Also guilty...

:grouphug:I'm sorry for your loss. I too miscarried twins this past week at 10 weeks. I was sent to the ER w/ bleeding and there was no heartbeat. I'll be praying that everything goes well physically and emotionally with you. I so wanted to have this last baby before turning 40... now I'm unsure what to do. Like you, I really don't want to go through this again.

Yep, very few apples here in MI. We are still doing our annual trip to an orchard. Usually it's a wagon ride through the orchard to pick several varieties of apples...this year we get the wagon ride and a pumpkin. The cherry crop was also pretty much decimated due to early heat/frost as well as the corn crop from this dry summer. I feel pretty bad for the farmers around here.

This is what we do... Day 1: UC A activity sheet A in Ziggy Zebra book Writing activities (the appendix tips) for A Go over sounds for /a/ (phonogram cards) Lesson 1 language exercise Day 2: lowercase a activity sheet A reading in Lizard Lou reader Writing activities for a Go over sound for/a/ Lesson 2 language exercise Day 3: /a/ sound activity sheet Identify /a/ sounds in Ziggy zebra and/ or Lizard Lou books Writing activities for A Review sounds for A phonogram cards Lesson 3 language exercises Days 4-6: repeat above for letter/sound b And so on You can do the activity sheets really along with any alphabet exercise that goes along with it but the Language exercises SHOULD be done in order as they build on one another. We do go over the sounds every day and review previous sounds. We do games with the cards working on decoding and encoding. (I show the card and he gives the sound or I say the sound he chooses the correct phonogram card. Hope that helps

Thanks for the great idea. I have a wooden post in the middle of our basement schoolroom. I had planned on doing a chicka Chicka Boom Boom alphabet tree, but my boys already know there letters. The Reading Tree is perfect for it. For the one w/ no wall space...how about a Reading galaxy? You can hang planets, stars, asteroids, comets, etc .

OK that was a mistake, Folkmanis has way too many cute puppets.:tongue_smilie:

Oh so tempting....a puppet for each subject. I got my set used and did have to buy Ziggy from Amazon since the original owner didn't want to give him up. I'll have to see what else they have.

I wouldn't suggest this unless you had kids following but since you do... I would invest in AAR-Pre-1 and go through the language exercises with him. These exercises will gradually and gently introduce blending orally by blending compound words, syllables, and beginning and ending sounds. The exercises also have kids isolate beginning, middle, and end sounds. These skills progressively get harder moving blending words to individual sounds it may ease your ds into the skill w/out frustrating him. Ziggy is also super helpful with this. Then you can use the full program with your youngers.

My ds4.25 loves it. Unlike others, the activity book is HIS favorite. He's always asking to do another sheet. He already knew his letters and sounds before we began, but I felt the language exercises were essential. We do the activity book differently as we do the uppercase, lowercase, and sound for each letter then move to the next letter. We do the language exercises in order. We also play with the phonogram cards regularly and do all the sounds for each letter. Again this is b/c he already knows the initial sounds. I love the language exercises, their progression and review. I think my ds is the perfectionist type and loves doing things that come easily to him (activity sheets) but he's been more resistant to working on the language exercises. But Ziggy always cajoles him out of this and he ends up doing them, laughing and giving Ziggy high-fives. We're going to be starting RIghtstart next week and I'm thinking I'll have Ziggy teach the lessons.

I haven't read these...but this is what I have "scheduled" for my ds around that age. It is a series of four books by Hudson Talbott and put out by Books of Wonder. Sword in the Stone King Arthur and the Round Table Excalibur Lancelot And another "Arthur" book:Perceval. These are text heavy picture books 48 pages long. School Library Journal puts them at 2nd-4th grade level. If your looking for strictly chapter books you can try Classic Starts version.

My ds2 is the same. I'm not worried since he is young. It just perplexes me since he knows both UC and Lc letters and their sounds, which is so much more then numbers. He can count pretty well to 20 and seems to understand one:one correspondence. I've tried various "informal" things like number books, matching and dice games....he's just not interested. I'm thinking about getting the Leapfrog Numbers Ahoy video.

Here's my report for Week 2 - We're Going on a Bear Hunt

My schoolroom is not done and I'm certainly not organized, but I was determined to go ahead and start. We're easing in and having fun. It's so much better when you learn to let go of "perfection".

Really, I don't know where my brain is. If you go w/ Pre-1, you will need the cards to do some of the exercises. The cards are used for rhyming, beginning and ending sound games. I don't *believe* they are used for any blending exercises. That said if you are planning to use it for your younger maybe piecemealing like this, you'd be better off getting the whole kit. I've probably got your head spinning. Sorry, I'll shut up now.

I stand corrected there is blending of beginning and ending sounds of words together...no blending of individual letter sounds. I think the blending of the compound words and beginning and ending sounds, and syllables is a lot easier for kids to do and would help in transitioning to blending individual sounds. Really I would have recommended getting Pre-1 if money weren't an issue. As it stands I would get the TM for Pre-1. I really do think the Pre-reading skills are important, I invested in it even though both my boys were solid in their letters and sounds.

I would lean more to level 1. I'm currently using Pre-1 w/ my 4 yr old. Most of the language exercises focus on rhyming and beginning sounds. There are others that do work on ending sounds and segmenting. There isn't blending of words in Pre-1 that would be in level 1. There are exercises that have the child blend compound words together. You say foot Ball. They say football. This might be a good place to start on your own. That being said, since you have another one following, it certainly wouldn't hurt to invest in Pre-1. If funds are tight, you might just get the TM for Pre-1 for the exercises and all of Level 1. You might be able to get the Pre-1 teachers manual used...

Well, I only have a 4 and almost 3 y.o; so I am in a different situation than you. But FWIW this is what I think. Dedicate at least an hour of "school" to her each day. Now this does not have to look anything like school..but in your mind dedicate it as such, so it gets done. It is just as important for her to have mommy time with you for her development as it is for your olders to have time with you learning math and reading. You do NOT have to do printables/worksheets, but I would recommend looking at some of those sites for some of the ACTIVITIES they do. Montessori ideas are great but you may be pressed for time making some of the items. Look at getting some educational toys, puzzles, dress-up, blocks, shape sorters, & games. I take things I have and dedicate for school time only: usually these are things that have many parts - using them only for school helps keep all the parts together and my boys look forward to these toys and "school time". Use these things to help gently and informally instruct on colors, shapes, numbers, letters, and develop gross and fine motor skills. Painting and play-doh are the most do's every day in my house. If she likes to do "crafts" do one a week with her. Sing songs, play make-believe, and read lots of books. I use Before Five in a Row to help me lead into a "teaching time". Again you do not have to printables or worksheets with any of this. This month I'm reading the BFIAR books that have bears. I have extra books on bears, forests, caves, etc. We just talk informally about these things -play act, etc. I also think it is very important to do outside physical activity together, catching/kicking balls, pushing her in a swing, walking together and pointing out things you see, etc. I think the most important thing is to simply spending time having fun, playing games, exploring things and reading together one on one. Again I don't have to worry about olders to keep on schedule, so it's easy for me to say. It may be that in order to get things done, her time with you may have to be sacrificed just make sure that it's not ALWAYS her time that's getting sacrificed. BTW I personally use a lot of printables with my eldest b/c he loves them...my youngest none at all.

Our first week of Pre-K. From A to Z Tot School

Alice in Wonderland. Funny thing is I signed up for the free cousera online class on Fantasy and Science Fiction and it's on the syllabus for next week. I think I think I'm going to buy the Ingpen illustrated edition and have it for a bedtime read aloud now, so I can call it done.

This is Marcia Sommerville response in loaning TOG as posted in the Loose Threads group. I didn't link it as you need to be a member to view it. First of all, when you buy TOG, you do own it. *This is true for your printed copy and for the Loom. *It's true for all Lampstand Products. If you own anything, you can loan it, but there are copyright concerns to note. *I'll try to summarize succinctly below. *(The caps are for emphasis; I'm not yelling at anyone. :-)) * You CAN loan the TOG (all of it) to anyone at any time, but not if you use it simultaneously in any form. *This is the same law as is standard for books, music, software, or whatever. *What is WRONG is loaning or sharing copywritten information WHILE USING IT YOUSELF. Thus, if you own, say, Year 1 and are using Year 2 next year, and you want to loan Year 1 to a friend in the meantime, that's fine. *It works the same as a music CD, which I think most of us understand, or a book. *If you own a book or a music CD, you can use a scanner or a recorder to make a copy for your own use within your own home/car. For instance, I can copy a disc I have onto my computer or my iPod, and use them in different places. *But just as obviously, I will not be using it in two different forms at the same time. *What would be wrong would be for me to make several copies and share them with my college students, who would then listen to them SIMULTANEOUSLY with me during a given day. *It's the same with software: I can't load a program onto my PC and then give it to a friend to load onto her PC and use simultaneously. *But, say I didn't want a program any more for any reason. *I could erase it from my computer and give her the software to use. * The underlying idea, therefore, is that an artist or author is cheated of rightful royalties if two copies of one purchased work are used simultaneously. *But, you are free to loan your property whenever you wish, as long as you ensure that the person to whom you loan materials will not copy and keep them for later simultaneous use.

I believe a saw a post on the yahoo TOG Loose threads group, where Marcia, herself said that gifting a print edition was Ok as long as the original owner deleted all digital off their computers. Iow you can't gift the print copy if you "keep" the digital for yourself. I'll see if I can pull up a link for you.

Well, I'd hate to pressure a busy homeschool mom to write a book in her spare time, but I'd pay more than $15 for one. I think those threads are the only ones I've subscribed to. My dc are only 4 & 2; I wanted to be sure I could find her insight when it came time to tackle science. So yes I'd love a book but I can wait a few years....no pressure from me:D

chesapeake bay gets my vote. I love the water and sailing, plenty of good farmland, fishing and crabbing. Lots of history, cultural activities, and no matter where you are on the bay, big city experiences w/in a couple hours drive. 4 seasons and winter & summer months are more mild than the more northern and southern counterparts. I would probably pick what state based on hs laws. Probably VA, Rappahonic River area.

I use the LOTW program. My boys were gone for a few days so I took the opportunity to print/cut/laminate the whole thing plus some from other sites. It was probably a good 30-35 hrs of work. I bought refilled ink cartridges from this seller on amazon. It was recommended, I was very hesitant. So far I've used about 10 cartridges of black and color and all have been very good. The cost $: 13 for both black and color which are normally $80. I used 4 cartridges to print LOTW and others. I file each letter separately, the week we use it I put different "activities" in work ins and color, do a dot, and letter sheets in his desk. The magnet sheet stays up on the board. He can pick and choose what he wants to do. Some weeks he does some things multiple times, some things not at all. Sometimes I "suggest" some things. I work with him on most of the activities. My younger does what he wants. I'll reuse stuff w/ him later. I didn't use it strictly as is. The lesson plans are great and give ideas beyond the worksheets. But I didn't use them as is, as we are child led at this time. I also mixed mine up with others in theme months. Here's my schedule. Again, we will reuse things. And I hope to be able to give it away when we're done.

This schedule as from a mom whose son had already started AAS when AAR 1 was released. So he had already done steps 1-5 in AAS. She mentioned in another post that her younger dd would start AAR first.