A really fun phonics program that works is Frontline Phonics. It has a cd of letter songs, 2 sets of flashcards, a couple of simple workbooks (there's no writing except for lines at the top of 1 sheet per letter for writing the letter), a "coaching manual", a how-to video for parents, little letter pieces with pictures on them (bad description, sorry!) and 53 readers. It's a bit pricey ($250 w/free shipping), but it's fun, the kids like it and it works. The first letters that are taught are M, A, S, & T, then a blending lesson, then H & G, then you introduce the first reader. The readers are in full color and are a little bigger then Bob Books (and my kids found them much more interesting.) They like the letter songs and ask to listen to them frequently. The workbooks are meant to be written in, but page protectors and wipe-off markers can preserve them if you have younger children. This was the very first "school thing" I bought and that was before I knew about all the different programs out there. My daughter was very young at the time and wanted desperately to read, but I needed a lot of hand holding then. This program worked very well for us. http://www.frontlinephonics.com/ You can get 6 free lessons here: http://www.frontlinephonics.com/free_lessons.asp However, I have not done this and I'm not sure exactly what lessons these are.

Where can you get the DandyLion Books? Thanks!

Thanks! That's a really good idea!

OhElizabeth, I've appreciated you sharing your insight on this thread. You piqued my curiosity when you said the following: What methods do you think are more fitting for kids that would be going into the sciences and which programs do you feel use them? Thanks!

Wow! There's some neat things on that Papercraft website. Thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing!

This looks very useful! Thanks for sharing!

definitely a variety!

We have these. My ds likes them very much and I think they are good for thinking skills practice. I was unsure if they would be worth the money before I bought them, but I'm glad I did.

We've done a couple of these (Light & Sound and Tools & Technology) and we like parts of them, but I could never get the little books to copy right, so we had extra cutting and gluing to do. :glare:

:iagree: That was wonderfully said!

Wow, that's great! Thanks!

I'm not generally one for computer programs for school-time, but, there's a program called Stellarium that you can download for free that is very good for seeing constellations and other things of the night sky. I've enjoyed this program and plan to use it with dc to point things out with. This is what it says on their site: "It shows a realistic sky in 3D, just like what you see with the naked eye, binoculars or a telescope. It is being used in planetarium projectors. Just set you coordinates and go." They have versions available for Mac, Windows and Linux. http://www.stellarium.org/

Which one is this? I've seen a few books with that same title. Thanks!

JVC = Janice VanCleave We like her books too. Another book I'd recommend is The Body Book by Donald M. Silver and Patricia J. Wynne http://www.amazon.com/Body-Book-Grades-3-6/dp/059049239X/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1207073667&sr=8-2 (You can look inside the book.) You make all sorts of models, most of them with paper, that help you learn about the body. As it says on the book, "Easy-To-Make Hands-On Models That Teach."

I have not used Ray's, though I'm looking into it. There is a Yahoo Group for people who use Ray's. Here's the link: groups.yahoo.com/group/raysarithmetic/

I believe that Latin for Children has grammar included as well. (Though I haven't used this program yet.)

What will the differences be in the new edition? I just placed an order for LCC yesterday and I'm now wondering if I should have waited... Thanks!

I haven't actually used this, but I just found this site today. It looks pretty thorough and it's free. http://volweb.utk.edu/Schools/bedford/harrisms/spotlight.htm Amanda

I used PLL and ILL with my daughter. We did both books in 2 years as it was pretty easy for her. I think it felt easy for her because of the way the information in conveyed. We liked these a lot and I plan to use them with my other dc when they are the right age. As far as a follow up, we started Harvey's Elementary Grammar after finishing ILL. So far, it's going well, but it is a lot more rigorous than ILL. Out of curiosity what does MFW stand for, it's not ringing any bells right now. Amanda

I tried Lively Latin with my daughter. We haven't done latin before and I thought that having the online community with a curriculum that promised activities would be a good match. I have yet to find the online community. There are 2 boards that are hardly active. There have been many posts to the author about errors and typos that have not been replied to. I have posted about errors myself as well as questions and never got an answer. The pronunciation audio files must be listened to online and are not downloadable which makes it difficult for us to make use of them. I think I've seen only one activity. The plethora of errors and typos with the lack of support has made this a difficult program for us to use. That being said, I'm looking for a different program to use, and I think I'm going to be switching to Latin for Children, so I'm interested in what others will say in reply to your question. HTH Amanda

We love Macs here too! So much fun, and so much more productive! When I switched the only times I got frustrated in figuring out how to do something was when I was "thinking PC" and trying to make it too complicated. We've purchased new, used, and refurbished and not had any problems with any. You can get the educational discount on the online store as a homeschooler too. Also, they have free shipping which I think is for orders over $100. Another thing to keep in mind is that you get almost all the software you need with it. The mail client is excellent, iCal works wonders, iLife is fun, and you can create PDFs from any file. I would suggest getting iWork. So much better than Office, and only about $75. Amanda