I was actually looking at the handwriting without tears 1st grade book yesterday at a store and almost bought it, but I didn't want to spend the money on that when I already have a book sitting at home. Since our current book is so short, I think I might buy it to do next. Are you saying that you would do some of the workbook each day and 2-4 poem copy work worksheets over the course of the week?

Ideally, how often should we practice penmanship? Every day? Or less? My Kindergarten daughter already knows all of her letters and writes all the time. It is usually in the context of coloring a picture and then writing someone's name to give it to and a message, or writing on a blank sheet of paper. Besides getting proper form down, we desperately need to go over letter size and placement. Not writing on lines has really messed her up. We have A Reason for Handwriting K. Should we do one page every day? It seems like we would go through it in about 2 months. Do we then just go on to the next book? I'm just worried about getting to a book that is too much too soon. Or will she be ready, potentially, be the time she starts a new book? I was planning on having her do some copy work each week. How much should we do copy work in relation to pages from a handwriting book? Sorry, I need some hand holding here... TIA!

This will be my first year using a computer-based scheduling program. I have briefly looked for a certain answer, but cannot find it. Maybe someone knows? Does OLLY allow me to apply a previous year's schedule to a different student. Say I have a 1st grader and I want to apply their older sibling's schedule of work when they were in 1st grade to my new first grader. Is there some kind of auto-fill feature, or would I have to re-enter everything again? If OLLY does not do this, does anyone know of a scheduler that does? TIA!

I started PK work last year with my daughter because I was pregnant with our third. I figured it would allow me to get use to homeschooling before I added another child to the mix. I planned the whole year last summer and we had an AMAZING fall. She loved it and I loved it! Then the baby came... You honestly forget how much a baby requires. You feel like you are feeding and changing diapers/clothes around the clock in the beginning, not to mention the lack of sleep. I ended up dropping A LOT of what I had planned and had to change a lot of things. It wasn't the smooth transition I had expected. Not that it really mattered much to us because it was only PK, but that was a lot of planning, ideas, and intentions that all got left behind. We would start something and the baby would start crying, so I would have to put my daughter on hold. The second I would come back to "school" the baby would need something else. Unfortunately with a newborn, there is no consistent sleep schedule to work with. They nap whenever they want for however long they want. And anytime you try to be productive during their nap, they end up waking up in 5 minutes. And K is high in parent involvement. I would stick to planning the 3 R's and lots of reading in the beginning until the new baby has more of a routine and feedings are spaced out a little. It happens quickly! It's always better to feel like you can take on the world versus being overwhelmed. And, if you have a child that loves learning about a lot of different things, just check out a ton of different books. I would reserve 20+ books online from our library and they would call me when they had them all ready. All I would have to do is walk in and check them out. It saved my life!

:iagree: I think it totally depends on what you want it to be for your family. We are choosing to participate for the social aspect it offers in an educational environment. Some follow it to a T and form their whole curriculum around CC, but we will have a full curriculum and be supplementing with CC. It will be a Friday activity for us, and we will occasionally listen to it in the car. Whatever my children pick up will just be a bonus to their weekly studies at home. I figure even if they pick up on bits and pieces, it won't hurt them when they study the topics in future years. It's all about placing pegs to later be drilled in. I know of many people who have done it this way, and it works for them. I think it offers so much more than just memorizing, though. Our program also offers art and music exposure that we don't always get at home, as well as a science experiments. For some things that tend to get overlooked in crazy weeks, at least we will have CC that touches on the subject.

I know half-off depot and other places have been having some specials on Reading Eggs. Apparently, I missed all of the ones I was aware of. Has anyone seen an active deal going on anywhere? TIA!

We ordered one and LOVE it! It is exactly what I had been hoping and praying for. I love that it draws your child to the actual Bible. Although it takes some time to assemble, I think it helped our family really take ownership.

We absolutely love our dog, and I cannot imagine what you are going through right now. That being said, as horrible as it may be, I think you need to get rid of the dog. Once a dog shows aggression like this, whether it be for protection, or not, certain steps need to be taken. The big thing that comes to mind, like previous posters mentioned, is this could have happened to a child. It could have been a girl or boy scout selling something. Even a little kid taunting a dog. It is never acceptable for a child to do this, but that still doesn't mean the dog owner shouldn't be held responsible. And what happens when your child has a friend over one day and they are rough-housing? Even with training, your dog obviously has a basic instinct to protect. Pets cannot pick up on aggressive play between kids. You want to avoid this happening in the future and there is only one way.

I am so embarrassed I am even asking this question, but I feel horrible that they haven't gone out yet. I had our third child in December, but since we didn't know the sex, we had a baby shower in February for our first boy in the family (2 older sisters -- ages almost 4 and 2). Right before the baby shower, our house flooded and it took 2 months to get everything back to normal. I still can't even seem to get on top of things. With everything that comes with 3 young kids at home and trying to stay on top of housework/taking care of the family, I can't for the life of me find time to write thank yous. Every day I think about it and feel horrible, but when I have free time I rather spend it staring at the wall because I am so exhausted. I know the best thing to do would be to hand-write thank yous. Do I wait until I find time (although, I do not know when that would be) or could I send a thank you through email with a nice card like paperlesspost? Would that be completely inappropriate??? I would rather get them out now versus 3 more months, but maybe waiting would be better? TIA!

