K: Biggest Hodgepodge... Adventures in Phonics /CLP Readers up to Reader 3 and petered out on four Classic Curriculum workbook Series 1 Reading, Writing, and Math Phonics Pathways as supplement Horizons K Math up to lesson 120 FIAR Pathway First GRade Reader Days Go By Reason for Handwriting A after we finished the Classic Curriculum writing book... 1: (coming up) Queens Language Lessons for Little Ones Vol. 3/ LL for VY Volume 1 afterwards Some of Climbing to Good English (schoolaid) Queen's Spelling Through Copywork RightStart Level B Math Carson Dellosa Cursive (b/c he wants to and loves it) Hey Andrew Level 2 SOTW (casually), Library Books, videos and notebooking for Science, History, Geography Also My Big Science Book from timberdoodle for experiments and lots of games for logic Pathway Readers and Library Books Dolch Sight Word Flashcards (which I will put on a ring) That sounds like a lot but much of it won't be every day and both English programs are very gentle and quick. The biggie as far as time is going to be Right Start Math. All the other subjects will either be rotated, casually, or less than 10 minutes per day.

I'd like to know a little more about AAS. Right now my son is reading at about a first grade level and can spell simple cvc words or maybe silent-e words. AAS would place him in level B. Q1: If I use AAS with my son, would that negate the need for a phonics workbook this year? I really would like to do phonics this year, but we don't have time and patience for phonics, and spelling. But it seems to me that since AAS covers all the phonemes, then I would not have to teach phonics separately this year. He'll be getting plenty of reading practice from graded readers *and* library books, and he'll be getting plenty of other LA...so we're just talking phonics and spelling here. Q2: Is 20 minutes per day correct? Q3: Do you like this program. Has anyone used it and disliked it?

Adventures in Phonics, Phonics Pathways (here and there for review), ETC Primers, plus the first 3 ETC books, and phonetic readers alongside, plus HOP levels 2-4... And you know what, I am finally going to incorporate sight words into our curriculum because my son loves to read, and really reads well, and i notice that he reads mainly by sight, even though he's had *plenty* of intensive phonics!! We'll be using Dolch Word flashcards on a ring, adding 5 at a time working on level 2 and 3. meanwhile we'll be using a phonics workbook, either MCP B, or Pathway learning Through Sounds. I think sight words can be a very good tool for some children. My son just memorizes every word, and though we could drill ir says "ir" a million times, if I have him break the word apart and sound it out he still says, -i-r or Eye-Ar, or Eye-Er.... But if I tell him that third just says third, he will remember that forever. So hey, you know what I am going to meet my kid where he's at. And because I want to lay a good foundation for spelling, and I'm sight reading phobic, we'll continue with intesive phonics.

How about Developmental Math for memory work, building concepts, coupled with Miquon. Here is some info about my ds: 6yo going into first grade Very good at concepts Stinks (did I say stinks?) at *anything* rote- can hardly memorize even a basic children's song...he'll sing the entire song's meaning, using his own words, trying to fit those into the tune. Loves Math, hates repetition Loves to discuss things, learn together, try things out, etc. Here is some info about me: ADD (really) Two kids Anxiety Disorder Love a checklist, but want to spend time with my ds, not just fly through workbook pages (aka another year or Horizons will make *me* hate math, and my son is getting there.) Tried Saxon, hated it. Tried Horizons, liked it, but want better. Tried Miquon, liked it but felt there wasn't enough- of anything. I'm really afraid of Right Start. i thought I had made the decision but now I am not so sure. My son will need a lot of practice, and my dd (soon 5) is very smart and will want to be part of the lessons but B will go too fast for her. I am given to overwhelming my dc with too much of this or that if a program is free-flowing (aka Phonics Pathways was a bust because I couldn't figure out how to pace appropriately) And with my anxiety, I get very overwhelmed when there's a lot going on...so maybe using one self teaching program and one simple, but proven conceptual program might be more realistic. So I am thinking of using Developmental Math 2 and 3 for rote memory, and using Miquon for concepts. What do you all think of that?

