I am planning on using Rod & Staff Phonics & Reading 1 for my son this year. I have the guides and the readers and am wondering if I can use them without the phonics & reading workbooks? What I would like to do is use a small whiteboard instead. It seems like too much writing and busy work and it will save me a little money too. Has anyone used a phonics program that came with workbooks but didn't use them? Thanks!

WOW!! Thank you all for sharing. I see that I just have to find the right balance. Again, thanks SO much!!

Saxon Math K, 1 & 2 along with Math U See Alpha. Phonics Pathways didn't work out either. These work well for some but it just didn't work for us. BJU Heritage Studies 1 & 2, BJU Science 1 & 2, Pathway Readers and Learning Through Sounds (phonics), along with all of the volumes of FIAR. I forgot to add EVERYTHING that I purchased that they used in my daughters public school last year. I tried to set up my home just as things were in public school (to be at peace, so I thought!) I saw right away that it wasn't working so had to resell it all and de-school myself before moving forward. :confused:

My dd7 was having a hard time with math. We tried Saxon and it didn't work for her (it was all over the place and it was even driving me crazy). We even tried Math U See, I knew that would be a hit for sure but it wasn't. We are now doing RS math 2, basically starting the year over again :( She is doing GREAT with it. The problem is that I keep comparing it to other math programs and beginning to feel like it is really behind. I feel bad that I wasted our first year trying to figure out what math program was going to work for her. I am also using RS math 1 with my ds5 and he is doing well. The first part seems like more for kindergarten anyway. How can I resist the urge to switch programs again or supplement out of fear of her being further behind than she already is? I know that we can get caught up and move on to third grade this year but I can't help but feel like an awful mother because of it. Overall our first year went ok but I feel like most of it was figuring out what worked and what didn't is that normal? Thank you!

I just finished my first year of homeschooling and it went pretty good. We mainly focused on the 3R's. Right now I am struggling with whether or not homeschooling really needs to be fun. I have my curriculum (all the separate subjects) as well as Konos and the Prairie Primer. What I am struggling with is which route to take. I want to do more hands on and try to tackle the Unit Study approach but my brain keeps taking me back to the traditional textbook approach to schooling. Doing this I will feel at peace knowing that I have covered everything whereas the Unity Study approach I am not sure if I will or not. I REALLY want to try KONOS but I am afraid. I hope it makes sense what I am asking. Is it okay to just do the separate subjects without all the hands-on fun stuff? I want to have fun but I do not want my children to think that school is all fun and games and I don't want to feel like I need to come up with some kind of fun game for them to catch on to a specific concept. Yes the old fashioned flash cards may be boring but it works. Just wondering what others think about this?? I want to stop pulling out these books, putting them away and pulling out others, pulling the other books back again and pulling out the first set of books and around and around again. It's making me crazy :D Thanks!

The Sonlight Readers 2 should work fine. It's what I used. I actually purchased the Schedule and Study Guide for $6.00 and borrowed all the books from my local library.

Hi Amanda, I am kind of new here as well. Welcome! I just finished my first year of homeschooling my K'er and 2nd grader. My advise would be to just focus on the 3R's in the beginning and not try to do too much. You can always add things slowly throughout the year so as not to overwhelm yourself. Blessings on your new Journey!!

My daughter struggled with her math facts and we switched to Rod & Staff Math and yes, I made her use the dreaded flash cards. Once she saw how easy it was and that she was started to memorize them, using the flash cards was not such a dreaded time anymore.

I would have to choose Math. I finally found what works and want to stick with it. I LOVE Rod & Staff Math. :lol: