Thanks for the information! I think that we will keep plugging along as we have been. We have been reading the Bob books and we just got some Pathway readers this weekend, so sounds like we are on track with what you both are suggesting. But it's nice to get the reassurance! Thanks again! :001_smile:

Hi there, I am using Phonics Pathways and ETC for my DC. It's working pretty well -- I think that PP is helping with eye tracking and I like the workbook style of ETC. And DC are enjoying it. But for DS I feel like he's at the point where the two curriculum don't align (working on ending blends in PP and beginning blends in ETC book 2). I'm not sure whether to follow one then try to do similar exercises in the other, or just keep working on these separate tracks figuring that they'll converge at some point. And if one was the "main" curriculum, which one would you suggest? DS is doing just OK with reading, picking things up rather slowly, so that's why I'm reassessing. TIA!

I'm going against the grain from most of what you are hearing here... but for my DS who has fine motor delays, he did better with learning upper case first, then lower case. That is the way that Handwriting Without Tears does it (the curriculum was developed by an OT), and it worked well for him. Upper case letters are easier to form and they usually "face" the same way, so you have fewer issues with reversals. That said, my DD learned several upper case letters (mostly for names), but then she completed the ETC A,B,C books which is all lower case, so for many of her letters she did lower case first, without any real issues. Now we are going through the HWT K book and she will learn (or re-learn) upper case, then lower case again.

Dark chocolate covered raisins. :001_smile:

My DD and DS weigh the same and wear the same size. DD takes after my linebacker-built DH and DS is very lean like I was as a child. Both eat well, and though the dr says to feed DS more ice cream and high fat foods, when it's time for a sweet treat, DD is the one who wants the ice cream and DS is fine with a popsicle (no fat in that). DS has allergies that limit some of his food options (including no eggs or peanuts), but usually he'd prefer veggies (raw and no dressing or butter) or fruit to most foods anyway. I worry that he's not getting everything that he needs from his food and wish that he would fill out a little more (he's 75% in height but only 20% in weight).

My family was at a festival and my 6 year old started to wander off. I watched him walk away from us and he wouldn't respond to my calls. When I caught up to him, he said that he just wanted to find out where that cord went (an electrical cord snaked along the ground). He wasn't trying to be bad, he just "had" to follow it! I try to meet him where he is, but I was also hoping that he would outgrow these tendencies. But perhaps I should rethink that. ETA -- One thing that helps a little is making sure to tell DS what I want him to do, rather than not do. For example, use walking feet (instead of don't run), keep the stick down (instead of don't swing the stick), etc. This is tricky for me, sometimes I need to "translate" in my head what I should say, but it does help to a certain extent.

The market has really changed in most places. My mom just listed her home (she just remarried and moved in with her new DH). But she's asking what she paid for it a year ago + cost of fixing it up, rather than pricing it competitively for today's market. In the end, I'm afraid that she'll end up worse off by having a property that lingers on the market (never a good situation) and costs $1000/mo for mortgage, etc. I hate to try to be a voice of reason, and I really wish her (and you!) all the best, but please remember that a house is only worth what someone will pay for it. :grouphug:

For me as a newbie, I like to buy used curriculum so I can check it out -- what I joke is my "catch and release" habit (I did the same thing with cloth diapers and baby carriers, lol!). Some stays, some moves along via ebay, but either way I feel like I'm making more informed decisions by reviewing the actual curriculum. I've put my shopping (mostly) on hold -- I'm really looking forward to my first hs conference in a couple weeks where I'll be able to look at stuff without purchasing it first.

This has become the summer of Parcheesi for my DC -- and now both my 6 and 4 yo know most of their math facts up to 6+6, no coercion involved. :)

I voted >5 books, but then I realized that most of what I'm calling "discipline" are really child development books. For me, gaining a better understanding of child development has led to a better way of gentle disciplining my DC (at least I like to think so) -- and is much different from the way I was raised. Since I didn't want to raise my DC the way I was brought up, the books have been invaluable. That said, I haven't finished many of these types of books, just perused for what I needed at the moment.

