I think it's totally worth subscribing to moreStarfall.com. They have lots of fun math games. My 4 and 6 year old love-love-love it! We're also currently enamored with Reading Eggs. My 6 yr. old BEGS for it (she loves "shopping" in the store to buy stuff for her "house.") I signed up for the 14 day free trial and found codes to extend the free time up to 68 days, LOL. You're allowed to use 2 codes for each child's account (so use the longest lasting codes). My girls love it enough that we'll be paying for it (once you do a trial, they'll start sending you offers...my current offer is 12 months for the price of 6....which I'll probably cave on!)

So here's what didn't make the cut: my homemade handwriting sheets (we'll continue handwriting, less scheduled/formal) our We Choose Virtues kids coloring pages -- they're super-cute but didn't get finished, and I am tired of the half-finished papers taking up residence in our "to do" file. The busy-work alphabet pages that I had for my 4 yr. old. Pointless really. We're doing phonics in other fun ways. Quite a few of the Little House on the Prairie activities I'd scheduled. We're just reading the books now and that's A-okay with me (and the kids!) Sure, we're still occasionally doing a fun thing (shaking cream to make butter, dressing up in our bonnets and play-acting -- it's just not scheduled and stressful for me.) So, most of it seems to be busy-work and I'm glad to be tossing it. (But, oh, what a waste of time, $$, etc.!) But I'm tired of holding on to JUNK and trying to fit in low-quality STUFF at the expense of our better stuff (b/c it ties up my time and energy). It's freeing! Have you done any mid-semester culling yet?

I would like: 1. a dvd component (similar to the InquisiKids Discover & Do) -- tied to each lesson/activity 2. a fully-stocked materials kit 3. flexible, super-simple instruction (like the activity cards in the Lakeshore Learning kits) 4. comes with great books on the topics 5. some notebooking/recording pages would be great Is that too much to ask? OR have I described something out there that you know of? (I wondered about Sonlight's complete science curric....) Oh, and I need it to be <$150. Ok, ok, maybe THAT is too much to ask. :D

:grouphug: I totally feel your pain. I taught 1st grade in a PS, and I always felt that reading instruction was my strong point. My DD is 6.5 and that is the area that we have been struggling the most! We're still in that painfully slow stage of sounding out words letter by letter (we're only on CVC words.) We've also tried a few different programs (and many more that I ordered, didn't like the look of, and returned). We're currently using R&S Phonics 1, with moderate success. There is a lot of pencil work, but I have a few tricks that make it quite minimal (we make good use of highlighters, instead of the constant circling.) We've also been using (and enjoying) Reading Eggs. We signed up for the free 2-wk trial and then I found codes to bump it to 2 months. I don't know if it's benefiting her reading at all, but she enjoys it and I'm calling it reading practice. :p Best wishes -- It really is so frustrating to have a bright child that just doesn't seem to *get it*! It can be disheartening to read here about the tons (so it seems) of 2, 3, 4 year olds that are reading chapter books and the like, when my own (older) kiddo can barely get through "Hop on Pop." Just remember that it is quite likely developmental and one day -- if you keep plugging along -- it'll click (that's what I tell myself, anyway).

:iagree: completely! Read the books multiple times, but the movies were TERRIBLE! Watched them when we had a free HBO weekend, but I have no desire to see the last.... Definitely team Edward here! I am not a fan of Jacob, shirt or not! :p

I'm curious why you will start with R&S Spelling 3? (Is she at that level?) ETA: next year we may have kiddos doing similar programs. We'll start Elem. History and R&S language arts (spelling and phonics...I'm holding off on English until 3). :)

Yup, my cartilage piercing hurt worse than my navel....however, it healed very quickly and I never had any problems with it after that. :) Congrats! I bet your DH's earrings look great! (says another lady married to a large, bald, long-goatee'd man. :D)

He has just come out with the 2nd "volume" of this: Old Story New (focusing on the NT.) :)

Not to be snarky (at all), but I think you would benefit from reading this book. It has been very beneficial for DH & I and our interactions with extended family... (particularly his sister & mother).

What ages are you using this with?

Check Pinterest. I've found many fun, hands-on math ideas that have been a big hit for my kids there! Just search "place value" -- a surprising amount come up.

We do this a lot. I don't mind reading aloud, but we are NOT a family that a can read aloud for 3 hours a day, LOL. This weekend, during a road trip, we knocked out the first 8 Magic Treehouse books and The Reluctant Dragon (Grahame) via audio book. :) (My girls really like listening to books in the car.)

I have 6 and 4 year olds.... and we play quite a bit at our house. I think it'll gradually taper off, especially as we add more subjects. This year we are just doing phonics and math consistently. 1-2 days a week we read through a science lesson and we do read-alouds through the Little House book we're on. Next year we're adding spelling and formal history, so that'll obviously cut into play time. Also, my DD does not yet read independently, so *hopefully* next year she will and that'll take up some of her day. I think the transition (less play, more work) will happen naturally as they age. Play is important; I say let them do it while they can! :)

My kiddos are the ages of your two oldest. We aren't quite ready to jump into our history cycle yet -- I plan on using Veritas Press self-paced (which is super-expensive, IMO, and if I'm paying that much, I want BOTH kiddos to get the most out of it. :D) Anyway, we've decided to do a few filler years: 1. a Little House on the Prairie series study year 2. using Elemental History as a filler year, American-history lite 3. a world geography year Good luck finding a way to make your job easier! I definitely like the idea of combining when you can!

It seems like every year of history study has tons of great historical fiction -- so many I can't even fit them all in! But then -- if one does a world geography year -- it seems the options are pretty much limited to missionary stories and cultural folk tale compilations. Any good fiction that would be great for this year? I've seen the Beautiful Feet collection, but think it's aged higher than what I'd need. Anything where the main character travels from place to place and learns about *stuff*? :p (I'm tempted to add in the Sassafras Science in for this....) TIA. :)

Ah, I didn't realize you could buy the dvds. We really enjoyed that show!

Thanks for the feedback. I'm thinking I'll definitely add some history craft books or history pockets. :) Thanks!

For those that have done Elemental History: Adventures in America, did you feel that there were enough of the fun, hands-on history activities. I am NOT talking about coloring pages or notebooking pages. I'm mainly thinking about the types of activities you would find in something like "More than Moccasins" or "Colonial Kids". (I'm trying to decide if buying such art/craft books would be beneficial or redundant....) Thanks!

I just ordered the Kinder level for my 1st & PreK'er. Can't wait to get started! (But the shipping was pricey! One dvd = $8+ to ship. That's a little high, IMO.)

I cannot speak from experience, but I have read all the threads I could find on this topic. We have R&S English lined up starting next year or maybe 3rd. I do not plan to add any extra writing programs. I think the consensus is that the writing starts off light, but ramps up later. Also, you should be transferring some of the writing skills to other topic areas (science, history, etc). I'd love to hear more from those that have BTDT, too. I love the idea of having all my English/grammar/writing needs covered in 1 fell swoop! :)

Almost any reader by Arnold Lobel (Frog & Toad, Owl, Mouse soup). Edward Marshall books (Fox stories, Three in a Tree, Four by the Shore) Little Bear Books. I like the readers from Harriet Treadwell (most may be free online, IDK if a library would have them.)

I found the info on the FAQs page. :) http://www.officialhomeartstudio.com/faq/

Great! Thanks for the information!

Slightly OT... Those look really neat and I was getting excited about them. Only $3! But all that printing and cutting and ...... And then I remembered that I'd bought US Presidents flash cards (pretty much trading cards) from the $1 section at Target a few years ago. Whew! Work avoided! :D