I wouldn't feel bad--sometimes a dose of how it might be handled otherwise can make a child more appreciative!

We've always called that "Mom Time" or "Time with Mom." We didn't move to a single time per day until they were a bit older--instead we usually did 2-3 shorter times. (Going over corrections in every subject in one chunk would have been too much for my kids to learn effectively, but maybe your daughter will be fine with that). When both of my kids needed 2-3 times, I alternated. I started our day together with some kind of reading aloud (history, Bible etc...), and sent one to do an independent subject while I went over 1-3 subjects with the other. When we did move to one daily time, I still did them in the morning. I tend to lose steam by late afternoon & they would want to play, so that time didn't work out for us. I would do corrections sometime in the evening and then go over it with them the next day. They could correct anything that needed correcting and then go on to their next lesson. I mention this just to say that you may find 2-3 shorter times around the twins' schedule may work at certain times (especially if your daughter is one who may need occasional TLC from mom--8 is still young though I know she'll seem so old next to the babies!). Just be flexible and see what works--try the one but if she needs more, do a couple of other "touch bases" as needed. I always found things to encourage--like you said, seeing that tricky math problem that they solved, or noticing a clever or cute way of saying something for writing etc... My kids always liked telling me about books they were reading, so that was usually an encouraging time too. Hot cocoa, snacks etc... could be nice for her "tea time" with mom :-). Even if it's something healthier like fruit or carrot sticks and dip, snacks are usually appreciated! Congratulations on your twins coming!

Something you can do with a phase 2 resistant child--Write numbers and circle them (ie 1, 2, 3....) above each step in multi-step instructions, and then say to him, "Some of these problems have more than one step to them, so you have to be really careful reading the instructions. I marked the steps. Put a check mark by the number after you read each one and are sure you understand it." Also as a precursor to stage 3, I asked my kids to silently read the instructions and put a number above each step. You could have him show you that or do that while you sit on the couch--then if he doesn't number a step, treat it like phase 1, read it to him and explain. The explaining issues sounds like a student who has either some working memory or expressive language issues. (Could also be executive functioning issues--it's hard to know how to order the steps in his mind.) You might work on having him explain easier things (retelling what he did at a friend's house--something with less pressure) to work on this (although I'll admit that sometimes even that kind of explaining/retelling created stress for one of mine who struggled with this). Ask him what he might think of a compromise--he can read the instructions and then do one problem to show he understands before moving on. Or, ask him to read the instructions to you, but then decide if he would like to be the explainer that day or if he would like you to be the explainer. See if there are ways to break down phase 2 that are more palatable for him. I used the frustration/throw pencil stuff as a learning tool--not in the moment when they are angry, but later on. "I know you don't like to read instructions to me, but when you don't, sometimes you miss things and then you get really upset. You aren't supposed to be able to do everything on your own yet, though I know you want to." Then ask him to brainstorm solutions with you. How could you both approach his work differently that might be a better fit for his learning style and result in less frustration days? Part of me does wonder if Right Start isn't a strong match for his learning style. My oldest needed a lot of modeling and direct, incremental teaching. Maybe it skips some of those steps or hopes students will discover them on their own. It took me a few curriculum tries before realizing that various "discovery-oriented" types of programs didn't work here (and in fact made my oldest feel set up to fail).

If you ordered from their website within the last year, it's returnable. Some kids need lots different ways of practicing and reviewing; others don't :-).

When my kids were this age, we were transferring more work to independence, and using more of a "tutoring time" model. I would check their work, and then we would spend about 30-45 minutes going over corrections, and then discussing various subjects (history one day, science the next, reader the next, that sort of thing). Lighter correction days left us more time for discussions. One of mine had 2 one on one times at this age rather than one. The other still liked me to read history aloud. Both also had direct teaching for spelling--so about 1-1.5 hours total. That doesn't include our evening read-aloud time, which we still do.

Doesn't sound weird to me at all. Sounds like you have a wonderful relationship with your son and will miss him.

