:lol: Good question! Thank you all for helping me cross that bridge. I really love the look of Math Mammoth and there are a lot of great reasons why aligning with the CA standards is not important. Honestly, I'm not worried about the areas where MM is behind because I know that it eventually catches up and in more depth. I'm more worried about the areas that are completely left out. I spent some time looking ahead in Shiller (which we'll be using as well) and it looks like by combining the two, we'll have everything covered. Thanks so much for the thoughtful replies!

I know I'm jumping into this thread a little bit late, but how do the MM users feel about the fact that MM is behind on many of the CA sate standards and in some cases doesn't cover some items from the CA state standards at all? I'm asking because I really wanted to use Math Mammoth and was very excited to do so until I saw the comparison charts and that's when my heart dropped. The new Singapore is aligned with the CA state standards so now I'm swinging back in that direction. It IS cumbersome with all of the extra books and while the HIG is more or less open and go, I think it could be laid out better to make it a little more user friendly (have only viewed online samples). We used Singapore early bird and it drives my husband nuts with all of the book hopping and he wasn't crazy about many of the activities because they were geared for multiple children. I showed him the HIG for the next levels and it didn't really entice him because he says the instructions seem to go on and on without a lot of delineation. His opinion matters quite a bit on the topic because he will be the one doing most of the math instruction, but we both have equal say in the curriculums we choose no matter who is implementing it. In general, I would love to use MM in conjunction with Shiller if I can somehow get past the fact that they are behind and leave out some of the CA state standards. Otherwise, it will probably be the more cumbersome but thorough Singapore.

Thank you to all who posted. It has been very interesting and thought provoking to read all of the responses and extra articles, etc. This is the conclusion that I have come to as well.

I think it all depends on context and delivery. The short answer is yes I will if it's convenient for me to do so. For instance, I'm not going to stand up in the middle of someone's speech and correct something, but if we were just having a general chat, I would. I'm also careful about how I word things to try to avoid defensiveness. Either way, I would definitely explain it to my child later if I wasn't able to do so at the time.

Could you please share the title of the book? Thanks!

Thanks for all the replies. I don't mind the views from all sides. I really honestly want to think of all of the positives and negatives and it gives me ideas of what to keep a look out for as well. We do have to submit an at home learning plan where we go over what we will be teaching at home and the methods that we will use to meet our goals. I guess it doesn't bother me to show someone else what we are doing. As far as I can tell, they don't have say over what I show them, I just have to show them something so they know we have a plan and aren't relying on them to provide a curriculum. I actually saw it as a benefit for me because I like talking to people about what we're doing and getting feedback about it. As long as I'm able to take in and deal with the feedback in my own way, I'm fine with that. If I started getting notes home like some have mentioned telling me what and how to teach, I would definitely have to draw the line! The link to the previous thread was very helpful too. I'm still reading through it. There's always so much to think about!! At least I'm just about done with the curriculum planning for the next year. That was a hurdle in itself (but so much fun)!

This is one thing I'm worried about as well. I've heard that some were not allowed to join certain home school groups if they were part of these programs involving the public school system and it makes me wonder if I tell someone we're using this program if we will be shunned and then I'm wondering...but why?? In my mind, I'm fully in control of my child's education and this is just an avenue for us for further enrichment. Thanks for the replies!

My son is 5.5 and we will soon begin full time home school with him. We have been home schooling along with preschool for a couple of years now. We have always planned to home school but we became involved with early intervention through the school district when he was diagnosed with sensory integration disorder and most likely asperger's. We have had a good experience with both school districts that we have been involved with since he turned 3. Anyhoo, I recently learned of a program through our school district which offers elective resource classes through the public school system. These are classes such as art, social studies, math games, music classes, physical education, along with generalized reading, writing and math in a blended age classroom setting. He would spend two full mornings per week at the resource classes and an hour and a half a third day for the PE class. It has been continually stressed to us that by joining this program we will no longer be considered home schoolers. We will be considered full time with the public schools once you hit 6 hours a week. I figure this is for funding reasons on their part and it doesn't really bother me because obviously I know we are still home schooling since I am providing the core curriculum and instruction at home. I've read on various forums that many decided not to utilize this program because they don't want to lose their home school status, and I am not understanding why this upsets so many. I'm not being snarky, I'm actually wondering if there is some sort of negative about it that I'm not yet understanding. I thought about it again due to the thread in the k-8 forum going on about "do you get paid to home school" where so many would choose not to take extra $$ from the state for curriculum and activities if it means they will lose their official home school status and I can't see what the difference is since you are still choosing the curriculum and teaching it how you choose. I keep thinking there must be something that I don't know about or am missing. Also, why are so many against their child taking the standardized tests? We're a few years off from that, but what are the negatives of having them take the tests? Thanks so much for reading!

