I've been thinking of ordering a back-up copy of my HOD catalog. Mine is getting a little ratty.

I chose the Kindle because it was lighter and had a longer battery life at the time of my purchase. I also liked having the text-to-speech option. I have a bunch of books on my Kindle that I didn't buy from Amazon. My library doesn't have ebook lending so that's why it wasn't a factor for me. If I was buying right now, the newest Nook looks pretty good too (not the Nook color). I'm just not so sure if I would want touch screen.

... some stay-at-home moms watch day-time soaps ... ... some read romance novels ... ... some browse curriculum catalogs ... :tongue_smilie:;):D

I've been back and forth over these as well as I have long contemplated K (and everything that comes after it :p). After examining my own priorities and habits I'm planning to surrender to an "all-in-one" though. It's such a personal, individual decision to make from among a myriad of wonderful possibilities and it's exhausting! I've had to face though that I, personally, am not going to be able to do it all ("all" being all that I would want to do if I had all the time and energy in the world to focus on each child individually) for each of my children. The 4Rs are most important to me so that's where I'm going to focus my energies while I surrender everything else to an "all-in-one". IF there is time/energy/interest for extra on top of it then I'll address it as it comes but I'm not scheduling it. I felt like I was giving stuff up by going this route but when I'm honest with myself (knowing me personally) we're more likely to get more done in the long run because of my own tendency to skimp when the planning is all in my court. I wish I wasn't so strongly this way inclined but I have realized I've got to work with what is at the moment rather than what ideally should be and hopefully will be in future. Meanwhile, I'm incredibly thankful that I have choices, even in choosing an "all-in-one", that are not at all like sending my children to school.:001_huh: Hopefully my typing is coherent - I'm yet to have my second cup of coffee this morning. :blink:

I :001_wub: homeroutines.

I agree. :) It's a great opportunity for you to grow too! Just an idea to add to your reading, etc.: Sign up for Merriam-Webster's word of the day and make a point of using it (they won't all stick for you or the children so don't get hung up on it; just keep it light) or take the same idea but per week. :)

I don't know about drawing and art but you can get GiMP for image editing. It's like Photoshop but free.

Neither TOG nor MFW are on my radar but I do appreciate the reminder to commit these decisions to prayer. I've found myself thinking and behaving like this educating thing is just my deal apart from God. Not quite sure where that idea came from.

Have you looked into any of the High Scope Foundation curriculum?

Thank-you. I'm looking forward to checking it out. :)

If DS was doing handwriting via something else, I was only having him write a couple of words from his PP lesson to help reinforce the phonics since a multi-sensory approach always works best for him. If he wasn't using something else for writing I was having him write five or so of the words, combining phonics and handwriting practice. He is younger than your son but writes very well for his age.

Did either you or your husband check your credit score recently? It is VERY easy to end up following the wrong links to site that gives you your credit score but in the process signs you up for a free trial of their credit watching service. The charge for it after the free trial period are usually around the $15 mark from what I've seen. It's extremely common for people trying to get their yearly free credit score check to end up mislead this way. Usually the information about what you're agreeing to is all right there but in a way that is easily overlooked before hitting the submit button. Not sure that's what it is - I would have thought they'd have mentioned it if that's what it was - but figured I'd throw the possibility out there.

No experience here, just curiosity about what the statement of faith is for someone who is "Reformedish". :lol: That's a bit of a tangent though so don't feel obligated to expound unless it would help someone figure out if MFW would work for you. :p

My son, who would be entering K this fall, can do all the things listed.

I empathize. I was this little girl except left brained instead of right brained. Please don't give up looking for a way to help her through it! There is a high price to it eventually (if the stress it causes her now isn't enough).

I can't but it does look sweet and gentle, doesn't it? :001_smile: I have enjoyed what little opportunity I've taken to spend on their message board also.

This is food for thought for me. In one way it appears liberating to consider that children can just really be that different when it comes to math. On the other hand, I'm feeling discouraged by the idea that there is not necessarily going to be a magic bullet for every child (and I don't know whether to insert a laughing smiley or a sad smiley here so I'll skip the smiley).

