I second Guesthollow, especially if you enjoy using literature. There are many selections chosen with a reluctant reader in mind, which also can be a plus. I have spent a good amount of time reviewing Guesthollow's Amer. Hist. and I really like it a lot. I'm just trying to figure out how to line it up with SOTW. I wonder if anyone has used the two together, if so willing to share!? I'm getting ready to begin SOTW 3 in a few weeks.

:iagree: I have been homeschooling 3 dc for 5 yrs. We revamp our schedule every year. Children are constantly growing and changing and their needs and priorities change from year to year. What worked the year before (or 6 mnts ago!) usually needs to be tweaked the following year! Above all else... Hang in there, don't ever give up, keep trying to do better, don't be so hard on yourself. Homeschooling is HARD.

This is what we use. Kind of pricy but good quality. My kids love them. http://www.dickblick.com/products/prismacolor-premier-double-ended-art-markers/

All this talk about Cuisenaire Rods is making me HAVE to have them! I love the AL Abacus but I'm feeling the need to get my hands on those rods. Would this be an acceptable set?? http://rainbowresource.com/product/sku/006380/1311045873-1238765

I haven't looked at a Timberdoodle catalog in some time. But when my ds was in K - 1st grade. He could NOT sit still or concentrate on any lessons for any amount of time. An Occupational Therapist gave me the idea of using an exercise ball for his lessons. I thought it was ridiculous! But it did help him to focus and he eventually began to enjoy "doing school" Hang in there. I have been there working long periods of time to get a little work done. It does get better as they mature.

These are nice as well http://practicalpages.wordpress.com/free-pages/free-cover-pages/

That is reassuring for this non-mathy mom. THANK YOU!:D

Easy work now, incremental, makes mom more comfortable too. Thanks Bill. I appreciate your thoughts. :001_smile:

OK Bill, I don't post much but I am a serious lurker. I know how passionate you are about Singapore.... I have one student getting ready to begin 1B and another getting ready to begin 2A. They have been exposed to Right Start card games as well as many of the beginning concepts in Right Start. They have been using the Abacus, number bonds, and place value cards to complete most lessons. I love how Right Start teaches, but it just takes too much of my time with 3 kids. I have been trying to transition to Singapore. Up until this week, I thought everything was going well.... But I have been using the wrong book for word problems! Do you think I should start with CWP1 so they can get the bar-diagrams down while it is still easy? I am NOT a mathy mom and my biggest fear is passing that off onto my kids. They enjoy math and they do well with it, I don't want to mess that up.

Thank you!! Very helpful, as I was debating about going back and purchasing CWP 1 so that they won't miss anything.

Thanks. I have never even seen this Singapore book before. It's hard to tell, but judging by the available online samples, this book looks more for me than for the kids. I'm thinking I could get away with just one book and doing the activities together. I'm also thinking that I was not completely off base with using the Abacus. I have stressed completing 5 and 10 with the beads. I also used the parts to whole model which we've used with Right Start. But now I'm wondering if I should go buy some blocks?? And if so...Which ones shall I choose. :confused: So many choices!!

Can you tell me more about the bar method, or where to find it in the TM. I'm ashamed to say that I purchased the TM's but never used them. We are only in book 1B (will be working in 2A in a couple weeks). I used to use Right Start and have been fine teaching new concepts with the RS AL Abacus. But I don't want to miss out on this bar method if it's that crucial to the program. I have also just discovered from a previous post that I have been using the wrong book for word problems. I have the one published by Frank Schaffer..... I was not impressed. I'm looking forward to using the right one this year. Hopefully my kids will be able to keep up. Hopefully mom can finally get it together!:glare:

Dinsfamily, I would love to see your schedule for SWR also!! I have been using SWR for about 4 yrs. on and off. Unfortunately it's the first thing to go when we are pressed for time. Over the years I have tweaked it to accommodate each of my 3 dc's learning styles. I LOVE SWR, but no matter how much I tweak it, it always seems to take a lot of MY time. I try to keep ALL lessons short and sweet (Charlotte Mason style) 15-20 minutes, but I always run over with SWR. I have done a lot of research and believe it to be the best phonics/spelling program available...If I can only find a way to consistently fit it into our days!!:glare:

I break up the lists and use a timer for 20 minutes. My dd6, can do 5 words per day or just work on a reference page. My ds7, can do 10 words per day followed by a quiz on flash cards to be used on another day. My ds11 will do 10 words per day followed by a quiz. Sometimes he will do 20 words in a day and take his quiz the next day. We review the phonograms and rules all together as part of our daily morning routine. This usually takes about 15 minutes to go through all of the rules and phonograms. The younger two don't really know everything yet, but they are picking it up from listening to their older brother every day. I found that if I spend any more than 20 minutes, they start to lose focus and it's not worth the extra time. Short chunks daily will lead to significant progress in the end! Good Luck with SWR. It's an amazing program.

I created something very similar for our homeschool. I was never able to get to everything in one day. I always felt like a failure. I created a "Cycle" for each of my 3 dc. This is essentially a list of each child's subjects (math, reading, writing, Latin, grammar, history, etc...) Making that list alone helped me to realize that it was impossible to do everything every day or even every week. I had too much on my plate and needed to prioritize. We begin every day with Bible study, then I read aloud to them for about 30-45 minutes with narrations. After that we use a timer for 15-20 minutes each of reading, writing, and math. I alternate these so each subject gets a chance to be first for the day. Once I get these BASICS (my priorities) in for the day, I refer to their cycle. It is then crossed off their list and we don't come back to it again until we have completed their entire cycle. Now I can feel success. If nothing else, when life happens at least they complete the basics most days. The real key for us is to use the timer. It keeps us moving forward without getting bogged down too long on one subject. An unexpected bonus is that my dc challenge themselves to see how much they can accomplish before the timer goes off! I have never tried a boxed scheduled curriculum. Just looking at the weekly schedules makes me feel inadequate. We could NEVER keep up with such schedules. Plus there is always something that would have to be tweaked. I do study all of their websites and catalogs to get ideas and take what works for us and LEAVE the rest. HTH!

Thanks so much for sharing! This is exactly what I have been looking to put together for my kiddos.