Thank you ladies, I appreciate the input and the warm welcome! @Catwoman - Thanks for your kind words and encouragement. Love your screen name. :D @Linda - Interesting example. We do let them watch non-educational movies from time to time as a special treat. We make it a point to "study the book" (if there is one) for a week or two by reading it over and over and talking about it. We have done this with The Lorax and Horton Hears a Who by Dr. Suess most recently. The kids seem to enjoy both the book and the movie more when they are tied together with anticipation, comparisons between the two, etc.

http://www.makemegenius.com/video_play.php?id=2&type=0 Just a heads up, the english is non-native but my kids like the cartoons and they're very educational.

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We use Themes to Remember, Little Musician, & Mini Masters board books but those last ones we use somewhat informally. I keep meaning to label the pages with the actual names of the pieces. For power points, Child and Me is a good resource: http://www.childandme.com/encyclopedic-knowledge-art-paintings/#TypesOfPainting

Okay, that is helpful feedback. I had made some suggestions in another thread and then second guessed if it was even an approach that would be used by members of this forum. I only posted this thread in an effort to be respectful of the spirit of the community since I am new to this particular forum, I figured it was best to ask and be informed up front. I am seasoned when it comes to early education, but the classical approach on the other hand is new to me. I am learning the ropes and we enter into this new chapter of life. :) Thanks ladies!

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I have not read the WTM in a while as I previously borrowed it from the library and don't have it lying around for quick reference. I remember in the book the huge importance of strong reading and writing skills, which I am very much on board with. I vaguely remember something that was against learning through TV or anti-tv...something along those lines, because it spoons feeds education rather than teaching kids to work for it while building skills in the process. Am I right in remembering this accurately? I like the idea of a classical education in many respects in terms of how well rounded it is, but is it still possible to give my kids what would be considered a "classical" education if it's delivered in a non-traditional way? For example, I read in another thread that someone is teaching their kids the presidents. Yes, we are doing that too, but using the animaniacs songs from youtube, along with their states and capitals songs. That just seems so...unclassical! But it gets my kids excited, they love it. And I am *all about* learning DVD's (we skip "regular" tv with the kids pretty much altogether), software, apps, and websites. Not to be misrepresented though, I read to the kids a lot and the kids read on their own (for example, lately it's been What Your Preschooler Needs to KNow with DS and Little House in the Big Woods with DD, among other things). Does it really matter how they get the information as long as they are getting it during this stage? Are the majority of mom's here classical education "purists," for lack of a better word? There is plenty of time to hone the reading and writing skills as they get older, which we will do, but right now we are having fun getting our feet wet using a lazy mom's ;) modern mom's delivery system. I just wanted to inquire if that is frowned upon here and best not to discuss since this is a classical education forum, etc. I just wanted to get a baseline of how strictly folks here are adhering to the book recommendations and what is acceptable in the community! Thanks. :)

Yeah, the group is not for us. I may consider their version in the end if it's much simpler, but I really like the idea of one that coincides with SOTW! That sounds ideal. http://www.theevolvinghomemaker.com/tag/the-story-of-the-world-timeline-cards/ I found these cards and they are great, but the blog they were linked from was taken down and I can't seem to find them elsewhere. :( I'll keep looking though. I did find the grammar memory book, so thank you for that idea!

I really admire the memory masters of Classical Conversations, but for a number of reasons we will not be enrolling the kids. I came across this blog http://satorismiles....ation-timeline/ and fell in love with the timeline. Has anyone here done a timeline memorization with their kids similar to CC using something like this as the outline? Should I consider anything specific before attempting this or do you have any words of wisdom? It won't be for a while, but I want to have all of my ducks in a row. Thanks! http://www.pandiapress.com/?page_id=58 Edited to Add: I read the WTM when my kids were a bit younger and I do not remember a timeline for memorization being included, but maybe I overlooked it? Forgive me if there is one in there already, I need to buy my own copy soon as I only borrowed from the library last time.

We used the Hooked on Phonics Learn to Read series very early on. I had no idea what I was doing at the time and it was the only phonics program I had heard about. As it turns out, we loved it then and still do!! It is very simple and "open and go." The program specifically lists what to do and how to use all of the included tools-- step 1, 2, 3, the DVD lesson, workbook, and easy reader. It's cheaper to buy the whole kit through their website, but if you are considering that route and are on the fence, they sell it at Target now. You can just buy the first level to try it out and if you like it, buy the whole set cheaper from HOP directly. The Pre-K program teaches letter sounds and Kindergarten teaches CVC 3 letter words. In my opinion, it's much easier to skip pre-K and teach letter sounds with Leapfrog, then move straight on to Kindergarten. If you find that it's a good fit like it was for us, you can just cruise right through the series. The Hooked on Phonics "Learn to Read" program goes up to grade 2. After that, you can move on to Hooked on Phonics Master Reader story cards (aimed at ages 7-8). The Deluxe edition comes with a CD-rom software program and teaches how to break up multi-syllable words. After Master Reader is finished (it has 4 levels), you can look on ebay or elsewhere to buy the "classic" version of Hooked on Phonics "Your Reading Power SRA" Program. It's a series of 100 stories that get progressively more difficult and they all have *reading comprehension* questions at the end of each one (it's aimed at ages 7-14). So it's a little more old school, but if you decide you like HOP that's the next logical step. The SRA program is still used in schools today, just by a different publisher. I recently blogged about multimedia resources to teach reading to very young children http://teachingmytoddlers.blogspot.com/. Since you are specifically interested in phonics, as another poster mentioned the Letter Factory is fantastic along with other titles in the Leapfrog Series that follow. The Talking letter factory DVD is a SLAM DUNK with pretty much every parent I know. My Montessori House DVD's have a very strong emphasis in phonics as well, so they are great to practice with. I like Your Child Can Read a *lot* and they do lots of word patterns, but not so much explicit phonics step by step. However, since you are introducing phonics concurrently, I would still be comfortable using them for reinforcement and vocabulary building as the series teaches sooo many great words. DVD's are a great supplement to replace any regular TV viewing with something of more substance. The more you layer the learning, the faster and deeper it will sink in. I realize this is a classical education forum and most parents probably educate with paper and pencil, but we choose to integrate all methods (while skipping any and all broadcast tv for what it's worth.) So, that is the recipe I would recommend from experience. Oh, and the Leapfrog Tag Pen and books are GREAT for extra reinforcement when no one is around to read to her. They have a series of graded phonics books, as well. It depends on how much you are looking to invest, but if you were to combine HOP with a couple DVD's to supplement and possibly the Tag pen as well, I think you would be stunned by her progress. I bet other mom's here can do it a lot cheaper, but I wanted quick and easy! :)

Super helpful! I am passing this on to a dear friend to use now and I am saving it for when we finally replace ours soon. We use tumblebooks online through our local library but I had no idea it worked on an ipad!

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Some Mom's I know rave about RS but I was never completely sold on it. What I DID do was use their style of abacus by repainting ours and it serves as a nice supplemental manipulative to our math worksheets and such. I have also taught the kids how to count the RS way and they already knew how to count the regular way, hoping to further cement their understanding of tens, etc. I have no problem with encouraging them to be bilingual in that respect and we flip-flop back and forth by saying "one ten and five, which is also fifteen" etc etc. We've gotten a little into their horizontal abacus trading, but I am NOT sold on their version of the vertical abacus. After hunting online and reading all I could, I feel like we took the best parts and I am happy with what we've done. The only thing left that may interest me is the games. Other than that, I think we're just going to continue with Singapore.

Have you considered Feliway plug-ins or Kitty Xanax? Might be worth the effort to keep him from marking your new carpets!