I do think the AAS way is easier to remember.

We used it. I was disappointed in it. It was a good starting place (taking a couple of practice tests), and you are able to easily see what they got wrong, and why a different answer is correct. So, going through the tests and discussing the questions was worthwhile. The "personalized" study aspect of it was basically just a generic checklist to go do read some test tips. Not at all what I was expecting/hoping for. I ended up having a friend tutor my son for several weeks and go through a test prep book, and that was much more helpful--raised his score several points in most subjects. The other thing is, the online prep has online tests--and unless your testing center is going to use that format (I don't know if any do--ours doesn't), then it is a different experience than having to read in a book and then find the right row of bubbles and fill in the answer. That sounds easy enough, but certain kids will find the computer experience decidedly easier than the paper experience where they can get off track, forget things as they transfer back and forth, etc... I might do it again when my dd does ACT as a starting point to see how she might score, but I won't be thinking it will replace someone actually working through test prep with her.

I had my dd spend an hour a day on it. Near the end of the year she was through 13 modules. I gave her the option of doing one more module completely or just reading the rest of the book (no tests/experiments). She wanted to "finish" so she read the rest. I'm fine as long as my kids do about 80% of the book. The modules are really full.

You can do things to structure the environment more that can help: Make sure no electronics, pleasure-reading materials, and other distractions are available until after school. Find out what distracts in her environment--things in room, messy room, windows to stare out of, white noise, lack of white noise, hearing other siblings, working in her own room, sitting vs. laying down... evaluate everything and then create a more conducive learning environment. Structure with schedule/routine: Set time deadlines for each subject. Map it all out for her, including lunch break (not so much time of day, but how long each class takes, and how long overall. Then you can say, "So if you start by 10, you should be done by 4" or whatever.) Show her in black and white so she can see exactly how her day should run. Then let her know that there's no electronics etc... until her scheduled free-time--unless she has homework to do. The hard part is enforcing. Get her started, and let her know she needs to finish by x o'clock or X-thirty etc... Go check on her at that time. Anything not done is homework. (If my kids were close to finishing, I'd give 5-10 more minutes, but that's it.) Move to next subject. Get her started...and so on. Then, at the end of her day, announce that school is done and it's free time--unless she has homework. At our house, homework was done at the kitchen table (which had non-comfy chairs). Letting school drag all day is too abstract, even for this age. Showing them concretely that they could be having fun and enjoying their pursuits instead of doing homework can really help. HOWEVER: I will say that girls are notoriously underdiagnosed for ADHD, and it's worth looking into that possibility. Inability to focus on some things, even if she has a great ability to focus on others is a strong symptom. In other words, if she has ADHD...you can accommodate, structure, and help things improve, but you need to understand that this may not be her fault (may not be within her ability to control), and whether accommodations/structure help enough is something you'll need to evaluate. Breaking things down into doable parts, making time for exercise and outside/green time, some protein at meals are all helpful things too. Get her involved in evaluating what distracts her and conversely when she finds it easier to focus/concentrate.

Long and kind of confusing. I would use letter tiles or write on a white board and demonstrate. Talk her through each part with a concrete demonstration. Then ask her to demonstrate the concept back to you, explaining what she can. Let her work on this over a week until she really understands and can say it back to you. Could be a working memory constraint (that's a LONG sentence, on top of being kind of convoluted phrasing, to try to repeat for that age). I'm sure some kids can do it. My dd struggled with working memory at that age and would take many repetitions over a week to memorize Bible verses. But even without a working memory issue, I think one day just isn't enough time for a lot of kids to remember all that.

No, when I originally posted, the poll wasn't live yet. I'll vote now!

Ha! For kicks, I ran it through the Flesch-Kincaid check in MS Word, and it says it's grade 13.7! (I think the long sentences bump the grade level up in that rating system...still!)

Read and comprehend to some level, I'd say 5th or 6th grade. Really comprehend, more like 8th. But seriously, this should be something the parent signs. Who talks about turning a kid into a collection agency? That's pretty ridiculous. They should tell parents that by letting their kids have a library card, they are assuming all responsibility including....all that verbiage.

