OK....what I think I am looking for to include in our first grade is something like FIAR. I used FIAR volumes 1 & 2 years ago when my oldest two were little. We never used it as it truly is intended; we read the stories maybe 2 or 3 times, but never 5. We just would pick and choose the activities that looked fun. We fell in love with many of the books, and I probably never would have even known about those books if we didn't use FIAR. The latest LLATL thread got me thinking of giving that a try. I like the idea of using those books.......but I don't think we need all the other "stuff". We are probably sticking with McRuffy, which already includes phonics, grammar, etc. I think I'd be setting myself up for way more work by using LLATL *and* McRuffy (I don't want overkill here). So, is there something that uses nice children's books with questions? Or, should I just choose one of the hundreds of books I already have on the shelf and enjoy reading it and ask some questions (I'm just not very creative.....and I won't know any interesting background info to share about the story like FIAR had)? Or........maybe I should just get FIAR volume 1 again and do what I did years ago? Hmmmmm......that's an idea. :001_smile: Maybe someone here knows of something else like this that I just haven't heard of yet.

I really liked the Kumon workbooks, especially the Kumon First Steps for this age; so cute and the kids LOVE them: http://rainbowresource.com/prodlist.php?sid=1284348261-513637&subject=3&category=562 Another set we liked for preschool (and even above) is Developing the Early Learner: http://rainbowresource.com/search.php?sid=1284348261-513637 ETA: Hmmm...this second link doesn't seem to be working for me. When you are at Rainbow Resource just type in Developing the Early Learner.

I bumping this up, hoping someone can answer this more definitely than I can. When I was considering getting MM I did a search here to read all about it (there are a TON of posts). Several people had mentioned that they print it with just the black ink. So hopefully one of them can reply and let us know if there's any special way to print it that way.

I haven't gotten to start MM yet. I ordered the CD and haven't gotten it yet. :sad: But, anyway.....I just wanted to mention, just in case you didn't know, that the workbooks are black and white. With the download or the CD you can print in black and white or with color (I don't know if all the pages are color). It might be disappointing if you didn't know that and got the workbooks and thought "What??? No color?!" :ohmy:

If anyone would check my profile page (homeschool-mamma)......do you see my little homeschool logo with the pencils??? Do you see my name and address and phone number??? I see these things when I look at my own profile.....but I've set it so that others aren't supposed to see my name, address, phone number. But, how do I know what others are seeing, kwim (do they see something different than what I see)?? I also don't like that "it" (the site) put the books I've listed into My Favorite Books and My Favorite Authors. I mean....how rude, :lol:. I'd rather make my own choices for those things, thank you very much (they are not my favorite books or my favorite authors). So, do you see those books in My Favorite Books and My Favorite Authors in my profile?? It's just driving me nuts that I can't "see" my profile the way others see it.....so I wonder what they see. :tongue_smilie:

LOL! I just got another request. :001_smile: Well.........I don't have the overly greatest selection...yet. :blush: Here's my name over there: homeschool-mamma

I see you already are using MM 1A.....so, I don't know if you are looking for just a few levels or the entire series. The sale at HSBC was for the series (all the Light Blue, or all the Blue, etc). I'm not sure if they ever have deals on just parts of the series. Someone else can maybe answer that. I just didn't want you waiting around for HSBC next discount and then find out the offers are for the whole shebang, kwim?

Well, I signed up yesterday and got some books listed today. I actually listed 26 books today! Whoo hoo! I got requests for 3 of my books within the first hour or less. I see that 5 more of my books are on wishlists for people (I guess that means I just wait to see if anyone requests them??). Anway, I was so surprised how fast I got some requests. :party:

Well, she sounds waaaaaay farther ahead than my dd who will be 7 next month. She's my baby and my last child......and I just didn't push with her (I know it was mostly because I didn't want her growing up so fast). She is still woking on her Kindergarten McRuffy Phonics & McRuffy Math. And, you know what?? It's ok. I don't even care if anyone reading this thinks she is too far behind. She's doing just fine and all will be ok. I am confident it will be so with your dd. FYI: We school year round (lightly in the summer) and don't start our new school year until January. So....we still have til the end of the year to finish K. :001_smile:

Oh my! That's like a nightmare come true. I bought the CD because I was so "afraid" of the download (we seem to always have computer issues). Supposedly, if your computer can read pdf's then you just pop the CD in and it will all come up; so that's why I went that route. I'm so paranoid that it won't work. :eek: Ok...sorry I'm no help. I hope you got it downloaded by now.

