I take the make a list and read as much as we can approach. We read a ridiculous amount so I just draw from these three lists (keep in mind, I have a rising K-er, but each of these have sites have other lists based on age/grade level): http://amblesideonline.org/00.shtml http://www.sonlight.com/read-alouds-k.html http://www.hillsdale.edu/academy/academics/curriculum.asp I have planned our read alouds off of these lists. As far as independent reading goes (or in our case, her reading to me), we're working our way through OPGTR. I've been selecting books that look like her reading level from the library and also using the Sonlight Readers 1 list which she seems to be able to handle although it's challenging. I figure when we finish all the read alouds from the K lists above and all the books that we feel like reading (we've been on a Roald Dahl kick), then we'll move on to the 1st grade lists. One way I use to know if a book is considered good quality is if it shows up on more than one list. There is a lot of overlap on the three lists above.

...I love Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading. My daughter just turned 5 and is reading at a 1st grade level and we're only a 1/3 of the way through the book. It's scripted, cheap (less than $20), and easy to implement.

I think that's a great idea! I might just steal it. :D And Angela --- you're my hero. Where do you find time to do all this stuff? I need some lessons in time management from you or something.

This was a great moment for me. It was a first of many firsts this week.

Doesn't feel great when you get something done, even when life is crazy? Yay for you! :hurray: It does look like your hands are full, but if you get a moment would you please share your schedule? I'm planning on buying BFSU too and would love to see what you've planned.

The Rightstart AL Abacus is AWESOME!

My vote goes to OPGTR. It's fast (15 minute lessons), inexpensive, and effective. You can always use the ETC you have with it too.

Use what makes you and your child happiest! Who cares what we all think anyway :001_smile: Seriously, you know your child and family best. MUS is a solid program that gets the job done. If that's what gets your child excited about math, go for it and don't look back!

We're on lesson 80 and all we've used is the book. So far, the magnetic letters have only been used for optional activities that I didn't think were necessary. You don't need to buy the flashcards either. They have instruction on how to make your own from index cards in the book. If you'd rather have the work done for you, those may be worth purchasing. Overall, my daughter is progressing great (she read Green Eggs and Ham and The Cat in the Hat to me last night almost without assistance) and we haven't done any of the optional activities.

...I love Rightstart A. You can go as fast or as slow as you want. There are very few worksheets (you could probably even skip them if you want) and lots of games. We started a couple of months ago and we'll probably stretch it out until the end of the K year.

I had a "YAY!" moment like that this week too when my daughter read a whole book for the first time. Yay for us! And hurray for great moments!

What a great job! I especially like the curtains and how you have the maps on the wall. You just reminded me --- I need to get some workboxes! :001_smile:

I own and use OPGTR. My 5 year old is on around lesson 80 out of 231 after starting about 3 months ago at lesson 27 (we skipped the first 26 lessons which were all about short vowel and consonant sounds which she already knew). When I was researching phonics curricula, I looked at Abeka. The biggest differences I see between the two are this--- 1. OPGTR is completely scripted and you need only the book. They do have optional activities using index cards and magnetic letters, but you only have to do them if you want. Abeka appears to be partially scripted and requires some other items beside the book (i.e. flashcards, flannelboard, etc.). Some people who don't like scripting may not like this aspect of OPGTR, but I haven't minded it at all. 2. OPGTR does not incorporate any handwriting while Abeka does. Having handwriting be separate was important to me because my daughter has struggled with writing and tends to get frustrated easily. I wanted to be able to teach her to read and avoid the fight about having to write too as part of the phonics curriculum. 3. OPGTR is cheaper overall. You can buy it on Amazon for less than $20. OPGTR has worked well for us, but some kids don't like it because there are zero pictures. In our case, that's great because the less distraction the better. Since you already own Abeka, why not try it? If it doesn't work for you next dc, you can always buy OPGTR cheap new from Amazon or used for even less.

