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I am trying to figure out what phonics/reading program to use w/ my 1st grader in the fall. We are using Sonlight Language K this year and it has been **ok** but my son finds it very boring. There is no color anywhere, very few activity sheets, etc. I really like Sing Spell Read and Write but it is so expensive. Is there anything out there comparable to SSRW that costs less?? What about SWB phonics instruction book? Does it come w/ activity sheets and readers? thanks for any info!

Our son is 8yo now and is an advanced reader and devours everything he can get his hands on! I have found Sonlight's readers to be excellent. No twaddle in my opinion. Have you checked them out? You can just look at their lists then find the books at the library, that's what I do. My son really likes the Boxcar Children series, anything by Beverly Clearly, and even Laura Ingells Wilder (he just read Farmer Boy and loved it). The gifted/talented teacher at our local private school recommended history or science related reading materials for young advanced readers, since we don't necessarily want them reading books meant for upper elementary age kids. Hope this gives you some ideas!

I also have an 8yo and 6yo (2nd and K) and our schedules are very similar. My older son LOVES to read, so I schedule a quiet reading time in his room for at least 1/2 hr, many days he reads longer. I have assigned reading, and he can choose a free choice book after that.

She has a TON of forms of all kinds for homeschooling, I love them. Donnayoung.org

We are going to be ordering FLL3 and the Writing w/ Ease curriculum for our next school year. I noticed at Peace Hill Press that workbooks 1 and 2 will be coming out soon. Will you be publishing a workbook 3 for 3rd grade soon? I know it isn't necessary, but as you have mentioned, the planning is done for me! Thanks.

Singapore encourages students to UNDERSTAND math concepts. We started Singapore this year with our 2nd grader and I'm amazed at how he knows the concept behind the answers. When first learning to add 2 - 3 digit numbers together with renaming, he wasn't writing down the carrying of the ones to the next column, and the carrying of the tens to the next column, etc. He was getting all the answers correct though, because he was able to do all the adding in his head. Pretty incredible in my opinion. It all has to do w/ the way Singapore teaches the concepts. I believe the Home Instructor Guides are invaluable, even for lower elementary. Hope this helps!

We are doing Core C with my 2nd grader but the 2nd grade readers and LA2 were too easy for him. Writing IS included in their LA program, but there was to much creative writing and not enough grammar in my opinion, in LA2. I heard LA3 is much more "meatier" and you can add Grammar Ace with LA3, a recommended supplement from Sonlight. I would say you wouldn't need a separate writing program.

My son is in 2nd grade and isn't really doing much of a formal spelling program. He already spells quite well, which impresses dh and I. He taught himself to read early too, at 4yo. Anyway, HOW do we choose a spelling program? I have no idea! I've read that Spelling Power, Spelling workout and Sequential Spelling are all good...any thoughts?

I'd like to pre-order the Writing with Ease text as well, but what workbook would go with it? Workbook 2? My son will be in 3rd grade. He can do copywork and dictation, a few sentences at a time as long as I read slowly. He is doing Character Quality Language Arts now, but I feel it is too much for him, esp. the writing. There hasn't been enough teaching HOW to write before requiring original composition pieces, IMO.

I just printed off handwriting paper for my 2nd grader with the red line and dotted center line, just like the stuff I buy at the store.

The Home Instructors Guides are necessary, in my opinion, because it teaches the concepts in the "Singapore way" of learning math. This is what makes it a unique math program. If I would have just bought the text and workbooks and said let's see how we do, we might have been just fine, but again, the CONCEPTS are necessary to be learned early in order to help the student think mathmatically and truly understand how math works. You'll notice, that if you look for the Home Instructors Guides in the Sonlight or Rainbow Resource Catalogs they don't have them for 1A or 1B. I had to purchase them directly from Singaporemath.com. Also, be sure you get the Home Instructor Guide, not the Teachers Guide. Hope this helps!

and my son is doing great. We do just one chapter a week. Have you looked at WW? It introduces the vocabulary words, then has a true/false page, then a crossword puzzle that uses the words. We do not have the newer series, we are using the older series recommended by Sonlight and love them! My ds is an advanced reader though, maybe that is why he enjoys doing WW, it is not too hard for him.

I am considering FLL for my 2nd grader. We started the school year with Sonlight LA2 but are returning it because it didn't work for my son. I have a friend who let me borrow FLL and I like the presentation of grammar and writing w/ dication and narration. It makes sense! Here is my question: do I start with grade 1 or 2?? Grade 1 looks very easy and my son knows all the grammar presented, although he is new to dictation and narration. Also, I noticed that the lessons in grade 2 refer to poems memorized in grade 1. I would like to begin FLL for 3rd grade in the fall to be "on schedule."

My son will be in 3rd grade next year and I'd like him to begin Latin. The WTM suggests Prima Latina, is that the best one? Is there a popular curriculum that everyone here uses?

We use Sonlight LA for K, and Character Quality Language Arts for my 2nd grader. Oh, and ETC.