I tried a package type curriculum from SL last year for preschool. This year for kindergarten we are using FIAR and my son and I both enjoy it much more. For us, we want to put most of our attnt on learning to read and math, so this program allows us to do that. We spend as little or as much time as we want on the FIAR guide depending on how my son is doing that week. I love the books that FIAR uses and my son has as well. The basic idea is to read the same book every day that week and the guide gives ideas to do or pull out for social studies, science, art, math, etc... I will say that bc we focus so heavily on reading and math, we choose to use a seperate curr for each of those. I think it is a very nice way to tie the week's activities together through one piece of literature.

Sending you some prayers fellow Wyoming friend! :angelsad2:

Marilyn Burns has several great books if you would like to use literature to teach math. Super fun activities!

:iagree: We find lots of goodies here when we are in the mood to cut and paste!

:iagree:I went to check out her blog and got great first day ideas. We just completed our first day today including the first day survey she mentioned and my DS kinder loved it! We did a family breakfast and also took a nature walk to a park to play. Great first day! And the nana's love the first day pics! :thumbup:

Also where did you find the back to school survey?

Oh me too! Details on the tie dye please!

I feel strongly that spelling and reading are so intertwined that I would say start spelling now. I think SWR would be a great option for anyone struggling or just setting a firm foundation in LA. It seems overwhelming to some, but I actually think it's pretty easy once you get going in it. Just makes sense. I like the logic behind it.

I am the same way, I put so much effort into a schedule that's just right, and then I realized it was going out the window many days and only frustrating DS. This year I'm going more laid back with a strong vision of where I want to be when we're done. I wrote out my goals for why we do what we do and if it meets those goals then we'll try it. My hope is to create an atmosphere where my DS loves to learn and explore. My goal is not just to do public school at home. My suggestion would be to write why you are homeschooling your kids and then build weekly goals around that. Just my thoughts. I think plans are more for us.

I have done typing with 27 kindergarteners all at the same time. It was a good intro, but wouldn't say we "mastered" it. They loved it though!

Personally, I prefer them to skip lines, much neater looking and easier for my eyes to read. I figure if they are concerned with neatness, why mess with it!

Lots of great ideas! Thanks for the input!

I'm here!

So I have very fond memories of my first day of kindergarten (I was not homeschooled) and I would like to create these for my DS too. Does anyone have any ideas for the first day of school as a homeschooler? I want it to be an event and create some excitement. I'm open to any and all suggestions!

:iagree:Used dancemat typing with 5th graders in a public school and they loved it, begged to use it.

:iagree: I taught Spalding in a public school but use SWR at home. I would buy which ever set you are going to use b/c they are a bit different. Both good though!

Thanks for the input! I appreciate your wisdom!

I taught 5th grade once upon a time and these are the books they enjoyed: Ginger Pye 21 Balloons Hatchet Narnia set of books A wrinkle in time I also remember loving Indian In the Cupboard as a kid.

I've never had a problem getting them to erase, but I did use a solution and you can't just use an eraser. Shouldn't be a problem. My old school dist. used those to save money and we all used visa vi's too.

:iagree: This sounds like a good plan if you have to do a bus, but I'd skip the bus part if possible. Then again, I wouldn't want to ride the bus even without my kids either.

Brag away baby! That's so great! We should be able to share those successes with some pride! Keep up the good work!

Happy moment for a homeschool mommy! Gotta share so when it's a not so great day, I'll look back and remember! :hurray: We are taking the summer off before we start kindergarten this fall, but we use SWR and I didn't want either of us to get rusty on our phonogram progress. I decided to do a little experiment and not even mention school or a review of phonograms, ect... Today, after two weeks of no school talk, DS ran to the shelves, grabbed the phonogram cards and was super excited to review his sounds. I was so excited! I am learning to be relaxed about our schooling and this little experiment helped me to see he still loves to learn!

I love this idea! Thanks for sharing!

I think math based on kid's literature is a fun way to do math. Many of them are easy to use manipulatives with. Lots of ideas online too. Marlyn Burns has some great ideas too.

:iagree: Nicely done!