Oh, good to know - thanks!! Sounds like at least some overlap with Simply Music. We've been thrilled with Simply Music, but the nearest teacher is in Casa Grande! And I am actually tempted to make the drive, maybe on an every other week basis or something. Really good to know that Yamaha might be a great option too.

Thank you so much Sara! I would be grateful for any recommendations you might have for piano. I saw that there is a Yamaha music lesson studio not far from our house . . . don't know anything about their classes/method at all. Do you, by any chance?

Signed up for the SHINE newsletter - great advice. Will check out the FB group as well. Thanks!!

I completely understand. In some ways I know the Valley like the back of my hand - moved there in 1974! - but I also have gaping holes. Our realtor drove us to whole neighborhoods/areas that were *completely* unfamiliar to me! I guess that's why I explained where I grew up (Scottsdale/Paradise Valley area) vs. where we will actually be moving to. :)

Any tips at all on a children's choir/chorus? Do any of you have friends with kids in the Phoenix Children's Chorus? How about the Arizona Girlchoir? I would love some feedback and recommendations!

Thank you much.

Thank you Jenne - great suggestions! I agree with you; Arizona IS a great place to be. We are really happy to be moving back there. :)

Thank you, very helpful!! Just bookmarked several of your great ideas - many thanks!

Thank you, Ravin. This program looks great - can't believe how long it's been around! - but it graphs out at around 30 miles away. Probably too far for us, but thanks anyway for responding. :)

Barb, I will be SO looking forward to finally getting to meet you! :) Hope you and your family have been well.

We are getting ready to relocate our family to the Phoenix area, permanently. I am asking for help in getting recommendations for great homeschool/extra curricular activities, classes, and groups. Do you have a piano teacher that seems to work magic? Some art classes that your kids absolutely love? Any help you can give to new Phoenix homeschoolers? Here's some information to help: ~I grew up in the Phoenix area, but lived on the east side of the valley. And while I have visited regularly, I have been away a long time. We just bought a house that has 7th Street & Greenway (just south of Bell) as the major cross streets - an area that I'm pretty unfamiliar with. Although, it's really not that far west from Paradise Valley Mall. ~I will have a 3rd grade daughter and a 2nd grade son in the upcoming school year. ~We are particularly looking for piano lessons. They've had about a year of Simply Music lessons. I am looking for another Simply Music teacher (not sure there is one in Phoenix) or a traditional piano teacher that keeps things fun. I have no interest in dealing with a "rigorous/rigid" music teacher who takes him or herself way too seriously . . . my eldest daughter had a grim violin teacher like that who pretty much ruined her love of music. ~Also looking for swim lessons. ~My daughter is particularly interested in a chorus or choir. No experience. ~My son needs some physical activity . . . strongly considering tae kwon do since Dad has a lot of experience in that. Considering Boy Scouts as well (we've never participated before). ~Both kids love art, and I have absolutely no art or creative ability. Would love some nice supplemental art classes. We are open to other options too. Spanish would be lovely. Thank you in advance for any input or recommendations you can give!!

Thanks for the recommendation and link! Can you buy this only through the Singapore site you linked? My older student (still at home) is using Math in Focus 2B. So you would recommend starting Level 1 with her anytime . . . or do you think we could jump in with Level 2? I love the idea of things being *taught* a bit more explicitly than they are in CWP. At least, from what I can remember; I used Primary Mathematics with both of my oldest (now graduated) students. I am liking Math in Focus for the same reason.

Math in Focus. Colorful yet simple graphics coupled with solid instruction. Great combination! (And I did Singapore's Primary Mathematics with both my older girls, who are now graduated.) HTH.

Math in Focus . . . we've been very pleased with it. (I did Singapore's Primary Mathematics with my two older girls, long since graduated.) Great, simple graphics coupled with solid instruction. Great combination!

The Westing Game . . . I remember it fondly from my childhood (my 5th grade teacher read it aloud to us), and my own girls (now young adults) loved it too. Cheaper by the Dozen The Narnia Books, but you probably already know about those There are many more, but that's what really stands out as my absolute favorites for that age. I agree that A Single Shard is beautiful.

Kuovonne, here is a post I did a few months ago on the same topic: I am almost always the outlier when it comes to this question, but I like to answer anyway just to give a different perspective. For students working on grade level (ie, NOT a typical-ability 4th grader starting AAS Level 1), I think about one level per school year is approximately right. At least, that's how my normal kids have progressed. I do "suck the marrow" out of AAS and cover every extra word, every dictation phrase/sentence, and add in frequent reviews as well. I can see where it would be possible to do "just" the new teaching from each level and go much faster, but I think the dictation and review are some of the most important aspects of the program, and not something to be rushed through. I know there are some kids who are natural spellers, who might be able to go much quicker. But for most typical students, the additional practice provided by the dictation is extremely valuable. It actually works to review a lot of English grammar and writing skills, beyond "just" spelling. Oh, and my kids have also enjoyed using the optional readers that go along with the program as well. So given how we use the program, approximately one level per week is pretty comfortable, which works out to about one level per school year. Kuovonne, I also have a second grade daughter and she is about 40% through AAS Level 3. We can easily take about 4-7 "sessions" for each step, which often works out to about a week and a half of school time since we do spelling a max of 4 times per week. We too cover 4 dictation sentences per day . . . that seems about right for their maturity and developmental level. My daughter is a bright little girl but I think her head would explode if we tried to review everything, do a ton of new teaching, spell the new words, read through the extra words, AND do 12 dictation sentences in just one or two days!