I would tend to agree, however our group lessons consist mostly of memorizing bible verses along with handclapping and sign language routines (we are a secular home schooling family) and teaching them self control by having them see who can sit still the longest during morality lessons and some various movement activities like relay races that I don't really understand (learning to follow instructions?). She's GREAT in personal lessons (great to me because she is patient with my sometimes difficult child), but the group classes have little to no value for us. Your idea of how they should be run sounds wonderful to me! :D

Our piano teacher has started to do this as well. Originally we started with one private lesson per week on Wednesday. Then suddenly it was changed to 3 private lessons per month and one week was group class and it was on a Saturday morning for 2 hours. We live 45 minutes away so it's not like we can drop him off and then come back to get him so basically that's FOUR HOURS out of our day on a Saturday for a group class instead of private instruction. In addition, I work a lot on Saturday mornings and this just didn't fit with our schedule...not to mention I did not want to spend the extra time sitting on our Saturday for a group class that I feel is of little benefit. I honestly don't feel that they are learning much during these group classes and my son has sensory issues that make larger groups difficult for him so all in all, this change greatly upset me. I told her that we could not make it to Saturday classes instead of our usual Wednesday and she accommodated us by allowing us to come on a Monday at a different time instead to make up the group lesson, but honestly this isn't working for us either because I just want to keep going on Wednesdays like we had been! On top of this, I disagree with some of her personal philosophies that she freely teaches to the children. I'm on the verge of finding a new piano instructor but I'm not prepared to quit until we have found someone else (closer to our area!) to teach my son piano. She's very patient with him and he has not been the easiest student to work with so I worry about finding someone who will work as well with my son as she does. But I agree that paying the same amount for a group class instead of private instruction is just a way for her to make the same amount of money and do less work and is offering less service to our children and I don't agree with it.

I just started using HST+ and we are only doing kindergarten. With that in mind, for our free form science, I have decided to do two lapbooks over the summer. I divided them up into 6 weeks each with 2 lessons each per week. I made a lesson plan with 12 lessons and for the page instruction, I just put, "work on insect lapbook for 45 minutes". So this means that we will take 45 minutes to study something about insects (his choice from several materials that I have ready for this project), and then create something from what we learned for the lapbook. I then move the 12 assignments to the grid putting them on the two days per week that I have planned and ... done. :)

Congratulations! I know how fast the time goes and I hope to savor every moment of it. My son is only 5 and starting kindergarten but I know it will be over before we know it!

We let our 5 year old watch the first original Star Wars movie and then Episode 1 (the one with the little boy doing the pod racing). He loved them and quickly became obsessed with anything to do with Star Wars. Honestly, I regret it. While he enjoyed them and my husband enjoyed sharing them with him, now his play has a lot of "I'm going to die you" (he doesn't know the kill word yet thankfully), and "pew pew pew" and basic fighting when we never had ANY of that before. It also carried over to his friend interactions with him trying to get his friends to play Star Wars with him and hitting, etc. He also started asking questions like, "dad, what if I die you?". Ummmmmmmmmmmmm..................................... It will be a very long time before he views the movies again. I don't mind some of the Star Wars Lego series because he sees that as the characters breaking instead of dying.

We used 100 EZ lessons and my son and I enjoyed it but he was not retaining nor was he able to transfer what he learned in that book to other books. We used ETC and did not like it at all. I found the images to be confusing and poorly done and often the word examples had improper letter formations which confused him in regards to his handwriting. We tried click and read and I thought it was horrible. It was the same thing over and over and over. It really did not hold his attention beyond the first couple of lessons. We are currently using OPG in conjunction with TFL online (AWESOME online phonics), progressive phonics website and all about spelling which reinforces the phonics as well. I have some compalints about OPG regarding the formatting of the book such as the words that the child are supposed to read are small and it can be confusing for them to see where they are with all of the other surrounding words. Also, it is not easy to look away from the book and look back quickly and find your place in the instructor script. It would be nice if it was in a different color or font to help delineate it. With 100 EZ lessons, it was all in the book so we could snuggle on the couch and do it and we loved that time together. OPG really needs to be done while sitting at a table or desk which is fine...it's just an adjustment for us. :)

I'm trying to choose a handwriting style for my son (5.5) and I know the options but I've found that it's difficult to see how the handwriting actually looks in the end. I'd love to see student practice pages from various ages (especially older children) using the different handwriting styles from Getty Dubay and HWT and Zaner-Bloser, Penny Gardner, etc. I know people say that the italics is more beautiful but I'm having a hard time finding actual writing (not on copysheets) to see the final products. Thank you so much for any help!

I love this idea and after hitting all of the helpful links above, this is the one that hit it home for me.