Haha, this sounds so very familiar. I have switched our phonics program too many times to count (at least 5x since May)... Switched science (from TWTM recs to ACSI for ease of use). Dropped art & geography, but replaced them with a Little House study. Switched our writing & grammar programs... and then dropped them completely (well...for now, we'll probably pick them up after Christmas). The ONLY things I have NOT switched are: 1. Singapore Math -- which we are love-love-loving 2. Bible -- just reading + We Chose Virtues (Boy, it sounds so terrible when I lay it all out like that... I'm not even replying on that "have you wasted $" thread -- I might have a melt-down if I have to fess up on THAT!)

You could get an ink pad & abc stamps to take a break from the writing... my DD likes that.

Thanks, that was helpful. I would say that DD is capable of doing that amount of writing -- she just doesn't like to. :) She's 6 and knows her letter sounds fairly well, can read some CVC words. I'm thinking of starting at the K level and just moving through the first half quickly, as review. Would you suggest anything different? Thanks! Did you use the extras (chart, readers, manual)? Did you use it K-2 or mix it with other phonics programs?

Thanks for the feedback. My DD (6) really is quite antagonistic toward writing and fights it right now. I wonder if this would be too much for her right now...

This is another that I'm interested in.... A woman at my church has recommended it -- she used it with her son and really liked it. I have a 6yo DD, who can read some CVC words (still sounds them out letter by letter), but really doesn't have confidence and hates to write. If I were to go with McRuffy, should I start with the K level?

Has anyone used this program? What did you think of it? Haven't found out much about it through a search, and I seldom see it mentioned here... It does look repetitive... but yet I keep going back to the samples, LOL. Is it a complete program (especially if you just use the workbooks)?

Same here (though I have 2 girls). But I also handle all manner of vermin (including snakes). DH cannot do it. :glare:

My DD's would like aprons (and possibly dresses) to go with their "Little House on the Prairie" bonnets. My mom can sew it for me, but not without a pattern. Does anyone have a pattern for a colonial or prairie or pinafore style apron? Or a link to a digital pattern that I can purchase (and send to my mom, who is several hours away from me, but will be visiting in a few weeks...I'd like her to have it sewn by then, if possible...) I've been poring over google searches for HOURS and haven't found anything kid-sized and "prairie" looking. I'm definitely NOT in the market to BUY a $60 etsy apron. :glare: Thanks for any help!

I looked at it but thought it might not fit with my first grader... We are still doing a year-long Little House study this year, but it won't be all-subject inclusive, more as an add-on to what we're already doing (though it will be the only history/geography we do). I'm also tying in art and science, but I do have a separate curriculum for those. Not that you asked, LOL, but we are using: 1. the 9 LH books (obviously :p) 2. Little House in the Classroom ~ Christine Hackett (probably the least helpful of the items I bought...but that's okay, it was only a few $) 3. A Pioneer Sampler: The Daily Life of a Pioneer Family in 1840 ~ Barbara Greenwood (*got this mainly for the illustrations & crafts*) 4. The World of Little House ~ Carolyn Strom Collins I was able to purchase most of these fairly cheaply (used). I also have found a few maps, coloring pages, craft ideas, etc. online that I'll be using. Crayola has a pattern for making a covered wagon from a shoe box that looks right up our alley... :D

My youngest is 4.5. In a few months, I'll probably start K with her (around 5 probably). We'll use: Singapore Essentials CLE Kindergarten II HOP K/1st lots and lots of Starfall, more Starfall, etc.

My oldest didn't hold a pencil properly until 5/Kindergarten. My youngest (now 4) continues to hold it in the whole-hand grip. She *can* hold it properly, but her writing is terrible when she does (very light, wobbly). I am assuming that she just needs to develop those muscles, more practice, etc. With my oldest, we use those triangle pencils to help her remember how to hold it... My youngest -- when I remember to get them out -- uses a grip. (But I love the idea of using teeny tiny pencil nubs!)

We start at nine and we're finished with math & reading by 11. I save our special activities and science for after lunch.

