I would recommend R&S Phonics 1 for your daughter, then. It might boost her confidence to start back with smaller words and slowly build up to longer words, as well as re-emphasizing the rules. And unless your 5yo is a perfect speller, I wouldn't forgo phonics instructions with him. Learning to read, and understanding phonics rules and how to apply them when reading and spelling are two different things.

I used R&S Phonics with my older two children, and I plan on using it with my youngest when he starts 1st grade. You couldn't pay me to switch to anything else. I have seen many other phonics programs, and none of them come close to the thoroughness and efficiency of R&S...at least not with the ease of use that R&S has. One tip for when you get farther along...when you reach the point where there are word lists along the edge of the page on the right for each lesson, the way I used it was after my daughter read the word list for the current lesson, I flipped to the previous lesson and timed my daughter to see how many of the words in that column she could read in one minute. This really, really increased her fluency and reading speed. I didn't make her finish the list after the minute was up, I just circled the last word she had read. She liked trying to beat the number of words for the previous day, as well as looking back and seeing her progress.

I would recommend Wordsmith Apprentice. It was great for my oldest, who was quite a bit like you describe. She is not the type to write for fun (she prefers drawing), and she was so sure that anything that she wrote was going to be wrong that she wouldn't write anything at all. Wordsmith Apprentice addresses that and lets the student know that the rough draft is an important step before anything is sent to the editor (the student is pretending to be a reporter at a newspaper). Plus, the way it is designed, there are specific things that are asked for in the assignment, and that is what is up for critique, not every single little thing. I very rarely make my daughter do a second draft of anything; I just make sure she followed the directions and we discuss anything specific to the assignment that she may not have done correctly. It is not the end-all be-all for writing reports and such, but it is an *excellent* introduction to writing for children that are not willing or confident.

I am doing MUS Alpha with my 3rds grader. We are going at an accelerated pace as well. For each lesson we watch the video, she does one new worksheet and one review worksheet, she does the activity sheet, and if she is solid on the material she takes the test and that is the end of the lesson. One of the goals of Alpha is memorization of the math facts, though, so I don't move on from a lesson until she has those facts memorized. I would say that as long as your kids are getting their facts memorized and are showing mastery of the material (able to teach you back the concept), then you don't have to worry about moving at such a quick pace. You don't have to keep curriculum moving at the pace of the calendar, but at the pace of the student. If it takes longer or shorter than one school year to do something, that is fine...the goal is mastery of the material, not completion of one level.

Here is a quick and easy tutorial.

They haven't met a Christian in an impoverished, third-world country. They haven't witnessed the daily living in conditions that would be below the standards of even the poorest here in the USA. They haven't seen the unquestioning acceptance (and lack of blaming of God) of a life that has no chance of economic improvement - there just isn't enough money in the country's economy to improve the living conditions for even a few of the poor people, much less several million. They haven't seen this same Christian worshiping God in joy, giving thanks to God for the undeserved love that He has shown him...true worship, offered because of WHO God is, not what He has given to them. Simply put, they have never seen an example of faith when there is *no chance* of any material thing being given to them in return. Such is the curse of living in a wealthy country.

I just wanted to give a quick update on our situation here. MUS Alpha is amazing!!!! My daughter took a few days on the first lesson (place value, which has always been a HUGE struggle for her), but she has been happily doing a lesson a day since then (a couple worksheets, a review sheet, the activity, and a test) and SHE IS UNDERSTANDING IT!!!! She now understands place value, she understands the concept of addition, she understands that both sides of the "=" need to have the same value...we have only completed four full lessons, but the improvement in her understanding of arithmetic is enormous! Enough so that when the concept of multiplication was introduced this week in her Daily Mental Math book (which she does on grade level, because it is not just strictly arithmetic), she understood that it was repeated addition and knew how to solve the problems (i.e. 4x2). :001_huh: I am going to keep her going through the levels of MUS at her pace. Mr. Demme is speaking her language. It is also helping her confidence that she can't see that there are six grades between the math program she is using the math program that her sister (who is only 1 1/2 years older than her) is using, and until she is old enough to get on the website and see that Alpha is traditionally a 1st grade program, Beta is 2nd grade, etc., I am not telling her. (Though it might cause some problems when her 5 yo brother starts in Alpha after she finishes it...he is more than ready, I just don't want him surpassing her yet; but we will cross that bridge when we come to it.)

I agree, keep her reading (and other skill subjects) at the appropriate level, but do get her the States & Capitals, Astronomy, Greek Myths, and Christian Studies...like the above poster said, they are all once weekly studies, so it will not add an overly large amount of time to your daily schedule. You may have to read each one to her (I only make my 3rd grader work on reading the lit chapter aloud...we actually switch off pages, I read two and she reads one...I read the Bible/Greek Myths/50 States selections aloud to her each week), but they will provide some content and depth at an appropriate level for her.

