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?

Thanks for the ideas everyone! I'll try some of those things. :)

How do you do tests with your kids? My son has a very hard time taking tests. He always wants me to reassure him after each question if he got it right and he has high anxiety if he gets it wrong. he gets very upset and disapointed in himself. I've told him time after time that it's absolutely OK to get questions wrong, and that taking the test is just for me to have an idea what he needs to work on more. I don't even "grade" the paper, I just go over ones he got wrong and why and then file it away to work on the next week. Sometime's I don't even tell him it's a "test" I just tell him i want him to work alone, but he generally knows that something is up and the anxiety comes back. I know some people do not like to give tests...i'm not wanting to debate that issue. My husband was homeschooled and never had to take a test except orally and when he got to college(we went to college together and in the same classes) he had a VERY hard time doing tests. he had high anxiety and would worry about it and often run out of time when doing to the test because he would think about it too much etc.. I'm just looking for some ideas to make test taking times a little easier so that he gets used to doing it. Any suggestions?

What is the differences between the older version of the First Grade books and the newer versions? I have seen a lot of the first grade curriculum on ebay but it's the older version(like from the 90s) and i am hesitant to buy it because i'm not sure if it will match up with the teacher manuals that i will be buying new. Or if i find older teacher manuals with the newer book/reader etc.. will they match up? does anyone have any opinions on that?

So cute! I love your watermelon bowl cut out too!

GOOD idea! i forgot about those! thanks :D

That's so funny because I just came across that on pinterest today and printed them out for DS to use with his pattern blocks!

We don't start school untill around 10am in our house so i use the workboxes for DS to do before or after school when he gets bored. Also, twice a week in the mornings i'm at bible study and MOPS group so he takes his workbox along to do while he is there to keep him busy. then we do school when we get home around 11:30am. So that's why we sometimes to our workboxes in the morning...not always, but some of the time. :001_smile: Besides I don't see the harm in letting him read a highlights magazine or a Zoo book magazine before school:confused:

DS is in kindergarten, not preK. So these things are expected in kindergarten. his core cirriculum is reading/phonics/math and science and social studies are once a week. The workbox systemm is for him to do on his own time before or after school when he's bored and wants to do something fun. He doesn't have to do it all, he can pick and choose from the box for that day. If he wants to color there's crayons in the workbox. if he wants to cut there are scissors in there too. The extra stuff is just for fun and practice in a hands on way. DS does plenty of playing outdoors and nature hikes etc...

What are geoboards and RUsh hour Jr?

My son is in Kindergarten and he does a work box each day on his own either before we start school or after. I'm running out of ideas though. I don't want my boxes to all be the same everyday so that he gets bored. I'm looking for some suggestions of some things to add to the list. Here are some of the ideas I do regularly: 1. Highlights magazine or Zoo magazine(we have 100s!) 2. Practice workpage with a couple cursive letters to write for practice 3. playdough 4. different puzzles 5. Books on tape 6. Cutting/gluing activities So I could use some suggestions. I went on pinterest and looked for some ideas, but a lot of the ideas were geared towards preschool like shape sorting and color regonition activities which he already knows. :bigear: