Alexia, your dd sounds like she is in exactly the same spot as my ds with her reading. ETC and AAS have been a great combination for him this year. He is in ETC book 4 and just starting AAS 2. I bought the first MCP Plaid phonics book for my younger dd, and I found that I didn't care for it nearly as much as ETC. Congrats on having them all home!

We love art and crafty projects here at our house. I usually save them for the end of the day, because my kids can get swallowed up in them for hours. We always do math, our language arts components for the day and reading right after breakfast. I will have them do one 'elective' subject after that, such as typing, Spanish, music or computer enrichment. Then we have a break and lunch. After lunch we do either History or Science and THEN whatever crafty stuff we have for the day. Once the table is covered in crafty stuff, it is all over for anything else at our house. :001_smile: If I have a language arts craft project, I will sometimes do that right before our break for lunch. Other times, I just save it for the end of the day. Good luck with your planning!

We just got a used copy of Disney's Adventures in Typing with Timon and Pumba from Amazon. We are only on lesson two, but my kids (7 & 4) are loving it!

We started with the Leapfrog Letter Factory and Talking Word Factory DVD's. Then we used BOB Books and Modern Curriculum Press Readers. That combination has worked well for us!

I input each lesson's spelling list and extra words over at Spelling City. We usually do 2 hands on lessons a week at the letter tile board, then, when the kids request computer time, the first stop is always Spelling City. They love the games and I like the spoken spelling test feature. It is a huge help if you are short on time. Plus, if you take the time to label each list according to the corresponding chapter, when the next kiddo comes along, it already done for you. :001_smile: This summer, when I was putting together my file box, I took some time and went through the whole AAS book that we were using and input all the words at once, by chapter. It has really been a big time saver as the year has progressed.

:lol: Rainefox, this makes me lol! I like your style. ;)

Thanks for posting this! We are covering these two chapters right now. I'm off to find a copy. :001_smile:

We are using MUS Alpha and Singapore 1A/1B (US Edition) together and they are complimenting each other nicely. We do 2 days of each per week and one day of math games, extra books (Sir Cumference, etc.), and fun drills. I started this because I simply couldn't pick one and didn't trust myself. (Math is not my thing.) But it has worked so well that we plan to continue this for second grade with MUS Beta and Singapore 2A/2B.

:iagree: I agree with this as well but in addition, my dd (4) has really enjoyed the Singapore Essentials books. She enjoys workbooks, so this has been a great supplement to the hands on activities.

I have to agree with this! We were really moving slow, then I added the audio CD's and now we listen to each chapter in the car. We usually listen to the chapter for the week, then once that is done, we will listen to the chapter before, the chapter of the week again, and the chapter after. They get lots of repetition! The kids are retaining a ton and they start asking to listen to them before we even get our seatbelts on. These cd's get two thumbs WAY up at our house. :001_smile:

Thank you so much for sharing this link! What a great resource! :grouphug:

A+ Worksheet Maker It is free, but you have to register. I love these worksheets. We use them all the time.

I was coming to vote for The Princess Bride. They had it for $1.99 at Target during the weeks before Christmas. :001_smile:

Giant foam number dice that we picked up in a teacher's store for pennies. We have two that are numbered 1-6 and two that are numbered 7-12. We use them with ds (7) for addition and subtraction drills. He rolls two dice and then adds AND subtracts the numbers he rolls. He then writes the problems in a notebook before he gets to roll again. We have used them for dd (4) for practicing number recognition and now she is using them to show place value. She rolls two dice, puts them side by side, then uses base 10 blocks to build the 2-digit number using 10's and unit blocks. Both of my kids LOVE the dice and consider it a game. They don't even consider the notion that they are doing math. ;) Giant Foam Dice = Priceless!

I'll cast another vote for Singapore Essentials. My dd (4) is using them and LOVES them.

I got the first book in the MCP Plaid phonics series for my workbook-loving Pre-K'er. I, personally, prefer the ETC series to MCP. I prefer the black & white nature of the ETC books, the sequence and the fact that she feels much more independent with ETC. After a couple of chapters, she knows what to do, can do it without much help (which is HUGE for my dd) and begs to do more.

My dd (4) loves the Modern Curriculum Press readers. They have been a great natural extention of the BOB books, but colorful and with engaging stories. They are not cheap, but if they are of interest to you, you may find them used here at a much better $$. (I'll be selling my set in a few months.) I would also suggest All About Spelling and maybe Explode the Code. I started my ds (6) on AAS for Kindy. About 8 lessons in, he was doing his "test" for the week, and dd asked if she could do it too. She had always been in the room for his spelling, but not been a participant. She got every word right and I about fell out of my chair. She does AAS now, at her own pace, and because she LOVES 'doing' school and workbooks, she is working through Explode the Code as well. Oh, and I cannot say enough about the readers that go along with AAS. The stories go along with the lessons so they move at a gentle pace and the illustrations are amazing! FWIW, my dd has also loved her HWT workbook and Singapore Essentials Math. She has lots of hands on manipulatives, like pattern blocks, letter tiles, MUS blocks and counting bears as well. This is technically her Pre-K year, and she is loving it!

My sister, who is a college math professor, recommended this book as a follow-up when I told her I was reading Liping Ma. The Psychology of Learning Mathmatics by Skemp

My dh was not on board at all in the beginning either. He had an argument for every point that I tried to make. (he's an attorney, so I couldn't win!) Finally, I convinced him to read The Well-Adjusted Child by Rachel Gathercole and The Well-Trained Mind. These two books, coupled with my incessant pleading, caused him to agree to a 10-week trial period. The trial period was easier for my him to handle. Finish off the year at home, and if it doesn't work, he goes back to ps in the fall of the next year. No harm done. We took our son out of ps at spring break in Kindergarten to try things at home. Spring Break gave us a built in "unschooling" period, and it made the departure from school a little easier for our little guy. We are getting close to our 1-year mark now, and just a couple of weeks ago, dh looked at me and said, "I'll never admit this to anyone else. . .but you were right about homeschool." Yes!!!! (And for what it's worth, he praises it to his friends all the time.) ;) I highly recommend these two books for anyone considering homeschool for their children.

If you are studying plants as part of your spring curriculum and your kids have already experienced the typical growing process, here is a neat kit with an interesting twist! I love how you can watch the roots grow and develop! (I'm not sure how I would feel about eating the resulting veggies though?!?!) Plantarium

I found several of the Danger Ranger books in a $1 bin at my grocery store last year. We have loved them! And it looks like there is a video as well. http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dsoftware&field-keywords=Danger+Rangers ETA: Looks like they have a fun website too! http://www.dangerrangers.com/

I second the DragonRider. DS (6) just loved it and Brendan Frasier was remarkable. A truly wonderful story.

Do Unto Otters by Laurie Keller is a huge hit at our house right now. We even found the DVD at our local library. It is beautifully done!

We are stuck in the middle ages, but we are "supposed" to be in Egypt. :001_smile:

Yes, it is limited. I'm hoping it will be a tremendous success and they will continue to add to it.