Thank you! We signed up also!

Hi! I'm new here - and this is only our 2nd year homeschooling. PS is not an option for my kiddo. Breathing is more important than the painfully lacking education that he'd get at our PS. (We started for health reasons, and are now convinced this is the only way to go - regardless of the health issues.)

I think there is a 25% off code for Headsprout floating around somewhere... Are you a facebook person? Check out Headsprout on facebook... (I am one of the last facebook hold-outs, but have read that Headsprout sometimes has discount codes posted on their facebook page.) It is pricey, but I've been happy with the results. Maybe you can have your kiddo try the free samples to see if it's a good fit before splurging?

Another Headsprout house here... My munchkin has loved "sprouting his head" and he is reading wonderfully now. He's on episode 52 of 80, and still loving it.

Thank you for posting this. For me - SWB and Liping Ma, thus far. I still have a lot of reading to do. A huge thank you, Starrbuck, for mentioning Boys Adrift. I saw the title, and simply knew it would be a good read... Just checked it out on Amazon, read reviews, and have ordered it. I have an adrift young adult at the moment, and am not only struggling with how to help him, but how to help our younger son (6) to avoid that fate. Awaiting delivery of that book with excitement!

We have the P.E.G.S. system from Family Tools - and we really like it. I spent hours searching and trying to come up with the right chore chart system for our 6 year old! I wanted to work on behavior issues as well as build accountability for chores. It's a peg board, with little disks with pics of chores on the front. When the kiddos do their chores, they flip the disk over to see the stickers we put on the back. But the best part is the "ABC" part at the bottom - Attitude, Behavior, Communication... When the kiddos do good things, we send them in to give themselves a bonus (green disk). When they have a bad attitude, etc - they get a penalty. We have the bonuses tied to a privilege jar (also purchased through the same site). Picking a privilege is a lot of fun! It's been a good motivator. I don't have a blog, but here's a review I found just by googling: http://tinyurl.com/32rum33

I'm new here - just started HSing last year, and have just started posting here... (took me awhile to post, rather than just read)... But wanted to say have a great appt! I'm in NoVa, too, and I love, love, love my LLMD! We have such great LLMDs here - I know whoever you are seeing will be wonderful, and thorough. Wishing good health for your little one, and a quick trip through the Lyme labyrinth if at all possible. Spryte P.S... my screen name comes from ... Lemon water with a twist of Lyme... :)

Thanks for the big welcome and all the encouragement. :) Sounds like there are a few of us starting first grade - maybe we need a First Grade Buddies coffee klatch. I'm still back and forth on whether to add more phonics instruction - so indecisive. He loves Headsprout, but only has about 30 lessons to go... and where to go after that is up in the air at the moment. Headsprout has been seriously fun for him, and I hate to see it end. Anyone else use Headsprout?

Thank you for asking this! I had the same question, and have been thinking and re-thinking our phonics situation. AAS seems to be a good solution.

Ooooh, I love all the ideas for wiggly boys - thanks! Gum - that is such a good idea. And definitely wouldn't fly in PS. :tongue_smilie: ...I love, love, love the exercise ball idea, too - our puppies would probably eat the ball (they are big puppies) but I saw a flatter version of an exercise ball that goes on a seat somewhere in a school supply store... I might go hunt for that, it seemed marketed toward helping the wigglies. And yes - we are doing the SOTW AG. It's the all-time favorite here right now, and if history is not planned for the day, my little guy begs until we come up with a history-related project. My budding history buff.

Thanks, it's very helpful to get some feedback. Headsprout is a phonics-based online program, although I've done a lot of supplemental phonics instruction as well. We're also working our way through OPGTR, although a lot of it we've covered elsewhere, so we are skipping lessons here and there. I've been back and forth on whether we need to add more phonics instruction, so any input here would help! I wondered if perhaps the AAS might solidify any lingering phonics issues? I love the idea of saving something to start in January - that is a good plan! Keeping things light is our best bet, I am convinced. :) Thanks so much. Any more thoughts or input is welcome...

Hello all. This is my first post, though I've been reading and re-reading here for quite some time. Actually, I've read so much that my eyes begin to feel like the little googly eyes that our kids use for craft projects! I'm fairly new to homeschooling. My kiddo and I did K last year, and had a ball. I over-purchased K materials, tried most of it, scrapped some of it, and then found the WTM. Love at first sight. My son is 6, and though he's reading fairly well, we struggle with writing and any type of seat work. He has a big case of the wigglies. Anything project-based makes him smile, though. :) We have been doing school-light all summer, and are scheduled to start in earnest next week. But suddenly I find that I'm re-thinking everything I'd planned for first grade. Aaaack. I would love some thoughts on 1st grade. Is this enough? Too much? Just right? Am I missing something major? For now, we have: SOTW, Vol. 1 WWE FLL HWOT AAS, Level 1 Finishing up Headsprout Right Start Math, B RSO, Life Science He also has music and art lessons, and we do tons of reading aloud. As well as swimming lessons, and sports. Any thoughts would be appreciated!