Do you remember the subject matter? Draw by Kim Solga shows the draw upside down method with a horse and train. Here's a link to it on half.com: http://product.half.ebay.com/Draw-by-Kim-Solga-1991-Hardcover/745320&cpid=1101389

:iagree: and can relate!

Is this it? :001_smile:

I first heard about TWTM through the 4Real Learning boards years ago when mine were small. I read the it and found it especially helpful for what to expect to teach when and how to keep their notebooks. I am reading the latest version now since it has made it to our library.

:lol: This is my oldest! And he gets so frustrated when his younger, more diligent, sister finishes the math lesson before he does!

Good for you! I'm :bigear: big time since I'm trying to decide. I can relate to what you're saying. We spent last year with MFW Adventures doing American History and loved it. (Liked MFW up to this point, also.) I'm also satisfied with all other programs we're using (especially math!). I started off MOH one year, but flaked out. (The writing got on my nerves!) I should give another look to SOTW. Thanks!

:bigear: We're in the same boat. Mine are going to wind down SWO (levels C & D) and start AAS in the new year.

I also say give level B a try. I started with B -teacher manual, worksheets and manipulative kit I found used- for my first 2 learning together when they were 7 and 5 (we're currently in D). I'm using A with my youngest now and see that it's so much like B; you could start B at a slower pace if necessary with your younger. I hear it's more teacher intensive than other programs (it's the only one we've used besides montessori -ish works) but I believe it's worth it, even if you keep a set time for the lessons. HTH!

My husband likes to say here in Texas we have two seasons- summer and WINTER! (Winter seems to take forever because we can't take the cold!) I'm a native Texan from/living in DFW. Born in Dallas, private schooled in Irving, went to college at Tyler Jr College, then UT Arlington. Met another dreamer/architect there and we've been married 13 years! :) We have 3 great kids we've homeschooled since the beginning, so that makes about 5 years. Gateway is our church.

My son would say Corners, while my daughter would say Sum Rummy. Both also like Rows & Columns. My favorite is Corners because there are so many ways to play: addition, subtraction, multiples of any number (3, 4 and so on).

We have similar structure here. CORE SUBJECTS: M/W/F is when I teach new topics, while Tuesday is for review and totally independent work. (This works great for me since I need time to prepare for Thursdays where I teach art at our co-op.) FREE TIME: We also have free time (what we call "points time") where they can ask for games/movies/treats. They must be completed with their work, chores and my daughter (who doesn't chose to read) must even have read for the amount of time she wishes to play games. :) MEAL + CHORES: We also take a long lunch break that includes housework, because I've found that it's easier to tie chores in with mealtimes. They chose a "chore stick" (popsicle stick- each weekday is a different color) for what job they have (for example- who cleans which bathroom) unless it's Tuesday, which is laundry day. (They complete the whole process on their own; start this early!) We also have certain jobs tied to the meal itself, like clearing the table, wiping it clean, making bubbles in the sink... These are posted on the refrigerator. BATHS: Having the kids take baths/showers before dinner has been a BIG help for our family, since I try to protect the few hours/day they see Dad. Also, having particular bath days are helpful. MY TIME: I work PT (from home) also, mainly on weekends. I try to get hours in before the kids are asleep (so I can sleep!) but it's tough. I tried giving up coffee but no. I cook a big batch of beans every Th; we eat them by the bowl that night and then have burritos, tacos, tostadas, etc. with them 2 other nights/week. I pre-cook ground meats once/month and bag them in the freezer for spaghetti, etc. I also do this with chicken, either in the crock pot or on the stove. When making a meal, doubling is helpful (2 meatloaves; eat one, freeze the other - doubling ingredients is easier than getting it all out again in 2 weeks!) I'll make a BIG batch of bbq chicken (legs or thighs) in the crock, then use leftovers for another different weeknight meal. (The crock pot is my best friend!) Most non-child laundry is done on the weekend when my husband helps. (That's really all he has time for. He's also our car mechanic. :) ) HTH!

My kids loved lapbooks! They're older now, and still take so much pride in them. They learned so much through the process. I never used a kit, but found homeschoolshare to be a valuable resource. Here are some old blog posts I made about them lapbooking and more lapbooking ...

Thanks so much for the explanation! This is so motivating... gotta get back in K mode, too!

This is great! I'm so glad you're off to a great start. Thanks for sharing. I plan to start FIAR up again really soon with my youngest. I second Calming Tea. My first two dc loved it so much, I expect they'll be right in the middle of it with their younger brother, so I'm planning for it. :)

We went through the book (as a group) in 6 days, learning one region per day, as the book presents the states. Then we drew large maps on poster board by tracing the states (Montessori style) and coloring/painting them in. While we worked on our maps, I played this song - from YouTube; it's helpful to learn. Cool to hear my 4 yr old singing it! :)

It really depends on how many states your dc can already locate. I just finished going through MIM as a unit study with 8 kids, aged from 6 to 12. The oldest already knew her states, so it was review for her, but the 8-11 year olds learned so much. (The 6 yr old enjoyed it, but only retained about 40%.) My ds (almost 10) can now locate them all, and my dd (8) can 90% I'd say.

