thanks for the input everyone! I think I feel a little better about just relaxing a little and learning through play and just touch on beginning reading and a few other things.

Well I somewhat disagree with this. She still needs to be kindergarten ready. Kindergarteners need to know a lot more now days then they used to. I want to make sure she is not behind when she gets to kinder.

I am debating about doing my own thing for DD who is 4 for PreK in the fall or if I want to just order a premade curriculum. Please help me decide! DD is 4 she will be 4.5 in the fall. She knows her colors and can count to 20, she recognizes most letters and can write her name. she can sort by color, shape, and size, and knows positional directions such as up/down, top/bottom, in/out etc.. I'm thinking she is kind of past the beginning PreK stuff and we might just focus on writing letters and letter sounds and writing numbers. Some of that is Kindergarten work though so I'm not sure if I want to have her do that or not. 1. Can you recommend a program that is good for older PreK kids that is all in one type of program? if I did buy a curriculum it would need to be one that was for older kids so I wouldn't be wasting my money buying stuff she already knows. 2. Should I just piece together my own program using various websites? If so what are some good websites for printables and things? 3. Should we just take it easy this year and review and focus on writing and beginning to read? (I will also have a 1 month old baby at that time). Also, her brother will be in second grade and will be going to school after being homeschool preK-1st grade. She will most likely be doing Kindergarten at her brother's school when the time comes. So I don't know if I should do too much kindergarten stuff with her since she will be learning that at school in the next year. If she gets too far ahead she will become bored at school. I don't know...help me decide please!

My son is in first grade and he has enjoyed watching Liberty Kids on Netflix.

thank you! I will send you an email.

My son will be going into first grade this year. We use the Abeka curriculum and I ordered his spelling book off of Ebay. It's missing the first 4 pages of the workbook and also the first 2 tests in the back of the workbook. I'm wondering if someone who uses this book can take a picture of the frist few pages and the 2 tests for me, or give me the list of spelling words for each of those so that I at least have that. I can make up my own test paper and worksheet as long as I have the right spelling words. The book is Spelling and Poetry 1 fourth edition. THanks!!

I just got the Qatqi game and I LOVE it! so fun. thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks for the suggestions. Someone else recommended stack the states to me today too. It must be a good one since a few on here have suggested it as we'll.

Thanks i will check that out. Anyone else?

I just got my new ipad and i'm looking for some app suggestions for ME and for the kiddos. I'm looking for anything educational for a pre-K and first grader as well. so what are some of your favorite apps?

Where can I buy those big pads of paper that are like 2.5' by 3'? i'm looking for the kind that is lined, and not just plain paper. THey are basically poster size. I dont' have a teacher supply store near me and I can't seem to find where to buy some. I'd rather not have to order it online, if I can find some store local that sells it. I do have a office max near me but they did not have it either.

THank you! i have never heard of homeschool share before. thanks for the link!

funny that you mentioned The Blind Men and the Elephant. I was browsing through the children's books at my local thrift store and i spotted that book and bought it for twenty-five cents. :)

great ideas! thanks so much!

I wanted to do a literature unit on Helen Keller with my son and i'm having a hard time coming up with ideas and activities for the reading. I can't seem to find much in a google search and was wondering if anyone had any ideas I could use for the unit. Here are some books i've come up with from our local library that are geared for kids: 1. Who was Helen Keller? by Gare Thompson 2. Helen Keller A light for the Blind by Kathleen Kudlinski 3. Helen Keller Courage In The Dark by Johanna Hurwitz 4. The Black Book of Colors--this is an excellent book all the pages are black and the pictures are texturized so you have to feel them to see them....pretty cool to teach about being blind. I also found a few books on Louis Braille. I would like to find a few books on being deaf/sign langage as well. But as far as activities I'm not coming up with much in the way of games, file folder games, print outs etc.... Anyone have any good ideas for me?