I never learned math this way. I wish I did.

The same for bob books-http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=bob+books&x=0&y=0 We read the first 2 boxes when ds was learning the cvc words, but then we just read from Phonics Pathways. Ds was very excited that he could read a book and it encouraged him to read more. I found interesting while looking through The Ordinary Parents Guide, that they have "sight" words listed and to teach them that way, yet there is an actual reason for how they are spelled. I liked the paragraphs in OPG though.

For the "more exceptions than rules"- I thought this as well, until I learned that understanding where English words are derived actually makes sense phonetically to me then. It's just not something we were taught in school.

http://www.welltrainedmind.com/forums/showthread.php?t=207420 I'm going to suggest reading through that, as well as maybe pick up a copy of Phonics Pathways from the library if possible. PP starts out with cvc words and sentences and then once fluent, progresses to more letters added. It's phonetic. It doesn't explain the rules as well as some other programs, but it works. I can see how a phonetic approach may take longer for reading, but the kids are learning a lot, as far as spelling and understanding the words. Comprehension comes different for kids too. I think my generation grew up sight word learning, and I'm a horrible speller. Just by teaching ds the first few weeks of Phonics Road, a bunch of spelling holes got filled in for me. I'm a very quick reader though.

Whoop. I know we've only been using it 2 weeks, (with MM samples prior, and misc stuff like counting by 2's and some playing around with counting blocks), but I love it! Ds likes it too. He likes that he can do writing and then some pages he gets to color on :) And he's getting it. We did making tens with oranges the other day, and then yesterday tried the number cards and making the sums of 6, 7,8,9 & 10. He did all of them-thought it was a great game. There's about 5 he gets stuck on, though we do a daily review at the start of each lesson-he reads a sheet with the problems and sums for memorization. Today he was doing the page where he colors in the flowers that add up to the sum-he got them all right, made one mistake and then crossed it out. It's neat to see the thought process of his going from using objects to using his fingers and to knowing the answer. I know it's going to get harder. I finally looked at the whole year-wow a lot is covered, but it looks like a good approach. I hope we still like it in a few months :)

Yes, many of the preschools are just play. But on the other hand, there are parents out there who actively search for those preschools that focus on learning and not playing. I think that's what they were getting at. Americans seem to have the general mindset that earlier is better-teach the 2 and 3 year olds the numbers, letters, shapes etc, even if the child shows no interest. Our culture is set for it-dvd's, flashcards and books all set starting at infancy to teach them these things. I think parents get caught up in it, and those who are super focused on it are the ones who want preschools that actually teach, instead of play.

I'm reading both Liping Ma's book as well as The Learning Gap-why our schools are failing and what we can learn from Japanese and Chinese Education. I've just started that one and so far according to the book, kids are allowed to be kids until 1st g, and then the focus is on study. Unlike the US, where we are pushing our kids into preschool at age 2. I'm a bit into the math chapter-they mention that more teachers there understand math better, and can teach the kids different ways to come about solving a problem. The US teachers get stuck-basically, because most of us only know one way to solve a problem. So, a kid is only going to learn what the teacher knows. Also that US has not many word problems/how to relate them to real life. One example (I can't remember if it was this book or LM's book) was the author asked a US math teacher, "If I wanted to paint that one wall, went to the store and bought a gallon of paint, would it be enough to effectively cover the wall per square ft?". The teacher replied they didn't know how to solve that problem, so could not expect the kids to. One other thing they mention about math in general, is that the US is accepting that we are poor in math. It's ok if someone says they are bad at math. Yet in Japan and China it's not accepted. It's a mindset. I think the US is the same for reading too-how many kids are allowed to move ahead a grade, and not be able to read?

Wait, so I make up a sentence using the spelling words for the week and he writes the sentence? I suppose I could pull sentences from Billy and Blaze and dictate them to him? Or were you meaning he come up with a sentence himself and write it down? He does that all the time. He was making a story about his brother and a star the other day. He was using letter stickers to write it. I thought to use our scrabble letters too and make a game of making the words and sentences. I do have these letter blocks too, that you connects. The v's are red and the c's are blue. We could do some type of shake some letters out and make words game. We really are liking it. Though we'll see how this week goes. He likes the songs. Even learning all the sounds per pair isn't too much for him so far. I was worried it might be, because I know that can be confusing for some kids. How is the comprehension with leaping right to the Little House books? Have you noticed any problems with that at first? It's one page a day w/ discussion right? I love the fact that it goes right to them. We try to stay away from all those "first reader" books. We do have some, but we rarely read them. I try to stick to books with good stories in them, and away from those "sight word" books.

This was our first week-I love it. I used Phonics Pathways first-and I still do like that one. We were able to switch with no problem. I felt around half way through PP, after looking at PR, the phonograms were laid out smoother. I'm using it with a 5.5yr old. He was already reading though, so we basically reviewed wks 1-5 in one week. He really picked up on the rules and the pairs he didn't know yet. He'll point them out to me in a book he's reading and tell me the rule. It does get more involved toward the middle/end of PR1, at least I think so for a 5yr old, but if going slow, it should be fine. And it also depends on the child. Another thing to look at (which I do), is by grade for our public schools, ds would be doing grammar in 1st grade, which by doing PR1 this year (essentially K), PR2 aligns right up with grammar for next year. Though I'm sure PR2 will be much more involved than what 1st g would be teaching. I don't think PR1 covers grammar at all, but we are doing a little here and there-simple stuff. The only thing I don't like for PR1-I feel like there's no practice with the words or rules. We make a list of spelling words and come up with a sentence for them, but there's nothing to read with the words in it. That's just how I feel. By wk 15, they are reading and illustrating books in PR1, so some people might be happy waiting until then. Right now ds is reading the Billy and Blaze books-if he comes to a word he doesn't know, he either figures it out himself, or I remind him of the rule and he gets it. That's the only way I can figure out how to practice.

I forgot about Five in a Row. That's actually one I wanted to do from the beginning-I think I should have trusted my gut. We've checked out some of the books, and both kids like them. GG does look fun :) One other problem I'm having w/ Sotw are the books. Either our library system doesn't have them, or I have to wait forever for them. At least I can get the FiaR. Still going to look at SL for comparison to Sotw for next year. Both for book availability and how in depth they are. Tina-I know-I keep forgetting that technically we are K grade, and by the standards, I don't need to cover any of this, except some US stuff. Ds is loving ES with a capital L :) It's interesting you mention correlating both ES and geo study. I was wanting to find some maps for him to cut out, color and paste the animals on, to where they live. We are using a Planet Earth book to place the animals in the appropriate habitat, but I thought it would be nice to place them on a map as well.

Deb, that's what I'm thinking of doing-with the Ig. I spent last night looking at Sonlight and Winterlight, then TOG, then back to Sotw. I thought I could read ahead, check out all the books needed for say all Egypt coverage and read them. Then mix in the projects? Following the IG is just not working, and I'm starting to think at this age, any history IG isn't going to work. I was thinking to ease into it, where by spring, ds might be a little better w/ the IG approach? I just like having things planned out for me, but I guess that's the benefit of h/s-I can adjust to meet our needs. For SL, I really like they are so lit based, but was reading some of the books per level may be too advanced emotional/lesson wise, so I'm going to take a look at them first.

I like it-we just started SM though and like that too. Since it only has 2 pages for the lesson, I've been using the MM samples that correlate as extra practice :)

My frustration comes from not only keeping moving from one thing to another, but those 2 pages to read are it. I feel like there is no story in it, so then when we read the next chapter to pick up the story next week, ds is a little lost. But if we read a whole story, he retains it and can tell me what it was all about. For us, it seems to be better if we can check out books for the whole week to read, and do coloring pages or projects, then the next week repeat w/ what's next. Maybe we just haven't found our history groove yet? We really don't have to do history except some US history technically, but ds likes to read about all different people so... I requested the catalog and was going to look more at their page tonight. I saw that we can get the timeline, but didn't see getting the IG alone.

I'm looking at Sonlight now. Sotw-we just can't get into. Between reading the 2 pages in the chapter, then coloring or map finding-it's too much moving around for ds. We read a lot though, and learn a lot through books, and I see that Sonlight is mostly reading, with creating your own projects to do. What I can't find is- if I check the books from the library-what do I have to purchase for Sonlight k or 1 other than an instructor guide-and can I get that by itself? Anyone use this for the early years and like it? Thanks.

