Necessary: The teacher's manual and student workbook (which is much more than the handwriting pages - it is mostly for use with the phonological exercises, games (bingo, "board" games), and blend/word cards, and readers.) We also just use the whiteboard for handwriting, but I think I will go back and use the handwriting sheets when he is ready for paper writing. Very helpful: Phonogram cards - You can make your own - The only reason I would buy these is because they have the pronunciations on the back for you), If you don't need that I would just buy the game cards. Game Cards - My ds loves the card games, there are not that many "scheduled" in level A - but you will use these all the way through Essentials. My ds also likes to just play the games sometimes for fun. You will need the black bookface and EITHER the green cursive or blue Bookface (depending on whether you will do cursive or not), If money is tight you can use the game cards as your phonogram cards. They just will not have the pronunciations on the back and are smaller. Everything else is really just extra gravy. PS. We really love this program.

I'm with the enjoyable luxury. I didn't want to start my kids on phonics instruction younger than 4.5. But my eldest was itching to do more. He knew his sounds and letters already but the phonological exercises really stretched him and gave him a firm foundation for phonics. My ds 3.5 is now using it (he also knows his letters and sounds). Both ds loved to do the activity sheets. My eldest still does one with his brother (even though he's done them before). Phonological exercises improve their understanding of what words are and how they are formed. Ziggy makes them fun! (We use Ziggy all the time even when he's not called for). It has made for a very gentle intro to more formal schooling. It gave my eldest confidence going into phonics. (Youngest is still using). We use LoE foundations which has pretty much the same type of phonological exercises built in. Because they were review for my ds he was confident about the rest of the lesson which was new to him. It is worth the money? I bought it used and will be using it with 3 kids. So for my house it definitely was. If I was buying it new for 1 kid, I'd really have to think about it.

I haven't used both but I have both (already a curriculum junkie). In terms of fun let's just say they are different. LOE focuses on physical movement ("obstacle" races, "basket" shooting, target throwing, etc and card games/bingo for their review games.). This has definitely been very helpful with my studious but active boy. He also loves the card games they use for review. There is a nice variety in activites but you can also choose to use your dc's favorites. there are also workbook activities. AAR focuses more on color, cut and paste types of activities in their workbook - there are "feed the monster" type games. AAR also has the Ziggy file folder games supplement. It really depends on the personality of your dc. You can just figure out some physical activities for your child to do and combine it with AAR. I have to say I love LOE. It has been very solid and fun for us. The scope and sequence is a bit different from AAR. You learn all the sounds of the phonograms up front, you work on encoding and decoding. While learning the phonograms, you start with CVC words, the initial and final blends, then long vowels, multi-letter phonograms, and then multiple syllables. My ds really picked up the transition to long vowels very easily. Last night he read a real picture book of a couple hundred words with all types of words. It took about a half an hour and he needed a bit of help as there were things we hadn't done yet. I think the way LoE mixes up the variety of words and doesn't stick exclusively to word "families" in their teaching helps him to have more confidence in decoding various words. We do use the readers from AAR, which I love. (The reason why I have both - I wanted the readers and it was more economical for me to purchase a whole set used). I also use the word cards and tiles from AAR. LOE uses cut and paste "readers". As far as handwriting, LOE uses "air writing" exercises using gross motor. No mess required then you could transition to a dry erase board -again big movements. You can just stick to these type of activities. At 4 the exercises are designed to cement the phonograms to sight through kinesthetic movement. Good handwriting does not need to be emphasized until later. All that being said, I MAY start my youngest ds using AAR. He really wanted his own instruction time so I started him with AAR Pre-1 which he will be done w/ at 3.75. I think AAR may be a bit more gentle than LOE. (Except for the fluency pages). Another thing to add: LOE spends the first six lessons on phonological exercises ( and learning strokes used to form letters) then it starts teaching the sounds of the phonograms - one for each lesson. At about lesson 20 you start building words. ( while continuing to learn new phonograms). LOE assumes no previous knowledge of sounds or phonological exercises (isolating beginning, ending & middle sounds, blending and segmenting sounds, rhyming, etc. AAR introduces multiple phonograms per lesson (just the initial sound) and assumes the child knows the sounds but perhaps not to mastery. It starts building words with lesson 1. AAR teaches a blending technique but assumes you've had prior phonological experience. (AAR Pre-1). LOE starts out slower building a foundation but ramps up quickly. At the end of 50 lessons you are roughly in the same spot. I think both programs are very solid and fun, I think it mostly depends on the personality of your child and where he's at now. Hth

