We LOVE AAS. My first grader recently started level 3.

Thank you for posting this. I hope more Catholic schools get on board.

I despise whole language for many reasons. The number one reason is that it treats so many words as sight words when they are not. Have is a perfect example. Have is considered a sight word, because the silent e does not make the a long. That isn't the reason for the silent e. It is to prevent v from being the last letter. My son started reading at 3. He went to kindergarten reading way beyond grade level. Even the exposure to sight words there caused him to guess at words he didn't know instead of sounding them out. (And this is a program that used a lot of phonics.) AAS got us back on track with that, and he is sounding out words again.

My son is 1st grade and we just started Level 3. I already had him creating his own sentences with spelling words, so the writing station won't be a new thing for him. We are going to keep going, but I want to make sure he has really cemented the rules taught before. I might spend more time on each step to allow for thorough review. My son is reading on a 2nd or 3rd grade level now, so I don't have need to focus on that.

Thanks for sharing. That is why I supplement with Singapore. My son also learns from writing. My next DS may be one of those that benefits from less written work.

I started RS B in June. By the time we hit lesson 25 or so, my son wanted more book work so we added Singapore. They complement each other very well (number bonds).

I'd be surprised if any history curr. did not include the myths of the culture. When we read the epic of Gilgamesh, I told ds it was the first 'fairy tale.' He understood that just fine.

thanks for all your posts. i found yours the most helpful in this amazing thread. i believe that my son will have a gift for speaking many languages, so your insight is greatly appreciated.

No we're using CWH (Connecting With History). It is a Catholic history curriculum. I want to go through AAS 3 slower, but I don't want to slow him down. I'm comparing him to what they are doing in first grade at the school he went to kindergarten for. His spelling and writing are beyond that. His reading is way beyond that. My next son is right on target for that and is not reading at 4 1/2. Where as this one is flying through everything, but a spelling workbook would provide some good review in the van. I just want to make sure he has the rules cemented before we learn a lot more. It's no biggie really. I found it on amazon cheap and if it doesn't work I'll save it for his brother or pass it on.

I got him some Mad Libs for Christmas:) My son is about 2 years ahead of the typical 1st grader, and he literally walks around with workbooks. He begged me to start Singapore in addition to RS, because RS didn't have workbooks. We just finished AAS 2 after beginning w/ AAS 1 at the end of June. I'd like to go a bit slower w/ 3 and have 'extra practice', so I think I'll check this out. Thanks

Thanks for this.!!!!!!!

I will revisit this thread next year when we get to SOTW 2. I'm combining SOTW and CWH vol 1 this year. I might do that again. I'm honestly not using the CWH manual all that much, since it follows the Bible stories. Next year might be different... You could also to go the St. George site and look at the booklists and see which ones your library has. I also have the book, "How the Irish Saved Civilization" to read for myself when we get to that time period.

Thanks for this thread. I've never heard of HTS. My son loves workbooks; this may be a good reinforcement to AAS for use.

YES!!! I was a classroom teacher and I supplemented everything:) No wonder I still am at home!

We went through AAS 1 in a month. Level 2 has much more meat in it and we just finished it in 4 months. I know some people skip Level 1 with an older child. I was glad I started with Level 1, because we both became accustomed to the routine of the program. (My son is in 1st grade. He started reading at 3 years old.) I also wanted to add that I love the WTM grammar and writing books, so I'm glad I'm not using an all inclusive program. My son often asks to do two First Language Lessons in one day.

you can look back at my previous posts to see how i agonized over this decision. in the end i chose AAS and am so happy i did.

thanks now i can order the tops lentil kit

Is there any logical explanation for this, or is it just an exception? Thanks

The i or o followed by 2 consonants is taught in AAS Level 2. We learned that rule a few weeks ago.

I'm interested in learning French. Is Rosetta Stone the best program?

I have skipped one or two lessons. What I prefer to do is to combine several lessons in one day. Yesterday we did two lessons in a row. They were on unrelated topics. If they are on the same topic, I don't do that. We are going through it quickly and will do both Level 1 and Level 2 this year. I like the repetition, because I think it will help cement the ideas in his mind.

My DS is the type that loves workbooks so we supplement w/ Singapore. That being said, I also encourage you to play the games more. DS got the 10 facts down with playing go to the dump. He is doing well at adding nines now, and when you get to corners that really encourages lots of mental math. The one game I dropped the ball w/ was addition war, which we are going to start playing daily now.

I'm using SM 1A/B has an addition to RS, so I'm not using the HIG right now. If I was though I don't think it would bother me that much. I'd probably read it the night before anyway.

here are two good stores: http://www.adoremusbooks.com/ http://www.stgeorgebooks.com/

We started in June, and I just recently went through all of my curriculum to make a month by month plan for the rest of the year. it was helpful to see what I wanted to cover each month, to keep me on target. Maybe looking ahead will give you some peace of mind.