I've seen a few of these threads lately...I think I need one too. DD has gotten hard to please when it comes to books for pleasure reading. She keeps telling me she has nothing to read and can't find anything at the library. Lately, she really enjoyed a few Roald Dahl books (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, etc) -- and she says she really likes books that are funny and quirky like those. What else (besides other books by Dahl), would she enjoy? We've been doing Mysterious Benedict Society as a read-aloud, and DD has read a few chapters on her own too. She seems to be liking this a lot, but she isn't interested in "regular" mystery books like Boxcar Children or Nancy Drew. Other than the rest of the MBS books, is there anything else in the same vein of mystery/adventure/fantasy type books that might be similar? Thanks, Hive book-finder! :hurray:

I'm not a natural speller by the way - I have always relied a lot on spell check and had to work super hard to pass spelling tests in elementary school...I think a good spelling program is the right path for the OP...but I just spent a year teaching LOE to my daughter and I now know many, many more rules and phonograms than I did at the beginning of the year. My spelling has improved a lot too. But I still have a mind blank and do poorly at scrabble when forced to think of words out of the context of writing.

Logic of English Foundations has some exercises like that in Level A.

Agreeing also with the pp...it is a particular puzzle skill to be able to look at a pile of letters and see what words can be made from them. The types of words I can think of when playing games like that is far simpler than what I use when writing (and know how to spell correctly). I just can't "see" words from a random pile of letters very easily - I always feel like my mind is blank! But, if you are looking for a spelling program that works well at a faster pace for older students, you might want to check out Logic of English Essentials. I used it with great results for my 3rd grade DD this past school year, but the teacher's manual contains accelerated schedules to use with an older student who might be able to complete the program in much less than a year.

Sweet! I just pre-ordered this too. :hurray:

Also, if you are looking just to supplement, you could consider just the abacus and "Activities for the AL Abacus" and/or the card games book and card games package (you would still want an abacus, potentially, to get the benefits of the types of hands on/visual learning the abacus provides). There's a Right Start Yahoo group, and I've regularly seen people selling these items (as well as the regular levels and manipulatives) used.

Maybe try a different approach to see if it "clicks" better. Phonics Pathways has the student blend just the first two letters, then add the end letter. (so they would do p-o, and say "po" with a short o sound, then read pot, pod...) My DD responded really well at age 5 to a "word family" approach. She could easily remember that a-t said "at", and then we did pat, sat, mat, etc. She had a lot of trouble with blending before we worked on it in that way.

So, Day 2 of testing for the test I was reading and we had these same questions in today's section. The Native American in the picture for the Texas question did not look at all like she belonged in Texas, based on her attire (she appeared to me to be dressed for a colder climate). So I guess the cowboy was right? :lol: LOL...it's a good thing the social studies score on a 2nd grade test taken by homeschoolers doesn't really matter for much of anything. I feel sorry for any public school "social studies" teachers whose performance is being judged by questions like this!

We've opted to do our required standardized testing with our co-op, so I can actually have a quiet testing environment for DD away from her younger brothers (they can go to the nursery with other younger sibs). So, I was administering an ITBS to a 2nd grader from another co-op family this morning. All those word questions with a picture seem so much more a test of, "how well can you identify a badly drawn picture" than an actual test of vocabulary or phonics. :huh:

My DD (3rd grade) did the 15 word per week lists in Logic of English Essentials this year. That was just perfect for her, at least on weeks where the list was at all challenging. Any more words than 15 and she would have had a hard time learning/remembering all the words. Some weeks it seemed like too few, but that was usually weeks with a larger percentage of words she already knew at the beginning of the week.

At younger ages I think it does no harm at all to not do those things. I think it might be tough if the kid, as Farrar said, never get ANY type of group interaction or activity with kids outside their family. But that could be church, neighborhood friends, etc -- not necessarily something organized. As kids get older...while I don't think it has to be music or sports, per se...I think it is good to broaden horizons by participating in activities. I think it would be a much more limited education if a child did absolutely no group activities of any sort. I can't imagine leaving home for work or college without some kind of experiences working together with others. But as kids get older, they can seek out their own transportation (walk, bike, bus), apply for scholarships to participate in activities that have a cost or seek out free activities, etc.

Another option for a cover if you like a clear one is to punch an overhead projector sheet. I had an old box of those sitting around and have repurposed them for very nice looking proclick covers!

