I just moved to AAS too... and am in love... SWR was just to steep of a learning curve for me, I couldn't get it to work for us. Yes it is as easy to use as I was hoping for... it's totally open and go and follows a natural script for me... love it! Anyhow my DD is almost 7 and really flying through level 1.. but then like I said we'd been loosely using SWR so she was used to the methods and she seems to just get spelling (well at least at this level), I'm guessing we'll get through 1 and 2 this year... for struggling spellers it may take a while longer, but my guess is that it wouldn't take a whole year

Agreed on the holier than though attitude, and the whole crusade against LLL ugh but JSYK NT does not push grains in any means... talks much about limiting them actually. FWIW skimming I am not finding that this author took a negative tone, maybe she is a bit more tactful than Sally Fallon :tongue_smilie:

I just ordered All About Reading pre level 1 for my 5 year old to use to learn her letters and letter sounds... just in case you want another option lol... level 1 is suppose to come out in Aug... not sure on the scope & sequence of it though. I'm also using AAS 1 for my DD (almost 7) and we are loving it... she thinks it's fun! What exactly are you looking for a program to cover? What do you and your DS consider "fun"?

Planning on starting our 2011-12 school year in August. My 5yo will start Kindy with us... planning on doing... AAR pre-level 1 Math Lessons for a Living Education book 1 HWOT Kindergarten- letters and numbers for me SCM Outdoor Secrets/Outdoor Secrets companion Scripture memory through Awana lots of reading aloud and will be joining in with big sister (7) for poetry reading (we're studying Robert Lewis Stevenson) artist study (haven't planned which artists we'll study), manners (using Everyday Graces), composer study (haven't planned which composers we'll study) and Hymn study (Hymns for a Kid's Heart) I'm excited :D

I just put my order in for it yesterday and am super excited to get it!!! Yes it is a lot of money for a preK/Kindy language arts program, and that is what I was mainly having a hang up on.... BUT (from what I could find) there are no other programs like this out there that are open and go... which is something I'm coming to find I need at this time in my life. I got the basic package and ordered a zebra hand puppet from Rainbow Resource for $7.20... just a small way to save some money ;)

also, I think in step 4 (or 5) you work on JUST the short vowel sounds, so I'd assume you'll learn the other sounds more in depth as you move through the steps.

I used the insect lore mini ant farm (for another curriculum) it worked fine... I chose it cause it was the cheapest lol

oh my goodness... where'd my post count go... I had like 200 a while ago... I have sold on here before!!! better get to posting and stop lurking!:001_smile:

I haven't used it yet... but I have bought it and printed it out. The author yes does follow WAP guidelines. She does hit on raw milk, fermented foods and cod liver oil, but IMO she doesn't lecture (but then maybe that is cause I agree w/ what she is saying ha ha) Have you looked at the table of contents? Is there something specific you don't like about Nourishing traditions/WAP that I can look up to see if/how it's covered in the book?

I'm having the same problem!!!

how I go over phonograms varies, sometimes I hold it up say the sounds and she repeats, other times I quiz her by holding up the cards and having her dictate the sounds, other times I'll say the sounds and have her write the letters. am I doing that right? When I said I drop it a lot is that I just cut the whole SWR from my schedule often. It's just the first thing to go since I don't fully grasp it kwim? So my younger DD is probably not ready to really work through the phonograms. She really wants to write. Maybe I'll just work on letter formation while mentioning (not quizzing- no pressure) the letter sounds. Basically BACK OFF lol. so use the program more, use the program more and use the program more lol Oh and I'm not WANTING blending... I just am having a hard time grasping how it looks to start reading with SWR without the blending. CMama- yes my older DD was the same way... something just CLICKED with her after learning the phonograms in coop, her reading exploded, she's 6.5 now and reading at a pretty high level aswell. That said I have always recognized that DD #2 will be a later reader, she is just not as interested as DD#1 (who was begging me to teach her to read when she was 2.5) Sometimes I think I just need to remind myself that she is a different kid and it's OK if she is not reading by 5,6 (or 7) Thank you so much for the schedule links! I need to poke around there and the message board a bit more. I get tempted by other programs that are more open and go, since there is such a learning curve w/ SWR. But with that learning curve you get such a deep program. I was not able to attend the seminar last summer (there are a bunch of moms at my church that use SWR) I (blush) forgot I bought the "You can do it" DVD a while ago... I need to watch that!

