We are going through several right now. Mouse and the Motorcycle, Pinocchio (unabridged), A Little Princess, Paddle to the Sea, Catherine Vos Story Bible. My girls are 7.5 and 5.5.

Yep, same here. Singapore lasted maybe 2 weeks here before I ditched it. I just didn't understand it at all. And the HIG, forget about it... so confusing.

For those who use or have used Horizons math in the lower grades (like K to 3rd), did you use the Teacher's Manual? If not, how did you use the work books? Just did a lesson every day and taught new things add they came up? Did you supplement at all? TIA!

I also agree with Ellie. I have a 7.5 year old and she just finished 1st grade. Im wondering why you put her in school at the end of the school year, why not just wait and see what you'd have to do to have her caught up to her age level come next school year? I totally get making huge moves and having babies. I had my 4th last summer, moved from CA to NY to TX, and my oldest started 1st grade homeschool. It was a lot but you know what, in these early grades it really doesn't have to take much to do school. And again, if you wanted to put her in school, take a few months to bring her up to where she'd have to be in the fall. Or whenever the UK starts school. But if it were me, I'd pull her. That's a lot of pressure to put on a little one.

I also have a rising 2nd grader and this is what we're using.... Math Dice, Jr https://www.amazon.com/ThinkFun-Jr-1515-Math-Dice/dp/B004617DEU/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1465762464&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=Mth+dice+jr Three Corner Flash Cards https://www.amazon.com/Three-Corner-Flash-Cards-Addition-Subtraction/dp/B00YSP7ZFG/ref=sr_1_16?ie=UTF8&qid=1465762503&sr=8-16&keywords=Math+flashcards Wooden Peg Board Games https://www.amazon.com/Travel-Games-Basketball-Football-Triangle/dp/B0191YY4AC/ref=sr_1_47?ie=UTF8&qid=1465762635&sr=8-47&keywords=wooden+games+and+puzzles I am also making her do Xtramath.org a couple times per week.

We knew we would homeschool before we ever had kids. We are Christians who want to bring our children up in a Christian home, teach them the Bible, and teach them from a biblical worldview. We have 4 kids so private Classical Christian school isn't affordable for us but I guess if we could afford it we'd consider it, at least for high school.

I'm going through LLOTG for the second time with my 7, 5, and 3 year olds. It's a great little book on doctrine for little ones, IMO. We also read a Bible story at night, and during Morning Time we learn a hymn, go over our Bible verses, and catechism. The children's catechism we use is along these lines.... http://www.reformed.org/documents/cat_for_young_children.html We listen to the Ask Me Whooo CD to go along with it. And then we discuss application mostly during daily life. HTH!

Animorphs. Haha. Where the Red Fern Grows, those pick your own ending books, The Green Mile, Number the Stars. Those are a few I remember. I wasn't much of a reader.

We just finished 1st grade. We just worked on learning to read (went through OPGTR), I had her read to me for about 15 minutes from readers that were at or a little below her level. We did math every day, focusing on math facts, telling time, place value, and a little bit about money. We did copywork every day, I'd pick something we were reading and had her copy the sentence perfectly (we did Handwriting in K,so if he doesn't know how to write letters, I'd start there. Pentime was cheap and easy for us). And then we just read a lot of books, picture books, chapter books. I had her narrate a harder reading (we did Ambleside Online Year 1 for a bit, still use some of the books) a few times a week. Played outside a lot. We do Morning Time together which consists of reading a poem every day, memorizing Bible passages, hymns, catechism, and poems. It was a good year, she learned a lot. :)

My daughter is 5.5 and will be starting K this fall and we are doing AAR1. We are almost halfway through it and sometimes I treasure several days for one lesson but I like how it's set up. With my oldest I used several different things. Bob books, OPGTR, Starfall, etc.

An older mom I know homeschooled all 4 of her sons. She told me for history she was very eclectic, they read a lot of historical fiction, watched documentaries, and pretty much did an unschooled approach to history up until 9th grade when she did a "real" curriculum. Her boys were more than fine, one is a Physical Therapist, another is an MD, another is a Nurse Anesthetist, and the other one is doing great in college, all received full rides. And all still love history which maybe is the most important thing. :)

Sounds like MFW Adventures in US History.

