I have looked at all of the popular phonics programs and most are in black/white and my son won't even glance at them. I think Happy Phonics might work for us, but it doesn't look like a stand alone program. Modern Curriculum Press has one, and it doesn't look as complete for the price even with their add-on's. I can't seem to find samples of Sing, Spell, Read and Write and buying extra student packs for my daughter later seems difficult since most sites only the sell the very expensive combo pack. My DS also isn't one to sing on command like his sister. Headsprout seems to move too slow, but I am going to have him do the trial along with Starfall. Both of these looked short-lived, so, this brings me back to BJU. I know their program will work with my kiddos, I just didn't want to go with them for personal reasons. I think we are going to go with Happy Phonics, but I think we might need something else too. I think I have obsessed over this more than any other part of our curriculum, so please help me think! Oh ya, he is going to be 5yrs old and reads most of Bob Books level 1. We haven't talked about blends, just beginning letters/sounds, he knows sight words, understands differences like has/had. I just feel like I need something more than Bob Books to continue. He also hates pocket charts! OK, I think that is it.. Erica

We are using the started set for Primer and the sales rep at the convention told me that we will still NOT need additional blocks for Alpha.

Humm, I read somewhere that this is new, so that is maybe why I have no takers on my question. Has anyone used this and could it be done by a 5 yr old? We are looking for something simple to go-along with The World God Made. This book seems more informational, so I was interested in the Singapore for more hands on so that I am not buying an expensive science program at this stage. We really just want fun without reinventing a curriculum through the library. THANKS!

Here is the Table of Contents from the Before Five in a Row Manual. We did this last year and LOVED IT! I did too much prep, so I am moving on to something else this year, but you can't beat these titles. Before Five in a Row by Jane Claire Lambert TABLE OF CONTENTS Part One: Before Five in a Row Stories and Activities Making the Most of Before Five in a Row Jesse Bear, What Will You Wear? by N.W. Carlstrom Yellow Ball by Molly Bang My Blue Boat by Chris L. Demarest The Little Rabbit by Judy Dunn Ask Mr. Bear by Marjorie Flack Blueberries for Sal by Robert McCloskey Goodnight Moon by Margaret Wise Brown The Big Green Pocketbook by Candice Ransom The Runaway Bunny by Margaret Wise Brown The ABC Bunny by Wanda Gag If Jesus Came to My House by Joan Gale Thomas Caps for Sale by Esphyr Slobodkina The Carrot Seed by Ruth Krauss The Snowy Day by Ezra Jack Keats The Quiet Way Home by Bonny Becker Play With Me by Marie Hall Ets Prayer for a Child by Rachel Field I Am an Artist by Pat L. Collins Angus Lost by Marjorie Flack Katy No-Pocket by Emmy Payne We're Going On a Bear Hunt by Michael Rosen The Red Carpet by Rex Parkin Corduroy by Don Freeman Jenny's Surprise Summer by Eugenie Part Two: Parents Treasury of Creative Ideas for Learning Readiness Activities for Reading Readiness Talking and Listening Reading Poetry Hand Games Singing Dancing Making Music Drama Coordination Development of Large Motor Skills Tumbling and Wrestling Rolling Like a Log Crab Walk Balancing Hopping, Skipping and Balancing Pushing, Pulling and Dragging Playing with a Ball Playing with Balloons Blowing Bubbles Development of Small Motor Skills Playing with Puzzles Compartmental Organization Threading and Lacing Activities Choosing the Proper Art Supplies (Bigger is Better) Cutting and Pasting Modeling with Clay Activities at Bath Time Activities in the Kitchen Activities at the Store Toys The Arts The Visual Arts The Literary Arts The Performing Arts Learning to See Through Children's Eyes Books to Help You Understand In the End Master Index

I use Music for Little Mozarts. It does help to have some piano skill if you want to play along with some duets, but it isn't required since there are 2 CD's included to help you out. The teaching method is excellent and keeps my little ones attention since it is based in story form about Beethoven Bear and Mozart Mouse. It is also put out by Alfred which I consider a reputable publisher. Rainbow Resource carries it.

I can't speak with a seasoned opinion on this, but I did spend awhile at the TOG booth since I am interested in this for the future. My husband loved it and our only problem was that we loved different portions of it and will need to agree what we cover and in what fashion. We DID agree that it was WAY too much for our little ones now, even with the meticulous age break down and age appropriate activities that TOG offers. It is a wonderful program and we look forward to using it at a future date. Instead, we purchased History for Little Pilgrims to merely get conversation started and I am going to search for some additional age appropriate historical fiction stories. I too, have been looking at Winter Promise and Sonlight books that might be an option for the future, but right now, having fun learning is where our family is at right now.

Buy the set. I think you can purchase these separately if you needed to. I typically get my DVD's from my sister and then purchase the student texts separately, so I assume you could buy the DVD outside of the set if you wanted to. However, the set isn't that expensive for the value of Steve's methods and I can't see it working to supplement any other method. We do, however, use Singapore and BJU to supplement MUS (full color instead of B/W), but MUS is our primary teaching method.

Humm, tempting. My kiddos are almost 3/5, so I will end up doing this anyway in the next few years. Check back with me around 2012 (wow, that number looks really weird). Erica

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I would have to say that the website provides a good overview of each chapter and an AMAZING outline (where was that when I was taking the class!?!) It also has a wonderful glossary, but the book would tie everything together better. It really depends on what you are looking for. Since every University I know uses this text, the website is designed to be an aid, not the text since lectures also went along with our blessed music history experience ;) If you are just starting out, then of course, there is plenty of info on the website chapter overview. It really is just an overview and leaves a ton of info out just to keep the kids coming back to class. Keep in mind that this book is the primary book used in university music history classes that would span over four years. Like I said, EVERYTHING is there (and on the website). Yes, I would love to write a Music His. book, but for some reason (2 under foot), I don't seem to have time :) It would be an interesting challenge keeping this age appropriate considering some of the topics. Similar to the bible, the roots of music history revolve around the church and was often dictated by the church with plenty of other interesting "events" thrown in. Be careful, especially in the Renaissance period with not-so-kid-friendly songs (mostly old-English madrigals). Then there is Martin Luther that stirred up all kinds of trouble and then it pretty much goes downhill from there for awhile until the romantic and the ever so interesting contemporary period. Composers that changed each period to the next were considered rebels of their time, so the journey could be an exciting one if the book were written correctly. Sorry so sound a bit dark about the early years of history, but it unfortunately wasn't very flowery as we might imagine when we listen to the music today. Minds started to open during the classical period, so you will find brighter moments. If you create your own curriculum from this, don't make it separate from you regular history or LA. This is why buying the book is so important. The political/religious scene really does dictate the period in music history. Music was controlled by everyone from the church, kings, queens, to Hitler. Sorry for he mini-disseratation.... The anthology does is not as multicultural as I would like, hence the Western World emphasis. It wasn't until 1996 that they included a unit on American and female composers. Only the final chapter includes modern genres of music and excludes the vast branches of other cultures. I would highly recommend teaching music when ever you are studying another culture, but this anthology won't help you there. Maybe yet another book to write for another time when I run out of things to do :) Erica

We have already started BOZ and the kids love him! I also wanted to say that where the workbooks go along with bible lessons, they also focus on VERY gentle 3R's. The free download has tons of crafts to go along with the videos and I can't wait to get to these. FYI, I am using the 1st workbook with my DD and the 2nd with my son. They don't say anything about a level 2 for their second book, but it is slightly harder. Erica

I just thought I would throw this out there since I briefly mentioned it in another post and I haven't seen anything about it anywhere else. My DS (4 1/2 yr) LOVES bible stories, so we are beefing up his bible time this year with a great Sunday school program that is easily adapted to homeschool. I actually haven't seen anything like this on the homeschool floor and we love it. http://www.discipleland.com/index.phtml?ckc=0 This curriculum is very "bible story" based, so we are also using BOZ The Green Bear Next Door that is also bible based, but also more character based in a modern setting. I first saw BOZ when he came out through a MOPS group, but my kiddos were too young at the time. There are several videos and 2 large workbooks that you can also use with or without the free online downloadable curriculum from their website. Just thought I would put this out there!http://www.bozthebear.com/home.asp

