I am using Horizons K with Singapore 1 and finding that it works well. I am waiting for Horizons 1 to arrive and will see how that goes though I have heard that there is a lot of repetition from Horizons K to 1. They seem to revisit the concept every day for a good few days and then every few days and then again later on (though this is just my impression - I haven't gone to look at this too closely) My daughter does well with the spiral approach but I also like that Singapore gives a lot of different methods of approaching a problem.

I like the look of AAR though they are only bringing out level 2 this year so it would not work for us - it is a multi sensory approach to reading and comes with reader books. The pros are that it is a fun programme and very hands on so should work with visual, auditory and hands on children. It can also be used with AAS and you would have to buy minimal components later if you plan to use this spelling programme. OPGTR teaches every phonics rules and the exceptions. I have not used this programme as they suggest with my child as she is more interested in books and reading than doing endless phonics exercises so I just used the word lists and order and got her to do a few words a day and then pointed similar words out to her in the books she was reading or I was reading to her. Because it is a full programme and you only need one book it will work out cheaper, but I do find that it can be boring especially if you do not supplement with readers. OPGTR does have games in it which would add a hands on component though I have not done any with my child.

I would definitely bring out the books. The aim of phonics instruction is after all to get them reading and reading text that is meaningful to them. I also used the OPGTR with my daughter but only did the word lists with her (and like you I wrote these words out much bigger) and then just read books to her where I could point to words that followed that lesson and get her to sound them out or else point out the sound in books she was already reading anyway (she did have some sight words before this though)

I used The OPGTTR to get past cvc words though I never used the book as suggested - I just copied out the lists of words, taught the sounds by giving her a flashcard of the sound we were working on and then got her to read the word lists. Then I reinforced the sounds we were working on by pointing out words in books she was reading or in books I read to her that had that sound in them. It worked well because the majority of the phonics we did was in books she was enjoying anyway. My daughter is starting to spell on her own so I have done nothing about that yet, though I may just use the flashcards I made to teach the sounds to play games with her to get her to spell later - in teaching the phonics I have discovered the spelling rules I never knew as a child.

I think a young child needs to know about time - we teach them today, yesterday, tomorrow before first grade and history is just an expansion on this. SOTW starts with ancient history, but you could also get a first grader to hear stories from his grandparents about how they lived or you could tell him how you grew up differently to today. You could do a unit on dinosaurs or read stories for children written long ago - Beatrix Potter has an enormous amount of history in it (I am not even sure what she is referring to sometimes) You could go to an antique shop and talk about something they see there, find outdated money and talk about that. I do think a first grader needs some access to history, but whether it is a curriculum or just stories or incidental discussions doesn't really bother me. They just need to know the world didn't start the day they were born.

I actually had the same problem growing up with an older sister who was known as the gifted one (and was also accepted at a gifted school overseas at a time we were also aware of what was going on - she was not allowed to go in the end as it was too far to send her) I was also gifted but she was older and therefore also more advanced in many things than I was. We had the same age gap as your children have. Your younger DD is only 7 years old and 7 year olds can change their minds a lot - if you think an activity definitely suits her personality and will be good for her perhaps get her to commit to do it for a certain length of time - and yes, choose something that the older DD has not done or will not do. Your girls may also need something they can work on together and probably without you or any other adult as that way they are working together instead of competing against each other and also they will sort themselves out so that they each have a part to do that will be important - if your 7 year old can see that she is needed by the 10 year old that will also help immensely. Finally as parents be very careful about constantly commenting on the older one's "giftedness" - yes she should have her achievements talked about and encouraged, but life is not just about achievements and performances - having a happy smile or being polite should provide just as much of an enthusiastic response from the people around the 7 year old and her achievements should also be encouraged and raved about. It is less important what others say than it was what you as parents do and say - both your children must feel loved and appreciated by their parents firstly and only later by others. If she is not in the shadows with you then she will feel less in the shadows with others.

Besides sight words and phonics what else are you doing with her? Is she reading any beginner readers that are less phonics based yet - these books contain a large number of the sight words that you are teaching in them so if she is already using these then you would need less review of the words on your wall. If she knows them and has said them faultlessly for 5 days then I would remove them and perhaps look for and stress these words in books you read to her or books she reads herself since this is the point of learning them. With my own daughter I never left more than about 5 words on a wall at any one stage and the ones she didn't know were also removed but cycled back in more frequently.

From what I can tell you would need to move beyond what is available now (at least to AAR2 and possibly beyond that) to get to the level of Sonlight's grade 2 readers. The books for AAR2 are available now and appear to have more advanced phonics in them though I have not looked at them so cannot comment on what level the phonics does go up to nor how long the reading sections are. In its favour I believe that a multi sensory approach to literacy is a good idea, but I have found that my own DD does not like worksheets and just wants to read - so don't add in colouring or drawing - just give her the words and teach her to read them - which is why I have never tried AAR myself.

Thanks for the advice. We did just leave the books with her and this morning she read one to her father and also asked him to help with only a few difficult words so perhaps I was wrong about the difficulty level or she is reading at a higher level than I realised.

My 4.5 year old began reading beginner readers at age 3 and since then we have done some reading together with me picking books for her that she was able to read and then doing shared reading often with me reading a sentence and her then reading the next sentence. She is now reading at about a grade two level though not reading independently as she does not have the stamina to read a full book by herself unless it is a short book below the level she can read at. Today however we received some books in the mail that are beyond her reading level (Usborne level 4 and also series 1 and 2 books) She asked me to read them to her and I did but then I found that she was trying to read them to herself and they are beyond her reading level. Also tonight at bedtime when we usually do the shared reading I asked her to pick one of two books to read with me and she picked a third book that again was beyond her level and she insisted she would read half the book with me. After struggling through two pages I told her we would stop as it was a bit too difficult at which she insisted she could do it and did so with some help from me. I am worried that she will frustrate herself if she continues to pick books where I have to keep helping her so much (I know the rule where she should be able to read about 95% of the text herself) but at the same time she is being very insistent on picking a book she likes rather than one she can read with ease. What should I do?