It's so hard. I wish I had taught my son with Italics because his regular handwriting is kind of ugly. I hate ball and stick and find it very unnatural for the hand to move that way. However I don't think I will teach my younger dd italics, because I am concerned that it will be a pain to do something different- think of all the walmart workbooks, all the stuff your family buys (books, leapster games, everything!) and they *all* use Ball and Stick. I think it would be very annoying to have to not use all that stuff sitting around just because I want her to have slightly more natural handwriting. I personally am *not* a fan of Reason for Handwriting. I have used both levels K and A and my sons' handwriting got worse. In betweeen we used Classic Curriculum Writing workbooks and his handwriting then was absolutely gorgeous. What I don't like about RFH: 1. No review. THe K book contains absolutely no review. So you have to figure out when to review it yourself. There are no pages included for review, and the standard 1" lines are, in my opinion, too big. 1" is absolutely huge, even for a K'er. (but most programs use 1" in K so this is not really specific problem to RFH). 2. HUge Jump from K to A. Then suddenly after 20 lessons in first grade your child is expected to copy an entire sentence with words above the first grade level. If this were copywork, I would say it would be fine, but there isn't enough room on the border sheets for you to write, and then for your child to copy. This is very difficult for my son, and he writes very well for his age. So all in all I am not enchanted with RFH, but I don't necessarily think Italics is the answer for my dd. I love the style, and we have two books here that I haven't used yet and thought of starting my dd (4.5) on, but I just can't get past the fact that she'll have to do it differently than all her little books, leapster, etc. Have you considered Peterson Directed? It's what I used in Catholic School and what I plan to use with my dd.

I am going to try a sample lesson but I wonder how you can do that without the abacus. For us the whole excitement of Right Start lays with the abacus. We're totally into the grouping way of adding instead of the counting way. And we saw a bunch of YouTUbe videos about how Japanese people use their abacus (soruban I think it's called) I took the quiz at the website and it placed my son in Level B. So that's fine. But I wonder if I should get level A and combine my kids. What does Level A cover? The website says you can start in A or B, both are designed as first year curricula. My son definitely likes a little challenge, discussion, discussion, discussion, hands-on stuff, etc.

Hi Ladies, So after reading all your wonderful posts and looking everything over with my dh, we are very interested in Right Start. We watch the Power Point Presentation, and I am embarrassed to say I didn't get all of it right away. My dh was totally into it and is now looking into getting his own book on Suroban (Japanese Abacus) and a how-to book! Isn't that cool? The only thing that is holding me back is the cost. I mean, 150.00 for one grade, for one year is steep!! I could get Miquon and the rods for 26.00. Or I could get Singapore for about 60.00, including all the intensive practice books, etc. So here's my question...When purchasing *such* an expensive program, how do you finally get up the guts to do that? and what is the deciding factor?

Looks like I'm going to see about Right Start, and take a better look at it. When we get our stimulus check we will have 200.00 to spend on curriculum, and really math is the only thing I really haven't covered. So actually I could spring for RS, according to dh's calculations on the budget yesterday. Kay- I checked out EPGY and it looks great! When you say financial aid, do you mean loans, or grants? I wouldn't want to take out loans for my kids' education at this stage in the game, but grants would be another matter. My dh makes a good income but we are totally in debt to our eyeballs and our house is upside down. Does that count towards grants?:bigear:

and 100% cotton is the rule for my bed. My dh convinced me of the necessity of good sheets and I thought he was nuts. But now I see the difference and I feel for him. He has sensitive skin and sleeps only in underwear so he feels the sheets! Anyway, DON'T buy Egyptian Cotton. We had that twice and they fell apart within a year. Just buy regular high thread count cotton. And wait for sales. In the mean time go buy the cheapest set you can get. That'll be your backup. Save your coupons to linens N Things or Bed Bath and Beyond and then buy the sheets when they are on sale or with a good coupon because believe it or not, you can spend more than a hundred dollars on a good sheet set for a king size bed.

I ate like a cow, and drank lots of water. But "like a cow" for me does NOT include any junk food, prepared foods, etc. It meant tons of beans, nuts, whole grains, legumes of every kind, meat at dinner, cheese, milk, salads, etc. But what happend with me is that I lost all my baby weight by the time my kids were about 5 months old. Obviously if I did not wish to lose weight I would have to eat much more. Then after that I REALLY had to eat like a cow to make enough milk for them, and I was looking pretty much like skeltore, each time they finally reached a year old. Just remember there are so many myths about breastfeeding. Be sure to listen to moms who successfully breastfed, and read the wonderful books on breastfeeding that are 300 page manuals, not the chapter in 'what to expect eh first year" That is not enough information to keep you going, especially since they always throw in the "well if you can't breast feed" part at the end of the breastfeeding chapter. I say try for extra calories but don't get crazy with a chart or anything.