sorry, duplicate post

2nd this is exactly what we did this past year. DS 4 DD 2 http://theboughfamily.blogspot.com/ We are doing much the same for the next six months with the addition of more bible. My son loves bible stories! If anyone is interested in that avenue, we are using BOZ the Green Bear Next Door for my DDwhich is a wonderful video/workbook series where you can download curriculum guides online. My DS requires more intensive bible time and I found a wonderful Sunday school program that is easily adapted to homeschool by http://www.discipleland.com/index.phtml?ckc=0 This curriculum has some simple activity pages, sticker pages, and crafts. My husband and I spend a Sunday afternoon preparing craft projects for the this next month and can't wait to get started.

My husband and I both have graduate degrees in music and the there is only one anthology that is the most accurate and up-to-date. It is written at the college level, but it is everything that you would need from antiquity to the end of the millennium to create your own curriculum. You could also say we have a love/hate relationship with it after practically having to memorize the stupid thing. They have a great website that includes music excerpts required in the book as well as other guides, outlines, listening labs, flash cards (all offered to be used on line). As professional musicians, we have not been too impressed with the quality of music appreciation materials offered by home school companies. I would love to hear of one that is as comprehensive as this one that reaches the younger crowd. Again, this is college level, but you can't argue with the content or additional on line tutor services they offer to complete the book. I would not recommend handing this to an elementary kiddo, but it would be a great reference for parents and you will be sure not to miss anything. http://www.wwnorton.com/college/music/grout7/home.htm

I see many people love the Singapore Early Bird Math, but how about the science. My son is 4 1/2, recognizes and writes numbers and letters, reads Bob books and it seems like this would be a fun addition for those cold winter days when I need something to keep his attention. My first thought is to go with CLP's The World God Made as a gentle beginning and then maybe do Singapore with CLP's vol 2, Our Father's World in the fall. I just found Early Bird and thought it looked might be fun to play with now. Any thoughts? We will be using Apologia in the future once my sister is finished with it, so we do like teaching science and God as one. I don't, however, have a problem with secular texts to implement into CLP and Apologia if necessary. As always, thanks for the informative replies!

I just finished BFIAR this year with my 2 and 4 year old and yes, homeschool share is a wonderful thing. I still found myself doing a lot of prep work for ones not listed on homeschoolshare.com. This is the only reason why we are not going to continue with FIAR this year and have moved on to using Hands of a Child lapbooks. We are doing a few titles from homeschoolshare.com found in FIAR this summer, but I am not using the FIAR manual. As far as the cookbook goes, I bought it and was really disappointed. I thought a number of the recipes were a bit of a stretch and most did not fit into our diet. There were a number of high fat ingredients that we just don't use, but then again, it is a kids book so I wasn't too surprise. Instead, I have opted to use a number of bible based cookbooks that incorporate recipes with their bible curriculum this year that involve more grains and less fat. Let me know if you want these titles. Don't get me wrong, my whole family LOVED BFIAR and you really can't beat the titles. I included about 18 of the titles here in my blog: http://theboughfamily.blogspot.com/ I think I have all of them labeled under "Before Five in A Row". I would have to say that this was definitely a curriculum for us, but I did a ton of planning to make it so. I don't feel like the manual gives enough info and there is SO much to add. My apologies to the Lambert Family, but this is just my opinion. Thank you, Lamberts for providing us with ideas on such wonderful titles. There were some that I just had to buy for our library and my son adores is lapbooks we made while retaining almost every activity and story we did this year.