My daughter (4.5 years) is also due to start K next year but like your DS is also advanced in reading and has only just started to write a little. They said somewhere that writing should only commence when the child starts drawing pictures that show some detail (people with good face detail for example) but I found that the two seem to be linked in more ways as my DD started both almost simultaneously - I introduced writing to her and within a week she was drawing in detail. I also started her writing by teaching the numbers first as there are fewer of them to learn and 0,1, 7 and 10 and very easy and she likes Math. Because she is so young I only teach her to write two or three short words a day and she prefers to write a single word than loads of the same letter (perhaps because of the early reading) I have also started her writing in a book with no lines so am only teaching letter formation - when she has that down I will introduce lines - and yes the writing looks all wiggly and messy, but she is learning the letter formation and I will fix the rest later when we start with lines. I am also doing most of the writing for her and doing many activities that do not require any writing at all. And while she is using pencil and paper I still do a lot of pre writing activities with her as mentioned by many posters above. I have not put my DD on any set K curriculum - her reading and phonics is fine, we are using Singapore for Math and have just started some MEP as a change and writing I am teaching myself though I hear that HWOT is a good one to use. And besides that I am just using living books to teach science, geography, history etc and doing hands on activities whenever possible. If you are reading lots to your son then you are doing this already too. I would perhaps just look at something for kindergarten Math.

My daughter is a little younger than your child but we also had to work through fluency issues lately and will have to again possibly a few times as her reading level advances. Because she is younger I got her to read through nursery rhymes as they have a rhythm to them that lends itself to fluent reading - the same can be said of reading songs for older children. She would read the nursery rhyme in the morning as practice for reading it to her Dad when he came home. He thought she may have memorised it so tested her on individual words and she knew them all out of context too. I also let her read books that she had heard many times and she read books multiple times too though she isnt very fond of doing this. Her fluency improved within a week and I only see her reverting to slow word for word reading now when the book is slightly too difficult for her. I also used stories with many exclamation marks and direct speech in them and if she read it slowly I asked how the character might actually say the lines and got her to repeat it with expression. I also agree that you probably should not go back to basic cvc readers as these books are usually not the most exciting reading and can frustrate a child who can read further than this. Rather go for slightly easier books but not necessarily phonetically based than he can read now and repeat them often.

I have been using SM 1 with my 4.5 year old and have added in MEP recently so was interested in seeing how it works for others. She enjoys both though spends a lot of time after doing the worksheet in MEP painting and colouring and drawing pictures all over it. She is getting the concepts so I am not too bothered if the worksheet is covered in diagrams afterwards. Because she is young we just take things at her pace and don't even do math everyday, but she seems to like having things that are so different to work with.

I do not know what Ethiopia is like but know that many of the children adopted from Southern African countries can be severely malnourished and have other issues that need addressing first. I would probably first determine how healthy the child is and perhaps visit the doctor to pick up on any issues that need addressing. After that I would put the child on a really good diet, give him/her plenty of time to adjust to a new routine - things like bathing every night, story time at bedtime, three meals a day with snacks, the things we think are all part of a normal routine may need to be learnt depending where the child comes from. And then plenty of cuddles, time playing and getting used to toys in quantities the child has probably never seen before and speaking to him/her as much as possible before any formal homeschooling occurs. She could also adopt some form of education like tot school (www.1plus1plus1equal1.blogspot.com) if she is intent on teaching the child as this is all play based and she can assess where he/she is more easily.

My DD, age 4.5 is using both Singapore 1a/b and Horizons. The two approaches are totally different (Singapore is mastery based and Horizons is a spiral approach) which means we do cover topics in parallel with Horizons while mastering others with Singapore. She likes having two different approaches - one is fun and colourful and the other I use a lot of manipulatives with it. She is doing Horizons K rathar than 1 as she needed practice writing her numerals. Yes they need a basis to work on, but sometimes approaching a new topic keeps their interest more and motivates them to master the older topic.

I know that where I live that would be just fine as the elementary years are all about reading and math. And if you are reading aloud to them plenty then that could count as all the other subjects too anyway. Maybe just check the requirements for where you live and figure out what can work. I am now working two mornings a week so our schedule is also a bit crazy - I try to keep to reading and math every day and then just fit in whatever we can when we can and I also am schooling all year round because of it.

My DD, 4 years old, is also doing Singapore 1a/b though I have no idea what grade level we are doing as she is all over the place and is reading at a second or third grade reading level but has only just begun to form letters and science we take from all sorts of programmes for any of the elementary grades. I usually just see how she is coping and decide things on the spur of the moment depending what is working - so whether we will move to Singapore 2a/b I will probably only decide as she reaches the end of book 1b, but I have also been using Horizons K with Singapore 1a (I know its an odd combination but it works for her because she needed a lot of practice writing the numbers) so I would also advise maybe using two curricula.

I probably would provide more challenging reading material though there does come a point where they know enough to decode anything but have not yet got the stamina or the comprehension to get so much from the book and then you just need to pick the books based on content rather than challenge level. My DD at 4.5 years old is also reading Sonlight's grade 2 books, but she definitely does not have the stamina to read the whole book so I only do shared reading with her. We started doing The Beginner's Bible recently and I found that it works best for me to read her the stories first and then when I was about 10 stories in I let her start reading the ones we had already read and discussed. So she now gets two stories a day - one I read her and then she reads one of the older ones. That way I am sure she can comprehend it and knowing the story also makes it easier for her to work only on a few words she must decode.