Thank you both for explaining. Well.....that all sounds pretty cool. I'll have to go back to the site, check it out further, and maybe sign up. :001_smile:

I was looking for a book on google and a link took me to the PaperBack Swap. I read the little "book" that explains the site......but, I just don't get it. Another "duh" moment for me, I know. :blushing: It sounds like it doesn't cost anything to sign up, but that they might ask you for a donation or something sometime throughout the year??? So, do you mail your books to others at your own expense and what you get in return is choosing a book from someone else that they mail to you at their expense? Or, do you only mail a book to someone if they have a book that you want (like an actual swap)? How does this all kinda even out??? See.......I just don't understand. :001_unsure:

Thank you both. I will look at those links. I was thinking that I had better check it out, if people were using this for first grade, before I order all of our first grade stuff. But, I'm glad to know that it's not for a first grader yet anyway. Now I can relax. :001_smile:

OK, so I've heard of these grammar books before....I've gone to the website before. I had looked at samples and remember not really liking the font. It was hard for me to read (anyone else feel this way?). Now there are more posts about MCT so I went back to the website. It just totally confuses me. Where are all these grammar books? Can someone give me a direct link? At what age/grade level are these for (I read someone saying they were using this with a 1st grader). I'm just lost when it comes to his books.....it's like I just don't get it or something. :confused1:

I believe it's this one: http://rlac.com/store/Recipe-For-Reading.html http://orton-gillingham.com/frmShoppingCatalog.aspx?intCategoryID=4&intProductID=18 http://eps.schoolspecialty.com/dynamic/pop-ups/rtu_pop-up.asp?series=491M&seriesdescription=Recipe%20for%20Reading

Well, a couple of ideas. First, what version of HOP are you using? The old one in the clam shell case? If so....that's the problem; Totally Booooring! If it's the newer version.....well, then I'm not quite sure. They are definitely an improvement over the old. Secondly, either consider putting it away for awhile, like the other poster suggested, or check out a different approach. Two of my favorites that you might like to look at are McRuffy and Reading Made Easy. Here are some links: http://mcruffy.com/Kindergarten-Phonics.htm http://valeriebendt.com/ReadingMadeEasy.aspx In the blue box to the right of the above link you'll see samples and lots of reviews. You can also see more samples of the book and activity books here: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=reading+made+easy&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1

Well, I voted for McRuffy. But, I kinda wanted to vote for "other" also....because I also really, really like Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt. :001_smile:

I was thinking about this some more. It's so cute when little ones want to make a gift for mom or dad. One day, my dd (at the time probably the same age as Grasshopper) was in her room working for the longest time on something. She came out with this box she had found. She also found some wrapping paper and covered all 6 sides with this paper (I think she used an entire roll of scotch tape). It was for me. No reason. Just because I'm her mom and she :001_wub: me. I opened it and wadded up inside was my work shirt (one of my shirts I had to wear 3 nights a week at a restaurant). The look of joy on her face......just *knowing* that this was the perfect thing to give me. I was thinking.....yep, just what I wanted. Kids are so precious. :lol: So.....what did Grasshopper make you (or isn't it time for you to know yet??)?

No....actually I think I'm the idiot. I was reading this and thinking......Grasshopper???......Cricket??? Who would name their kids *that*?? I'm kinda old school and I'm still not used to the way people refer to their kids on message boards/blogs. :blush: :lol: And, my deepest apologies if your kids *really* are named Grasshopper and Cricket. I mean......you never know..... If so......I. Love. Their. Names. :blushing:

She's a genius!!! :lol: Funny!! My son used to do something similar with his list to check off each day. He'd check things off that he was about to do...or would be doing fairly soon. Drove me nuts. If we got side-tracked and didn't get to it, it looked like it was done 'cause he had already checked it off (although, to him that was just fine and dandy).