We've been recently plowing through the series of Oz books put out by Books of Wonder. My almost 5 ds is loving them. Wizard of Oz Marvelous Land of Oz Ozma of Oz Dorothy and the Wizard in Oz (we are currently on this one) The Road to Oz Emerald City of Oz I think I'm going to take a break here (there are 8 more by F. Baum)

Go to this link: http://bookshelfcentral.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=17 Choose the options you want. (There is a catalog view that will give you a description of each book or an order form view for just a list). HTH

All of the above. Confessions of a Homeschooler and 2 Teaching Mommies websites have pages in their printables to use with clothes pins. I.e. clip the correct letter/number/shape/color. So you are working on recognition and motor skills. Other things: Poke pages: using a toothpick, poke along an outline on paper. (Works best when paper is on carpet. Lacing Geoboards/rubber bands Transferring pony beads with tweezers. Using an eye dropper to transfer colored water. Fingerprinting, paint bags(drawing on a zip lock bag filled with paint)

My ds4 soon to be 5 can give wonderful playback/narration but that's just his thing. He's been doing it since he could talk (which was late). Drawing things well, it's just not happening. We do some kind of art just about everyday for the last 2 years, everything is blobs. (But he can tell great stories to go with the blobs.). Recently he has begun to draw happy and sad faces. I'm hoping by his 5th b-day (next month), I'll get a stick figure. Myds3.5 does not really retell things like his brother did at his age but he has on occasion drawn a stick figure or two. So I would say don't worry.

I recently found out that three of the teen boys (12-15 yo) that my church picks up in our bus ministry can barely read. These are basically good boys that live in very poor circumstances and have had a very rough time in their lives. One has been the victim of sexual abuse (his mom sold him when he was very young.) He currently lives with his father and step-mom (who is a meth addict.) One has lived in thee different homes (mom's different boyfriends) this past year. His mom has been a victim of domestic abuse many times. She tries to be a good mom, but has been unable to stop making bad choices. Currently he is schooling through the city's online program. However, b/c his reading is so poor he can't do the work. Mom has been doing the work for him so he won't be taken away or have to go to juvy (her words). The other is currently living in the travel lodge with his family and other people (about 10) after their home was condemned. He currently is not going to school. CPS is involved with all these families, but I don't see that any changes are going to be made with regards to their situations. These boys have been coming to our church for 1-3 years. We have tried to help the families to the best of our ability, but have not known about the boys' reading abilities. I just can't not do anything. It seems that unless they can learn to read, they will be in the same situations for the rest of their lives . The schools and parents have failed them. I found out from another teen that during a freshman (hs) health class the 15 yo kid that can not read was ridiculed. The teacher assigned out loud reading. One student would read than "tag" another to read the next paragraph. When the other students realized that the 15 year old could not read everyone kept "tagging" him to read. The teacher did nothing. Finally the teen that told me this story, said that when it was his turn - he just kept reading until the entire reading was finished. He said that in our system they wlll just keep passing kids that can't read until they hit high school, then they will fail them. I guess in hopes that they will just drop out at 16. So that is the state of the school system here. I would also not expect any advocacy from the parents to get any resources (testing for learning disorders, etc). I want to tutor these kids. I have not done any such thing before. I also have a limited amount of time. I have 5 & 3 year old boys and will be starting K this year. As the Pastor's wife, I also have other responsibilities. I think I could give about 2 hours a week. I have been using LOE Foundations with my ds and was thinking I could use LOE Essentials with these boys. I would have to teach them all at the same time. I would teach them at the church with another adult present. I guess I'm looking for advice on the feasibility of this and any suggestions on how to implement this? Thanks

