Thanks to you wonderful people on this board, we're going to be using this great free resource for my 6yr old next year, along with RS level B. I was just reading through the lesson plan for 1a, and it mentioned that the children each have a text book along with their practice book. I don't see this downloadable on the site, and am wondering if it's required? Thanks!

COngratulations! She's darling!

A parent's worst nightmare. I hope this ends well.

Unlimited money... hum. A housecleaner, gardener, and chef so I could spend more time playing with and reading to my little one! And yes, a big backyard with lots and lots of trees!

I have no idea (mine are young), but I just wanted to say congratulations for your new one to come!

Oooh, I just asked about this recently, and got some wonderful replies! I'll see if I can find the thread....

So then, for all of you who've done all the RS, would you do it again from the start, or switch to a different program that continues on to the higher grade?

My kids have really enjoyed the stamp and see screen. I've used 1 teachers manuel (K) for pre-K, K, and 1, and only used it for maybe a week just to get the feel for the program. I like the chalkboard. The wooden border is handy for making straight lines, and the repetition of the exercise with the write, wipe, and writing over the wiped area has been a really nice non-boring way to get in the repitition. I just cut up a sponge into little bits rather than buying their foam pieces, and used short pencils and crayons rather than buying theirs. The writing slate with the lines I'd skip as we've barely used it. The wooden pieces are fun, but kind of redundant after having the stamp and see screen. But, we've had fun with games with them. My kids have enjoyed the CD's as well, and mat-man has been fun to build for my preschooler (but I wouldn't spend the money on the mat-man books)

I don't know (haven't made it to C yet), but RightStart's site has a forum that's replied to quite quickly if you don't get an answer here that helps!

My kids have really enjoyed the Magic Tree House series by Mary Pope Osborne

I've been in this situation with a neighbour boy who is a couple years older than my eldest son. I found what worked best was talking with him and his parents together about some of the things my son was reporting to me that he was doing. That and of course listening in on them playing and correcting the neighbour boy when he was out of line. I've also sent him home before when a verbal warning didn't work. He knows my boundaries, and if they're stricter at my house than at his own (which obviously they are), tough beans. I keep a general eye and ear on the kids as they play, and if the teasing or language is beyond what my kiddo's are able to handle on their own, I intervene. Bullies on the playground is one of the things on my list of why I homeschool :)

I was just thinking about games to plan for my son's b-day party this Saturday, and thought I'd ask here if anyone had some that were sure-fire winners! My son is 6, and I need games to amuse 10 kids from ages 3-7 for about an hour. (due to how many friends he wanted to invite, I'm keeping the party SHORT! An hour for games, and an hour for cake and presents.) So far we're having a treasure hunt, a fishing game, and water balloon catch. Any suggestions?

Wow!!! Thanks!

Thank you all very much for your time in responding! Very helpful :) I've got some thinking to do on what way it will work best for my kiddo's but I'm definatly going to implement it in some fashion or another!

I agree that a lot of it really depends on the teacher you end up with, and the school as well. I know some can be really creative when it comes to meeting those plo's! And yes, if it becomes too arduous to meet them as we get to higher grades, then I would call it quits. We'll just play it year by year. What really cracks me up is that this coming year our school is one of the 'test schools' for implementing full day K. So, the K'ers enrolling this year for DL get full funding rather than half, but the PLO's don't change. :tongue_smilie: From our local hs'ing group, I do know other mom's who have had very good experiences as well (with different teachers, and different schools) and have also had a lot of help for special therapies. That said, one mom I was chatting with last month who is teaching the classical method is switching frpm enrolling to registering because she was at her wits end with trying to prove that they'd covered the PLO's, which frankly she wasn't really all the interested in teaching anyways because it just wasn't fitting in with her philosophy, and I was thinking that I could see myself just in her position in a few years! Might just end up enrolling my kids up to grade 4 to take advantage of the benefits, and registering them beyond that! The teacher I have is quite good - not that she's been homeschooling for a long time (came out of the public system, so it's been a learning curve for her as well in both switching to hs'ing her kiddo and learning about the different hs'ing curricula and philosophies), but more due to the fact that she'll talk to other teachers in the school who can answer any Q's I have. I did originally look into enrolling with the ps distance learning, but you're right, there are WAY too many strings attached there!

I've run across this mentioned here and there, and am wondering if any of you can give me a rundown of how this works in your home? I need to find a way to be more structured and am wondering if this might help. Thanks!

