Me too! Thought I was the only one who felt this way!

I want to be able to read a lot of quality literature to the kids, but they also really want me to read their pile of library books to them, plus their other books like Berenstain Bears or Make Way for Ducklings, etc. When I take them to the library to pick up some books I have on hold, they'll end up with a pile of stuff to read. Last night they got some books on spiders, snakes, volcanoes, space, lions, amelia bedelia, etc. I want to encourage them to read. I'm glad they're so excited about their books. (Though internally I go a little crazy because I have a great collection of science books at home, and they just want to read library books. Why on earth did I purchase these books then??):confused: The 7 year old was a late reader and is still only reading about level 1 or 2 books, so I have to read everything. But, I only have so much time in a day teaching them, nursing the baby, paying bills, housework, cooking, etc. If I read the Bible, a good book, a little history, some mother goose, a few board books for the 2 year old, I find that I'm struggling to find time to read their other mountain of books. (They do constantly listen to good books on CD at other times during the day, like Charlotte's Web, Winnie-the-Pooh, Jim Weiss, etc.) I guess I'm looking for some practical advice, or a schedule of how to fit in a lot of read aloud. How do you guys do this? I'm sure I can't be the only mom whose kids bring home an armful of library books. How do you read literature, picture books, library books, and something for the babies, too? I can't wait till my kids are reading more independently! Oh, and I find it hard to read aloud while nursing the baby...she just gets upset and distracted and can't fall asleep. I'm sure I just need more self-discipline...but thanks for any ideas!:001_smile:

and I have no idea if we should go back next year (especially in light of the insights I've been gleaning fom the Circe thread). Siigggh. Anyone else feel this way?? So many pros and cons both ways. I'd love to hear from someone who's done cycle 1. Are the songs fun like they are in cycle 3?

OP, are you sure you're not talking about my kiddo?? :tongue_smilie:

Thank you for this post!!!

Ok, I'm only on page 9 of this thread...and I feel like my head is exploding. THIS is what I've been struggling with! I used to read to the kids so much more and it's being pushed aside. How do I read all the classics to them, plus do everything else? And when can we do poetry? You mean, I don't have to make history the focus and wrap literature around the history? Really?? Whoo hoo! I'm feeling a little dazzled. I'v never heard of Circe or Andew Kern, and I'm a little nervous to even open up that can of worms. But, I do want the beautiful things that I love (classical music, paintings, art, good literature) to surround the kids. I just don't know how to do it. Reality does not match up with the ideal in my head. My boys hate all schoolwork and drag their feet to do it. They do love listening to me read, though...but would choose a Berenstain Bears book over A Child's Garden of Verses. They would only want to watch TV if I let them. All sorts of ideas to ponder...thanks for this thread!! ETA: I forgot to add...I have my grandfather's set of My Bookhouse 1-6, edited by Olive Beaupre Miller, published 1925. They are such beautiful books. I'm so surprised to see these mentioned upthread...at least I think they are the ones that were mentioned. So these are being recommended to read? For some reason I thought the hive was rather sneering toward anthologies like this. Do these qualify as "good" literature?

That is so beautiful!! I read that in the other thread and I was enchanted.:001_wub: I was trying to figure out where it was from.

Aww! She's so tiny! Precious.:001_wub:

Yes, I agree that it looked cluttered. I don't mind that the lesson jumps around, because that's what CLE does. But the CLE pages are so well-laid out with so much white space, that it's very calming. But that's just me...maybe my kids wouldn't mind. Who knows? Maybe my Ds would think that it was a lot less work!

Yes, I've felt the same way...that's why I using two different programs. Ok, thanks! Thanks so much for sharing your experience! It's reassuring. I don't want to be bitten by the "grass is greener" syndrome...I just wonder if it would easier to add in one page of abeka and focus more on the Singapore than to add in the whole CLE lesson to the Singapore...even though I like the CLE...and I love the CLE manual. And yeah, I hate to mess with what is working. It is working...it just is a lot of pages for my son to complete. I do want to incorporate more of the intensive practice and challenging word problems, but I wasn't sure how to do it and not have math take too long. Ds was having a hard time at the beginning of the year grasping even the most basic ideas. (Like he tried convincing me that 1 + 0 = 0.):confused: And this was after a K year of Right Start A and R&S! (That seemed like a total waste of a year!) BUT, he's made a ton of progress and is going along quite well. CLE seems so easy for him...he usually gets his 20 question speed drills done in well under a minute, and he usually scores 100% on the quizzes and tests. I definitely use the HiG for the Singapore and follow it very closely. I was having him use the extra practice book for awhile to cement some of the ideas, so maybe I'll alternate the workbook with the intensive practice book. I like the way Singapore really makes him think...and I incorporate those strategies with the CLE work.

Ooh, I'll be listening in, too. The kids love fairy tales, but I haven't started on Andrew Lang's books yet. And I love Trina Schart Hyman's illustrations! I wanted to buy Peter Pan with her illustrations, but I can't find a used copy for a decent price. Also, she has a picture book about St. George of England that was beautiful. We have the Hans Christian Anderson Fairy Tale book that was recommended by SL, and a few others for little kids, but I'd like to add to our collection.

That's what I am afraid of...I don't think I will survive their childhood, or this homeschooling thing. I turn my back for a split second and they're up and wrestling in a dog pile or shooting guns at each other all over the house. And the amount of destruction they cause is unbelievable. Will I ever have anything without dents or cracks?:glare:

Seriously?? How horrible!!

Hi everyone! (Glad to be back from an extended forum break!) I'm going back and forth with this decision. Right now I'm using Singapore 1 U.S. edition and CLE 100 with my oldest. I really like the combination. It is a lot, but I think he needs that spiral review to keep things fresh. I love them both but the pace of CLE 100 is so much slower than the Singapore that I'm wondering if I should switch to Abeka. CLE seems to take so much longer to get to facts above 10 and double-digit addition. I heard that Abeka goes at a faster pace. I feel like I'm delaying the SM to wait for the CLE to catch up. I looked at the Abeka 1 math yesterday at a display and I was visually overwhelmed by all the color. Can kids pay attention despite all the pictures? Also, the teacher's manual didn't seem to have the copies of the student pages with the answers. I love that about the CLE manual...it makes checking his work so much easier. My 5 year old is begging me to get him his own CLE booklets, so I want to decide asap and either get him CLE or get them both Abeka. I hate to switch when what I have is working, but I don't want them behind either. They are definitely creatures of routine...switching around is hard. Can anyone who's BTDT help me out? I know there are others using SM/CLE or SM/Abeka...what are your thoughts? Or advice from someone else? Thanks in advance!!

Right now we're using Singapore (for method and understanding) and CLE (for spiral review and drill). I'm going to be getting LoF soon!

:grouphug: Congratulations!!

:iagree: I would definitely take baby to the ER and have her thoroughly checked out. Poor thing...she sounds like she's in agony.

:grouphug: I'm so sorry.

Having the schedule in the guide was great for the recitation...we were able to do that part. But I wasn't able to do the music and art since I had to go and find the resources myself, and I just never found time to do it, unfortunately. I started mid-year, though, and never really had a chance to try and find all the resources. If they could print the art on cards and put the music on a CD, it would be fantastic!! I like the idea of leaving the art print around the house, and that's not really possible if you're just looking at it on a computer screen. I'm not really interested in those core knowledge art prints, though. I have the books with the pictures in them, and I find the art they chose to be really dull and unattractive...but I don't care very much for modern art.

Thanks erikdeb!

I really love the look of the letter themes of MFW K for my five year old. He would love the science and character qualities of the program, but I know that the phonics is too basic for him...he's already sounding out words. Has anyone else used this program and just skipped the phonics part, but enjoyed the activities that go along with a letter per week? I was going to buy the program used from a friend, but I wanted to make sure that it would still be a fun enough program w/o the phonics, since I could add that on my own.

Thank you amazzie for your input! That was very helpful. Does anyone else have any experiences they could share?

Hi! I've been searching for quite awhile to find out info about the phonics in MFW, and I can't seem to find what I'm looking for. Could someone who has used the program tell me about MFW's phonics vs. the phonics in PR or SWR? I'm wondering if MFW teaches all the sounds for the phonograms and how they go about doing it. I'm ready to start on the long vowels and vowel teams and more advanced phonics with my son, and I'm torn about which direction to go. I've heard that MFW goes rather quickly, so I'd like to hear more about the pacing and thoroughness of their program versus phonics road. I'd appreciate any help or links! Thanks!

Hi ladies...I'm trying to wrap my head around the spelling notebook in SWR and PR. I've got SWR and I'm considering buying PR used from a friend so I can get a good look at it, but I'm really wondering...is going to all the effort of having the dc make a spelling notebook and marking all the words worth it? I'm very interested in AAS since it uses word families and teaches syllabication, but then I wonder if there's something wonderful about the spelling notebook that we would miss out on. Maybe I just don't understand...but is it that important to learn how to mark the words? Please excuse my ignorance on this...maybe you all have fabulous results with it! As a side note, using SWR to teach my son to read didn't work...learning all the sounds for each letter just confused him when trying to learn to read. He's been a reluctant reader, but is now very comfortable with the basics, and I'm so ready to teach him the rest of the phonograms and get his reading going! What to do?