How much time ya'll got?? Let's see.....here's just some of the stuff we've tried over the years that has flopped: Moving Beyond the Page :001_huh: Right Brain Phonics :eek: Professor B :thumbdown: Times Tables the Fun Way & Times Tales :tongue_smilie: Writing Strands :confused1: Phonetic Zoo :ack2: CLE :001_unsure: (please....if anyone loves CLE I still have for sale CLE Sunrise 1st grade math, social studies, and science and 3rd grade Sunrise math....PM me!!) And the winner of the big booby prize goes to......drum rollll.... Fast Track Action Reading :smash: I actually heard about this years ago on Oprah, of all places. It is THE WORST reading program in the world. Don't ever, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever...........EVER get that. Maybe this is why I never watch Oprah anymore.

I don't think you'll get it today. I can't remember what they said, so I went back to HSBC to check....but they took the MM down. Hmmm.....seems like it was going to be a few days. I orderd the Light Blue series on CD, which will even take longer to get (I think like a week or so). :tongue_smilie:

100 EZ Lessons is what I used to teach my first child to read. She hit a bit of a road block about half way through, so we put it away for about a month and then went back to it. We finished the book a few months after she turned 5. She was definitely reading at a solid 2nd grade reading level as the book claims. In fact, she could really read anything and everything. I remember a World Book salesman stopped by and didn't believe me when I said that she could read. He slid the A encyclopedia across the table in front of her, opened it up and said, "read this". And she did....effortlessly. His jaw litearlly dropped. So, for child #1 it was a success. Tried it with ds. He struggled. He always tried to guess the words by looking at the pictures. Even covering up the picture he'd just guess, guess, guess. But....then again, there really wasn't any reading program (tried *so* many with him) that ever worked. My youngest is almost 7 and is still a beginner reader. I'm sure she could be farther along in reading, like dd #1, but I didn't want to start to early with her (I think mostly because of *me*.....she's my baby and last child and I didn't want her growing up so fast, LOL!). Anyway, we are working through McRuffy K...but what I recently discovered was Reading Made Easy by Valerie Bendt. Oh my goodness......my dd LOVES this and I think it's wonderful too. There are 4 student activity books that now go along with this, they are not necessary but really add a lot of fun to the lessons. Had I known about this program I would have stuck with this for all the kids. The font is an Italic style that my dd loves; which has inspired us to use Italic handwriting now (but you don't need to). To the right of this link you'll see a blue box with samples of reading lessons and samples from the activity books. You can also read TONS of reviews at her site. http://valeriebendt.com/ReadingMadeEasy.aspx Here's another link to show more pics of the activity books. I ordered my activity books from CBD with my free shipping code. I found a used copy of the RME book. http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=reading+made+easy&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCN&nav_search=1&cms=1

Can I suggest another one? Take a look at Memorize in Minutes The Times Tables. You really don't even need the book anymore, because it's pretty much all at the website. At the link below you'll see the "base pictures" for the stories. To the left you'll see the different facts (I don't think there are stories for the 0's or 1's). As an example, scroll over "8-Eights" and a drop-down will show each fact, click on one such as 8x8 and a page will come up. This brings you to a page that will have the video story for 8x8=64. It's skate x skate = sticky floor. There's other cool timed tests and stuff at the site too. FYI: if you actually click on "8-Eights" (instead of just scrolling over and getting the drop-down) it will take you to a page with flash cards for each 8 fact. Then you need to click on the flash card you want to get to the video story. http://www.multiplication.com/learnbasepictures.htm

When we first started homeschooling, I thought you had to do every subject every day. Silly me :tongue_smilie:! If I had your schedule, I'd probably do something like this: Singapore math ~ Daily Handwriting W/O tears ~ T, TH FLL ~ M, W, F Complete writer ~ T, TH Sequential spelling ~ M, W, F SOTW ~ M, W Science ~ T, TH typing ~ F Or.....something like that. ;)