My ds3 will be 4 at the end of October. His older brother will be K in the fall. Though we pretty much started most things in January. Ds3 is already ahead of any goals I would have set for this year. "Technically" he doesn't start K for 2 more years. He knows and identifies all the letters and their initial sounds, his shapes, colors, and counts to 20. The only "goal" I have is to work on soldifying his number recognition and building his fine motor skills. That said I keep them busy (not necessarily from academic worksheets, etc) with "school" from 10:30 to about 4:30. That includes outside/physical activity time, lunch, and quiet times. What we are doing: Finishing AAR Pre-1 then? (I don't really want to start a phonics program yet) we are doing AAR Pre-1 b/c he asked for it. Tot Boxes Kumon cut & paste and maze books. Free Art (painting, finger painting, water painting, play-doh, paper collages, etc) Duplo, blocks, gear and peg building toys (we only do these during school time as my super hero boys would use them as projectiles during free time. Puzzles and simple games Tagging along with his brother: FIAR Preschool packs from Homeschool Creations and others. Elemental Science - Intro to Science Nature Walks Trips to the zoo, children's museum and others.

Please take this with a grain of salt as I only have 2 who are 3.5 and almost 5. I would try to include her in school and give her a place at the "table" as much as possible. Have "tot trays" (blocks, puzzles, matching games, etc - see 1+1+1=1 for ideas) ready for her to use, Kumon maze, cut and paste, tracing books are great. Schedule alternating times (in between instructing older kids) to spend a few minutes with her to get her started in on a new task. Give her play-doh, Legos, etc. to work on during read alouds. Set aside toys to be used "only" during school time. Have as much stuff ready to go before school starts have what she needs to do the activities in the bins (work boxes) before scho starts so you won't have to take time out trying to "find" things. Even with the older kids, go to the park! Schedule it as gym time and have the older kids kick the soccer ball around, shoot hoops, have batting practice, tennis, etc while she plays on the playground. Go on nature walks together while having the older kids journal, etc. Quiet time is your friend. We currently do "school" in the morning, have outside time followed by lunch, chores, and quiet time. By the time quiet time is over they are eager to get "out" and finish the rest of school. They have free time from about four on. Too much free time and my kids want to park in front of the TV. I'm assuming "shows" means she just wants to watch TV all the time. You may have to severely limit her to break this habit. But of course it will probably be hard in the beginning. I would try to take a few days off to get a bunch of things ready for her that you can rotate through. You might try something like AAR- Pre-1 or Confessions of a Homeschooler's LOTW. I know a lot of moms spend an hour or so with their preschooler and send them on their way while they work w/ the rest of the kids. If this doesn't work for you then I suggest spend 5 minutes with her every time you switch older kids. (Preschooler, child A, preschooler, child B, preschooler, child c, preschooler, child d then back through again. Anyone waiting for your attention b/c you are working with another "could" spend that time also with the preschooler. IOW Keep her in the school area with you Have lots of activities ready to go for her (that she enjoys) that are ONLY done during school time. Give her your full attention frequently during school time for short periods. Especially before read alouds etc. Have each older kid spend time with her (reading, play-doh, crafts, etc) when they have "down time" and keep it in the same room. Implement park/playground/walks for everyone on a regular basis. Implement quiet times for everyone Planning and preparedness is the key. (Which I know is tough) Eventually your dd will be added into the schooling mix so why not plan on spending that time with her now? Like I said this is all theoretical as I only have 2 and I'm not into K yet! It is just how I'd do it if I were in your situation. In January I started K work with my oldest and even though I had activities available for ds3 AND I did "together" things for both, my ds3 kept interrupting my teaching time with the eldest. So I changed it around to do things together, then 1:1 with ds4 and then 1:1 with ds3, together, ds4, ds3 etc. While working 1:1 with one, the other has some activity in a workbox to do. Adding in that 1:1 time with ds3 changed everything. I did start AAR Pre-1 with him for one of his 1:1 times but they do NOT have to be "schoolwork". I HTH in any small way.