I'm in British Columbia as well, enrolled with a large distance learning school. Having $1000 per kid enrolled for curriculum/sports/music lessons is great, but there are also many other benefits that the original poster didn't mention, which for the moment for our family, has the pro's outweighing the inconvenience of having to meet the Provincial Learning Outcomes. -the school has funded my son for $1000 of occupational therapy this year. It's been great having the occupational therapist come to my house and work with my son. This is something I couldn't have afforded, and he wouldn't have had access to in ps. Within a couple weeks of my requesting he be evaluated for it, he was approved and we were on our way. -the school we're with has an amazing library of homeschooling curricula, CD's, DVD's and of course, books! Even science kits that they restock the consumables. You browse their online catalogue and they deliver it right to your house, then send them an email when you're through and they arrange pickup. This is actually how I came across TWTM, and I currently have one of their CD's of SOTW that I've been listening to to see if I like it before I bought it. Likewise OPGTR, FLL, and hosts of other things. It's a huge bonus to be able to have a book at your home for a few weeks to see if you like it before you go and buy it! -the school arranges and funds co-ops and learning camps that you can participate in at your discretion. We can get great deals on dance lessons, for example, because they pay a good portion of the cost. Right now, my son is going to homeschool track and field for 2hrs a week led by one of their teachers and there is a big track and field event in a few weeks that they're arranging and sponsoring. Several weeks of lessons, followed by a day long event that is a heap of fun is only costing me $30 (and it would be less if I volunteered to help!). And if you felt like teaching a co-op class, they pay you for your time. Not much, but it's nice! -Because you are actually enrolled with the system, you get a graduation diploma. I don't really know at this point how much of an issue that will be when it comes time for university, but likely it will save my children from having to go through any hoops proving to the school that they have been well educated. -Through the school I'm with, I've had access to online programs and curriculum that they pay the user fees for. -On a much lesser note (but it has been kind of handy in dealing with family and friends that were concerned about our decision to homeschool) you have a teacher to ask questions to and provide encouragement. Keep in mind that these are quite often homeschooling moms who are working their 'teaching' job on the side. One of the teachers who is the go-to lady for curriculum questions (it's her job to keep up on what's out there) also teaches her kids using the classical method. If you know your homeschooling philosophy, the school will do your best to match you up with a teacher with the same philosophy. So yes, meeting the Learning Outcomes could be a pain, although in K, we pretty much met those by living and breathing. I don't feel like my freedom has been taken away in the slightest. All I did when it was time to turn in the porfolio (3 times a year) is simply handed over the binder that we've been putting our work in, and the teacher picked it up and returned it a few days later. I send her regular emails of what we've accomplished in a week so she can check off what's been covered in the PLO's - and she recently informed me that we're well into meeting the Gr.1 requirements. Now, perhaps in the higher grades these plo's will become a pain to meet. This year, I read them once at the beginning of the year, taught what I wished, and they were met. I don't know, but should that happen I'll re-evaluate my decision to enroll at that time. For now, I just consider myself extremely blessed. The funding we received provided for all my son's curriculum and his piano lessons for the year, and next year with another child old enough to enroll, and less curriculum to buy as she can reuse a bunch of his stuff, I don't think I'll have to pay for any extra-curricular activities at all!

For my K'er, I keep the memory work in the car, and just review it with him at red lights!

I plan to do it (and do it well), but I do think that it'll take me a lot of studying to do so! I plan on using these years while my children are young to prepare myself!

I've not used it yet (waiting for my order to show up!) but I read great reviews of a program called Music Ace Delux. It looks quite fun :)

We're just finishing up with Level A, and we've done fine with the starter kit without buying an extra set of appendecies. Without having a photocopier on hand though, I certainly wouldn't have been happy to do without them! I'd say don't bump up your purchase at this point to get the math games book. There are games already in the lesson plans that are completely sufficient at this level. In your shoes, even if you could get away with starting one in level B, I'd hold off and do A with both. It really does cover sufficient for K, (and more) and it's fun. And for a child who whizzes through it, with a bit of imagination, there are ways you could make some of the activities more challanging.

We love Rightstart! Math is my son's fave subject!

I'm sorry I don't have time to reply in more depth (I hear baby waking up, so I only made it most of the way through your post), but I just wanted to say a quick note... I would avoid Sing Spell Read and Write for a little boy who isn't really into handwriting. They require a LOT of it (not so much in the preschool pack, but it's not a very impressive pack, IMHO after trying it with my dd). What they learn in the pre-K curriculum could easily be accomplished in other much less pricey ways!

Thanks - all of your responses have been really helpful for me to put this into perspective! I was starting to freak out :)

I've been hs'ing my K'er for several months now after taking him out of ps because he didn't like it, and am planning for first grade now and having some troubles with it! I'm really not at all sure what to require of him. I've read WTM, and bought a bunch of the suggested curricula, but I'm nervous that it just might be too much. I've read through the sample schedule, and figure we'd be doing schoolwork for about 4-5 hours a day. I guess that's about the same time that he'd spend at ps doing schoolwork, but I do think that's perhaps too much for him (and me with juggling the preschooler and toddler!). I know I can cut back on history and science if need be, but I hate to go into homeschool with the feeling that I'm planning on failing to give him as good of an education as possible. On the other hand, I do want him to not be overwhelmed, and have plenty of time to be out in the yard digging up worms and whatnot. We've taken things pretty easy since I took him out of K due to health and family issues, so we really haven't done much this year other than learning to read simple books and getting most of the way through is math course, RightStart A, which we should finish by the summer, plus a few weeks of Five in a Row. So I guess what I'm wondering from those of you who have been there and done that, is how much schoolwork time should a mother reasonably expect from an active 6yr old boy? Is the schedule with the suggested times set out generally able to be accomplished by the average child? I'm wondering if it's a bit ambitious, but then again I've never done this before!