My son just finished AAR Level 2 a few weeks ago, and our hot-off-the-presses AAR Level 3 just arrived a day or so ago. To answer the OP's question, my son read a few Mr. Putter and Tabby books while we were waiting for AAR 3 to get here. He breezed through them - comfortably, but still a small stretch in a few areas. I imagine he could also start Frog & Toad, Nate the Great, etc. I am continuing with AAR Level 3 because I just trust the program so darn much at this point. Our previous three levels have given my son a REALLY firm, solid foundation in phonics - more so than his older sister, whom I taught to read without AAR. I love the systematic approach and the quality readers that feature such a lovely variety of stories. He has enjoyed the activity pages. For me, it is pretty much the IDEAL reading program that I wish I had 16 years ago when I taught my first child to read. :) I know that we *could* just start reading books, and that is in fact what I've done with all my other children at about this point. But I appreciate the systematic instruction so much that we are continuing with AAR 3, confident that we all have lots to learn from it. In fact, I'm rolling my second grade daughter into AAR 3 as well, even though she has not done AAR up until now. Even though I started teaching her to read about two years before her brother, he has pretty much caught up to her thanks to AAR . . . and I hope to instill a rock solid foundation in advanced phonics in *both* of them now.

I am in a similar boat; we finished AAR Level 2 just a few days ago. We are re-reading the Part II reader from that level, one story a day, until I can get my hands on Level 3. Easy peasy. :)

I like Evan Moor's Reading Comprehension and Daily Word Problems, both for 1st grade. Pretty painless, but worth the short amount of time we spend on them. HTH. :)

Ditto. I will say that I feel like each one seems to have maybe a 2 year life in it . . . I think the rechargeable battery tends to die a slow death by the end. And definitely clean the brush/roller on a regular basis, especially if you have a hairy dog as we do. But overall, this is the best option I have found.

I'll chime in too. I have an almost 6 year old son who is about 85% through AAR Level 2. We absolutely do not even attempt to cover a lesson a day. In fact, for many regular (non-story) lessons, we take about 3-4 days per lesson. We break the fluency sheets into small bites - at this point, we cover them a bit more quickly than before, but it still takes at least 3 days at this point. So on Day 1, I might do the new teaching, plus half of a fluency sheet. On Day 2, I might do the activity plus another half to a whole of a fluency sheet. On Day 3, I might have him finish the remaining fluency sheet(s). Then for a story lesson, I'll spend Day 1 reading through the fluency sheet, discussing the vocab word(s), and asking any pre-story questions. On Day 2, he will read the story and we will cover any comprehension questions. We make kind of a big deal about awarding a sticker at the end of every lesson. Then, he earns a small treat after every 5 lessons. Just to keep things light and fun. :) I'm actually thrilled at the solid phonics foundation AAR is giving my son. This is my fourth time teaching reading, and I truly wish AAR had been available for all of them! :)

Donna, we probably average about 15 minutes per session, 4 sessions weekly. Often that might slip to 3 sessions a week if we got busy or had distractions. Another point that I didn't mention before is that there is a bit of a developmental issue with going through AAS too quickly. By AAS Level 2, the kids are writing full dictation sentences, often 5-8 words in length. The complexity and length of these sentences increase somewhat by Level 3, and then half way through that year, the "writing stations" are added in, in which the kids are supposed to use several of the spelling words to write original sentences. So assuming a child is typical-ability and working roughly on grade level (ie, not going through the program remedially), I don't think many super young kids are going to be ready for that level of writing and dictation - from a maturity and fine motor skills standpoint. Something to think about, anyway. :)

I am almost always the outlier when it comes to this question, but I like to answer anyway just to give a different perspective. For students working on grade level (ie, NOT a typical-ability 4th grader starting AAS Level 1), I think about one level per school year is approximately right. At least, that's how my normal kids have progressed. I do "suck the marrow" out of AAS and cover every extra word, every dictation phrase/sentence, and add in frequent reviews as well. I can see where it would be possible to do "just" the new teaching from each level and go much faster, but I think the dictation and review are some of the most important aspects of the program, and not something to be rushed through. I know there are some kids who are natural spellers, who might be able to go much quicker. But for most typical students, the additional practice provided by the dictation is extremely valuable. It actually works to review a lot of English grammar and writing skills, beyond "just" spelling. Oh, and my kids have also enjoyed using the optional readers that go along with the program as well. So given how we use the program, approximately one level per week is pretty comfortable, which works out to about one level per school year. HTH. :)

I just started using this with my rising 1st and 2nd graders in conjunction with a combination of the Complete Book of U.S. History and miscellaneous read alouds. I think it's perfect for these ages. Maybe even good for up to 4th or 5th grade, depending on the child . . . but perfect for early elementary. Each chapter is a "story within a story" where a parent or grandparent is giving a short biographical sketch about a U.S. historical figure to their children/grandchildren. The stories are brief; the one I read today took about 8-10 minutes to read, but presented a nice "living books" overview approach to the person in question. In summary, I think this will make a lovely supplement to an early elementary U.S. History curriculum.

Thanks, Skeeterbug. I didn't even realize that you could just let your child pick from the variety of games. Anybody else?