Ah yes, I remember that period of phonics. On one hand I would think that since they can do real life math then perhaps it is simply a case of delayed transition to the next step towards the abstract (I don't recall the steps :tongue_smilie:). On the other hand I know I personally would feel hesitant to resign myself to simply being patient and trusting it will come. I wish I had some useful wisdom to impart that would bring you great enlightenment and comfort. I'll be following the thread in case someone else has it and shares. :bigear:

I just wanted to say thank you for mentioning this. I have considered MEP and these are things to keep in mind as I look over it. :001_smile:

CritterFixer and askPauline, your advice has been so helpful to me! My (almost) Ker sounds very similar to the OP's girls in every way besides the crying. I know repeating things when it appears that he's not getting it just provokes him. He's younger so his brain freezes sooner and therefore I keep his math lessons to 10 minutes. OP, I wonder if you notice something similar with your girls. I can hold up 4 fingers and ask DS how many more do I need to make 7 and he can tell me. Pretty much any order of addition or subtraction is something he can do this way without counting. It gives me the impression that he can do math in his head, especially when he does it in daily life too (there seven people at the table and I only have 4 napkins - I need to get 3 more). I figure a worksheet should be no problem for him, right? Especially considering he knows the numbers that represent (at least) the quantities up to 10 which is all the early portion of MM works with. I have MM so I use it now and then (it's been the same with any paper and pencil math though) and it's rarely an encouraging experience. There seems to be something about it that induces brain freeze. You know how early on there will be a sum written, let's say 6 + 1 = ___ and above will be boxes, one with 6 pictures in it and another blank with the idea that the child fills it in to depict the "+1" and then use the pictures to help them come up with the answer? This sheet tempted me to curse. For my son it turned a simple sum into a multi-step, and therefore complex, problem. After trying to explain what he was supposed to do with it a dozen times in as many different ways as I could only to get about 15% comprehension I finally told him to just ignore the pictures (but there was so much random scribbling on the page at that point that we had to switch to a new page with no pictures and basically ended up doing it orally. I have resigned myself to keeping pencil and paper math work to a bare minimum. I still have no idea how to get past the repulsion to repetition besides to do it frequently but in very short spurts with the occasional motivational speech about the realities of life (I like the idea of using the drawings - those papers take over my house if I don't stay on top of them and we really need to start making our own recycled paper with them :lol:). Anyway .. mostly just wanted to give you :grouphug:. As I read your plight, my heart goes out to you!

This is encouraging news! The Lord knows my patience needs the exercise. :blush:

Well entangled in this false dichotomy is where I find myself. Can you point me in the direction of somewhere I can educate myself about how to accomplish the alternative?

I have a child beginning kindergarten this fall - not a young kindergartener either - who is reading short stories beyond cvc words (blends, silent e, some digraphs). Our phonics lessons are generally 10 minutes per day. Here is what I'm curious about. His reading performance varies hugely. I've seen him pick up a reader and read it relatively smoothly without any visual aid (no finger, for example), however: It's also not uncommon for him to need me to cover pictures and/or other words (he has asked me to or even done it himself) and to use my finger to help guide his eyes (not under the words but in front of the letter he is up to). He is inclined to interrupt his reading mid sentence, regardless of how well he is doing it, to ask a question or make a statement on a completely tangent line of thought. Whether stories or word lists I frequently have to gently tap at the next word to get his attention back or, more effectively, take hold of his finger and put it down in front of the next word because once he's talking he appears to have a lot of trouble stopping (as if he just has to get the last thought out before he can continue and sometimes telling him we can talk about it when we're done helps him put it aside for the moment and return to what we were doing). At other times he would appear to be having trouble reading a word, even a very simple word, either making no sound or random sounds and after checking his eyes (he has a tendency to get really close to the paper when reading even though at other times he demonstrates no problem with reading from a normal distance) his eyes are elsewhere and/or he isn't looking through them (he is "elsewhere", daydreaming, whatever you want to call it). Sometimes he will shake his head as if waking himself up and return to reading or else again, me taking him by the hand helps more so than me speaking to him at those moments. So, is this a normal phase, for a child of this age or at this stage of reading, that just calls for continued patience or is something else possibly going on with him that may require more specific attention?

I am curious about this third way. I am personally torn in contemplating the first two ways. On a side note, I almost resurrected a very old thread today myself. I merely wanted to subscribe to it so I could conveniently come back to it later. I figured out I could subscribe without posting, however, and am rather proud of myself. ;) :D