I use the tests as a review. I give them the test and they have a week to complete it. In the lower levels my kids have chosen to do it all on one day. They take more time in the upper levels, so my kids will do a page or two a day until they are done. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Office Depot has a decent one...the paper is thin and the coil seemed a bit small, but it was colorful and 'pretty.' It might be worth checking out.

Would you mind sharing which roll exactly you buy? There are so many options! Thanks!

Has anyone followed up HWOT with another program that uses slant? My two older daughters used ZB with good results. My son, who is a rising 3rd grader, has terrible print penmanship and doesn't care much for handwriting instruction/practice. I'm considering using HWOT this year as an introduction to cursive as I think he would like the approach better than what we've done.

When I taught public school (about 15 years ago), I used a Star Trek theme in my classroom. 'To boldly go where no class has gone before' was on a banner above the board. Each day when my students left, I stood by the door and gave each of them a 'Spock High Five' and I'd say "Live long and prosper." I credit my dad for my being a Trekkie. :)

Thank you SO much! I have a hard time with the bar models myself, but have seen how much they're helping my daughter visualize the problems...they're getting more complex and with 4 other kids keeping us company and *helping* when I'm doing math with her, it's a bit tricky to concentrate at times. THANK YOU!!!

My sleep-deprived, mommy brain cannot, for the life of me, explain how to solve the following problem using bar models. This is from the Singapore Primary Mathematics Level 5A book. I have been sick for the past month and with a teething, croupy baby I am struggling to keep on top of my kids' school work. Please help!!! Thank you in advance for any and all help you can provide! "Susan and Monica have $186 altogether. Monica and Ruth have $372 altogether. Ruth has 4 times as much as Susan. How much does Susan have?"

20 years!?!?! Wow! I'm only in my second year, and am seriously considering returning them to PS. I know it has A LOT to do with being in my first trimester and feeling icky all of the time...this baby does not like chocolate one little bit. I think that may be the problem. ;)

What a beautiful space! I dream of having a daylight basement some day! Maybe a table like you see "HERE" would work. Put some glass on top for durability, perhaps? If you do searches for 'craft room' on pinterest, you get a bunch of ideas as well. I'd definitely throw a couch in too...there are just some days when I just want to snuggle up on the couch with my kiddos. Would you mind sharing your paint colors? I'm in 'color choosing mode' for repainting right now. ;)

I like to have the different widths for each of my kids and will print out 20 or so pages at a time from the Zaner-Bloser FontsOnline Program. You just select the grade level at the right and then the "Blank Page with guidelines" and print. I am intrigued about the quality/heft of the paper from Amazon as well as Office Depot...I once ordered paper directly from Zaner-Bloser and was disappointed it was newsprint, which I really don't care for. Could someone who has some chime in, please?

My vote is definitely on the 'fun' side of things. Last fall we drove from UT to North Carolina, Virginia, and Pennslyvania before heading back with our 4 (3, 6, 7, and 9 at the time). We did stay in hotels instead of camping because we had to get to the East Coast by a certain date, and once we factored in the stops along the way, we weren't arriving at our destinations until VERY late at night. That and it was getting pretty chilly at night. I wanted to ensure we had a good night's sleep so we could travel safely.We pretty much stay with one chain so we can earn points. I don't think we'll try the camping thing until my youngest is at least a few years older. We have family out east so we had a nice 3 week stop on the east coast , and while still driving between locations, it wasn't nearly as much driving, so we had a break in between the 'cross country' drives. We're doing it again in June and my kids can't wait! We'll take a slightly different route and see new things along the way. It has been an amazing opportunity for my kids to see things I saw for the first time with them...Gettysburg, the St. Louis Arch, etc. Loved it! Oh yes...I wouldn't count on it curing the 'screen time' thing if you have portable devices. We limit it by giving them 'tickets' for every 60 miles and they get to trade in the 'ticket' for screen time, a special snack, etc. We didn't watch a single movie on the way out east though. That was a HUGE victory for me. Audio books were a great distraction as well. They could still see the scenery, but have something to pass the endless miles.

So, as a first time homeschooler with a K, 2nd and 4th grader, what size(s) would you recommend?I don't know if I want to deal with the bulk of a big 3" binder (which aren't on sale), but would love to have something to hold everything together for the major subjects...as mentioned in TWTM. I realize this is a hard question to answer, but I'd really like to take advantage of this sale...and yes, it is available online!

Thanks for the book ideas...my library has the Hennessey book and I just placed a hold on it!

:bigear: Anyone? I'm also interested in what you may have to offer in ways of suggestions of one versus the other. The thing I like most about these are the books used with them. I just can't seem to choose one over the other for my kids.

Thank you for the clarification!