Are your children bored at grade level? Thanks for the input :)

Thanks so much for this site - it is exactly what I needed.

Hi all, while I love shopping on the internet, it is hard to know exactly what you're going to receive! We live in a small town in CO and don't have any school supply type stores anywhere near us, so I turn to you for help. I want to purchase an activity table and chairs for my school room, which my tall 5 yr old will be able to use for a while so I am thinking of an adjustable table. But what height???? Any help??? I realize that I may have to buy a chair that fits hims now and one for when he is bigger, but would love to get away with just one table. Thanks for your help :)

I have found that people can't place my accent. Some people are absolutely sure that I am Australian, but while I did live in New Zealand for 15 months as a pre-teen that's not right. I was raised in Hong Kong and so have what we call a Hong Kong accent - a little bit of everything based on the way I learned to talk in England before moving there! Also, I have received some looks and comments about my kids. Sir B looks just like me, and Sir I looks nothing like us ... mainly b/c we adopted him from Korea :001_smile: We live in a small town in CO and it has been interesting watching people's reactions to me being out and about with my kiddos!

I agree with this completely. I was shocked that Sir B really listened to the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe and Peter Pan last year. There was another full version book he listened to but I can't remember the title right now. And, as an added benefit, I enjoyed the books too!!!

We have just instituted listening to an audio book after Sir B is done with school in the mornings so I can have time to some therapy work with Sir I. So far we are up to 20 mins. I am hoping to work up to about 45 mins. What perfect timing for this subject! This week he is really enjoying listening to Jeremy: The Tale of an Honest Bunny and the others in the set by Jan Karon. When he was younger he loved listening to the Mother Goose nursery rhymes. It still amazes me how many of them he know now!

Thanks for the replies. I guess we'll just see how he does and go from there. I am such a planner that it's hard for me not to lay it out and see where we're supposed to be at any time in the year!

How often do you do math? Right Start A has 75 lessons, and that would be less than 20 wks if we do a lesson a day, 4 times a wk. Then what? Take a wk off math and then move right into Right Start B? This is also wrapped up in my desire to do some school during the summer. I had always planned to start adding K level things when Sir B turned five, instead of waiting until the start of the school yr, August. So, if we do school during the summer and on into next school yr, at some point he'll be more like a 1st grader, so how does that work? While I don't feel that grades are all that important I live in a state that has to report hs kids when they are 7. Thanks for helping me sort this all out!

I am so excited that the things I have ordered for K are arriving ... bit by bit. We are doing a very simple pre-k program 4-5 days a wk right now, and I am debating whether or not to add things in as they come, or wait until the pre-k is over? For example, I just got Right Start A today. The math in the pre-k program we are using is way below Sir B's ability so should I start with Right Start stuff now? And the phonics? And the bible? As they all come trickling in? I am planning to do school through the summer b/c Sir B isn't good at entertaining himself and school gives us something to do in the morning ... :D I won't be strict about it if there are fun things going on, but plan to shoot for 2-3 times a wk. Then go back to 4 times a wk in the fall. What would you do? Would you wait until what I'm doing is done and then start the new things, or add them as they come? I am leaning in this direction so won't be such a huge change.

I have very little advice for you since I have only been doing light pre-K work with my eldest - a wiggly, squiggly boy! All I know is that he needs hands on things to do, and loves when we play the alphabet game - a movement for each letter: B - bounce around, D - dash around the room, etc. When he gets too fidgety I yell out a few letters, he does the actions and then we settle down again. My ds had that same reaction to 100EZL so we tried OPGTR for a while last fall. He did ok with it - was reading 3 letter words - so I backed off until ready to start K, which will most likely start in a few weeks. One of my good friends switched from Sonlight to MFW this past yr b/c she didn't think her 2nd dc who was starting K - a boy - would sit through the Sonlight RA's like her dd did. While she misses Sonlight, MFW is working for them all now. She also incorporates random times of running around for her ds, mostly when she is working on something with her dd. So, it seems like adding in lots of movement and physical activity helps!

