Games. Lots of games. Settlers of Catan Cranium games Quiddler Five Crowns Carmen Sandiego games

Yay! So happy that your school year is starting out well! Makes a momma's heart swell when it really starts to click with the kiddos. :)

Amen! Also, a lot of what is read in schools comes from a textbook. Even literature textbooks have just a chapter pulled out of a longer book. There is no context and no time to get involved in the book.

Sounds like she's doing great! When my kids were that little, they actually enjoyed the worksheets. I like the suggestions above for working more hands on time in her day. Even having her illustrate her science. Draw a picture of what you learned today and give it a title.

I actually like and appreciate online opportunities. I think it is a great way for kids to learn without having to deal with a teacher with a large classroom of students, a lot of whom don't even want to be there in the first place. The people I know who take classes online still have interaction with teachers. They are able to get help in the areas that they specifically need help in while not having to wait while the teacher deals with others and their behavioral issues. It seems like a good solution for rural areas like mine where there is only one school or homeschool.

Have you tried Life of Fred? They have a fun, kind of quirky, way of teaching math concepts. All of my children liked Fred, and I have one child who would read him just for the pleasure of it.

I have used Sonlight cores K (now A) through 5 (now F). I really could not be happier. My oldest two started with Abeka, but when my oldest was in 2nd and the next dd in 1st, I started using Sonlight. What a change! We actually enjoyed doing school! My youngest ds started Sonlight with Kindergarten. He learned to read with Sonlight. I credit my kids' love of books with all the great books we read with Sonlight. They each also have a great ability to listen and comprehend what is being said. Once again, I think Sonlight has a lot to do with that. That being said, I don't care as much for Sonlight's LA. I use it, but the longer I'm using Sonlight, the less I'm using their LA. The kids read the readers, but I have them doing other writing assignments and grammar work with Growing with Grammar. I love Sonlight's science, but I ended up switching this year to the AIG science. It's more cost effective and easier to combine with all three kids. There are some books in each core with difficult subjects (bullying, war, poverty), but these books were great open doors for discussion on difficult topics that should be addressed. I don't think my kids have found a book they haven't enjoyed from Sonlight's read alouds. My oldest dd does have some she doesn't prefer this year in her readers. I know Sonlight isn't for everyone, but I do highly recommend it.

Thanks for posting this!

We used and enjoyed Horizons math for Kindergarten. It is workbook based, and being Kindergarten, you can easily just buy the workbooks and not bother buying the teacher's guide or extra worksheets.

Praying!

I clicked on usually cereal, but I do make oatmeal or grits or some other easy cooked breakfast sometimes. Mostly it is cereal though.

I usually feel I must finish a book. There are very few books that I haven't finished. That being said, I do sometimes just skim, skip whole pages of dialog or other obvious sections and just get on with the book so I can call it done.

I did the same thing with my oldest! I just took away her blanket (the one she always held while she sucked her thumb), and she didn't suck her thumb anymore.

I guess you could always go with Poulet en Croute.

I bought this collection of fonts to put together my own handwriting papers. It has traditional print and traditional cursive as well as modern print and cursive. I don't know what style handwriting you prefer, but I also recently came across this site where you can download other handwriting fonts. I printed my pages to a booklet and just stapled the booklet in the middle, but you could also make full size handwriting sheets and have them bound at a local copy shop. Or simply three hole punch and put into a three ring binder. I know when I researched handwriting prices, it was cheaper for me to buy the fonts for my three kids and make my own pages.