We also do the My Book House books at snack time. They were my grandfathers and I love using them (and the idea that my kids are the 4th generation to do so). Others: Children's Book of Virtues and Children's Book of Heroes Tales from the Perilous Realm by JRR Tolkein. Russian Fairy Tales by Ivan Bilibin These are all individual books and not anthologies: Tall Tale books by Steven Kellogg Folk Tale Classics by Paul Galdone Sinbad books by Ludmila Zeman Gilgamesh books by Zeman Various Russian fairy tales books illustrated by Gennady Spirin BTW my boys love Raggedy Ann and Andy books.

My boys love all the Robert McCloskey books: Make Way for Ducklings Blueberries for Sal One Morning in Maine A Time of Wonder Llama Llama Books Ladybug Girl Books We're doing BFIAR and they are enjoying those books. Beatrix Potter books My boys have loved the books by Kevin Lewis (these are for 1-3 age range though). Jerry Pickney books: The Lion and the Mouse (wordless) Rikki Tikki Tavi Puss in Boots Twinkle Twinkle Little Star Sam and the Tigers Tortoise and the Hare John Henry There's tons of beautiful books illustrated and/or written by him. Just do an Amazon search. We have a beautiful Puff the Magic Dragon book my ds3 loves. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B002R2I2YU/ref=pd_aw_sim_b_9?pi=SL500_SS115 I would highly recommend for anyone to see if the Imagination Library is offered in your area. If you do you can get for free a picture book a month mailed to you for EACH of your dc ages 0-5. It has been a nice mixture of classics and new books. But no real "twaddle". To see if you live in an area that has a chapter and register. http://usa.imaginationlibrary.com/register_my_child.php#.UVHjM7e9LTo

Rightstart is realigning to meet Common Core standards. I don't know what the changes are. So far only A has been done the rest will be changing soon. However, I have heard that they will keep publishing the old version also. So if you have started with the old you will still be able to purchase older versions of the next level. I have heard that you will not be able to mix the old and new versions as the scope and sequence will be that different. If I had a free level the only way I'd buy a new A was if I REALLY wanted to align with the common core or if I was planning on sending dc to ps during the elementary years. ETA: It looks like there is also layout changes, etc. And that you could "switch" from old A to "new" B but not back and forth in higher levels. Here's the link with FAQ's: http://rightstartmath.com/home-school/second-edition-news

My understanding is that she leaves it out. I only have the preschool program right now and that does not reference anything as such. I believe in the grammar stage there is no discussion of either creation or evolution and no dates. In Biology the anatomy portion discusses the bodily systems and how they work and in earth science and astronomy, types of rocks, earth systems and components, earthquakes, and volcanoes are studied without dating. However, some of the referenced encyclopedias may contain dates and/or other references though I don't know if that is true of the ones used in the grammar stage or just logic stage books. I plan on using ES and supplementing with my viewpoint.

The Black Arrow by Robert Louis Stevenson is an adventure during the War of the Roses. But it is listed for 6th grade and up.