Sonlight worked really well for us. We enjoyed cores B, C, D, and E. B and C are chronological world history, just not 4 years. (We actually did B and C over 3 years total, so we did stretch some). We did F but that one has an unusual approach--some love it, some don't. We enjoyed the books but not the overall approach of this one. When we went to G & H, I did a 4-year history for my youngest, and a 3-year history for my oldest. I used books from Sonlight cores G, H, 200 and 300 for those rotations (kind of our own eclectic mix). Both also did a year of US history for high school (SL 100), a semester of government with some of the 400 books, and a semester social studies elective along with some British Lit/630. There are all kinds of ways of doing things. I loved the 4 year WH my youngest and I did together, and wish I had gone straight to that instead of doing Core F, after we finished US history with Sonlight E. I could have woven in the F books with world history too. We almost always enjoy or at least appreciate the books Sonlight picks for readers and read-alouds. Many of the history books have worked, while other times I subbed in different books (which is part of why we went eclectic for that 2nd history rotation). Some people stretch out B and C for a 4-year rotation, then do D & E, then another 4 year rotation, and so on. There are lots of ways to make it work if you want to hold closer to a 4 year rotation.

My daughter won a subscription to the site one year, and she enjoyed it. I basically let her "unschool" science--she could watch the videos, read the text online, try the experiments--she just had to tell me what she needed ahead of time. I asked her to work for 30-45 minutes per day (she was in 7th grade that year) and to journal in her science notebook at least once a week. She also got an idea for her science fair project from the site that year. It was fun and she really enjoyed it for that year, but she felt she had looked at all the things that interested her most and wanted something more structured the next year. (Here's a review I did in Feb. of that year, when we were still considering it for the next year--didn't end up going that way). If you are looking at the site subscription, I would do one of the monthly trials first and see if it will work for your family. I think she sometimes does free monthly trials. It's kinda confusing to find your way around at first--I was happy to turn it over to my dd and say "go for it." Anyway, I do think you could use it for different grades, and each would participate to their level of interest.

I always see lots of MSB books at our homeschool used curriculum sales--that's where I got ours (and covered those that needed TLC!)

Measure the height of the largest book you want to cover, add at least 2" (1 for each edge), and that will be a good size for you. I've bought different sizes depending on the books I wanted to cover. I don't know how the slit-spine ones work--they didn't have that type out when I was purchasing (it's been a few years!) so I never got to try that. One time I bought the 16 1/2 X 400--I had a number of oversized books to cover. Another time I got the 12 1/2 by 400, which was good for most books I wanted to cover.

What you need is vernon reddi-roll (from vernon library supplies). This is 5ml thick, library grade laminate. It's amazing, wonderful stuff and has saved many a book, and restored a number of my childhood favorites as well. (Yes, it's better than contact paper!)

The questions/form I use are linked on my blog here.

I would totally do it if it works well. My plan was always to combine (we combined history and science throughout elementary), but I have kids 2 years apart, 1 boy, 1 girl, and the oldest (boy) did want to separate--first for science (7th) then for history (8th). We kept Bible and read-alouds together throughout. We did end up combining some subjects again later--history 2 years, science (biology) 1 year, Lit one year, Grammar 1 year, speech one year (co-op). Their interests are very different though, so that with the age spread did make working separately easier a lot of the time.

Grammar lessons are included up through level 6. There are optional grammar lessons in level 7 (but I never looked at them).

My dd is trying out this one this year!

One thing you can do with stories--incorporate a reading buddy (like a favorite puppet, stuffed animal or doll, or just yourself). On the first day, one reads even pages & the other reads odds. Switch the second day, and let her try it on her own the third day. I agree that there's a lot you can do with the cards to get more practice in--this post on the AALP forum includes game ideas for the cards, and also ways to make the fluency pages more enjoyable.

LOL!