Allergy induced athsma? For the past 5 years or so I've had seasons where I can't "catch my breath." I try to bend over, to yawn, change positions, etc. and I still can't "catch my breath." It feels almost like I'm not really breathing, though I know I am (obviously or else I'd be dead.) Before, I always thought it was anxiety. But finally I've noticed that the onse t of this breathing thing came when I was in my bedroom which is rather dusty. I know I am slightly (slightly!) allergic to dust, and finally I think I may have put two and two together. My neck also feels "tight" but nothing feels itchy or scratchy. So last night I could not breathe and actually heard a wheeze (but not much) then, I left my (carpeted bedroom with sheets and clothes and dusty dressers) bedroom, and came out to the (wood laminate, pretty much clean living room) and within a few MINUTES I could catch my breath, so I stayed there all night, and now it's happening again. Does this sound like a little bit of athsma? If so what should I do? (other than vacuum the bedroom and sleep in the living room tonight)

actually sat for and LOVED the Ken Burns Lewis and Clark. I would watch the end ahead of time. Lewis (was it Lewis or Clark?) killed himself, so it's really sad/mature theme at the end. We skipped that with dc. It was wonderful!! The way Ken Burns handled it was absolutely fantastic - actually ANY Ken Burns is fantastic. We love Ken burns documentaries and plan on making lots more use of them, including seeing this one again. If you don't already, I highly recommend the 4.95 per month netflix account. T here is TONS of educational stuff available there, and even Christian content, and you also get 5 hours per month of free downloaded movies in addition to your mailed DVD's. The free downloads have included such treasures as Dangerous Journey, Martin Luther, Tyndale, and many other Christian biographies....

I didn't expect BJU to be listed as a favorite. It's so expensive and I've read so much about it being teacher intensive that I figured many homeschoolers wouldn't be all the excited about it. This year we used Horizons and I really loved it until about lesson 108. it's really dragging now, and where I figured we'd have some more interesting conceptual stuff popping up, it's just getting to be a lot of busywork. Of course I have, and use, my freedom to cut out the busywork, it's starting to suck the excitement out of math for me and my son. I've been looking a lot at Miquon, and my son did like it when we used it but I worry that we won't be covering some important concepts. I've looked pretty closely at Singapore and it's probably on top of my list, but I'm still interested to hear what math programs people are really excited about.

Thanks!

I have little doubt that my little guy is going to be an engineer someday. I don't usually like to pigeon hole kids, but you know every once in a while a kid pops out who knows from birth what they want to do. Plus all the men on both sides of our entire family save one are engineers of some sort. Genetics plays a part. My son eats, breathes, and lives for legos, talks about robotics, gets books from the library on concept cars, robotics, building, etc. etc. I decided to open my mind this year, and go with whatever math program would be most exciting for him and best for his probable line of pursuit. Before now, I always thought I would stick with just the facts, maam. But now I realize I can do better for him. He really loved Miquon math but we didn't get around to finishing it. So I am open to getting that again. He likes Horizons but the busywork is boring to both of us. He really loves to think about things- he loves logic puzzles and river crossings, or Rush Hour Jr. and things like that. So I am stuck between Miquon and Singapore. RS is out of the question because money is a big issue. I would love to hear from some moms of boys, especially, who loved math, and which math program their kids enjoy. My son LOVES a good challenge. What he HATES is memorization. I have no problem splitting the two and treating them as two separate subjects, and I have a friend that really recommended that.