We're just finishing up with Beta LoE foundations lesson 40 (which is Level A). And I just bought a used AAR 1. (I wanted the readers and it was cheaper to get a full version used than to get the readers new). First off I have to say I love LOE foundations (but I'm also sure I would love AAR). I would say foundations Level A-D covers AAR Pre-level 1 (which I did use) and AAR 1 and 2 plus AAS 1 and 2. It's a bit hard to compare b/c the scope and pacing is a bit different in that in LOE you are learning to write the phonograms as you learn them and you learn all the sounds a phonogram makes up front. When you get to words you are reading and spelling. It also includes a lot of the phonological awareness activities that were covered in AAR Pre-1. So in some respects LOE is going slower and faster than AAR. If your child is young (like 3&4) and doesn't know his letters initial sounds yet, AAR Pre-1 is the slow and gentle approach and fun with Ziggy. LOE ramps up very quickly and there is the writing component (which does not have to be a lot and can be done by gross motor and sensory box writing). If your child is K age and hasn't had the phonological awareness activities yet, LOE van give them to you WHILE you work on reading. For my ds it was a nice easy review as we had previously done AAR Pre-1. LOE takes longer to get to reading words than AAR 1. In AAR, you start reading words in Lesson 1. You won't start reading words in LOE until lesson 20. In the first 19 lessons of LOE you will be learning ALL the sounds of phonograms, how to write them and doing the phonemic exercises. By lesson 40 (Level A) you will have learned and written all the a-z phonograms and will be reading CVC words w/ short vowels and words with initial and final blends such as stump, drop, snap, sink, honk, skunk, truck. With LOE you will be dictating (and have the child dictate to you) three to five words a day for spelling and writing (or using tiles). But you will be reading MORE words than just the spelling words. So the spelling part doesn't really hold you back. In Level B you will start learning some of the spelling rules, words with long vowels, two syllable words, and multi-letter phonograms. By lesson 50 (10th lesson in level B) you will have covered roughly what is in AAR 1 (which is 49 lessons). Foundations just covers spelling and writing also and the phonemic exercises that AAR has in Pre-1. I'll just speculate based that Foundations(all four levels) will cover through AAR 3. So monetarily you are looking at 4 (levels) of LOE x 65.00= 260.00. versus 3 (levels of AAR) x 100.00=300.00. (But you need also to add on spelling and handwriting and possibly pre-1 if you want the phonemic exercises before reading). The prices are pretty comparable. The initial price of AAR reading kit versus LoE Game cards is comparable also. However the big price in AAR is the readers, which at least in the first level are real nice to have whether you do AAR or LOE. I think the biggest difference is really in style. Do you want to do something different for writing, hold off on spelling? LOE uses a lot of "physical" games and card games for review. AAr does have games and worksheets but also uses a lot of fluency sheets and has those beautiful readers. I hope that helps anybody who is trying to make a decision. Ps: my ds is 4.75, the handwriting is not too much right now for him...but we do all white board or sensory writing. We had done no writing previously. As of lesson 40 (all of level A) we've been doing a lesson a day. Looking ahead I'm sure that will change. I'm pretty sure all the levels will take through our entire K year (June 2014) and possibly into 1st grade.

Currently with my 4.75 & 3.25 dses we do a craft associated with our BFIAR book or a holiday/season craft and we rotate "free art" everyday. This includes tempera painting on the easel, watercolor, fingerpaint, play-doh, and collage, color pencils and ink. I don't give them really any instruction as to what they should be making or doing, just tips on working in whatever "medium". We have done things such as mixing colors, tints and shades, etc. I plan to start Artistic Pursuits "The Way They See It" for a gentle intro to a more formal program. I don't think it has a lot of step by step and I plan to supplement with Draw, Write, Now. They will have a solid 2 years of just experimenting with different art supplies before doing anything formal.

My boys are just about 2 months behind yours. So far we've done MyFather's Dragon, Elmer & the Dragon, & Dragons of Blueland Jamie and Angus Stories Wizard of Oz (2x) Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Charlie and the Glass Elevator (the later has some political satire that is completely over the boys heads) Raggedy Ann and the Camel with the Wrinkled Knees Raggedy Ann and Andy in Cookie Land Raggedy Ann and Andy and the Paper Dragon A Bear Paddington Thomas the Tank Engine Complete Collection (original stories) The Mouse and the Motorcycle and Runaway Ralph The Complete Adventures of Curious George James's Herriot's Treasury for Children We have in our line up: Uncle Wiggily's Storybook The Mysterious land of Oz and Ozma of Oz Uncle Remus: The Complete Tales compiled by Julius Lester and illustrated by Jerry Pinkney

