We rarely read from the book. At first we were creating the words with Melissa and Doug magnet letters on the carpet or a cookie sheet. Then I started writing them down in a notebook for him. Now I've been writing them in "Noteshelf" on my iPad and he uses his finger to draw lines under them as he reads. I'm finding that he can spell the words much easier than he can read them (?:001_huh:?) so I'm considering purchasing AAS1 now rather than later. We talk about the sounds being presented, maybe go over the words on the page quickly, then he fingerspells them in Noteshelf. I also just purchased a lap sized magnetic whiteboard so I'll probably put that to use too. We like to mix it up!

As soon as I return my current 3 inter-library loan books, I plan on reading it:001_smile: ! We're only allowed 3 at a time, so I have to prioritze lol!

I'm almost to where' you're at. My ds will be 5 in April and the younger is 2 1/2. I've read a ton of threads on here and I'm a bit of research junkie. The library and internet are my friend! :) The big thing I've gleaned is to relax and have fun with your kids. Set them up to love learning. THere's so much time to get into "real" curriculum, what I try to do is get them to a place where I say "Okay time for math/reading/science/WHATEVER" and they say, "Oh, good! I LOVE that!" I've set up a play area in a corner of our house full of manipulatives, puzzles, games and math lit. That's math. We play with letter tiles, magnets, finger writing with the ipad, HWOT wooden letters and slates and Starfall. VERY loosely follow OPGTR and once or twice a week the older does Funnix (cause it's free right now lol). That's reading and writing. We have a weekly trip to the library where they get out as many books as they like, I reserve more online. We read and we read and we read. Oh and my older ds has discovered a love for audio books. We have quiet time at 3 every after noon for about an hour. He listens to them during that time while playing. I get those from the library too. He's officially kindergarten age this fall. I don't plan on changing anything, except maybe doing an informal prehistory so we can oogle dinosaurs, sabre tooth tigers and cavemen together! I'm also trying to set them up with good habits that I *think* will be helpful in the future. They both have daily chores that really do help me. They both can play for an hour or more on their own. I live on a ranch, so I can send them outside to play on their own for hours at a time. Quiet time is KEY lol. I think everyone has their own style, their own needs, their own standards. Part of the fun is finding out yours!

By all means, if you hate, get rid of it! Calendar has been our math for PK. Counting to 30, bar graphing the weather each month (more, less, more than etc), we're moving into a 100s chart and place value with straws. But even then, I'll do calendar for a few months and then stop for a few so it's fresh again. Ds4 and Ds2 both love it! If we're still feeling it, I might get into yoga poses, character education, memory work, picture study etc as part of our calendar routine, but if not, meh. It's our show, after all:D

I don't think ANYTHING is necessary! If you think handwriting is covered (and it's legible or up to whatever standard you've set) then by all means, skip HWOT. others use Zaner Bloser, Italics, Kumon or a Walmart workbook. It really doesn't matter. :001_smile: PS We love HWOT in this house lol.

:D We're just getting started and I've just gotten really inspred by living math threads so rather than spending 100 on MUS, I'm gonna spend that much on kitchen table math (V1-3) and a bunch of other books my library doesn't have. AAS1, some history and french books not in the library. I have a pretty goo dlibrary for a small town, and interlibrary loans from any library in the province, but some things you just need to own lol. He's my first though, so most of this stuff I can see using agian with yonger siblings. I DO plan on enrolling with an umbrella school that imposes no curriculum, just gives you money for curriculum. So hopefully, I won't be spending any of "our" money on school - just "school" money.:001_smile:

My 4yo ds is OBSESSED with Uncle Wiggly right now, read by Jim Weiss. We've borrowed it from the library and he's played it every day for the last two or three weeks! Magic Treehouse was also a big hit, but our library is low on them on CD. I prefer he listen to books I'm not interested in reading to him now or later, so Treehouse books are perfect lol.

I'm looking at starting AAS1 with my K'er as a way to play more with CVC. He's still very young and has plateau'd as far as reading goes with the three letter words. He loves playing games with those kinds of words with or Melissa and Doug magnets though, so I thought the program might add to our repetoire. I also use ETC and will probably get 1 1/2. We don't do all three every day, usually only one or two, very casually. We're up to the OPGTR lesson where they present double consonants. What is that? 41? Somewhere around there. As a bonus, my 2yo son is picking out letters from signs around town lol, "look mama, 'hetters'! SSSSSSSSSSSSS" Very cute :001_smile:

Bump App please? You can't just dangle that in front of us without specifics! That's just mean! :lol::bigear:

We bought the slate and the wooden letter blocks. Both are used a lot, and very much enjoyed. I had thought to skip the books, but now I'm thinking ds4 might actually enjoy them, so I may take a look at both the TM and the child's book next time I'm in the store. Just by talking about small curves and big lines etc, I've seen more awareness in the way he forms letters (so far he only ever writes his name oustide of the program)

I drool over these courses every time I come across them. I NEVER thought to look in my library! ANd lo and behold, they have a few! I just put one about thte history of language on hold. yay

My Ker loves National Geographic for Little Kids. I guess the pp has a point - they are loud and crowded, BUT he adores them anyhow. We sit down and read it page by page, cover to cover the day we receive it. He's kept all the animal cards (like hockey cards, w/animal pictures and facts). He's memorizes the facts of every additional 6 animals each time they come. He can locate them by continent on our world map. His "reward" (his choice) is to go over the cards after getting all his chores done.

I got the K book and TM, along with the wooden letter peices and the slate. My son is 4.5 and we've been really enjoying the letter pieces as well as the chalk board. But I can break up my own chalk and cut up my own sponges lol. I've referred to the TM a fair bit cause I'm new to the program, but he isn't ready for the pencil work in the K book.

:bigear: I'v been pouring over living math and unschooling math and math through literature posts over the last few days. Funny you brought this up! Looking forward to replies.

I have the opposite problem: My son is so skinny and that even with cloth diapers on I still buy mhim 18 month sized clothes (and he's 30 months!). I'm scared for the day he's FINALLY toilet trained lol!

I just wanted to add that we also have a StrongStart program (in 3 out of 5 different elementary schools in our small town). Since my oldest was 2 or 3 I've been going once a week or so, if the weather wasn't nice. It's sort of like church, you "shop" until you find one that fits your values just right lol. The one I chose is the least structured, the least academic, most unstructured one. I explained to a friend that I "do" art, calendar, stories, songs, dress up and sensory bins at home, I don't go there for that. I just go so we can play with some different toys a nd some different people. MOst people go so their kids will be "ready" for preschool, which prepares them for kindergarten. I'm wondering when they'll be going somewhere with their newborns so they're "ready" for STrong STart? StrongStart is a free family drop-in playgroup/preschool type setting for kids aged 0-6 - caregivers must attend. I like it cause there's gym time and when it's -30C out, it's nice to get some room to run!

I like that idea too . . . I feel like the expectations and requirements of a 4 or 5 year old, while still really important, are comletely different from a a 7 or 8 yo!

Wow, I'm "supposed to" register my child born in 2007 for kindergaten!

Licensing in daycares and preschools both in my province allow 1-2 1/2 year per 7 kids with an adult to child ratio of 1:8. While it's not COMMON for 2 1/2 year olds to be in preschool it is allowed for a few. I think many parents in my area don't do because the first year they'd be in a 3 year old class, then they'd have to reapeat that year while their classmates move on to the four year old class. they MIGHT be able to convince the teacher to let him move into the four year old class early, but they wouldn't be allowed to put their four year old in kindergarten the following year becasue of school board policies. So eaither way their child would "repeat" a year.

http://www.amazon.com/Building-Moral-Intelligence-Essential-Virtues/dp/0787962260/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1327180669&sr=8-1 http://www.amazon.com/Family-Virtues-Guide-Children-Ourselves/dp/0452278104/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1327180774&sr=1-1 I like those two books - they're more far a parent to read than books to read to a child - but they are very thorough with plenty of ideas.

Wow. Perfect! Please?

:iagree: And I'm right there with you on my own couch listening to r-a-t. Painful, but there are glimmers of hope. When things get busy and we drop the formal reading lessons and come back after a few dals or a week, I notice a jump in a ability too (which just goes against intuition, doesn't it?). I know he's not reading to go past CVC words so we're going "sideways" playing with magnets, the ipad (games and finger-writing), computer games, easy readers, made up books, writing, more ETC, etc etc until I feel like he can go on to blend two consonants together. To the OP, I agree that it sounds like she's guessing. Revealing the word one letter at a time is a good solution, as is feeding your child one magnetic letter at a time. Good luck!

This is a great post. I see myself in these words - except I DO lose my temper. It's something I'm working on, and struggling with. Some good suggestions here. I also wanted to add that I found the book "Good and Angry" to be quite helpful (it does have a Christian flavor if that would bother you). Something I took away from it was that anger is like a symptom: it indicates a problem. It's not a bad thing, it just means you have to stop and look at what is happening and how to fix it. Easier said than done, but it was big for me loL!

We've recently started quiet time here, in the last few months. LOVE IT! I need alone time, I know that, and this is a way to get it. My younger ds quit napping altogether before he was even two. He'd stay up till 9 or 10, just talking in his crib every night if he napped. I couldn't see how a 20 onth old could entertain himself for that long, but at 26 months, I figured we HAD to try it before I went insane. It's fabulous! I should have tried it sooner! I reserve toys that have a million peices (linclon logs, blocks, legos, marble maze, playsets) for quiet time, especially for the older ds and have other "Quiet Time" toys. I keep them on shoe shelves in my bedroom closet and the boys choose which ones they want every day. Some of the toys are also out in their regular toy rotation at other times and they really enjoy having some time on their own with them. They both enjoy quiet time. My boys share rooms, but they are both preschool age, so there would be no quiet if they shared lol. My older ds spends quiet time at the table or in the living room, depending on where I need to be (I'm usually in my bedroom, but not always). Quiet time goes from about 3-4/430. I like to get them outside to play before it's too cold or dark (I live in Canada, it's dark by 400 and cold by 2). Then we have a snack and book time, THEN FINALLY it's quiet time lol. As the younger ds is able to stretch it out a little more and the older ds starts more school work, I can see using some of the quiet time for school work, but for now, it's all play - with books on CD. HIghly recommended!

My son has listened t a few on cd but I don't think he was crazy for them . . . But maybe he's just a bit young as he's not yet 5. They are a step above magic treehouse, but only by a little. The mouse himself seemed like a bit of a wimp lol. What info are you asking for specifically?