I guess my advice would be to be open minded to what he likes once he is old enough to have an opinion about it. A lot of boys do gravitate toward non-fiction when they are old enough to chose their own books. My boys have definitely gone though phases where every library book they select is from that section of the library. On the other hand, my boys also LOVE stories about ninjas, star wars characters, super heroes and so on. You might get away with saying, "you have to ask Daddy if you want to hear one of those books." ...but I know I am willing to read tons of books I don't care for personally just because my kids love them and I like to do things that delight my kids. Do we read all junky star wars and super hero books? No, of course not, but since my boys love them I am happy to let that be a portion of what I read to them. When he is little (under 3 or definitely under 2), you would probably want more developmentally-appropriate books for that age -- board books or other sturdy books -- because he will be apt to wreck the nice ones. :-) When they are babies/toddlers the sensory experience of the books and hearing your voice telling them about what they are seeing is far more important than actual story or content, IMHO.

Are there any negative consequences in your state to poor testing? In my state the only "consequence" to a low score is that the parent is required to seek additional evaluation or testing of the parents' choice to make sure the student doesn't have any learning disabilities. And it's only required if the overall score is below the 30th percentile. So even a low score in one area might not bring the student below 30th overall. So if I were in your shoes, I wouldn't sweat it. I would just tell her that she will see some things she hasn't learned yet on the test, and not to worry about it because different students study different things. I would maybe discuss some test taking strategies so that she might have a better chance at guessing on problems she hasn't learned how to do yet. But I guess if there are some strong negative consequences in your area to a poor test score (like not being allowed to homeschool in the future or something like that), then I might spend a few days at least introducing some of the concepts that would be on the test.

We just finished D, but I think C is my favorite level so far. It took about 11 to 12 months of 'school time' to finish it (we took about three months off for a summer break, so longer than a year calendar-wise. I've heard though that some people who find B to be really slow go through C faster...so YMMV. One thing I wish I would have known when I was starting C is that the student doesn't need to have their multiplication facts mastered at the end. We worked so hard on this at the end of 2nd grade...only to get level D and see that it basically "starts over" assuming no prior multiplication knowledge. I found D frustrating because of the large amount of review (more, I think, than some of the other levels), that also had some new material interspersed. We couldn't just skip ahead, I had to go through lesson by lesson to make sure we didn't miss anything. That being said, we were able to still finish D this year even though we didn't start it until late October.

I'm really hoping that in the early afternoons while the toddler is napping I can engage in a bit of light school time with the older kids. My goals are math review (lots of Right Start math games), reading practice for the six year old, and having at least DD work on learning to type. We're also going to study state history, but that will mostly be read-alouds when we would be reading anyway (bedtime, rainy days, etc) and field trips.

We do two chapters per week, using it as a supplement for all three older kids to listen (ages 4, 6, and 8). The kids would easily ask me to read a chapter or more every day...but since the books are on the pricey side, I thought buying one book every two months wasn't too much of a "splurge" for a fun extra. 19 chapters at 2 per week works out just about perfectly for two months, especially if there is a week or two where the kids talk me into three chapters in a week instead of two. Each chapter takes 10 minutes or so for me to read outloud, and the time for the "your turn to play" varies, but generally it's just a few minutes. It's a fun lunch time or snack time activity. We often just do the "your turn to play" aloud, with the kids answering different questions depending on their ability level. If paper is needed they answer on their own piece of paper. I guess at the rate of 2 months per book (if we don't take a break from it in the summer...which I can't imagine that the kids would want to do), I guess it will take us under two years to do the elementary series (or just over two years if we make it through the intermediate series as well). Given that my oldest will be a 4th grader next year, that's not so bad I guess -- then she will be ready for Fractions sometime in mid-5th or early 6th grade. If you have the funds to do so, I am guessing the storyline makes the most sense starting at Apples. If you are buying new there really isn't a financial advantage to buying all at once, since if you buy direct from the publisher there is free media mail shipping.

You might want to refer to a copy of the LoE list of phonograms, just to make sure you are on the same page with all the sounds each phonogram makes along with sample words. They are saying the sounds in the app, but at least for me (if I didn't already have the curriculum) I would need to visually see this information as well. All the phonograms are not going to be 100% the same as in other programs.

Interesting discussion. I don't think CC has any more or less impact on the homeschooling community here than any other group. I see their informational meetings advertised on metro-wide homeschooling email groups, but no more so than any other co-ops who advertise for new members (and maybe they are advertising less than some other groups, in fact). I don't know anyone locally who participates currently (I know one new-to-hs-family who is joining next year), and I know many, many homeschoolers who are in lots of other co-ops. I guess like the pp, I am lucky to live in a decent sized metro area where homeschooling seems to be pretty popular, and there are lots of co-ops of all flavors both religious/secular and academic/non-academic and at various price points. I would agree though that support groups don't seem to be very popular. I am a member of a co-op and a totally separate support group, but other than the members of the support group I attend, I don't know anyone else who is in a support group per se that isn't also a co-op. The support group I attend a few times a year is a bit unique in that it isn't really a publicly advertised group, but rather a "ministry group" of the somewhat large multi-site church that I attend. I think if it weren't for the already-established relational connections that keep me coming back to that group, I would feel adequately supported by the relationships I have at our co-op (which is semi-academic in that classes are offered, but the classes offered are more enrichment in nature and not meant to replace standard learning at home). I wonder if because homeschooling is becoming more common (and it is super easy to stay in touch electronically with social media, etc), many homeschoolers have an easier time finding support and friendships in other ways, and don't need to put a "support group meeting" on their calendar to achieve that goal.