Well, when my ds was that age I started Tot School with him. "Tot school" was termed by a mom at http://www.1plus1plus1equals1.net . I think all of her kids are out of "tot school" now but all of her posts and resources are available. Here's what I wrote about our tot school time for that age. http://fromatoz-totschool.blogspot.com/2011/08/our-tot-school-story.html?m=1 My only dc were tot schoolers so it was really about them but Carissa at 1+1+1=1 has older children also. This does require a little planning as it is mostly ideas and printables if you want. It is not an open and go curriculum. But Might I also gently add that since you will have to eventually "plan" for this child along with the elders, why not start now by carving out some time for him now. (Please take this w/ a grain of salt from a mom w/ only littles who does not have the stress of teaching olders too.) This was my 3 yo plan w/ my tag along 2 yo. http://fromatoz-totschool.blogspot.com/2011/08/2011-2012-tot-school-plans.html?m=1. This includes links to lots of sites with ideas for little ones. Ps I didn't use all of the printables. Even though my ds was the same as yours I didn't start any formal curriculum until four and he is just now learning to read. (i could have started earlier but didn't want to. Now it is pretty easy since his sounds have been down pat for so long). But it was so nice to have different ideas and resources to use to engage my 2 yo child besides "just let them play". 2 year olds get bored with the same old same old too. I hope even just spittle was helpful to you.

It's funny the way one thinks of terminology. I think of "seat work" as academic subjects like reading, phonics, math, handwriting, though a lot of the time we are not IN our seats working on these. (We don't do a lot of workbooks.). I don't think of art as seat work though most of the time when we are doing art we are in our seats. In the time I "designate" as school time I am with my dc all the time (except for potty breaks). I have no need to hover over them if they would like to do draw or write on their own free time. I would NOT have available to them worksheets or workbooks that they could not do correctly b/c they can't read the instructions, etc. To me, that would be a waste of money. If I knew that they knew how to do something (I.e. a sheet for practicing a letter they already knew how to form) then I would have no problem with them working on it on their own. (Though I don't see that happening here! Lol) But since it's not something I "assigned" or "required", I would not consider seat work...though in fact they would be sitting in a seat! Clear as mud?

Thanks! I've had these on my list.

It is completely scripted...though after a handful of lessons, you really get the hang of it and don't need to be constantly looking at it. There is detailed instructions of sounding phonograms, step by step handwriting, dictating words, and games. The program is geared to teach through various methods auditory, visual & kinesthetic. If you find your child doesn't need/want a certain approach it is very easy to skip to the methodologies that are useful to you in a lesson. All lessons do include a physical component for reinforcing handwriting strokes, phonograms, and words. Things like racing to white board, phonogram hopscotch, obstacle course, "tightrope" walking, phonogram aerobics (writing phonograms in the air with different body parts), tower building and read and act out or read and "shoot" ( a basket). If you don't like a certain one you can always substitute with a different. Of course you can come up with all this stuff on your own, but it's nice to have it staring in your face. There are also card games like Go Fish, Bingo, & Memory and lots more. The worksheets are mostly matching and choosing correct the correct phonogram/word. The are also handwriting worksheets which I am not using yet b/c of ds's age. The "readers" consist of the child reading the words and either illustrating or cutting and pasting in images that match the words. My very active boy enjoys it. He sometimes whines when he starts b/c he wants to play w/ whatever his brother is doing but he always ends up having fun. The other day the read and act out activity had 20 words many with blends, I did not expect him to do them all (words are drawn out of a hat). But he insisted that he do them all. HTH Kerry