Go with your momma's instinct if you think it is something medical. There have been a few times in the past few years when mine has been poo pooed to the detriment of my kiddos. God gave you this particular daughter to raise, and the momma instinct to do it with. :grouphug:

Ds is a very hands on learner, so I want to do a bit more then the 3 r's next year in K. Would you suggest an overview style look at our state and it's history, or Galloping the Globe? We'll most likely just do this 2 times a wk - we'll be schooling 4 times a wk by then - and it'll mainly be to add something different to the three r's.

So, am I being too ambitious in thinking that we can cover a new letter each day with HWOT??

At this point I am following a read aloud schedule from Winter Promise, in their preK program so we read aloud for about an hr a day from both that and whatever chapter book we have going. Moving into next year, I plan to focus on teaching Sir B to read and do math without a 'package' curriculum, but am worried about not having a read aloud schedule to follow. Any suggestions on where to find a good one for K level? For example, should I borrow a friends Sonlight K IG and use their read aloud schedule?

The OPG sentence copywork is a great idea. Am I correct in thinking that StareWrite is a DVD you can buy and print whatever you want in the HWOT font?

OK, so I have planned out HWOT Kindergarten and it'll take 20 wks, doing it 4 times a wk. So what do I do after that? Do I go into the 1st grade book? Thanks for your help!!!!

I just received my HWOT kit for Kindergarten and am very excited to use it with ds. Here are a few questions for those who have gone before me: 1. Did you follow the book exactly - teaching capitals, numbers then lower case. Or did you review the capitals while you were doing numbers &/or lowercase so your dc didn't forget? 2. What did you do when you completed the book? Move onto the next HWOT level right away or start some gentle copywork? Or have dc go over the letters on spare HWOT paper?

Thanks so much for your input! I love how quickly people reply in this group. As we get a little further into the journey, I hope to offer support to you all in some way!

Hi all, I am sure this has been covered here a few times before however I can't find any links answering my specific question! Once all ordered curriculum arrives, I will start in on K with ds and I need advice about what works best for you. First, we do have a room in the basement that I can turn into a school room if I want to. It has a few windows that will let in more light if we pull the weeds out from the window well. So, a school room or the kitchen table? Right now we use the kitchen table and I am not enjoying getting everything out and then putting it away again. But, one reason we are homeschooling is to make education more fun for him. On the other hand, I like the idea that we 'get serious' when we go to the school room. Second, should we invest in an individual desk for him? From what I understand, handwriting is easier to learn when your child's feet are on the floor, so that seems to rule out the kitchen table right now. I have a few friends whose kids use individual desks in their school rooms, and part of me likes this idea. However, when I visited a private Christian school to help me decide what to do for K, one thing that turned me off was them all sitting at individual desks in rows across the room. Maybe I could find a school table that adjusts its height as he grows? Is such a thing available? I am not sure that a table would fit into what may become the school room though ... As you can see, I need a little advice! Thanks :001_smile:

My sister-in-law swears by Saxon math, however I would love to know what your math curriculum of choice is, and why. Thanks :001_smile:

Hi, Can anyone suggest a good way to combine these three? DS does well with OPGTR and was taught a little bit of printing with HWT in pre-school and so I want to continue these. However I really like the art, narration and copywork in FLL. Thanks :001_smile:

Hi, after working slowly to persuade me that homeschooling is right for us, DH has finally won me over! So, here we go ... DS1 went to preschool for almost 2 yrs before we pulled him out after Christmas. We are working through a pre-k program from Winter Promise, mainly to let me see if I can do this! Things are going great and I am looking to move on to K level work soon. He is enjoying the WP stuff, but I know it is way below his level. We did some work in OPGTR last summer and he did well, so I am going to start that again soon. Also, I just ordered HWT and already have Saxon K, so I guess we are ready to go. We plan to school all year since DH has funky vacations and a 3 day weekend every month, so we want to be able to go, without worrying about school, when we can. DS2 is our bundle of joy and grace. We adopted him from Korea last summer and are loving every minute of parenting him ... even the rough ones! He is severely delayed in speech and so we are wading through the early intervention program maze to get him the help he needs. That is us in a nutshell, so here is the question: How do I go about telling my parents that we aren't going to send DS to school next yr? They are very against hmscling and I am worried that my mum will try to undermine us at every turn. We live about 20 mins from my parents and see them often, and DS spends time with them without me around. Those are the times that I am worried about my mum saying things like "Don't you wish you were in school?" etc. Any advice would be appreciated!