It's just our first year with DS in K. My favorite is Sonlight P4/5.... everything but the LA which we don't use .

I've been needing to ask this exact same question. So thank-you OP! Anyone else not think the instructor's guide is necessary at the 1a/1b level? Also, if I got the textbook, workbook, IP, and CWP, would I just depend on the last two for extra practice, or how do most of you incorporate those? Would you recommend all 4?

Has anyone tried "Great American Artists" by the same author? It's all in color and that appeals to me.

How os MIF more like a textbook? Is Singapore PM not like a traditional textbook? What's MEP?

I'm searching for a good math program for 1st grade next year and am drawn to what I read about Singapore-style programs. First off, would someone give me a good definition of Singapore-style math? Is it just a way of teaching math? If so, how would you define that way? What programs are out there? I hear a lot about Primary Mathamatics, Math Mammoth, and Math in Focus on this board. What else is out there? And how do they all compare? I'm interested in all the areas, but especially in the areas of time spent on lessons, mental math and maybe which programs are more or less advanced. Which of these programs have or haven't worked for you?

We love their "Questions With Answers Volume 1" and are using it as a major part of our Bible class this year. We're just listening to songs from it once or twice a week and the kids are learning great doctrine! Very listenable too! We have volumes 2 and 3 too, but the songs aren't as simple for my 3 and 5 year old. I'll probably save those till their a couple years older.

Phonics Pathways would take care of those rules for you. Once we get rolling with early readers I plan to jump around in PP to hit whatever new rules we need for the books. Now that DS is able to read some of the sentences in PP, I'm thinking he may enjoy it a lot more. The sentences are sort of silly and a lot better than nonsense words and lists, which is what we have been doing up to now in PP and why he doesn't like it. We'll see.

The public schools here use Saxon math. Whatever program I end up using for DS, I don't want it to be a difficult transition should we end up putting him into public school in the future. I've been really drawn to Primary Mathamatics Singapore for 1st grade next year, and ideally I'd want to stick with Singapore. From those who are familiar with both programs, what would it be like to transfer from that into Saxon down the road should he go to public school?

Also, Explode the Code might be a nice supplement if your son is already starting to sound some words out. My son said the other day that that was his favorite school book! It has also been very helpful for getting him off the ground with blending and sounding out words.

Is he reading yet? If so, you could just have him focus on reading lots of readers for phonics. Phonics Pathways is also a nice resource that is inexpensive and can be used for years to come by both your kids as needed. It's non-consumable. You could use PP at your own pace to slowly take him to the next level of phonics. I must say though, that my kindergartener hates all the reading lists in it (which is mostly what it is), but all those lists have really helped get us over the beginning reading hump. Now we're getting ready to go back to our original curriculum, which had been moving too fast for him before. However, there are lots of reading games in PP that you could use exclusively and you could forget about the lists. My son likes the games, and I think they are very helpful too.

DS is on the verge of starting to read beginning readers. I have the Sonlight readers ad well as the ones for Sing, Spell, Read, and Write that we'll be using to start with. I'm curious how much practice reading them he should be getting each day. How do you measure it? By time spent? Number of books read? Do you have your child read through the books multiple times? Looking for any other tips you might have! :o)

It's just reading, other than the experiment day, right?

I'm specifically looking at Science A.

What's the daily format of the workbooks?

I'm reading good things about the Evan Moore Daily Science curriculum. I'm thinking about using it next year for Grade 1. What is the basic daily format that you follow when doing the program? Is it just a workbook? Do you need to get supplemental library books? Are there colored pictures/photographs? Do your kids think it's fun?

My son's (age 5) favorite Thornton Burgess book so far has been "The Adventures of Reddy Fox." Also try, "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" and the whole Little House on the Prairie series. My brother was your older kids age when my mom read the series to us and I think he loved it the most!

OK, good to hear that 1a and 1b aren't disliked across the board. I would prefer to just start and stick with the program.

I believe I've read on here that some people don't like 1a-1b....or at least 1a. Why is that? I've heard that money and time are a weak area for Singapore. Does Miquon cover that any better?

And for Singapore, next year would I start him on Earlybird Essentials or at 1a?

Thank-you, KristinR, for your helpful post. I like the idea of M-Th Singapore and F Miquon. How does that work in getting through the Miquon book though? Or do you not worry about completing the book? Do you just do what you can and move on by grade?

We started DS with MUS Primer for kindergarten this year. I liked the gentle math intro and the hands-on approach. However, since then I have researched more and am thinking that Singapore is where we want to end up eventually. Is 1st grade the time to make the switch, or is there a better time to do it? I like the hands-on approach to MUS and RS for these younger years, however, I don't like that MUS may make for a difficult transition to something else in the future (or if we ended up putting him in public school, where they use Saxon.) I'm still learning about DS, but I'm not convinced that the hands-on approach is necessary for his learning style either. I hear good things about Miquon as a transitionary curriculum, but at the Sonlight website it says it may not be good for those who want concrete processes and answers. DS may fall into that category....I'm not totally sure. Suggestions of where to go from here?

I'm doing kindergarten with DS. He's 5. We've been doing Sing, Spell, Read,and Write for his phonics/reading program. He knows all his letter sounds very well. Four lessons ago we started the ferris wheel and blending basic 3-letter words and he's just not getting it. Maybe I'm not teaching it well or maybe he's just not ready or maybe the SSRW way of teaching blending just doesn't connect with him. I'm not sure what it is or if it's a combination of the 3. Since we started the blending, it's been stressful and not fun for either of us. At this point, I'm planning on just trudging through the SSRW curriculum until we get so stuck that we just can't continue, hoping that something will click with DS in the meantime. I think I'll slow down our pace too. Should I try supplementing with something else too? I signed up for the free trial of Reading Eggs today. DS enjoyed it, but he seems far beyond these beginning lessons. Would Explode the Code be of any benefit? Or do I just need to stick with the plan in the above paragraph for now? OR is that a bad plan? I guess I just need some direction. :confused:

I'm considering which would be better for my 1st grader next year. Can you compare and contrast the two? How much time is required each day for each and how much teacher prep? Is Apologia easier to combine grades on (like a few years down the road when I have a 4th and 1st grader?) Science up until about 4th grade is actually pretty low on my priority list, but I know it's something DS would look forward to.

What is TOG? I keep seeing it pop up on this forum.

I've sort of been having the same question. Thinking about eventually putting my 3 kids into 2 cores. Would 2 be too many if the OP could combine maybe the 3 and 5-year-old? (Granted SL P 3/4 and P4/5 cores aren't as intense as some of the upper level ones. But how about down the road, could those two be combined and have the older one doing a seperate core?)