I am starting regular FIAR with mine this fall. My twins are just now 4. It will be totally OK for them. If Beatrix Potter is your current read aloud and she hangs well with that, then I bet FIAR will be fine. The Tale of Peter Rabbit is one of the books in volume 2. I would suggest, though, that you get more than one volume, so that you can choose the more age appropriate books from each. Some are well within the reach of 3-5yos, and some have more mature themes and are better suited for the 5-7 crowd, IMO. I have volumes 1-3, and have chosen ~18 books to do this next year with my young ones, some from each volume.

My 4 and 5yo's current favorites are the They Might Be Giants Here come the ABCs and Here and the 123s CDs. They're really fun. The album For the Kids (various artists) is also wonderful.

Along the crochet theme, I decided to broaden my yarn skills and learn to do tunisian crochet. It's not hard, but I'm inspired by it. Started a scarf, will finish, might never use that tunisian hook again.:lol:

I have used this one for years. I make it x8 and keep it in a container in the spice cabinet. Love it! http://allrecipes.com/recipe/taco-seasoning-i/detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Title&e11=taco%20seasoning&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

I think all my K plans are secular, even though we are Christians. Go figure! Kindergarten: finishing AAR pre-1, starting Phonics Pathways when ready HWT FIAR MEP reception/lots of c-rod play based on Rosie's videos (maybe adding official Miquon in the spring)

We have been slowly easing our way into our fall subjects. FIAR will be our last thing to add, and I have that penciled in for the week of August 20, so maybe we'll call that our start date? Sure. August 20.

Well, I'm relieved for you. :lol: I wouldn't trade mine for the world, but I also wouldn't wish that first year on my worst enemy! I read your signature to mean that DDs #s 2-3 were arriving in November. But you meant that DD2 is a 2yo DD, didn't you? :tongue_smilie:

I'm not sure it counts as "high quality" but I have gotten calendars of the artist we wanted to study and cut them apart.

I generally do my "zone" cleaning during kids' afternoon rest time or I'll either throw them outside or put on a show for them in the late afternoon and try to knock it out then. I can't get it done during our mornings. Too many other things fight for my time and attention before rest time. Do I see that you're expecting twins? Want me to tell how much I did NOT do when my twins were babies? LOL

I sort by what room the load goes in, not by color. I wash kids' clothes all together, mine/DH's clothes together, (clothes on warm) and "grody" stuff together (started labeling that load when we had burp cloths and such. Now it's just sheets, towels, kitchen cloth, cleaning rags, etc that get washed on hot. That way when things come through the dryer, I know they all have the same (or close to it) destination for putting away. Makes it easier.

I can't handle set schedules and to-do lists for household chores. I have tried countless times and I never stick to them. What works for me is to have basic upkeep set into my daily routines, and do heavy cleaning in zones. My daily upkeep tasks are: One load of laundry every day, including folding and putting it a way. Wipe down the bathrooms with a baby wipe or clorox wipe daily (well, kids' bath daily, mine probably 2x/week) Run the swifter vac through the main areas of the house (all hard floors) probably 4x a week, right after kids go to bed, spot sweep as necessary after meals (usually a kid does that) DH runs the dishwasher right before he goes to bed every night, so I have a kid help unload after breakfast, and then we put all dishes in it right away after breakfast and lunch. DH does major kitchen clean up after dinner. Big chores: I divided my house into 5 "zones" where cleaning them requires a roughly equal amount of time. In my house, those zones are kitchen, living/dining/playroom, bedrooms, bathrooms, and entry/school room/mud room. When I have chore time, I take a quick walk through the house and see which zone looks nastiest and clean it (vacuum, dust, baseboards, tidy/declutter, etc). As long as I stay on top of the basics, things stay looking presentable. In reality I don't get to every zone every week, but the ones that get nasty fastest (kitchen, baths) get done weekly. The ones that can go longer get done every couple of weeks, and that's good enough.

I have a big table, and it's working fine, but we are JUST getting started and spend maybe 10min/day doing sit-down work, so take that for what it's worth.

I think we will be in a situation next year where I think a K/1 combo will be best for my oldest. He's a young K'er this year (just turned five), is ADHD, and um, active. LOL I'm don't think he'll be ready for a full first next year, so I'm :bigear: This year, we are finishing AAR pre-level and then starting Phonics Pathways, doing FIAR (plan to continue next year), and doing MEP reception with some c-rod play. We are using HWT pre-k and the ETC primers. I think that ought to set us up for a good K/1 combo next year with PP, FIAR, HWT K or 1, continuing wherever we are with ETC, and not sure what math, probably miquon, maybe singapore.

I did Minimus I in the fall and Secundus in the spring with a class of 3-6th graders at a University Model School, meeting 2x a week, and with only vocab study for "homework". It was fun!

IMO, AAR pre-level 1 is just such a program. My kids have been working on it since January, when my twins were 3.5. It's been perfect, is totally open and go, and has easy tear out coloring pages. I am quite sure an older child could lead the activities, but I dont' have one of those. ;)

:iagree: This is our plan for PK4 and kinder this year.

When we moved here a year ago and started visiting churches, we asked that my kids be able to go in together. There is only a year between them anyway, so it usually wasn't a problem. That made them more comfortable, to have their siblings there. They would be HORRID in the church service, since we've never been in a church where kids are in there. I'm much happier letting them try Sunday School. A few weeks ago when we visited my dad and step mom and went to church with them, we did the same thing. We sent them into class together (they were happy to bump my 4yos up and send them all to the kinder room).

I am planning to use Phonics Pathways and ETC.

I left my 4 day old with my mom so I could go visit his twin sister in NICU.

:seeya: lifelong Texan here, currently living in New Orleans with DH's job. We were foster parents in Texas, too. I hope you have a great experience!

We have Ikea junior chairs as well, and LOVE them. Ours are AGAM, which I believe they still have in the store, but not on the website, for some reason.

Well, thanks! I wanted to schedule FIAR books by season, so that list was VERY helpful! :D

I cannot remember whose blog this spreadsheet came from, but I bookmarked it. It's amazing. She has approximate years by each of the titles in volumes 1-3. Hope that helps! http://aussiepumpkinpatch.com/uploads/pdf/FIAR%20by%20Seasons,%20Geography,%20Themes.pdf

My kids have had no interest in the stamp-n-see or the roll-a-dough. They like the slate, the wood letter pieces, and a salt box. I like having the laminated capital letter cards, too.

I'll have 2 PK4ers this year (twins). We plan to do the following: Five in a Row, picking and choosing from vol. 1-3 HWT (finish PK level and start K level at some point) AAR pre-level 1 (have already started, will finish sometime in the fall) Phonics Pathways (starting after we finish AAR pre-1) MEP reception and c-rod play inspired by Rosie's videos