Oh, and also, if I'm getting multiple levels, 1 and 2, should I just get the student/teacher pack for each level? Do I need multiple student packs for multiple students?

Thanks! So, AAS users, what about the AAS being consumable or not? My four year old would be participating as well. Should I get two card sets (cause DS6 will master more faster due to his reading exposure)? I read the other thread about what I can do without so I was going to get one teacher/student pack, the divider cards, the letter tiles, the tile magnets, and the box, but I was wondering what I would need for a second student so I can keep their progress tracked separately?

Thanks so much for this thread! I have FIAR on its way to me and I'm getting excited about using it! :D

Ok, so the two word problem books I know about are Singapore Challenging Word Problems and Kumon. DS is just finishing up Singapore 1A and doing fantastic with it. So I wanted to add some Word Problems. I'm leaning toward Kumon just for the cheap factor. But I thought I'd ask to see what else was out there that I should know about. And if anybody has used Kumon what grade level I should get to match up? From looking at the page previews it seems grade 2 would be a better match now for where he's at in Singapore. Or is there something especially awesome about Singapore word problems that is worth spending more for? Thanks!

How much of the above did you use with PreK/Kindy/first? I know HWT covers it, we are working on that.

Ok, thanks! So, looking at the site, it sounds like you get the DVDs to show you how to teach the lessons. Do you watch them all at the same time? And it says that it teaches latin-how does it go about doing that (or perhaps setting it up?) in lower grades?

DS, who just turned 6, has been eating through Hooked on Phonics and doing great. (Our set has different colored books, he's on the third one, which is red. We've been working on HOP for three months.) He gets a bit burned out by the review pages but as far as grasping the concepts he's doing terrific. I've also had him working in Kumon 1st grade reading workbook and he just finished that today. So, I was wondering, should I introduce some formal spelling work? HOP doesn't cover rules of phonics very well. I want to be able to teach him the rules to make it easier for him. He's been catching the reading passion and starting to pick up books everywhere and try to read them. I myself don't know the phonics rules so I need some hand-holding in teaching them. I was looking into All About Spelling and it seems to cover it very well! It also sounds like something I could do with my 4 year old DS learning too! For those of you that use it, which products/package(s) do you get? How long does one level last? But I wanted to look around a bit more (because I am brand-spanking new at this) and get a grand scope of the reading and writing process, see if there were other programs that also covered the phonics rules well and included other aspects (writing, grammar, etc) in the long-term. My DS is a visual/kinesthetic learner. I am so new at this and very busy with my little ones, so I need something that's not a whole lot of prep and FUN to keep my wiggly boys interested. So what's out there?

We just watched the first Salsa episode. It was terrific!

Ohh, great ideas, thank you!!! Bucephalus the horse made me giggle! Eleanor (love your name! Seriously almost named DD that!) What music do you use?

I try to shop resale as much as possible and I have the same problem-especially with shoes and jeans! And I will need to do it a lot-because I've got three boys and it's rare that a pair of pants gets passed down as anything but cutoff shorts. And shoes-they've blown out the bottom of so many shoes and boots. It's frustrating for somebody on a budget!