I know that this is just my opinion, but Barefoot wine tastes like bare feet. :D If you need a good, inexpensive wine, Target carries a good one called Layer Cake...both the Cabernet Sauvignon and the Malbec are divine! One key to look for when you are buying a wine is to see if it has been given a rating (a score out of a possible 100 points). If you have a heavy pocketbook, anything a 92 or above is good...if you have a lighter pocketbook (like me :lol:) you won't go wrong with anything rated 89 or above.

If your son is ready to begin handwriting instruction (if he has good fine motor skills already), then the 1st grade level of Rod & Staff handwriting will be fine to use in K. If he does not have good fine motor skills and cannot trace a straight line without veering off and getting very frustrated, then I would hold off on formal handwriting instruction for a bit longer. The first unit of Rod & Staff phonics would be perfect for the K age; there is very little writing. The second unit has quite a bit of writing and would be difficult to do with a child that was not yet writing well (unless the lessons were done orally). The first unit of the grade 1 worksheets (not the reading workbook) would definitely be perfect for a K student as well. Beyond that, though, I would not use the reading program or the rest of the units of the phonics program with a K student, they are just too writing-intensive and require the student to sit still for too long. They are more appropriate for what they are designed for - using with the average 6 or 7 year old. There are many other options that are appropriate for Kindergarten if you desire to do reading and phonics during K. I used 100 EZ lessons with both of my older children during their K year and then started them with Rod & Staff reading, phonics, and handwriting in 1st grade, and I was very happy with the results - they both have good handwriting and get compliments on how well they read aloud. I have no regrets about not doing more phonics and handwriting instruction in K. My youngest is currently in K and I am using 100 EZ Lessons with him. I will probably use the first unit of phonics and worksheets with him this spring, just for something to do...we are working on his fine motor skills right now, and he has a ways to go before he can do anything writing-intensive.

The problem isn't 20 times 4/5, it is 20 divided by 4/5. That is where the confusion lies. You and the OP are trying to multiply it, whereas the original problem stated that it was divided.

4/5 of 20 = 4/5x20 or 20x4/5 (which is what you are thinking the problem means). The key to solving this type of problem is to remember that "of" means "times." The problem is asking 20÷4/5, which is different. It is asking how many 4/5 you can take from 20. Since 4/5 is less than one, you will be able to take out more than 20 of them from 20.

My oldest daughter stalled out at that point in the book, as well. I just made up worksheets on my computer with very simple sentences and had her practice diagramming 8 or 10 sentences every day until she got the concept. It took about two weeks, but once she understood it, it was smooth sailing through the rest of the book. There is no harm in camping out on a topic until he understands it. Your goal is comprehension of English grammar, not completing X number of lessons in Y number of days.

The two bolded words above do not go together, IMHO. She is still a young child, so have a few resources on hand in case she asks for something specific (like learning to read), and plan some fun, no-stress educational activities. She still has twelve full years (beginning two years from now) to learn all things academic. She only gets to be a young child exploring her world once. :iagree: There are hundreds of posts here from people who are miserable and living in chaos because they didn't get/use the opportunity to develop these habits in themselves and their family members before homeschooling became a full-time profession. Take advantage of the time you have now, you won't get another chance at it.

It pays to be cautious. I was riding up on an escalator with a friend once long, long ago and at the top of the escalator the front of her shoe (she was wearing Keds or something similar) went into the top of the escalator...she thought that she would just be slid forward off the top step of the escalator so she was keeping her feet still. Nope, the front of her shoe went into the top and her shoe was torn up pretty good (our next stop was the shoe store, her shoe was unwearable). Her foot was fine, but since then I always hop off the end of an escalator, I don't wait for my feet to slide forward.

We have a 2006 with 120K miles on it (owned it for 5 years now), and we have had no problems with it at all. Compared to minivans that friends own, it has held up much better than others...barring a couple of stains, it looks almost brand-new inside (and we have taken numerous cross-country trips with small children). Nothing in the interior is falling apart or feels flimsy. The engine still runs perfectly; we have had no major repairs. Size-wise, we think it is perfect. We have taken many trips with four adults and three children and it is very roomy and comfortable. The only negatives about our vehicle that I have found are that if the windows on the sliding doors are rolled down the doors won't latch open (weird, I know :confused:) and the van goes through tires awfully fast. Thankfully Discount Tire will prorate the price of new tires according to how long the last set of tires they put on actually lasted (60,000 mile tires will only last about 40,000 miles), so we aren't going broke because of it. My husband recently asked me what vehicle I would buy if we won the lottery and I could buy a brand new vehicle. I said that if he forced me to give up my Sedona and buy a new vehicle, I would buy a new Sedona. I like it that much.

The First Step Espanol series is targeted toward upper elementary (at least the kids in it that are learning Spanish are all around 10yo). My 5th grade daughter is partway through the second level and she and I can speak simple sentences to each other in Spanish. This video series is all the exposure either of us has had (beside living in TX, lol). She thought the Salsa series was too babyish so this is what we began with in the middle of 4th grade.