I think a better layout/graphics for the exact same text would go sooooo far to make it easier to use. I'm using vol. one A/C thread lessons for a co-op science class this year and I spend a lot of time for each lesson just going through and summarizing the lesson, pulling out just the things I actually want to do/say and not the extraneous material. It is by far the hardest book I own to use just because of the super text-dense pages.

I think the "official" recommendation is to do a word roots program. DD (rising 4th grader) will do the alternate/advanced spelling lists next year that are available on the LoE blog: http://www.logicofenglish.com/blog.

We are using Essentials this year and have done very little of the grammar (we may go back and do it next year). We have used the workbook pretty sparingly. The thing I find it most useful for is that on occasion there are words to read and analyze in the workbook pages. However, most of the time (maybe all the time?) the words are also listed in the teacher's manual so you could write them on a white board or a piece of paper. DD also writes spelling words in a separate notebook even though we have the spot to do it in the workbook. It's convenient to have the workbook but if you aren't doing the grammar, you don't have to adapt a ton if you don't have it. As far as the other items go... Spelling journal -- definitely optional, you can easily make your own if you find it a helpful tool Phonogram cards -- if you are committed to making your own complete set you should be fine not buying them. I knew I wouldn't actually follow through on making my own, so I bought a set. We use the phonogram cards a lot. Game cards -- pretty optional, we haven't used them a lot. I will use them more next year when my two middle boys can maybe play a phonogram card game together. You could make a set if you had the time and interest. Game book -- fun to have, but you can find fun ways to practice without it. I like having the "templates" for phonogram bingo, phonogram tic tac toe, etc...but you can make your own pretty easily. Some game suggestions are in the teacher manual, some are in free materials available on their website, etc. It's a great program, I definitely encourage you to give it a try!

I always forget to link mine up here....here it is: http://homeschooldiscoveries.com/2013/04/26/collage-friday-crazy-weather-robins-and-lego-star-wars/

We are using RightStart, which is wonderful for all kids, but definitely allows young "mathy" kids to move forward without being limited by writing endurance. It is a pricier curriculum though, so it may not fit with what you are looking for. Don't under-estimate what a "mathy" kid can do even at a young age -- my recently-turned-six K'er has learned things this year that his typical-at-math older sister wasn't learning until 2nd grade! Be ready to take it at his pace and not be held back by what K'ers "should" be doing.

I wonder if "a little could go a long way" with the family who's regular schedule is different from yours. Could you invite that family over for dinner once a month so the kids could play? Offer to do a "date swap" once or twice a month with the other family where you watch their kids one time while those parents go out and the next time they watch your kids? (Double bonus -- the kids get to play while each couple gets a night out every now and then)? Could you once or twice a month do a different schedule (have your DD do a shorter school day or do extra work the other days of the week) so she could play with her friend for a couple hours before they start school? Maybe if you are willing to go out of your way to change your schedule once a month, the other family would go out of their way to change their schedule once a month (aka they could set their alarm and get up earlier that one day or whatever). We have good friends who basically school opposite of us time-wise, and we have done all of those things at different times (not all at once, but at various times). I find that my DD feels more connected to her friends if we even see them even once a month more. Another thing my DD does with a few of her close friends that live within walking distance is they write each other notes and slip them in each others doors/mailboxes. Sometimes they write a note to each other every day! I end up reading all the notes DD writes (my DD wants me to check her spelling) so I don't worry that they are keeping some kind of secrets I wouldn't want them to keep...LOL! I even let my DD write notes and mail them to her friends that don't live within walking distance if she wants to...they don't write back as often, but it helps her to feel connected to those friends. Once they all learn to type, they will probably all be emailing each other. It's not the same as playing together every day, but at least they feel like they are hearing about what is going on in each other's lives. (The exciting things almost-nine-year-olds have to say, "Dear [friend], Guess what? I got a new dress for my doll. It is purple. We had cookies for dessert! Have a good night, your friend..." :lol: Good luck...I actually find it easier to work around kids' schedules to go out of our way for kids to play together. My problem is finding grown-up friends to hang out with. I don't necessarily "connect" with all the other moms of the kids my friends are friends with...and who has time to find other grown-up friends? :laugh: