Keep in mind that combinations like ea often make more than one sound (as in tea and bread), so they might not be the best first step away from short vowels. I know it is frustrating, since ea shows up in so many words, but hopefully you'll get there soon! I think starting with silent e is a great way to go from here. Take a word with a short vowel sound, like cut, add an e to the end, and now the vowel "says its name": cute. If she's still not ready for multi-vowel teams after getting comfortable with silent e, maybe try double vowels next: ee (easy, because it always sounds the same) and oo (a little harder, as it can have multiple sounds). Good luck!

I agree with the recommendation of Usborne's Prehistoric World. If you're planning to use the Usborne Internet Linked Encyclopedia of World History for further study, buy that instead. Prehistoric World is included in that volume. I highly recommend buying either the hardback or the library edition of the encyclopedia, because it is a big book. You should be able to get the library edition from an Usborne rep or from Usborne online. One nice thing about the Usborne internet-linked books is that you can go to the Usborne website and get links to related websites that correspond to the pages of the book. We plan to use these liberally! Bringing Up Learners has a free curriculum that uses the Usborne ILE of World History, starting with prehistory: link. The later parts of the curriculum use SOTW or Gombrich's A Little History, but the prehistory part just uses the Usborne book. I've been cobbling together my own prehistory study for my almost-6yo, starting with the Big Bang. For the last few years she's insisted that she wants to be a paleontologist, so we're really going to dig into prehistory, probably for 4-5 months. We'll be using the UILE at a slower pace than it is scheduled in the free curriculum linked above, and we'll be adding lots of other books and activities. We're visiting grandparents right now, so I don't have my planning sheets with me, but off the top of my head I can list some of the books we'll be using for pre-dinosaur times. Some of these would still be appropriate for upper elementary, but most are for lower elementary: Big Bang! (I was interested in another one, Born With a Bang, but it is not secular), Evolving Planet (appropriate for older children as well), Life on Earth, Our Family Tree, both of Hannah Bonner's books (appropriate for older children too), several Aliki and/or Cole Let's Read and Find Out science books, and The Story of Everything (silly pop-up overview, can be purchased very cheaply from Amazon Marketplace). We'll also be getting the Charlie's Playhouse timeline and cards. I passed over a lot of books that had too much detail for a 6yo, so check your library! You'll probably find a lot of books that will be at a more appropriate level for your child. (However, I still think Evolving Planet, the Bonner books, and the Layton pop-up would be worthwhile.) When I'm back home, I can email you a list of the books we plan to use for dinos if you'd like. I haven't started planning the age of mammals, the emergence of humans, etc. yet, but I'll be getting to that soon too. I'll keep an eye out for good books that are beyond my daughter's level, and I can pass on those titles too. Oh, almost forgot: Janice VanCleave's Dinosaurs for Every Kid is definitely worth checking out.

The best pricing I know of is available through Homeschool Buyer's Coop: link. Their website appears to be down until tomorrow, but once it is up, search for Discovery Education. They offer a significant discount off the price listed on DE's website.

I was told to use expired ones as practice pens ~ ie. discharge them into an orange. Apparently the real pens don't feel quite like the tester that they give you. Then put it back in its case and screw the cap back on ~ careful not to poke yourself if the needle is exposed. Take it to your doctor's office or a pharmacy for disposal, unless you know someone who has a sharps container and is willing to take it from you (ie. know any diabetics?). Call ahead if you want to dispose of it at a pharmacy. Not all pharmacies will accept them.

Piggybacking on the last posts, in Phonics Pathways there's a line drawing with the word bed incorporated into an illustration of a bed. It is on page 35 of the current edition, and you should be able to see it if you use Amazon's Look Inside feature. Search the word "bed," and then scroll down to click on p. 35. I copied the image and laminated it as a bookmark for my daughter. She puts it into the book she's reading and refers to it as needed.

The suggestions you've received seemed reasonable, but given this: A six year old should be able to answer such questions without difficulty. So either she's not paying attention, or she can't pay attention. The fact that it happens with regular read alouds and not just SOTW makes me lean toward 'can't.' I'm wondering about some sort of auditory processing difficulty. Have you done any reading on that?

Many thanks! I'd hoped to find them in print, but #3, 5, and 6 appear to be OOP at the moment and thus hard to get if the library doesn't own them.

I'm not yet a DE subscriber, but Salsa would probably be enough to tip the scale. So I emailed them to ask them if they'll be making Salsa available as part of DE streaming or DE streaming Plus. If you'd like to email them too, their Contact Us form is here.

Have you tried sitting down with her for some individual time first? It might help to say something like this: "Now I'm going to work with you while DD2 does XYZ by herself, and then I'll work with her while you do something on your own." Then when you're done working with DD1, you could help her choose something that she'd like to do on her own. If it is something that only comes out during the time you work with DD2, even better! Audiobooks checked out from the library have been a great tool for us when I want to have DD1 occupied . . .

We just finished The Moomins and the Great Flood by Tove Jansson. That particular Moomin book was never published in English, but there's a translation available online. I'm waiting to get the 2nd Moomin book from the library. In the meantime, we started something else: Ethel Cook Eliot's The House Above the Trees. My almost-6yo daughter and I are both enthralled. :thumbup1: She and DH are working on The Lion the Witch and the Wardrobe.

Bummer. I had downloaded some of the episodes, but not all of them. They sure do want a lot of money for the DVD sets. :glare:

That's a good point. It can't hurt to ask. The worst they can do is say no. :) The contact information is listed on one of the front pages of the books. They're in Singapore, so I'd probably try the email addy first.

No, it is not legal to copy it, even though it is out of print. When a book goes OOP, the copyright remains intact. As the first CWP was published in 2004, it has a lot of years to go before the copyright expires and it enters the public domain. Regarding CWP specifically, the publisher's statement in the front of the book expressly forbids all copying. Despite that statement, it is probably legal to make a limited number of copies under the fair use doctrine. But fair use is typically defined as something less than 10% of the pages...not the whole book. If you'd asked about morality and ethics, my answer would be a little different. ;)

Phonics instruction provides a wonderful foundation for good spelling skills, and your read-alouds will teach your children how good grammar should sound. So if I were you, I'd drop both spelling and grammar. We don't plan to begin either until 3rd grade, and from reading this forum I know many other posters do the same. How is that 45 minutes of math going? If he's enjoying it from start to finish, great! If he isn't, break down the lessons into smaller chunks. If RS Level B is a struggle, you could go back to RS Level A. The first half of Level B is covered more slowly in Level A. Or maybe a different math program would be a better fit. There's no shame in that! Maybe check out Math U See and/or Singapore?

The article mentions "ingestion of milligram quantities" over periods of weeks or months as a cause of vit D toxicity.For reference, one milligram of D3 is equivalent to 40,000 IU. (I do, however, enthusiastically agree with your other points about how underlying issues with other nutrients and organs can also be major factors in vit D deficiency.)

I imagine this thread may go the way of previous threads on the topic of children dying in hot cars, so I'll re-post the link to an article that tries to explain how and why this happens. *Warning* This article is graphic: Fatal Distraction.

I worked through several sample tests from study guides. I didn't strictly time myself for most of them, but I did keep a casual eye on the clock to get an idea of whether I needed to start working faster. On the last one I did keep track of time. I found the math/logic problems the most challenging when I first started preparing, but after going through practice tests I got used to them. I don't remember my scores, but I do remember my percentiles, and I think those were more important than the actual scores. I also remember that I did much better on the real test than I did on the practice tests.... Good luck!

:lurk5:

A little OT, but is there a way to get full screen video on DE without excessive pixelation?

Sounds like a browser compatibility problem. There may have been a recent change with either the browser or with Amazon that is causing an incompatibility issue. If that's the case, it'll probably iron itself out in a few days as others report the problem to Amazon and/or the browser developer. What browser(s) are you using? Try re-opening in a different browser and see if that makes a difference. It has been working fine with Firefox....

If my kids can't ride both as safely as possible and legally, we have to decline. I also won't transport others' children if I can't do it legally and safely, regardless of the other parent's opinion. I'm a HUGE stickler for proper carseat and seat belt use. I bet most of y'all would roll your eyes at the lengths I go to in this area, but when it is either kids or my car, I get make the rules. ;)

Pig Latin will be third. We might even start that one today. And the language of Ab will be fourth. :D Someday I could see us adding a 5th language, if either of the kiddos have a desire to switch (from Spanish) or add another.

Another vote for the teacher manuals. I like having them.

You can get a whole issue free at this link, if you're willing to input your email address: link. I downloaded it with no problem, but haven't yet listened to it because my kids are still a bit young.

This makes complete sense to me. I haven't read the 3rd and 4th books yet, but the 2nd seemed to be nothing more than a space-filler.