In our house 5yo means kindergarten age, and reading lessons are mandatory at that age - but it is the only school-related lesson that is mandatory. I made a big deal out of it before the school year began (big kindergarten boys don't fuss or whine about doing their lessons, they do it cheerfully and quickly because it is a big, important responsibility), and I keep it short - I try for no more than 15-20 minutes. Everything else we do is by his choice; I don't require any other subjects until 1st grade. He asks daily to do Xtramath, and he has a stack of workbooks (ETC, stuff from Walmart/Target) that he pulls out and does whenever he feels like it. How many other subjects are you doing each day with your child? If reading is the most important, have you tried doing it first so that your child isn't already burned out on seatwork-type activities?

:iagree: I gotta say that I'm with Ellie on this one. I only taught the above, not correct letter formation, until the age of six. Both of my daughters have beautiful handwriting now.

Thank you, that article was very helpful. Combined with some of what Down_the_Rabbit_Hole suggested, I think I have some strategies for helping her learn arithmetic and gain some number sense. Looking back at what I wrote in a reply earlier, my daughter does have some mathematical strengths, so I am going to continue to focus on those while we keep at it with the arithmetic. Golly! When my husband's parents cursed him by telling him he would have a child just like him, they did not foresee what they were doing to me! :lol:

Thank you for sharing your story. And for the reassurance that I'm not a failure. :001_smile: My other two children seem to be learning math just fine, but they are linear thinkers like me. I don't seem to be able to speak the math language that my middle child speaks, which is leading me to feel like a failure. That is why I think she might do well with MUS...I watched some of the video samples online, and while the concepts that are presented are ones that I have already tried to teach her, the presentation is very different (like he is targeting students that think like my daughter), and the method of build-write-say (or whatever it is) looks like it would work for my daughter. That is basically what she does to learn her spelling...she says the word, then spells it aloud while writing the letters in the air, and it helps cement the words in her memory. Since I don't think the way that Mr. Demme does (I understand math conceptually, I just present it in a different manner that seems logical to me), I can't just adjust the way I teach to fit my daughter, which is why I went ahead and ordered MUS. I am glad to hear that it has worked for other students like my daughter, and I do plan on taking it as slowly as she needs.

I have suspected dyslexia, but never had her formally tested. She sounds a lot like your daughter. I have considered TT (I really thought that the audio-visual component would be helpful), but when I had my daughter do the sample, she couldn't follow it...she couldn't process what the computer was saying as fast as it was speaking. Her listening speed is a lot slower than that. But I have not discounted it for use in the future. I don't listen to naysayers, they aren't trying to teach my daughter! :lol: I am sure that my daughter has inherited it from her father, as well. He struggled with math in school, never even making it to algebra (they didn't attempt to remediate him, but just wrote him off), but when I was taking college algebra (just a few years ago) he could walk past the computer, glance at the problem I had been working furiously on for the last 20 minutes, and tell me the correct answer. My daughter wants to be a doctor (and has since she first learned to say the word), so I am glad to know that there is still hope for her. That is part of what is making me feel like a failure, because if I cannot teach her basic arithmetic, I am messing up her entire future. Thank you so much for the reassurance. :grouphug: I am sure that she will always struggle with it, but it is nice to hear that others have been where she is and managed to make progress.

I added in a lot of the things you mentioned last year, and she actually has no trouble with most of them. She can easily tell time to the quarter hour, understands how to solve basic word problems, can draw and understand graphs, makes and follows designs with pattern blocks and tangrams, and uses measurements in cooking. It is just manipulating numbers in adding and subtracting that she struggles with. I like the idea of notebooking her facts, though...she loves drawing and would probably get a kick out of illustrating each fact.

I have a kit called Math Made Meaningful, which has a set of c-rods and a stack of activity cards that are intended to progressively teach the student math using the c-rods. I have not tried the exercises at Education Unboxed, but I have had the site bookmarked since I first heard about it. Since it has been a few months since I have tried using c-rods with her perhaps I should bring them back out and use the videos instead of the activity cards. By VSL I mean that she is like Jackie describes in this post here. She is not a linear thinker, nor parts-to-whole. Numbers in her mind are not a long string (like on a number line), but a big conglomeration of randomness, and trying to pull the right one out is confusing and a struggle. She does not understand trying to make tens (to make it easy to add and subtract mentally) because she does not get that tens are a special number. I have a sister like her, and we always used to tease her because she would set her alarm clock for odd times, like 7:37 instead of 7:30 or 6:54 instead of 7:00. To her they were all random numbers, and there was nothing special about 7:00 or 7:30.

For some reason I liked the workbook better than the full curriculum when I looked at it last year, but I will go back and take a look again. Thanks for the reminder.