The Wise guide of SWR has the words separated by section. Not sure about WRTR... Maybe someone who owns it can give you a clue.

Who says you have to pick one?! Haha :tongue_smilie: I used Saxon K this year with my 4 year old. He is turning 5 in June and we will be using Saxon 1 and Math in Focus (which is the another version of Singapore Math) together. I love Saxon. However, I can only speak for K and what I've seen of Saxon 1. It might be a little dry and too repetitive for me, but my child doesn't seem to need all the bells and whistles. He enjoys math and the activites in each lesson are varied enough to still make it interesting. I also decided to start with it since it goes all the way to Calculus - that way I know my child won't have any "holes" in his math education. I have decided to supplement with Math in Focus for Kindergarten this year because we do "school" all year and Saxon only provides so many lessons. Math in Focus seems to provide a little more of "thinking outside the box," which I really like. Math in Focus has an awesome website where you can view all the pages of the student books and teacher's guides. http://www.hmheducation.com/singaporemath/ I still like Saxon though, because of the repetition and spiral method. I feel that Math in Focus will provide a more conceptual understanding and will give some more ideas of how to use math in real life situations. So I hope to get the best of both worlds, so to speak :)

FairProspects, thank you for your honest assessment! :lurk5: I am also concerned about starting a program like AAR that doesn't have all the levels released yet. We have a homeschool convention coming up next month where I hope to look over the materials from Phonics Road and Logic of English. Maybe actually seeing the curriculum will help me make a decision!

I'm looking for advice from some of the experienced homeschooling moms out there. :thumbup: I'm trying to decide what program to use to teach my son how to read and I want something that isn't going to make him a terrible speller. I have heard that sight words can cause all kinds of problems, but I was a sight reader and I was reading at a 2nd grade level before I entered K. (My mom kept all kinds of notes and records.) I also have no problem spelling and I can recognize when a word just "looks wrong." So I'm wondering if spelling just comes naturally to some kids and not to others? My nephew learned how to spell in a Montessori school, and he is in 7th grade now and is TERRIBLE. I'm facebook friends with him, so I see it all. For those of you who have used sight words (not just a few here and there, but maybe 40-50 or more), did you notice a problem later on with spelling or reading? What do you recommend in light of that? Also, for those of you who did not use sight words, what program did you use, and how did their spelling turn out later on? Thank you!

The Classical model of education divides learning into 3 stages - the first of which is the grammar stage, which is basically memorizing facts. Until I started memorywork with my son I didn't believe kids could memorize so much! It's amazing! And my just-turned-3 dd knows half of it just by listening to ds recite facts. We do Classical Conversations, so the memorywork consists of history sentences, skip counting, latin, english grammar, history timeline, geography, and science facts. In addition, we do bible stories (Jonah, Daniel, Joseph, etc.) and bible verses.

It happens in public school too! I was a teacher for many years before I had children, and I just have to add my .02 -- those days where you feel like you get nothing done, distractions galore, nobody wants to listen or cooperate- those days happen in public school a LOT! And yet we still make it through to the end of the year somehow :) So take a break and try again later... or next week, lol :grouphug:

I did like the chocolate chips idea... that just might work! Maybe I will try that :)

Thank you all so much for your responses. I think the overwhelming view is to let him be 4 and play as much as he wants. It's just hard because he is my firstborn and I'm not sure how much is too much, too soon. That being said...I don't think I overwork him at all... I mean, it's not like I sit him down for an hour and make him do schoolwork every day. All the stuff in my siggy we tried, but never finished this year. We were doing Saxon K, but that wasn't the format I wanted for preschool - too structured and boring for me since most of the stuff I do with him in everyday life (counting, money, time, etc.). I started OPGTR with him, but that got too difficult, so we just stopped and I continue reading aloud to him. All I make him do is 15 minutes a day of memory work - rote memorization of a history sentence, math facts, sometimes science or latin, if it's easy. He likes the other stuff he does - actually loves HWoT, and enjoys doing the map facts, like states and capitals. That's it! So please don't judge me and think I'm drilling my son endlessly...I'm not. But since he is a part of CC, it is something he is expected to do, and the tutor reviews the info with him in class every week, so he kind of has to know it. My original complaint was that he whines and complains whenever I pull out the schoolwork (Foundations guide). Getting started seems to be the hurdle, because once we start it, he's fine. And like I said before - it's only 15 minutes. And some other posters did acknowledge that happens with their dc as well. That's what I was questioning...and that's where I feel like I'm strict because I tell him he has to do this. But all the previous posts are making me think twice about it. Is this really too much for him? Maybe it is since he's complaining about starting it, but he complains about having to clear the table, or wash his hands before dinner, and he doesn't get out of doing those things. Thanks again for reading and responding!

Sorry if I wasn't clear before - We are a part of a CC community -so he is expected to make some effort in learning the memory work each week and that is basically all he does with a little HWoT, which he actually enjoys. I don't push him to do more than that. However, with Kindergarten coming up in the fall - he will be 5, and hopefully ready for more. So, for the CC memory work - that is what he complains about doing. And I don't know - he complains, but then I play the catchy little songs and he ends up doing it and gets it and then he is proud to tell Daddy what he has learned that week. I just get the initial, "Uggh, I don't want to!" and I was wondering if that's normal...

I usually get whining and complaining every time I try to pull out any type of schoolwork. He's doing well for his age in math and phonics - so I have taken a break from that for a while, and we have just been working on handwriting and CC memory work. But it seems like all he wants to do is play and he has no interest in schoolwork at all. He is starting K in the fall and while I'm not pushing it now, I think I need to get him a little more motivated. My question is: what should I do when my ds groans and complains about doing school at home? I definitely fall into the more "strict" parenting philosophy, so while I am interested in making school fun for him, I will not cater to his every whim. Some things he is just going to have to do, kwim? Just curious how other parents have handled this issue. Thanks!

Thank you all so much for your advice and ideas! I looked into Webster's Speller and it looks like EXACTLY what my son needs - lots of easy syllables to practice and I can do it covertly without a book, so he will think it's just another game on the whiteboard. ;) I think I'm going to let him take the lead on asking to read, and we will progress slowly. Since he is my oldest, I don't have the experience yet to know what to expect as he grows, so I appreciate all the tips from you guys. :) And the links to Word Mastery and I See Sam readers are fabulous! Thanks again!!

When/how do they make that jump from sounding out a word c-a-t to reading it? My son can sound out CVC and CVCC words slowly (about 1 second per letter) and then says the word, but getting through a short sentence is TORTURE! For example: The cat and the dog sit on the mat. He will read each word and sound it out slowly, but by the time he gets to the end of the sentence, he has no idea what he has just read. It seems like once he gets a little faster at it, then the easy readers will start to make sense. DS is only 4 and 1/2 right now, so I realize that he may just be young. We were doing OPGTR, but that went too fast for him and he was starting to get frustrated, so we have stopped for now. I want him to get excited about reading, but it seems like it's too much work for him and it takes forever. But I don't know, maybe this is how it's supposed to go as they learn? Should I continue to have him sound out words, or should we just forget about it and try again when he is 5? Plus, I would love some curriculum ideas for reading/spelling since OPGTR is not "fun," according to my son, lol. I was thinking of doing PR for 1st grade, but I need something for K.