My first grader turned 6 in June.

I took it to mean that OP's son makes the tall line, going top-down, but then makes the circle part starting at the bottom and just continuing around counter-clockwise (as opposed to what I teach my DD, which is draw the line down, then "hop" back up and around to form the circle, somewhat like making an "h"). Does Spalding teach it the first way?

Today, I need to sit down and figure out the best way to teach our new phonics program... And if my books come in the mail (fingers crossed!) then I need to map out our year-long Little House on the Prairie study...

I think you and I may be teaching the same stubborn 6 year old. My DD would consistently begin all "tall letters" from the bottom up, all circles would be formed from the wrong direction, etc. This is also a child who does not like writing at all and didn't show an interest in coloring/writing until her 5th year. Lucky for me, :glare: DD is also somewhat of a competitive perfectionist, so after many times of showing her how much tidier MY letters were (because I formed them the correct way :p) she began to be open to changing her form. :D We don't do a formal handwriting program, but each morning starts with handwriting (she writes while I gather school items). I use lined paper and have scheduled out 1 word/name/phrase to do every morning of the week. Last week was DD's first and last name, written just once in her neatest handwriting each morning. This week she is practicing her middle name, written 2x each morning. I have told her that on Fridays, she would get to judge which day's work was the tidiest and put a sticker next to that line. It's working for her (I'm definitely seeing improvement).

Our goal start time is 9ish... but it's 9:45ish now and we're still eating breakfast and watching Animal Mechanicals... so obviously we're not too strict on it. :p

I finally had to make peace that I'm not going to be able to follow SM's (loose) weekly schedule. It introduces and moves on from # bonds pretty quickly; I wanted to make sure that DD understands this since it's pretty important, taking a few days with c-rods, etc. So this is putting us a week behind schedule.... I'm just fighting my OCD tendencies and going with it... (and there are a lot of things in the HIG! sometimes I chose certain review 'games' and doing them at other times of the day)

I don't have many suggestions, but :grouphug: Your DS sounds a LOT like my DD (6 in June, not catching on to reading as quickly as I'd hoped). We tried AAR1 in May but had the same issues that you mentioned. Hated the flash cards, letter tiles were distracting. And really -- once you take those away, *I* didn't feel like the program was worth the money... I sent my AAR back, but I did end up getting Hooked on Phonics (not very popular here but it has dvds to help learn things and DD loves that). We also subscribed to moreStarfall (because we love free Starfall so much). Between those 2, reading instruction is becoming painless. :p Does your fella like games? Happy Phonics was one that was on my radar (and I really wanted). I even placed an order for it via Rainbow Resource but they were out of stock... *I am not a homeschool veteran...however I do have 5 years of 1st grade teaching under my belt -- lots of reading instruction! :) Oh, one book I really like for hands-on ideas is this Scott-Foresman Phonics Handbook; it came with a school-system adopted reading program and I had such good memories of it that I bought one to use with my DD. Lots of ideas for phonemic awareness, listening skills, alike/different, rhyming, etc...

Plastic coffee canisters work well, too...

Well, that is awesome and makes it totally worth all the time & hassle of prepping, yeah!

I keep mine in plastic storage boxes. I have two ~3 qt. Sterlite containers for pencils & crayons and a ~7 qt. container for markers. They all hide inside the bread box portion of my dining hutch (which is right next to the table where we do school & stores all our materials, papers, workboxes - those green/black magazine boxes are for each subject). ETA: I do have a plastic caddy with a handle (from the Target $ section) that I keep pencils, glue sticks & scissors in. *for space, I'll remove the photo later today*

Four: 1. the Bible (daily) 2. a chapter book (generally read a chapter 3-4x/wk) 3. picture books (usually from our library box, whenever we feel like it) 4. ongoing science text (2-3x/wk)

Oh, I DESPISED Tale of Despereaux! Immediately got rid of the book. I don't like the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series... :blushing:

:iagree::iagree: Yep, that skeeved me out, too! It was hard to move past that....