How did you rent it? Through the library, or is there another option? This book is one my reading list and renting it sounds like a good idea now.

My daughter has basic reading down and we now need to learn more about phonics rules. We have Phonics Pathways and AAS. After looking into each program more, they seem to be very similar. Has anyone done both together successfully, or would this be overkill? Should I do one and then the other, instead?

What a wonderful thread! I love all this advice!

I completely understand your second response (that I am not quoting). As far as the above comment... Is there anything different between the two print copies. Aren't they both paper-and-ink copies? Are you getting anything more in the print-only option? Are you basically screwing yourself over if you buy the combo pack because it is really the same print that is sellable if bought alone, but since they can't track the usage of the DE you can't resale either piece of the combo?

So, I don't get this. Why can't the DE/print version be resold? I just assumed it was the print version you can buy alone, plus the DE version. Why can't you sell the print version from the DE pack if you can sell the print version if you buy it alone? I'm guessing, now, that the two print versions are different? How? Why?

Ha! We are about 50/50 right now! Well, at least, no matter what I choose to do, I will know that I have others on my side. Thank you for all the responses. You all have made this exhausted mommy feel a little better!

I hate posting this on here and I hate even more that this is an issue... I made a huge pot of sauce the other night and after dinner packed the rest in two separate ziplocs to freeze. In the craziness of cleaning, getting the kids ready for bed, and nursing the infant who seems to be permanently attached to me, the spaghetti sauce didn't make it into the freezer. I found the two bags sitting on the counter the next morning and in a panic stuck them in the freezer rift away. It just makes me sick that I forgot about them! Do I need to throw them out? Part of me screams YES, but the other part wonders it would be okay to eat after they are reheated. Would brining it to a boil kill all the bacteria? And, yes, there was meat in the sauce.

We actually have all BOB books and a lot of leveled readers. The problem is that she wants to pick up other books that are above her level. I was not sure if I should allow her to read only the BOB books and readers at her level, or let her try other material. This is totally what I was doing. Why did I think I couldn't teach the rules before we came to them in the book? Probably because I didn't know them. Since this is my first time to teach reading, I am following the reading books to a T. I guess I can think outside the box a little and it would help us all! My daughter is a couple of months away from her 4th birthday. We started 100 EZ Lessons at about 3.25, and I really wasn't expecting much, at all. She loves being read to, so I just thought if she took off with it, it would help her during quiet time. There has always been this side of me that thought she was too young to understand and apply phonics rules. Is this crazy? Maybe she could handle flashcards like this and actually learn a lot of rules? I mean, if she knows how to work an iPhone better than I do, I don't know why I assume she can't learn other things. I have a serious problem underestimating what she can handle.

Hmmm, you just found the problem and how to remedy it. I think I am so paranoid about the whole language approach because that is how I was taught. Thanks!

Thank you!!!

My daughter is in the process of learning how to read. We hit around lesson 50 of 100 EZ Lessons, and now we are switching to Phonics Pathways. She has blends down and can decipher a lot of words, but hasn't really gotten to any rules, including silent e (and EVERYTHING after that). So now she demands that her nose stay in a book. I absolutely love this and want this for the future, but now? She picks up anything we have around the house and tries to read it. When I am next to her, I get overwhelmed helping her because so many words follow rules we haven't even covered. I just don't want her developing any bad habits by trying to read material too advanced for her. Is this even possible? The intros I have read in both 100 EZ Lessons and Phonics Pathways have made me paranoid about the whole language approach and how it takes a long time to undo the damage. What do I do at this stage? I want her to know why certain words are read certain ways, and not because mom told her the other night that "g o a t" is pronounced "goat."

Thank you! And is that for children in the nursery program, as well? I assume they are some expense. Obviously I wouldn't have to buy the materials, but are also around $350?

Can anyone give me a ballpark of the cost? All I keep reading is how expensive it is. I am looking into it for next year, but I am now getting a little scared for money reasons. I have to go to an informational for them to tell me how much it is here, but I might fall in love before I know the expense. I rather know how much it might be, approximately, to decide if I should go to the informational in the first place. It could save a lot of heartbreak, you know? I understand it probably varies from place to place. But can anyone give me a ballpark figure?

What exactly is Usborne? From what I gather, a book publisher?

:bigear: Always wondered the same thing. I am really interested in the math approach, but get so lost in what exactly I would need to buy!

I have a 4 year old, as well. I love this chore idea. I have been trying to figure out more age appropriate chores. She pretend cleans a lot, so this is perfect!