Or is it Here! Here! ? Anyway I confess I am too..But I'm getting better. I spent a lot less this year and have a much better idea of where we're all headed!

but all the signs at the schools say, "Kindergarten Round-UP: Bring your 4 1/2 year olds" I guess parents are too dumb to figure out if their kid can attend based on a cutoff date so they'll just have to weed through all the 4.5 year olds to find out which ones get in by the cutoff date. I get so mad about such little kids going to school. I was one month shy of 6 when i started school, and it was half day. Nowadays they go at 4, for a full day plus aftercare. :confused:

This information is extremely helpful. ARGH. I had considered Plaid Phonics B. My son likes the colorful pictures that came in my dd's Plaid Phonics K. Maybe that wouldn't be too much torture. The Climbing to Good English is still a good fit, apart from phonics, so that'll be a keeper hopefully. I couldn't decide between LL for the Very Young and LL for Little Ones Volume 3. I'll take another look at that. Maybe I should just go back to that idea all around, and just add Plaid Phonics B. My son is sick of ETC, so he definitely doesn't want to see any more of that.

He's reading comfortably now- books like Danny and the Dinosaur, Frog and Toad, Pretty much anything in the I Can Read It repertoire. He still needs a little bit of phonics but not much- I think the last level of HOP will more than cover it. Though he's reading well I am not ready to drop phonics for another year. But at the same time, he's really ready to move on with other things, and we don't have a year's worth of LA just in the phonics department, definitely not. Jessica, this is a good point about short lessons. You never know how much more a kid will absorb when they are happy and focused. And yes, I'm thinking CLimbing to Good English will be good because it's straightforward, and the LTS being straightforward is also good. No distractions mean faster lessons. That's a good idea about possibly using CLGE and LL... Thanks for the input I have some good food for thought.

Ds 6, will turn 7 in January (normal first grade age) Option 1: Already purchased and on its way: Pathway Learning Through Sounds Climbing to Good English Option 2: Queen's Language Lessons I had decided on Language Lessons for Little Ones Volume 3. My son is a good reader, but guesses a bit. So I sort of chickened out and decided on the Pathway stuff. I do know my son needs a little bit of sight word learning. He has taken off using a combination of phonics and sight reading. However I worry that with the Queen's LA that he will not be getting enough of anything. The lessons looked *so* short. But I also worry with Pathway that he will dislike English and Phonics (again). Explode the Code seems like it's too much review in each given area, it's too slow. If I do opt for the Pathway stuff I don't need a separate handwriting as that is integrated into the English. I looked at FLL and I'm sure my ds would hate it. It would be far worse than a workbook. He absolutely hates any kind of repetition or memory work. I looked at Growing with Grammar but it seems like it's not a full English program, but just Grammar, and it didn't seem much different than Climbing to Good English. And it was more expensive. Ideas?

We will be done with Level 1 next week and it has been a wonderful program. Plenty of review, totally self explanatory, my son loves it and he knows all his letters, names, sounds down pat. I couldn't ask for much more than that.

that based on your post of where she is at, she is not ready for FLL 1/2. It sounds like she needs some more phonics and reading fluency work. At this age it may take off very quickly, so you may be ready for FLL in the Spring. Maybe not. Either way, I would not use it right now, but focus more on reading fluency and phonics. SL LA or a mix of phonics, handwriting, and reading sound like a better option for your dd.

I just ordered the cursive set from my father's world. I have seen those books before and they are very easy/simple to follow. I will let my son do those whenever he wants, and skip the italics. I don't want to confuse him.

Okay tell me what to do- My ds, 6, really really wants to learn cursive. He'll write happily away if only I will teach him cursive. He wants to write like me and all the adults he knows and since he is great at Greek (fancy letters) he thinks he will be great at cursive. My original idea was to switch him to getty dubay italics over the summer and use their cursive transition book this coming school year. But looking at the italics book, I am realizing my son will have to re-learn all of his writing. (He writes manuscript nicely, maybe even beautifully for his gender and age) and that would maybe be an unnecessary frustration. So...should I just get some nice Carson Dellosa cursive books and let him learn with those, and let him continue with regular ball and stick manuscript until he's proficient in cursive? Or should I use these Italic books and switch him over to a whole new method?

I'm reading the book, "The Care and Feeding of Husbands" which I highly recommend. This may explain why your dh wants you to be "happy." If you are unhappy, it reflects on him as your protector/provider. I think this is so sweet and it is possible. I am like you, always striving, always on the go. This past year, though, I have begun to learn to slow down and enjoy life and stop striving. Some days I take CALMING TEA (thus my board name) to help me to slow down and just enjoy rather than doing/wroking/making/striving all the time. I am different, and my life is better and I am happier. I think your dh sounds really great.