We've used both for 1st grade and they are completely different. Rod and Staff doesn't go over much else than addition and subtraction and it's in the very traditional way. Math Mammoth is what my 1st grader is using and we love it. I feel like it covers math topics from every angle possible. It's mental math so very different from RS.

Peaceful Parent, Happy Kids by Laura Markham. I've read many and it's my favorite.

I've read Charlie, Matilda, and Fantastic Mr. Fox to my 7, 5, and 3 yr olds. They've been fine.

Not joining to debate, but I just wanted to clarify a bit.... As a Reformed Christian, we believe we are all born into sin, so it's not really an issue of God never creating people with a certain propensity to sin. We are all born with all kinds of sin in our hearts, that's why we need Jesus. Sin has to do with the heart. Simply being overweight doesn't mean one is a glutton, just like being thin doesn't mean one is NOT a glutton. Gluttony is a sin because the heart idolizes food instead of finding its joy and comfort in God. That's not to say we can't enjoy food and fellowship because we can and are encouraged to. I've never been a member of a church where gluttony is encouraged, but on the contrary is discouraged.

I'm right there with you. I have 4 ages 7 and under and getting any kind of order is just hard right now. So I usually try to do Morning Time in the playroom where they can play quietly and the baby can crawl around. It isn't much right now.... I read a poem or two, we sing our hymn of the month, go over our Bible passage, recite our poem of the month, and then look at our artist prints. We do catechism with our kids so I'll put the catechism set to music on my Spotify app and we'll sing along for that for about 5-10 minutes. But that's about it. Sometimes I'll read a picture book but usually I'll leave that until later. I figure as they all get older it will get a bit easier but I'm just trying to start a routine of it now.

Thank you for that link. I just looked up the symptoms and she does many of those things. :( :( Can someone tell me how I can get her evaluated? We're in the Houston area, if that helps any....

Ok then. It sounds like she's normal. Sometimes I just need perspective. Thank you!

I was under the impression that OPGTR was a phonics book? We did over 200 lessons and she could sound out those words at the end that are really long... So I *think* her phonics is OK, but she's just very slow and choppy. It seems like in the last 6 months she's gotten a bit better, but I had just hoped it would have clicked by now. Of course we try not to compare but just about every other 1st grader we know is reading chapter books and it's like pulling teeth to get her to read 4 pages from a reader. Oh, and we don't only read from Pathways, we've used all kinds of books, mostly level 2 or 3 readers. I think right now she has no interest in books because she frustrates herself because she's slow. But then.... I just started AAR 1 with my 5.5 year old and she's just flying through it. Very different than her sister. Which is fine, but.... How will I know if there's a problem? I'm hoping that she just needs more practice....

My daughter is almost 7.5 and we're almost at the end of 1st grade. I feel like I've been working on learning to read with her for 2 years now, or more. I don't even remember when we started. But she's still very slow, not very fluent, and because she's slow, she doesn't want to read at all by herself. We've gone through OPGTR and I've had her read aloud to me (almost) every day for about 15 minutes from a Pathways reader (she finished the two 1st grade readers and is now on the first 2nd grade reader) for the past year or so. Her comprehension seems ok. Her eyes checked out ok. I read aloud to her (good picture books and chapter books, both on her level and a bit above) every day. What else should I be doing? Is this when I just wait for things to "click"? I was just hoping that by the end of this year she'd be reading fluently and well.... Is this all normal? #nervousfirsttimehomeschoolmom :)

I also like All About Reading. I'm using it with my 5 year old now after trying several other things with my now 7 year old when she was younger. At the time I just didn't want to spend the money but now I wish I had. It really is SO easy to do and lessons are fast and my dd is learning a lot and loves to do it every day. Is definitely recommend it and plan on using it with my other 2 kids when they're older.

I find them incredibly boring but I don't remember anything about bad behavior or anything.

Xtramath.org has really helped my 1st grader with her addition and subtraction facts this year. She likes to race the teacher. :)

My oldest is 7 and all this talk of hard teens is scaring me!