Scrapbooks? I don't have the baby books done yet! My first two DC's baby books contain a snip of hair, and that's about it. I never even bought a baby book for DC #3. :blush: My kids are doomed, lol!

Krista, that it too funny! We have an aim issue at our home, too, especially with those nighttime trips to the potty. We don't have room for a urinal in the kids bathroom, but I'd get one if we did! :lol:

We haven't begun paying an allowance -- so take this with a grain of salt, lol -- but when we start this fall I plan to pay based on age (I like the quarter per year formula). I agree with you, as a member of our family, each child is expected to contribute to the workings of the household, so I wouldn't tie allowance to expected chores. However, I might have a list of extra chores that could be done for extra money, if one of my DC wanted to buy something special. But again, I haven't BTDT, so I might change my mind. I think that before you set an allowance, you should think about what you want the child to use it for and what you want the child to learn from the experience. Then you can figure out what would be an appropriate amount. Best wishes!

I usually just pay what is being asked, but depending on the circumstances I might try for a bit of a discount. For example, I just asked someone who was selling many items on the sale board what she would charge for the whole lot (or part of the lot as it turned out because some things had already sold). She took off a few dollars, but was able to sell the rest of her things -- and I got a great deal. :)

Thanks, everyone, for all your thoughts and advice. That's why I love this board, for all the varied opinions. Since DS doesn't seem to be too frustrated, I think that we'll keep moving along, but more slowly, and probably spend more time with PP. But I'm going to back off my plan for trying to get "X" amount done this summer, and meet him where he is instead of pushing it. Thanks again!

Thank you for the input! :) Sarah, to answer your questions... when DS sounds out a word like "stop," he knows that he just read stop. Phonics Pathways especially has helped with this. And, yes, he can sound out new blends that he hasn't yet been taught, and recognize the word. And he knows all the basic sounds and some of the "extra" sounds (eg, c says k or s). So, part of me feels, from what you suggested, that he'd be fine to continue adding blends. But there are a couple blends that he stumbles over or guesses, or perhaps reverses the letters or adds a letter from the end of a word (eg, slip becomes spill) -- until I prompt him to start with the first letter, what does that letter say, etc. Sometimes he'll do the blend fine on one word, then miss it on the next. He has the most trouble with blends that have an "L" in them, probably because that's a letter he struggles to say (he's in speech therapy). So, would this suggest to you (or anyone else?!), that he needs extra support with blending before we add more blends? I like the penny game, too! Thanks!!

I'm having a problem with 6 yo DS and phonics. As way of background... we started by using Phonics Pathways over 2 years ago and worked on short vowel sounds for at least a year. For his K year we added consonants and now he consistently knows all of his basic sounds. PP was moving slowly (and getting a little boring), so I added ETC books a few months ago which DS loves. It gives him a real sense of accomplishment to complete a page (we usually do 2 a day to work through a lesson in a week). Right now we are on ETC Book 2 (initial consonant blends) and slowly working through PP (on page 59 which covers endling consonant blends). We sometimes jump to the PP pages that cover the initial blend we are working on, too, for more practice. Handwriting is a struggle, so we don't do a lot of spelling practice, except orally. My question is -- DS knows his basic sounds and the consonant blends that he's covered so far when he reads single words, but when it's time to put words together in sentences, he starts guessing. It's like a brain block when he sees all those letters at one time. We use a piece of paper to cover part of the page so he can concentrate on only one line at a time. And if I slow him down and ask "what does A say?", he'll say the correct sound and we can eventually work through a word. But I'm wondering, should we pause in adding new blends until he has more fluency with what he already knows? Or should we keep adding blends because in isolation he gets them, figuring that fluency will come with more practice? Thanks in advance for your help!!! I'm starting to get a little frustrated, so I knew it was time for some "hive" advice!!! :001_smile:

Hi there, I just bought a RightStart B kit for my 6 yo. We'll be using it this summer and part-time after that (he is in ps). The question I have is what to do for my 4 yo DD. When I took the RS placement test, she actually placed in level B, but it seems pretty advanced for her. She loves to do school and has worked through almost all of the ETC A-C books. We are using Phonics Pathways and will be starting ETC 1 in later this month. I'm wondering if I should just let her follow along with her big brother (get her a workbook so she could do the writing, too) or buy the level A books for her. I'm sure that they will want to play games together (they are hooked on Parcheesi right now). I read that everything that is covered in A is also covered in B, just at a faster pace. I want her to have a positive experience, just not sure how to best make that happen. TIA!

Thank you everyone for your insights! Interesting that no one thought it would be a bad idea. I've gone ahead and ordered the level B kit for my rising 1st grader. I like the idea of working below grade level so it's easier and fun for him -- so if we need to, we'll do A instead, then both DC would be on the same level. Thanks again!! :001_smile:

Hi there! My DS is in ps, just finishing up kindergarten. We've been working on phonics and handwriting at home, but I'd like to start with math, too, especially during the summer. I really like the sound of RightStart, but the main hesitation I have is that it will likely be very different from the methodology of teaching math at his school. In one way that is good, but I'm wondering if it would be confusing for him going back and forth. I was planning to go through the whole curriculum, but I guess I could just do the games. I plan to use RightStart for my DD who will likely be "officially" homeschooled. Any thoughts on this? TIA!

Hi there, I have been reading TWTM boards for a few weeks now and have noticed that many of you use Sonlight. I'm just wondering, since Sonlight doesn't follow a traditional classical education format, how you make it work (or not) for a classical education. Just trying to wrap my head around how this works... TIA!

Thanks for all of the input... I really appreciate all the help that I can get!

Hi there, I am trying to figure out which math and LA curriculum to use for my just turned 4 yo dd. Her big brother is in K this year -- he's in ps + "before-schooling" with handwriting (HWT) and phonics (ETC). Before he started K, we worked through about 2/3 of Saxon K. My DD has always loved to sit at the table with us to do school, so she is pretty advanced for her age. She asked for workbooks to do phonics with her brother, and in about 2 months is almost done with the 3 Explore the Code books (she already knew her letters and sounds, I just wanted to fill in any gaps and have her practice writing lower case letters). She'll be starting the regular ETC series in June. On average, she probably spends a couple hours daily at the table, doing art, writing, making cards, etc. So, I'd like to add a math and maybe a LA curriculum for DD. I've read Ruth Beechick's 3 mini-books for K-3, and build in math and LA into our daily lives, including lots of books, crafts, gardening, games, etc. For example, we are journaling about our garden (measuring plants, writing about what we see, and drawing pictures), and I just taught DS and DD to play parcheesi. But I think she is ready for and would really enjoy something a little more formal. For math, I like the idea of RightStart (I consider myself to be pretty good at math, but I've learned some things just from reviewing their site). Do they have some worksheets for level A? I'm considering Saxon just because we have most of the stuff, but the lessons are very short for K and they jump around so much that it'd be trickier to just add the next lesson (or two) to expand the day's work, plus no worksheets. Abeka looks like it might be a good fit for both math and LA, but I haven't seen their materials and don't want to overlap with what we already use for handwriting and phonics. Also not sure if she did Abeka, whether she would start at k-4 or k-5? Also considering "Peak with Books" for LA. Our local homeschooling curriculum conference isn't until mid-July, but I'm getting impatient and really want to start something NOW. One other thing, I'll probably use the same curriculum for my DS in the summer. He is working on grade level. TIA for any thoughts about what I wrote or other suggestions for us! I'm all ears!!! :bigear: ________________ Amy, Mama to DS 6 - in ps, before-schooling with ETC and HWT, lots of books and games, my nature lover DD 4 - ETC, lots of books and games, my artist DS born 8/07 - taking it all in