My son loves the flashmaster. Now, we don't have any hand held video games so this seems REALLY cool to him--maybe it wouldn't be that way if he had "real" electronics. I love that he can do addition, sub., mult, and div. on it in all different levels, types, amounts of time, etc... He can do it totally on his own which means it always gets done (as opposed to be holding up flashcards). He loves to try to beat him own time or his own score. It has worked great for us!

Well, my son is pretty severely dyslexic so what we did may not apply. Last year (when he was 6/7) he did a Orton-Gillingham reading clinical 3 days a week for an hour (this was with 1 other child so it would have been shorter with just him). I worked with him an additional 20 minutes a day those days. On the other two days for about 30-40 minutes. I just became orton-gillingham certified so I could do it myself this year and not have to pay others. I'm planning on about 45-60 minutes 4-5 days a week. For me, I would prefer not to wing it. We have seen dramatic process using O-G multi-sensory methods and scope and sequence. I don't think you have to do what we did but it worked well for us.

We are doing: Recipe for Reading with some Hooked on Phonics and Explode the Code Horizons K math Handwriting without Tears K Sonlight P4/5 for read alouds and Bible Atelier Art Tagging along with older brother for Elemental Science and History (SOTW 1/Sonlight)

I really need to save money around here, so what I usually do is buy all of the books from the core used (either here or ebay or homeschool classifieds) and then I buy the IG new plus any books I could not get used or just want new (say if it is a new version or a consummable). I personally do not use the library to get the books because I really want them there when I need them and many books are used throughout the year. Plus, my kids really like to have them around to continue to look at and read again.

My youngest was 3 this last year and desperately wanted to "do school". She is also my most high maintenance child. Here's what finally worked for me: -I got her a cheap math workbook from Barnes and Noble. She could use it as she wanted. I did not directly instruct her in it--she got stickers when she finished a page and was a happy camper. I also got her the same Handwriting without Tears book as my middle son. These were two books she could do (somewhat) quietly at the table and made her feel like she was a part of things. -She was actually great for all read alouds if she had a big snack:001_smile:. She got to snuggle in my lap and eat and have a sippy cup. This got us through a lot too. -I got a bunch of Kumon workbooks (cutting, pasting, easy mazes, etc...), new pladough, her favorite coloring sheets, mini dry erase board and markers, mini chalk board and chalk, sticker books, lots of watercolor paints, beads, etc... When she really wanted to be at the table or just needed something to do, I pulled one out. She could only do them when I got them out so they usually kept her attention for a bit. -During reading instruction time, she got to watch Leapfrog videos. -I also taught her to use Starfall.com and she got to do that with headphones--a big hit. At first it was disruptive because she kept needing help but when she really caught on, it was her favorite thing to do. (and pbskids.org) -We have those tag reader pens. She would do those with headphones. Overall, we took looks of breaks and tried to keep up with art and science experiments that she could be a part of. Now that she's about to be 4 in a couple weeks, it's starting to get better.

Nordic Naturals Tangerine chewies. They taste GREAT. My kids hated the nordic naturals strawberry ones...and I agree.

My husband had it happen last week. He went to call me on his cell phone and it rang an utterly different number. I had it happen this past summer...for like two days my phone was "spammed" and somehow was calling different numbers without me knowing it...hard to explain but very annoying. So yes, it is possible.

This may not count, but what came in my mind was The Murder of Rodger Ackroyd by Agatha Christie. It may be a murder mystery but her books are hardly gory. The main problem would be (spoiler alert!!) that while it is narrated by the murderer, you don't know that until the end of the book (true Agatha Christie style), so it may not work for what you're looking for. I believe it is the only of her books like that.

I always liked MFW K but I've never used it because for me I didn't like that the math/phonics were integrated. Everything else about the program was where my kids were/are at but they were ahead in those two areas. That, for me, was why I went with Sonlight. I could use all their readers/activities but have my kids at precisely the right math/phonics level for them. As far as cost goes, I usually get the vast majority of SL books used so the cost really has been comparable to MFW. I only buy new for consummable books (like Explode the Code, math, Developing the Early Learner).

Well, I was planning to use Core B next year but was also torn about SOTW because I love it...so we're doing both. I am going to do SOTW with the activity guide (just not all of it...we're pick our favorites). Then I'll read the coordinating SL books with it. I'm basically going to pick the best of both and try to make them fairly cohesive. Someone on the SL boards has a schedule of how they can match up. I plan to use that to help make it work.