We're CM influenced here and we use the Ordinary Parents' Guide to Teaching Reading (OPGTR) by Jessie Wise for phonics instruction and Getty Dubay Italics A for writing. I can't say enough about OPGTR. You can go as slow or fast as you want and the lessons are short. We skipped the first 25 lessons because my dd already knew her consonant sounds and jumped right in. We had a period when she didn't want to do it, but that was quickly remedied with stickers for completing lessons. We do it 2-3 times per week and are at around lesson 80 out of 231. I think that your child is supposed be reading at a 4th grade level when you're done. One handwriting option you may want to look at is Penny Gardner's Beautiful Handwriting for Children. It's an ebook and has all the instruction for both manuscript and cursive. That's what I'm planning on buying next once my daughter has her letter formation down. It is untraditional since it is italic, but I think it's very legible and aesthetically beautiful.

:iagree:

Oh and one more thing--- she always asks to do math first and says math is her favorite. You don't get a better endorsement than that!

I don't know how old your kids are, but my daughter is 5 and we have been doing A slowly and really liking it. Just so your forewarned, it does require a little bit of prep work (like 5-10 minutes tops) and you have to do the activities with your child (this is NOT an open a workbook and go type program). The length of time it takes to do a lesson varies, but I would say 30-40 minutes on average. You can easily break them up over two days. That being said, my daughter loves games and there are lots of games to play in Rightstart. She likes singing the songs (they drive some parents on this forum crazy, but she loves them) and she likes working with the manipulatives. The abacus is her favorite. She also likes the tiles, but more for playing with than actually using them for math applications. What I like about it is that she is learning to visualize things and do math in her head already. We're only on lesson 22 out of 77 and she was able to solve several simple word problems in her head and using the abacus today. Awesome! We're planning on continuing with B after A.

Sounds great! Our plans are very similar for our K year---OPGTR, RS A, and Getty Dubay Italics A at a nice relaxed pace. We're planning lots of outdoor fun and art too. Looking forward to hearing how it's going for you once you get into it. Be sure to post back to the board :001_smile:

We started A a couple of months ago and my daughter just turned 5 last week. We're doing 1-2 lessons a week and we're at around lesson 20 now. We are taking it very slow. I think we could have waited a bit longer though and it would have worked out as well. I'm going to schedule it so that we complete A so that she starts B when she's 6 and in 1st grade.

What a great idea! What day of the week do people normally post their review? Friday?

It sounds super normal. My daughter is the same way. She just turned 5 and we're at around lesson 80 in OPGTR. I've pulled way back and slowed way down. We're doing only one or two lessons a week now, 15 minutes a shot. My daughter also likes Starfall (free!) and Reading Eggs (there's a fee, but they have free trials often). I let her do 15-30 minutes a day on the computer. In fact for a while, to entice her to do her reading lesson I would tell her she could have some time on those websites after she was done with her lesson. And don't underestimate the power of stickers as a reward for a job well done. I firmly believe that My Little Pony puffy stickers can work miracles. It's hard for us mamas to remember that most of us (at least I didn't!) didn't start learning to read until we were 6 and in first grade. We've got lots of time to teach them. Just keep doing what you're doing and relax. He'll get it eventually and so will mine :001_smile:

We love OPGTR. You can just skip to the lesson where you think he needs the most phonics instruction.

My five year old is very artistic too. This year I'm going to combine Making Amazing Art (a friend showed me this book. I found it to be in the vein of Artistic Pursuits at a quarter of the cost) and Drawing with Children. There's also a Monart school near our house so I'm hoping to get her into a few classes during the school year.

I'll throw my hat in the ring and vote for Rightstart with one caveat--- wait until next year for your younger one. I just started doing A with my daughter who is newly 5 and we are going VERY SLOW (i.e. about 1-2 lessons per week). I think if she was any younger or if we went any faster it would be a struggle and she would hate it. So definitely pick RS, but wait until she's 5. I have read some of the FIAR books with my daughter and I have friends who do FIAR. Based on that experience, I think you'll like it. We also do OPGTR and I have found it extremely effective for teaching reading.

How about drawing stuff in with dry erase markers for geography? Just get a bunch of different fun colored markers and let 'em rip! You could also add labels for places you have visited, places where friends and family live, etc. If you're comfortable with putting holes in it, you could put pins in locations too and have a string coming off connected to some writing one of your children has done on it.