My first "Wow, how on earth am I going to do this homeschool thing?" moment. Granted, things are are crazy as they can get at the moment. DS1 is my 'Spirited Child' and he had a huge adjustment into starting school two months ago, and then it was fine. Until last week when he freaked out all over again with huge discipline issues. We've been barely getting by with any schoolwork. Since he's doing fine and has been going through things at a good rate it's ok to have a slow week. DS2 is actually ok. He is my calm child. At the moment I am so thankful for that! I haven't really been doing much school stuff with him, but he's four, so I ain't sweatin it. DD has been super tired and super hungry. I think growth spurt? But she's also had some dark circles under her eyes, so I'm wondering if she's got dust allergies or something (DH is allergic to several important things) DSbaby decided to almost nearly wean himself despite my efforts, and I think the hormones are getting to me. He will only nurse at night now. I think he is sensitive to caffeine. So I am wondering if my morning coffee is hitting him after he nurses...and he's been waking up at night again. Four times one night, five times another. I am a zombie. And when I'm more stressed I have a harder time sleeping. Two weeks ago I decided I wanted to cut out refined sugar. Which meant making things from scratch. Which means much, much, more mess in my very small kitchen. I have a hard enough time keeping on top of it on a good day. And overall, there's just been so much mess in such a little space with so much noise!! Then I thought about all those mommies who are sending their darling little children out of the house and getting a break from them for several hours. And it sounded like heaven. Finally, the last two days, we've calmed down and had good work, and good learning moments, fun reading times, and other good things. So I think we made it through. But wow! I just had to come share with people who wouldn't say, "I told you homeschool would be too hard for you!" So thanks for reading my little rant. And for those of you who have made it through homeschooling many close together: I am honestly really dreading teaching multiple children at once! DS1 is doing first grade and I have to be right there with him for everything! He's doing really well with everything, he's so easy to school! But what about when I have a 2nd, 1st, Ker, and a preK? (well, I probably won't be doing much for preK in general besides my big old manipulative box that DS2 uses) I mean, I see organization helps greatly, but it mostly comes down to my inability to be in two places at once! How do you do it?

Oh wow, I totally teared up! What an incredible, wonderful, precious blessing!! Congrats!

My first "Wow, how on earth am I going to do this homeschool thing?" moment. Granted, things are are crazy as they can get at the moment. DS1 is my 'Spirited Child' and he had a huge adjustment into starting school two months ago, and then it was fine. Until last week when he freaked out all over again with huge discipline issues. We've been barely getting by with any schoolwork. Since he's doing fine and has been going through things at a good rate it's ok to have a slow week. DS2 is actually ok. He is my calm child. At the moment I am so thankful for that! I haven't really been doing much school stuff with him, but he's four, so I ain't sweatin it. DD has been super tired and super hungry. I think growth spurt? But she's also had some dark circles under her eyes, so I'm wondering if she's got dust allergies or something (DH is allergic to several important things) DSbaby decided to almost nearly wean himself despite my efforts, and I think the hormones are getting to me. He will only nurse at night now. I think he is sensitive to caffeine. So I am wondering if my morning coffee is hitting him after he nurses...and he's been waking up at night again. Four times one night, five times another. I am a zombie. And when I'm more stressed I have a harder time sleeping. Two weeks ago I decided I wanted to cut out refined sugar. Which meant making things from scratch. Which means much, much, more mess in my very small kitchen. I have a hard enough time keeping on top of it on a good day. And overall, there's just been so much mess in such a little space with so much noise!! Then I thought about all those mommies who are sending their darling little children out of the house and getting a break from them for several hours. And it sounded like heaven. Finally, the last two days, we've calmed down and had good work, and good learning moments, fun reading times, and other good things. So I think we made it through. But wow! I just had to come share with people who wouldn't say, "I told you homeschool would be too hard for you!" So thanks for reading my little rant. And for those of you who have made it through homeschooling many close together: I am honestly really dreading teaching multiple children at once! DS1 is doing first grade and I have to be right there with him for everything! He's doing really well with everything, he's so easy to school! But what about when I have a 2nd, 1st, Ker, and a preK? (well, i probably won't be doing much for preK in general besides my big old manipulative box?) I mean, I see organization helps greatly, but it mostly comes down to my inability to be in two places at once! How do you do it?

I haven't tried using Miquon with DS1 yet-save for just some play with the rods back when we were first doing it! Maybe this would be a good time to take a break from Singapore and try out Miquon for awhile! I tried using Miquon Orange with DS2, who is 4, but it was just hard to open up and go for me and try to figure out what all I should do and there was just lots of suggestions. I get how it would be helpful but with just getting started with homeschooling it was less hand-holding than I needed! I have the First Grade Diary and Annotations and it's a lot to look through! Ahh, that explains it! I haven't been looking at the HIG at all, and I don't have the linking cubes. I will get some, it sounds like it would help with the matter! Thanks!