Ok, for those of you following your state grade schedule and doing CE, how do you overlap? I'm looking at both the social studies and science aspect of it, and wondering how to fit them in with out being confusing?

I think you can combine technology into it. And like another pp mentioned-what is now, will be changed in 10yrs anyhow. It's changed in the last 5 yrs!

Awesome. I think s is harder than m right? This is for the 4yr old right?

What's the file system?

Lol-I was just going to post something similar :) We're on week 3 I think, and when I looked at the calendar today I thought to myself we should really have a lot more done. Then I look at what we have done, and it is a lot for a 5yr old! And he's retaining it, and we're not falling apart, and I'm some how keeping the house together-mostly. We sort of half did science/history though, so we'll see how it goes when I add more in. I checked this book out called "homeschooling at the speed of life" and she has a cd w/ a breakdown of how to set aside school time, cleaning/house time, family time etc, with out going crazy. I hope it helps, because though I'm keeping things together, some stuff is already slipping already. I haven't found a happy balance between little guy, school, husband, myself and play outside the house yet, so I hope her breakdown helps.

Wow-what a nice comparison. I have Sotw now, as I hadn't heard of TOG until a few weeks ago, but haven't had time to look at it. We have Sotw right now, and it's ok-we just started it though last week. It seems a little dry so far to me. That is very nice that TOG takes a more historical religion view for different cultures-that's what we are looking for as ds gets older. I'm ok now with exposing him to history mainly through story books that keep his interest. He is only 5.

I still need to read all of this, but I do have a few questions- does TOG cover more history than Sotw? We want to teach religion as history and different peoples views/beliefs so which would cover that better-TOG or SOTW? I guess, what are the main differences-I'll look for a thread.

Hey-that's my boys favorite! I'm still comparing MM and SM. We tried the MM samples, but the spaces were too small for ds. I read that you can make the pages larger though. I do like the combo package too, and being able to print as many copies as needed. It's more cost effective than SM I think. But, I think SM follows CA standards (not sure if that's the same as the National standards), and MM does not. She takes a slower approach-at least that's what I'm gathering from reading that people saying that MM a level up is the same as SM a level down from it. SM goes to 12th, MM stops at 6th.

What scales do you like and where did you get it? I looked at one on Rainbow resource and it looked pretty neat. I like that it has clear buckets. I was going to see if Borders had one. I have no idea where to look for one, or what is best-bucket or pan type?

I'm interested too, as well as any good books. Ds just realized last week the stars made a pattern, but our library doesn't have good books on the subject for his level.

Lol-I like the head bob thing-dh does that w/ some stuff too. Tina-yeah, I forget, this is our first year. I work very hard at not being one of those "homeschool is the best thing, school sucks etc" people. I know some excellent teachers, I know teachers who h/s, I know very adjusted kids in school and out of school, so...I tell people it's the choice we feel is best for our family, and then only go into detail if asked. I just wondered, as everyone was looking at curriculum if you talked about it w/ your dh first? Because so many of us try one thing and then switch to another. I wondered if our other halves would go nuts trying to keep up :) What I did do a few weeks ago, is make a point to show dh where all the h/s stuff was. I showed him which ones were the binders of completed work (they are all labeled) and which ones were the curriculum. He said he didn't really care, but I told him he needed to know, in case he wanted to look through to see what was done. And also in case one of his friends (or family), ask him what we actually do for h/s-he could answer them, instead of saying "I don't know". Plus, if ever he wanted to do something, he knows where it is and what's planned :) I do think it's important for both parents to be involved-especially if it's a new thing (like for us). But dh would never sit and look at all the curric choices and pick one-that's my job. I make sure ds shows him his math or he usually shows him his writing himself, because he's very proud. Or today, he told dh some of the new phonograms he learned. Some days I ask dh to ask him what he learned today, or go take a page of something he did and ask him about it etc. So I'm doing what I can to keep him involved. Since I do the budget, I try to incorporate any h/s stuff into our bills, or specifically save up for it, if I can't do that. I know if dh wanted to go spend $100 on something, I'd want to know why and what for-so I can completely understand why some dh's may be more involved as far as spending $ on curriculum.