Well, I have two of your three items and I am obsessively organized...the other end of the spectrum :001_smile:. I got the desk apprentice at the beginning of the year. I have liked it a lot. On the four corner things, 1 is scissors, 1 pencils, 1 markers, 1 dry erase stuff. The little holder on top holds a pencil sharperer, glue sticks, pos****, and tape. I have heavy duty hanging folders that hold writing/construction paper, etc... and then I have all our constant use books all around the sides with a few in the middle. It has worked very well, I think because my kids are young and don't have tons of stuff yet. I also have the trofast and I personally think it is the best thing that ever happened to my kid's toys. The boys have one and so does my daughter. I have VERY careful to get the right size bin to fit the correct toys and ONLY those toys go in that bin. I get a picture of the toy and tape it to the box so they never get confused. It works get because the kids will go get "the firetruck box", "the car box", etc... It makes clean up very easy and they can easily chose a box to get out, play with, and then put away. As far as the bunk beds go, I would not get one with a full bed on the bottom...it just takes up too much floor space. We have a traditional twin bed. We put the bottom one up as high as it would go and we have the long plastic bins underneath that holds things we don't use all the time (out of season clothes, sports stuff they're not using, etc...) Good luck!!

With my ds, our VT doctor gave him a set of glasses (his vision is 20/20) that basically let him zoom, converge, and track (his 3 problems). Basically they are a crutch for him until the muscles in his eyes catch up. For us, we saw an immediate change with the glasses. But we are going to be in VT longer than 20 weeks so this allowed his reading/writing to improve while we plug away at VT. Good luck!

Thanks...I think was it is is that we don't have a lot of "workbooky" things...not that I necessarily even want workbook type things. I'm just making sure the bases are covered. Oh, and we're doing the 2nd grade level of HWOT--fine motor skills are not our friends here.

My oldest ds with by in 2nd next year. This year in 1st we did: WWE 1, FLL 1: finishing both in the next week or two, both went well Sonlight LA1: We picked/chose out of this just because I happened to have it. What we did was fine. AAS 1, half of AAS 2: Went fine Orton gillingham based phonics/reading: He is dyslexic but made huge improvements. I believe he's basically reading on "grade level". I'm planning on more of the same next year (WWE 2, FLL2, AAS 2/3, and Orton Gillingham based phonics/reading) BUT I looked over Sonlight LA 2 and am not planning on buying it...I think there is too much overlap with what we are already doing and I don't really like the rest of it. So...is there anything else I should add in? Are there gaps that you see that are needed to be filled for 2nd grade? Thanks! Jenny

For me, I find it incredibly helpful. On the days we do it (we do 2 days at a time), I just open the book to the copywork and he starts. When he's done we read the associated story and do the narration. He has LOVED the stories she has chosen and it has led us to end up reading several of the stories because he wanted so much to know what happened next. While I could do it all myself, it crosses copywork/narration/dictation off my list (not that we don't do it anywhere else, but this way I KNOW it's done) with almost no effort on my part. I think it is totally worth it. I buy the workbook for the ease as well, no printing, just get out the book and go.

Just thought I'd mention since someone from this group would probably be more interested. I am selling this book: http://www.visiontherapyathome.com/product_p/PRT-1001.htm It is vision therapy at home, the primitive reflex training book. We had to go through primitive reflex therapy BEFORE the more traditional vision therapy. We did most of it at home using this book. For us, it was very helpful. It has full pictures/explanations and comes with a DVD. For us, we noticed a big change in our ds gross motor, general clumsiness, hand/eye coordination after this. So anyway, I'm listing this and thought I'd let you know. Thanks!

My ds is going into 2nd grade. For K we used Horizons K with a lot of manipulatives (I just added in on my own). He did very well and it was very simple for him, so this year we did all of Horizons 1 plus Singapore 1A/1B, the textbooks and the workbooks. It was also a good year but I think next year I want to make Singapore the main deal with Horizons on the side. Has anyone done this and if so, what did it look like for you? We like Horizons chiefly due to the spiral nature. He LOVES the variety each day...it suits him well. He is severely dyslexic and has some memory retention issues so the spiral suits him extremely well. However, I prefer the methodology of Singapore and the way it makes him think. Since I was just supplementing, I did not use the HIG, Intensive Practice, or the other extra book (can't think of the name). Obviously if it became the main deal, I would use the HIG and probably one of the extra books in addition to the textbooks/workbooks. Then Horizons would bring in extra practice as needed (although we would probably pick and choose). I guess I'm just wondering if someone else has done this and what it looked like for you-or if it sounds terrible to you:001_smile:. He is very good at math and doing two programs allowed it to take the whole year instead of finishing mid-year and going on to the next grade. Thanks!

This year my littlest one (3) loved the easy mazes, the cutting one, the Pasting, and alphabet games. The mazes were so popular I ended up getting my 5 and 6 year olds their levels of those. For me, they were worth it. My 3 yo really enjoyed them-and she's hard to entertain so it made for some happy quiet time:001_smile:.