We're loosely following the schedule in the back of the book. With my older DD, basically I go over the phonogram cards, then we do the spelling dictation and mark ups. I do drop it a lot cause it feels so dry to me... so we are moving at a snail's pace. With my younger DD (the one who is not reading yet) I've been showing her the phonogram cards and having her say them back (we've only done like 10 letters so far) and then having her write the letters in the saltbox, dry erase board, paper, etc. She is just not retaining them. And I'm having trouble seeing the bigger picture of how I'll move from "here are the letters and their sounds" to actually spelling to reading. I think the blending sounds is just so etched in my head I'm having trouble seeing how it will look w/ SWR, kwim?

How? I'm really struggling with this. I love and agree with the theory behind SWR (Spalding/OG) I just struggle with implementing SWR. I'm trying to use it with my 1st grader, we mainly just work on the phonograms cards and spelling lists. It feels so dry. My younger DD (almost 5) is asking me to teach her how to read. With my older DD we started using 100EZ lessons, hated it, stopped and moved on to MFW K. But had just picked up her letter sounds naturally without me "teaching" them to her. I didn't really like the way MFW taught reading and my DD was very frustrated with the short vowels only (she KNEW that the A said other sounds) we started doing SWR phonogram cards through our coop and her reading EXPLODED. So I became a believer in the method. But like I said now I'm struggling with the daily implementation and how to start the program with a non reader. I know the book has a schedule for teaching it, but it's so fast paced and i don't know, dry. My DD is not retaining the letter sounds when we go over the phonograms. And the though of having to plan ALL these enrichment games/activities on my own... as I'm schooling a 1st grader and taking care of a baby (let alone the other things going on in our life) makes me wanna run and hide Any tips? Or is there anther Spalding/OG programs that teach reading that are more open and go?

We are using it for first grade (and my 4 yr old tags along). We are LOVING it... only on the second week thought. Just the perfect fit for what we were wanting. One of my favorite things is that she has underlined all the geography terms throughout the chapters so after we finish a section we go look up the places on label them on our own map, then do narration into our history journal. Oh I also LOVE how each chapter is broken up into 2 sections w/ narration prompt suggestion. The book list in the back... hmmmm I was not at all impressed with, it's pretty much the D'Aulaire books and the Queens books. I am using the booklet "Turning Back the Pages of Time" by Kathy Keller for our book basket.

:lurk5:

This is our first grade basic schedule: M- Bible, L.A., Math, History, Poetry T- Bible, L.A., Math, History, Music W- Bible, L.A., Math, Science, Art Th- Bible, L.A., Math, Science, Nature Walk F-Bible, read aloud, sewing- Library day our LA consists of SWR, Cursive first, reading practice and mom reading aloud

I'm getting more excited to start cursive lol I bought Cursive First ... plan on starting intro letters/phonograms (we use SWR too) w/ my 4.5 yr old in the Fall... but my 6 yr old saw the program and just picked up a pen and started copying the letters... she loves it and wants to do more lol... so I think we'll work on that w/ her too!

We're a family of 5 (living in a high cost of living area), eat no prepackaged food- cook from scratch, 90% organic, traditional foods etc I budget $600/month... and as long as I take out cash I can stick to it ;) So that's $150 per week- or $120 per month per person :001_smile: ETA: to break it down more... of that $600 I generally put $400 towards Trader Joes/Costco/meat, $100 towards Azure (natural Food co-op) and $100 towards Farmers Market

by no way am I seasoned w/ math... but I also bought Rightstart B for my rising 1st grader... she hasn't have much math work and doesn't seem really math minded so the games aspect of RS looked like a great fit for her!

:lurk5:

I'm just starting out on my homeschool journey... but my plan is to buy as few consumable goods as possible... now when I need to use them I'll photocopy what I can legally (some workbooks cannot be reproduced) the rest I'll have to just use and buy again for other kids.

he he nothing is wrong w/ nightshades... unless you react to them... my mom gets arthritis like symptoms when she eats them

We do eat night shade veggies... but my mom can't eat any (tomatoes, potatoes, peppers etc) What does green on a potato mean? I usually just cut it off... but I rarely see green on my potatoes... maybe I'm missing something lol

Thanks for everyone's thoughts!!! I went ahead and ordered Cursive First last night.... I'll be starting it w/ my 4.5 year old when she is ready to start learning her letters. I just can't decide if I should switch my 6 year old to cursive or stay on w/ printing ... her printing is actually pretty nice.

wow thanks for sharing!!!!