I hope you don't think we're being critical at all. It sounds like you know your son well and are really working to do what's best for him, and we are trying to help you figure that out. You mentioned that you need a change and that he is difficult to motivate and schoolwork is becoming a fight, so we're just suggesting approaches that may be more successful in the long term.

But with this system, extra time playing video games becomes a reward for getting work done more quickly, and as you say, it should just be part of his life. I think the best thing to do at this point is to foster a love for learning, not make schoolwork into a chore he has to get through.

Rather than ask him, model it. Say "I wonder if Frances is going to go to bed now. Her father is getting angry with her, so I predict she will go to sleep now." (then read a page)...."Oh, my prediction was wrong...she is still not going to go to sleep" or "Look! My prediction was right." Just do this casually for a while, then invite dc to help you make your prediction. Then pretty soon he should be able to do it on his own (It's the I do, we do, you do idea. If you just ask him to predict, you are not really showing him how to do it.) HTH.

This could work to get him to do the work, but if I were you I might reconsider the approach and materials you are using. Kids this age are really not going to learn anything they don't want to learn, so you kind of have to sell it. Sounds like he is burning out. What if you took a month to do fun science/nature projects or a unit study on something he likes and completely nixed spelling and Russian? Read some good books together, either with him reading or you reading aloud, whatever he wants. While your system may make him get work done, it will only reinforce to him that schoolwork is drudgery and you have to get through it to get to the fun stuff (video games). You want him to believe that schoolwork is the fun stuff!

I completely agree with you. And another thing--I love to take my books in the bathtub!

Thank you all for your responses!! This helped a lot. We may be more of a MM family--well, I may be more of a MM teacher because I am bad with physical objects, but I'm still intrigued by RS.

Thanks for your quick reply! BTW, dd was also born in April 05. Good month for babies.

Hi, Well, I just saw the post that MM is on sale, so there is some urgency to this question! What do you like/dislike about MM vs. RS? I was all about MM until I saw a lot of recent posts about how wonderful RS is. DD will be in first grade when we start hsing. So far she shows no signs of struggling in math, seems to have some natural curiosity about numbers, and I couldn't say how she learns best at this time. Anything you can share about these two programs is greatly appreciated! Jessica

I highly recommend the book "How to Talk So Your Kids Will Listen (and Listen So Your Kids Will Talk)." It has some great strategies for dealing with a variety of kid situations that help keep peace in the home. Good luck,

I really can't tell from the description. She may have just been not thinking, I guess.

That's a good question. I would like to teach my children Spanish for these reasons: I know a little from high school, so it's not entirely new to me; it is not terribly difficult/unfamiliar to English speakers; there is a decent chance my kids could use these skills while living in some places in the U.S.; and there are many countries we would like to travel to that speak Spanish. DH and I got married in Costa Rica and would love to take the kids back there someday. I probably know even more German than Spanish (took in high school and college), so I guess the first reason I gave above is not the main one. For some reason it's hard to imagine my little ones walking around speaking German, lol.

Wow--dd has diabetes and uses about ten of these per day. I noticed they weren't on the shelves at Target, not sure if that's related. I will stop using them right away. Yikes.

You'd find me at the speakeasy, no doubt. At least, if I was in my twenties :). If I were in my thirties in this time period, you'd find me at home with my hidden stash.

I have to disagree that balanced literacy is garbage. Many of our most frequently used words are not phonetic. Kids have to remember words like of, was, come, said, you, and have, because sounding them out phonetically does not work. As far as guessing the word by the first letter, I have no problem with this either. I think it teaches kids that you think when you read, and what you read has to make sense. My belief is that phonics is an important part of reading, but there is so much more to reading than phonics.

Funny, my 6yo dd is in her second year of ballet, and she is only lukewarm about it. She recently saw some kids in their taekwando outfits going to class, and she's been asking about it and begging to go. We just might be going down the same path as you!

I agree. I don't think there is anything wrong with memorizing sight words, particularly the very frequent ones. Phonics is only one piece of the reading puzzle, especially in English, which has so many irregularly spelled words. The problem only lies when students are not taught other ways to decode words, and think that they have to memorize every single word separately. But a balanced sight word/phonics approach can be very useful and help kids read more quickly, improving fluency and thus comprehension, which is the whole point.

I thought I had a good handle on dd's first grade year coming up. I was going to go with WWE1, SOTW1, FLL1, etc, but I'm doubting this all right now. I don't think a classical approach is really right for us, and I'm starting to think that ancient history is best left for later grades. I recently bought the first volume of FIAR and am leaning toward going this route instead. So if I had to choose our curriculum right now, it would probably be: FIAR (includes literature, art, social studies/geography, some limited science and math) Science: local homeschooling weekly science group, nature walks and studies, maybe some Magic School Bus kits PE: swimming, dance, gymnastics Math: Math Mammoth LA: Phonics Pathways, journal and story writing, word sorts, making words activities Extra: theater, daisy scouts Tons of read alouds WDYT??

Hmm...development of suburbs and new suburban (less communal) lifestyles, consumerism (cars, TVs), conformity and fear of differences, racial tension, HTH.

I don't believe that a loving God would doom anybody to everlasting Hell. The idea seems quite preposterous to me, to be honest. I'm not a Christian, and I don't believe in this God at all. To me, God is the powerful force of nature that wants life in general to thrive, but it is not conscious of humans' beliefs and actions.

You're welcome! That brought me back...I loved that book as a kid. But $27?? Interlibrary loan, perhaps? Wait, looks like you can get a used copy for under $2. http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0679802614/ref=tmm_pap_used_olp_sr?ie=UTF8&qid=1297028321&sr=8-1&condition=used

Was it "Magic Elizabeth"? She finds an old diary, I think, and has dream-like flashbacks of being the little girl who used to own the doll, like memories of going to get a Christmas tree? And she lives with her aunt, who is kind of mysterious? I don't remember the part about the writing on the table though, so maybe I'm wrong. Jessica http://www.amazon.com/Magic-Elizabeth-Norma-Kassirer/dp/0064407489/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1297028321&sr=8-1

DH is a musician, so he teaches the kids some basics of piano, introduces them to different types of music, and so on. He's also pretty outdoorsy and likes gardening, so he teaches them a lot about nature. This is all very informal, just integrated into the day, not formal lessons. He's also taught them how to run from or fight monsters if the situation arises :) Jessica mom of 5yo and 3yo, homeschooling next year

I don't know these particular programs, but my gut reaction is no, an eight-year-old cannot get a full education just on computer curriculum. He may like it, but that doesn't mean it's stretching and challenging him (or even helping him experience the joy of learning). I really believe interaction with a warm, live, present human is essential for education, especially for an elementary-level child. I would personally only use computer for reinforcement of skills, bonus/fun time, and maybe for one subject that would be difficult for me to teach at home, like a language or other special study. Jessica

I guess it isn't as bad as I thought when you break it down like that. Also, maybe I could wait to implement AAS, maybe halfway through first grade...hmmm. Jessica

This actually really DOES help, thanks. I like the sound of all of them, but don't want to overwhelm my first grader. Jessica