I had the same reaction as you. We did it for awhile and it just didn't work for us. My kids HATED reading the books five times, even though they did love the stories the first couple times (and then again, say a week or two later). And these are kids who love to be read to--I was really surprised how upset they were by Thursday when I pulled out the same book:001_smile:. "MOM! We are so many other books. Why do you keep reading that one?" It worked well for us to read them two times a week (say Tuesday/Thursday) and do several activities those days. This worked best for us although still not as well as I would have hoped, but kept it enjoyable and fun.

Thank you for all the thoughts. I'll check out the other threads/links which I'm sure will help a lot. Yes, combining my younger two was what had me leaning towards A-my dd will be 4. This particular ds gets bored easily which is what had me leaning towards B. I'll keep thinking...

I am trying to decide about my middle son's math choice for next year. He will be in kindergarten, turning six at the end of October. I have taken the placement test which would put him in B but...I'm still wondering. With how much it costs, I'd love to get it right. He has been doing Singapore Earlybird this year (we've finished A and are working on B). He honestly likes it a lot, but my big issue is he has major fine motor skills issues (more than a typical 5 year old boy--he is in occupational therapy and improving). I am completely his scribe right now for Singapore. I like the lack of writing in Rightstart and the basic idea behind it. He can count to about 50 and count by 2's and 10's. He can recognize his numbers to about 20. He understands shape and basic time. Currently in Singapore Earlybird he is starting to work on grouping into 10's and basic adding. He doesn't quite get it yet but I'm sure he will by the time we're finished. He can add or subtract easily with manipulatives but he wouldn't understand it if written out. Overall, he's "interested" in math and spends the whole day asking me, "what is 234 + 12" etc...sometimes he really makes he work!! :) So what do you think...A or B? Oh, and side note, my oldest does Horizons/Singapore and it works well. Could he do the Rightstart games even though he's not doing the program? Thanks!!

We love the flashmaster here at our house. There are so many different ways to use it...for adding, subtracing, multiplying, dividing; by fact family, by level (has levels 1-7), by amount of time, and lots of other ways. My son never thinks of it as drillng. It seems almost like a video game for him.

We have used Horizons for K and 1 and now 2. We supplement with Singapore. Horizons has been a great fit for my son. He loves the spiral approach and each concept is always "fresh" for him and they cycle through everything quite often. There is plenty of review. I'm not sure what the PP was talking about. There are plenty of problems on the actual lessons plus the teacher's manual has a bunch of extra worksheets for extra practice if needed. I think a lot of people don't like the TM because it is not scripted (I personally am not a huge scripted fan), but if you look through it they do offer quite a number of ideas and suggestions for hands on ideas and teaching conceptually. It may not be totally spelled out like some programs but it is there. Combining it with Singapore has been a great fit. He is incredibly far ahead of his public school friends and does understand math conceptually and not just as a "do this, do that, and get the answer". We have used TONS of manipulatives for Horizons. I think if you do just open the book each day, do the next lesson, and move on, you will be dissatisfied. However, if you look at the suggestions for the day in the teacher manual, do some of their suggested activities, and then go over the lesson, I thinnk it is a great program. For us, adding the full Singapore program as well has been a nice supplement, but I would not want Singapore for our only program.

I am making a little chart of what we are doing each day. For my oldest: 1. AAS/read to mom 2. Adding/subtracting on flashmaster, 3 minutes each 3. Practice for vision therapy and speech He is the one who would complain. When he sees this and knows that he can get it done it probably 45 minutes...it doesn't seem bad like hearing "we are doing school all summer". He just needs to see and know what is expected. It will make the complaining much more minimal. For my younger two: read to mom each day, my middle son will do homework for OT. They won't care at all, so it's no biggie. They LOVE for me to read to them so we'll read through a few novels this summer but that won't "count" in their eyes.

AAS had been awesome for my almost 7 year old. I, too, do not like scripted programs, but I don't really think of this that way. It will just say Review X, Y, and Z...not tell you word for word what to say. Then for the new stuff, I just kind of skim over the page or so of info and then do it. I like that it gives me word lists and phrases/sentences to dictate so my brain doesn't have to think of them. My son LOVES the tiles, but since they kind of drive me crazy, we'll do half the lesson with tiles and half with dry erase (which he also really likes). So, it's been a great fit for us. We went really quickly through level 1 and are in level 2 now which should also go quite fast. I think we'll really slow down at level 3. He really likes it. It is teacher intensive but really, it's only about 15 minutes a day so it's not that big of a deal. Oh and we also got all the readers to go with it. That has tied in some of his reading to the program which has also been a good fit. The readers are nice books and have quite a few stories in them. He has really liked them and they tell you at the end of the lesson which story to read.