I love the activities from Workjobs by Mary Baratta-Lorton. Such great practical work to teach the youngers by. I try not to always jump on the "newer is better" bandwagon. :tongue_smilie:

Just wanted to mention - I agree RS is expensive. The only new items I've bought for have been the student level workbooks, which are under $20. Everything else has been used - from the For Sale board (here on WTM), through the RightStart Yahoo group (which is sooo helpful), and ebay. :)

... using games; homemade or use just the games from RightStart Math. They play and play until it sticks. (Go to the Dump - play matches that make 10; Corners - cool cards that match up to make 5/10/15) Maybe more visuals will help? I highly recommend RS and their abacus - it trains them to see 5s and 10s without counting. Especially helpful is the "two fives strategy" (In this, using the abacus, you show say, 8 plus 6, you'd notice the 8 is "5 and 3" while the 6 is "5 and 1". Put the two fives together to make 10, the 3 and 1 make 4. 10 and 4 is 14.)

I would recommend FIAR. Especially for multiple children. I used it when my ds was 5 and dd was 3. Part of the beauty of homeschooling to me is keeping the family together. We hopped around the globe, which got them familiar with, well, the globe! So much is introduction the early years... Our K year was FIAR and some light Montessori math work. Mine now ask to do FIAR again with their little brother! They remember the stories well and the fun we had. (esp. Mike Mulligan, Katy and Madeline!) I like what the authors have to say on their FAQ page: How do I know I've "covered everything" while using Five in a Row? You won't. Nobody covers "everything" regardless of the curriculum they choose. The places where "everything" is critical are the "skill areas" of learning: math and reading specifically. You can't just "miss" multiplication or fractions! But those aren't areas covered by FIAR. Rather, we focus on the "content areas" lf learning which is pretty much everything else EXCEPT math and reading. In these many "content areas" you'll be revisiting each subject throughout your lifetime, learning more about weather, architecture, art, creative writing, vocabulary, science, etc. In fact, anyone with a PhD in a specific discipline such as physics for instance- will tell you that the more they've learned about their subject, the more they discover they DON'T KNOW about the subject. Nobody learns it all!

My oldest told me when he was 6-7 that he hated reading. It shook me up! But he's still young. Some may have already suggested what we did: Had a lot of "EASY" books (picture books from the library) around the house (favs- Virginia Lee Burton, Alice and Martin Provenson). Also some easy kids magazines (Clubhouse Jr., Ranger Rick, etc.) Took turns reading a page aloud together Didn't push too hard. Gave him time to mature and gain confidence. My son now reads constantly. Granted, he still prefers books with illustrations, but he is reading C.S. Lewis and others on his own. Now if my daughter (who just turned 8) would pick up a book on her own! I have to bargain with her - - she can only get as much "screen time" as she has spent reading that day. :)

Starting out (5 yrs ago now!) I visited a homeschool resale shop in town (Homeschool Resource Center- they used to have a store in Duncanville- I see you're also from DFW :) ). They had so much it was overwhelming at first, but I spent a couple of hours searching. I filtered out a lot of workbooks and came across Five in a Row (Vol.1) and it looked totally do-able (and affordable- $13), so I bought it. Using the library, a place we went weekly anyway, we found great children's books using FIAR as a guide to learning all sorts of subjects. This made my dc hooked on books! During that first year, my mom started working for a Montessori school. The method she was learning interested me, so I read all I could -especially Teaching Montessori in the Home by Hainstock- and began making materials for math. This worked great for the K year. Then I learned about RightStart Math. I wanted to find a good solid math curriculum to stick with, and RS has is a "perfect fit" for us. It does take my time, working along side them, but I feel that math is important enough for that. Another fit for us is English for the Thoughtful Child, which I found through an older edition (library copy) of The Well Trained Mind. My "it will do for now fit" category is where other things fall, like history, geography and science. Those I'm more go-with-the-flow. (We just spent two weeks learning the 50 United States using The Man in the Map just for fun! And invited 6 cousins and friends to join us.) I agree with the other posts about finding something YOU like. You'll be spending time getting into it too! Friends I knew were using other materials that didn't appeal to me (Abeka, Bob Jones, Math-U-See, 100 Easy Lessons) and I'm so glad I kept away from formal curriculum then and decided "keep it fun". We mostly played games to learn letter sounds and how to write letters. My first learned to read while using FIAR. My second using Bob Books. They're so capable of learning. I didn't push reading. They learned it by us doing it.

to veggiegal for her advice and the OP for starting this thread. I plan to start AAS in the near future (to help my older dc with spelling), and was wondering about using it to help my younger learn to read (he knows his sounds).

I've been homeschooling a while and still get stumped by abbreviations sometimes! Adding the links is very helpful, too. (Just FYI- www.alabacus.com is the link for RightStart Math.)

Hope this helps!