Ok, thanks! He just turned 6 (haven't updated the siggy yet). We were using counters and I will bring them out again and encourage him to use them more. He wouldn't use them unless I was encouraging him but he did get things better when we were using them. So he just went through the section on Subtraction and is moving into shapes and size comparisons. Should I just play some games and maybe get a few practice worksheets from online somewhere and help him work through it with the manipulatives (abacus, counters, etc?) that way he can get it familiarized. As for the number bonds, he seemed ok while we were there, but working with him now he does seem a bit fuzzy on the 1-10 bonds. Can I use a regular card deck for Going to the Dump? I saw it demonstrated once at a conference so I know how it works!

DS has been moving very smoothly through Singapore 1A. The only thing I sense he's not grasping instinctual is the subtraction and addition of numbers over ten. For addition, I kept trying to teach him the book's method of taking one of of the numbers and using some of the other number to make it ten. Example: 7 + 8 = ? What do you need to add to eight to make it ten? Two. So take two from the seven and add it to eight and make it ten. What's 7-2? 5. What's 10 + 5? 15. So he has a hard time doing that mentally. Same with subtraction. I have to walk him through it again and again. I showed him a few other ways, like using the abacus, drawing marks and crossing them out. So my question is this: for the bigger picture of mathematics, how should I continue to work with him? Is grasping the 'making 10" method a great help to more advanced mathematics? Is using the abacus a good way of helping him get it mentally? Any other tricks/manipulatives I can use?

I was so relieved that River didn't actually kill the Doctor out of malice!! I loved Winston Churchill as Ceasar and the hot air balloon SUVs. I thought the way they wrapped it up emotionally for Amy was good, especially her being upset about killing someone. The way Amy has grown since we met her has just been amazing. But overall, the best part was seeing River's love for the Doctor expressed. River is my favorite character and seeing her tender passion for the Doctor was just the perfect ending to the season.

I love it. I agree with him not being lumpy enough to be unSpanxed (yeah, that's not even a word!) but on the other hand, I can't ever picture a man like that being motivated at all to put Spanx on. There was a pattern on ravelry for a pair of knit ovaries to hang off a truck hitch. We don't have the truck nuts trend here and I don't have a hitch (or a truck) so I never did it, but I love the idea of knit ovaries anyway.

Thank you everybody who is pitching in here! I am going to be starting my first year of detailed homeschooling and looking at TOG closely. It just looks like such an exciting journey-but I am not a naturally organized person so tips like these are very encouraging!

Ohh, thanks Tracy, Tahara, Melissa, and Random, that really helps! I've got a household full of crazy and the relaxed approach is what will work for us!

I have a few questions regarding a newbie homeschooler starting Tapestry of Grace Year one. My kid will be 6 and his younger siblings tagging along with whatever interests them. So we're doing Lower Grammar. 1. Is it easier to have the digital version or print version? 2. Tips for homeschooling planning and organization? Do you use a program, a binder, or a combo? I need to organize TOG, Hooked on Phonics, Singapore, Miquon, and Handwriting Without Tears. 3. Do the Foundational Sessions help? I got a code to get them for free at a HSing conference. 4. Which of the supplemental supplies do I NEED? It sounds like the Evaluations would be helpful. But what about Map Aids? Tabs? 5. What did you buy? What did you use the most? What could you have lived without for the lower grammar stage? 6. Any other tips, tricks, hacks? Thanks in advance! I am so thankful I found this forum, you all have already been so helpful I can't believe it! I don't think I'd be motivated to homeschool without this!

Thanks, Debbie!

Thank you! That really helps!

Oh goodness. I had to just pitch in and say I tried to read Don Quixote years ago and wound up in the same boat. It just went on and on and it was just too much. I think I wound up going online and looking at the cliff notes instead. So you are not alone. I have no idea what's at the end of the book.

Hi Angie! Small internet world, eh?? :lol: Good idea about the sponge and chalk!