My kindergardener can already after one semester add up Yahtzee points for the Upper Section as quickly as I can.

I am actually asking about this as a high school English teacher. My sons are 5 and 3 and not ready for Grammarly yet. Have any of you used it? What do you think of it? I am currently using a free trial for my students' research papers. It seems like it could be quite helpful to them and me. I am looking for pros and cons to the program. I certainly value the opinions of most home school moms over the opinions of most high school teachers.

No, I certainly did not think that one person should raise the children. Once in one of my low level classes I was looking over the class rosters of students when a young lady in one of the low level classes was standing at my desk. She said something like, "Look Mr. Antey," and pointed out that most of the students in the advanced class roster had parents with the same last names, while most of the students in the low class had parents with different last names. Most people have an intuitive idea of this seeming truism, but it was like an epiphany that day because it was so clearly evident on those class rosters. I think two parent families are the most optimal and that within that dynamic, Mom at home is the most optimal of the most optimal. If my wife earned 250 thousand a year we might reconsider, but I can tell you I have nowhere near the acumen that she does to do the job she is doing in our home taking care of me and our boys. Some moms including single moms, moms with disabled husbands, husbands who are less employable than wives, etc. are limited in their choices and can do a great job of raising their children. I have seen it many times.

Not too many years ago, it was common sense that the best possible family dynamic included a mother in the home raising her own children. I believe women should have the same choices as men have for careers. However, I think that women should seriously reconsider an outside career if they choose to have young children. My mother did day care in our home, and I witnessed first hand the disconnect between many of these kids and their mothers. I am a public school teacher and can say that most of us know that SAHM is the best situation whether our polictics will allow us to admit it or not. I think Jesus' mother stayed home with Him. Look, many of these women feel guilty about NOT staying at home with their children and many WOULDN'T BE ABLE TO HANDLE THE JOB FOR A MONTH. I tell my wife that I have no interest taking her job. Some outside mothers balance their family responsibilities well, but I still think it is common sense that their kids would benefit from a Mommy at home. Most mothers in two parent families who claim that the have to work to make ends meet are not being honest. Most of these mothers work to afford the types of luxuries they want and really can't handle raising their own children.

Thanks Jennifer and Kim.

It's probably git er done math for now. Kindergarten math can't have too much variety can it?

Well you know I'm not really sure of what I mean by phonics either. Thanks to both of you on the spelling thing. My wife is certainly interested in scripting in this her first year. What are cc users using out there?

Hello moms, We posted something on here and got great advice and have tentatively decided on a couple of things and are desperately seeking advice on a couple of other things. We are going to visit the local Classical Conversations group on Wednesday. My wife and are interested in this. Our sons will be 6 and 4 in July before the classes start. We plan to enroll the 6 but aren't going to do any formal stuff with the 4. We are very interested in the classical model, believe in memorization, believe that God should be the focus of education, and Julie really seeks help in curriculum as we start. The woman we talked to said we would need to follow our own la and math programs. I've asked about this before but now that we've decided to get started am going to ask again. Nicholas was taught to read before he tuned 4 with the 100 ez lessons book. He is a voracious reader and reads and comprehends the niv, lhonthep, etc. He has had no formal type of reading lessons since he was 3. We want to use a phonics program, but as I look over the options, k and 1St curricula are below his level, so we don't really know we're to jump in. He doesn't need alphabet and knows many blends and diphthongs intuitively but needs to start systematically studying those things. I am a hs teacher, so money is certainly a factor, but we are willing to sacrifice. What are some possibilities on la curriculum and math? Thanks ladies. Nick

Our 5 year old learned to read when he was 3 with 100 ez. We don't know the other.

Hey thanks. So it sounds like many people would suggest to put off the formal phonics curriculum until 1st grade. If he were going to school, he would enter K this year, so we probably are going to go with a less formalized approach this year. My wife is very interested in scribing for him. He loves to learn about all kinds of stuff, and I think seeing his own words on paper might motivate him to want to be able to do it himself. I think his biggest issue is that he is not talented in making letters (my own writing is, was, and will always be ugly), and is kind of a perfectionist, so it frusrates him. Julie taught him how to read out of the book called How to Read in 100 Easy Lessons when he was 3. Since then, we haven't had any formal lessons, but I am certainly a believer in phonics. What kind of phonics programs are out their. My wife really liked the 100 easy lessons book because of the scritping. Are their scripted phonics curricula out there? We are still trying to decode the abbreviations on this sight. I haven't gotten a chance to navigate through all 5 pages. DD seems to be daughter and DS son, but what does the first D stand for?

Is there a key to decipher the abbreviations?

Thanks for aloof the good advice. One of you said about the reading material being too much for sensitive child. Nick read the lion the witch and the wardrobe to us and really liked it but had some bad dreams. Some of the scenes in milo and Otis are too intense for him. What are your opinions on starting as just turned six year old or waiting another year for the start of the schooling?

I am a dad of 2 boys 5 and 3. We want to homeschool and have been planning it for sometime. I want to use the classical model and read the well trained mind a couple of years ago. My 5 year old has been reading since before he turned 4 and can read the little house and the niv with help with names of course quite well. We would nota send him to kindergarten if he was going to school next year because he doesn't turn 6 till late July so we don't know whether or not to get him started on a curriculum or not. Since he reads so well, the k curricula ive seen seems to be beneath his level so those are our problems. We don't know when to start and where to start by level. He can't write yet and He doesn't want to sit and learn how yet. We don't know whether to make him do it next fall if he doesn't want to or wait. I am a hs eng teacher, and my wife did not attend college and really needs me to take the lead on the planning. That is her main concern. She is comfortable implementing the plan but not formulating it. We have a good problem in that nick reads so well but don't know what to do with reading instruction now. Any comments will be appreciated ladies.