We love MUS, but I supplement it with full color BJU Math. We are still in Primer and it scares me how quickly my son (4 1/2) is learning and retaining. We watch the video together when introducing new chapters and then he occasionally will request to watch it again by himself on our next sitting. We do MUS about 2-3 times a week and I supplement in BJU since my son likes the full color. However, the process of MUS makes sense and WORKS!! My sister also uses it and just finished Alpha with the same results for her ADHD child. The black/white text really worked for him, so she didn't supplement. We also found that you don't need to do all of the worksheets in each lesson. Once my son has mastered something, I don't keep pounding it and it is always safe to move on due to constant review throughout the book. Likewise, there are supplemental worksheets on their website for Alpha on up. I also find their staff to be very helpful. I hesitated on pushing my son onto chapter 17 that addressed counting by 2's and they were very encouraging. I worried that he was being pushed too fast since he isn't even 5yrs old. They helped me identify any signs of frustration on his part and encouraged me to move forward as he allows. Hope this helps. I think MUS is an incredible program and I wish I would have had it when I was his age! Erica

My husband and I were recently introduced to the world of Usborne books at our convention, and really think they will work well with our Pre-K and K children. They both NEED full color in everthing they do, and my son won't even look at a library book in black/white. However, I have read many reviews expressing a "gag" factor when it comes to Usborne. I haven't looked at them beyond the convention floor yet, but them seem nice. Would someone care to shed some light on this?

I thought they were too expensive too, especially the one for Reading. Why would you need one for reading?? Anyway, this is why I am asking just in case there is something in the TM's that I should know about. E

This makes me feel better. I was beginning to feel obsessive over all of this. Well, I guess I am, but that isn't the point. My hubby teaches at the college level, so what ever I say we need, he typically gets until about the 5th time I say "it's my last book for now". Erica

I am going to start the BJU Beginnings K5 and Math 1 in January with my son that will turn 5yrs on the 31st. At first glance from the conference, the teacher guides seemed a little much, but the reviews that I have read since then say they are useful and offer some extra activities. My husband and I are both teachers, so I have yet to buy a teachers guide. I have been told that they are more useful at the 3rd 4th grade level, but I wanted to check since I don't mind getting them if it's going to be worth the effort/$$. Thanks! Erica

These were our two favorite speakers. Ginger had some amazing ideas on parenting through the scriptures. It seems like a "duh" concept, but how much do we really do it. Do we really speak God's word to our children when we discipline them, or do we just find a functional solution. Her book "Don't Make Me Count to Three" is what she used for most of her talks and she also offers an amazing resource, "Wise Words for Mom's" that hangs in our kitchen. Some of the ideas might sound like a bit of stretch, but as a mom of a 2 and 4 year old, I can say that her concepts actually work. I thought my kids would look at me like I was crazy, but it really worked. Check out her website at http://gingerplowman.com Norm Wakefield was my husband's favorite and I would highly recommend it to all of the men out there. I don't tend to be a deep thinker, but even I thought his concepts on relationships were very good and solid. http://www.spiritofelijah.com/ Erica

Hi there, I have been using mostly lap books for teaching my son (4 1/2) and daughter (2 1/2). We used the Before Five in A Row curiculum this past year as well as some of the Abeka Pre-K books. I am beefing up their work this fall as they both turn 3 and 5 around the same time. I realize that they are still young, but I am ready to settle for something that is already laid out for me instead of wandering around the library aimlessly. They have their interests, but are also ready to listen and learn about anything. So, in addition to language and math, and I am considering throwing in some science and history. We already do a lot of "science" type work through our lap book stories, but I found two book by CLP that I am interested in mainly for my almost 5 yr old son. He gets at least an hour a day alone with me while his sister sleeps, and I thought that one of the following books might make for some good quiet time for us: The World God Made and Our Father's World. I plan on moving onto Sonlight's K Science program in a year and later Apologia, and thought this might be a good start. I am leaning towards starting with The World God Made, and then Our Father's World even though they cover the same material. Still undecided... I don't plan on this being a focus just yet, but rather just introducing what we will be learning in a years time. While looking at these books, I also found History for Little Pilgrims and thought it met the same criteria for introducing and defining history. Again, my son would still be in preschool this fall, so I am not looking for anything intensive. We enjoy our alone time together, and putting good information in his head that is also God based is a plus. FYI, we will be using BJU language K and Math 1 in the fall if that gives you an idea on where we are at. I also have bible curriculum's from other sources that we are spending most of our time on right now since I believe that is most important at this point in their little lives. I welcome your opinions. Oh ya, I am a big fan of bible based curriculums! Thanks Again!! Erica