Hi Aimee, I just posted this on the thread on the K-8 board, mostly for you. So I'll copy it here: I thought I'd put this out there for those looking for a curriculum that moves a but more quickly. - I really wanted to get AAR 1, but for some reason I bought LOE Foundations whn it came out for beta testing. (Could I already be a curriculum junkie). Anyways, we are really enjoying it. There is always some sort of game (physical or card game), phonological exercises (oral or worksheets), it includes handwriting (but you can use your own). You can do handwriting on whiteboard, sensory material, or paper. Basically each day is a lesson. The 1st 6 lessons work on phonological exercises (orally blending and segmenting words) and learning handwriting strokes to "build" phonograms later. Lesson 6 starts on learning phonograms (1 a day - ALL the sounds) writing them and continuing with phonological exercises. At lesson 21 you keep learning new phonograms and you start learning words by reading and spelling. These are mostly CVC words but by lesson 25 you start teaching starting and ending blends (st, dr,tr,mp, sn, etc). We are at lesson 30 and my ds read words like stomp, drop, snap, trip. In some of the reading exercises/games there will be words that you have not worked on together yet (spelling/reading together) but your child will have learned the skills they need to sound it out. By lesson 40 you will have learned all the sounds of the alphabet phonograms, then you start learning the multi-letter phonograms. So far there have not been any fluency sheets, there is a review lesson every 5 lessons. So far there are 110 lessons, I'm don't know how many there will be. I believe the final version will be available at the end of the month. I'm pretty sure it covers the material through AAR 2 and possibly more. I am planning on buying the AAR readers, they look lovely. And yes I still get AAR urges. Hope that helps, if you have any more Q's please ask.

I thought I'd put this out there for those looking for a curriculum that moves a but more quickly. - I really wanted to get AAR 1, but for some reason I bought LOE Foundations whn it came out for beta testing. (Could I already be a curriculum junkie). Anyways, we are really enjoying it. There is always some sort of game (physical or card game), phonological exercises (oral or worksheets), it includes handwriting (but you can use your own). You can do handwriting on whiteboard, sensory material, or paper. Basically each day is a lesson. The 1st 6 lessons work on phonological exercises (orally blending and segmenting words) and learning handwriting strokes to "build" phonograms later. Lesson 6 starts on learning phonograms (1 a day - ALL the sounds) writing them and continuing with phonological exercises. At lesson 21 you keep learning new phonograms and you start learning words by reading and spelling. These are mostly CVC words but by lesson 25 you start teaching starting and ending blends (st, dr,tr,mp, sn, etc). We are at lesson 30 and my ds read words like stomp, drop, snap, trip. In some of the reading exercises/games there will be words that you have not worked on together yet (spelling/reading together) but your child will have learned the skills they need to sound it out. By lesson 40 you will have learned all the sounds of the alphabet phonograms, then you start learning the multi-letter phonograms. So far there have not been any fluency sheets, there is a review lesson every 5 lessons. So far there are 110 lessons, I'm don't know how many there will be. I believe the final version will be available at the end of the month. I'm pretty sure it covers the material through AAR 2 and possibly more. I am planning on buying the AAR readers, they look lovely. And yes I still get AAR urges.

My ds will continue on with what we started in January: Phonics/reading/Spelling/handwriting: LOE foundations then moving on to? WRTR, LOE essentials, Phonics Road or AAR2/AAS. He currently does all the writing on a whiteboard or sensory boxes. We will transition to paper writing. Literature and Informal History/Geography/Culture studies: FIAR plus various chapter books for bed-time reading. Math: RS A moving on to B if we finish. Science: ES- Intro to Science, weekly nature walks at nature center and monthly homeschool classes at the zoo. Art: Projects with FIAR, Artistic Pursuits - The Way They See It and free art. Bible and character: Reading through the Golden's Children's Bible, Leading Little Ones To God, and FIAR Character Supplement. Miscellaneous: The majority of required "school" time will be building blocks, Legos, Marble runs, play-doh, puzzles, etc. (I know must people consider this free play: but my boys play superheroes, knights, pirates, etc during their free time and blocks are more likely to be projectiles than building materials. When they are safely tucked into the school area they actually BUILD with them in relative calmness and I don't find them all over the house. As an added plus, mommy gets a little building time in too.) Dot to dot, Maze books and maybe Building Thinking Skills, Mindbenders or Lollipop Logic) "Required" outside play time. That pretty much somes it up.