Hmm. I should rephrase. Not what is taught in any specific way. But a standard to which things are taught. Frankly the standards are vague and open to interpretation. These are a few 4th grade literature standards. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.7 Make connections between the text of a story or drama and a visual or oral presentation of the text, identifying where each version reflects specific descriptions and directions in the text. CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RL.4.9 Compare and contrast the treatment of similar themes and topics (e.g., opposition of good and evil) and patterns of events (e.g., the quest) in stories, myths, and traditional literature from different cultures. As a parent I can choose whatever literature I deem appropriate to fulfill these standards.

Birchbark, There are many different ways to teach math. A program like Saxon uses traditionals algorithms, where as a program like Everyday Math uses new reform math. The latter is highly popular (and controversial) and intends to teach students how to "think mathematically." Both programs align to common core. As does Beast Academy, Singapore Math, Go Math, Mammoth Math, Math U See, and I think even Right Start Math, or at least soon it will. Common Core doesn't dictate how anything is taught. Just what is taught.

This site has newer comparable data and in 2011 50% of US 3 year olds were In a formal preschool program and 78% of US 4 year olds. Where as is it 49% for Finish 3 year olds and 57% for Finish 4 year olds. http://www.oecd.org/edu/educationataglance2013-countrynotesandkeyfacttables.htm

According to the studies above those numbers are for children enrolled in an academic formal preschool. Not daycare.

Formal preschool enrollment in the US is around 36% according to newer sources.

Formal preschool enrollment in the US is around 36% according to newer sources.

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Oh and about 46% of Finnish children are in a preschool program which is higher than the US but about 10% and higher than Australia by over 30%.

Finish has less letter sounds and less exceptions, which apparently makes it an easier learn to learn to read. I don't speak or read Finnish so I don't know if it is true or not.

It is good for me personally. It means that it meets the minimum standards that all children that grade level are meant to meet across the US. It is our choice to add to those standards.

The snapping ones are unit cubes. We use those predominately. But will move onto base ten soon. We have C-rods and I really want to use them more, but we don't. However I am not giving up on them. I think they will be. Dry beneficial for fractions. Lastly I wanted to mention that we use ten frames also. Each set of manipulatives are used in different ways. So far I have voted neither because both or other is not an option.

Anecdotal evidence that the late talker, harder to teach reader theory is not set in stone. My son was reading before he was talking. To clarify, he was unable to say anything spontaneously except "gah" and "dada". However when I taught him to read he started saying letter sounds, but ONLY when he saw the letter. And then he was saying words, ONLY when he saw the word.

Nothing wrong with counting fingers in my opinion. I was always good at Maths. I received many high distinctions in national competitions. I could always do pretty decent mental math. AND I used my fingers. To this day (and honesty I don't use math much at all) I still use my fingers. If I am given 5+3 I can answer swiftly but three fingers still twitch, although barely. The advantage is, if I am tired or multitasking I can always use my fingers.

Maybe just use a program like www.readingbear.org it is free.

My son has been playing dragon box since he was 3.5. He loves it but started to get confused on chapter 4 I think. So we just keep playing it over and over.

Frankly my son gets the most from science by watching videos, reading books and discussion. And then we write a little "essay" at the end of the week. Frankly we don't do much with experiments. I know you are out of money now, but there are some science videos on YouTube that might meet your purposes. I know a lot of people enjoy magic school bus (we personally don't. My son finds it to be absurd and I find the content week) and many like Bill Nye. There is a series on YouTube called Make Me Genius, if you can get past the heavy accents and mispronounced words, the content is good. My personal favourite for teaching science to my son is Peter Weatherall DVDs. He has a few videos on YouTube. Pinterest has some amazing ideas for science lap booking or notebooking. It is worth checking out if you like hands on things.

I taught my son proper pencil grip from the start. He was a lefty. I used twistable crayons and emphasized "pinchy fingers and a support" He didn't go through any grip stages. He had amazing drawing skills at 2. Then he switched hands on his own at 3 and became a righty, and his neatness degraded. But despite his neatness suffering he still always used proper grip. To be cheeky sometimes he writes or draws with 2 hands simultaneously. We steer clear of oversized jumbo type crayons and pencils. I read somewhere about how a big writing implement in tiny hands is like us writing with a broomstick. And after checking out my son's grip I agree. I highly recommend what are called golf pencils. Short ordinary lead pencils. We just chopped down ours with our chop saw. And I recommend 2B because the lead glides smoother.

I taught my son proper pencil grip from the start. He was a lefty. I used twistable crayons and emphasized "pinchy fingers and a support" He didn't go through any grip stages. He had amazing drawing skills at 2. Then he switched hands on his own at 3 and became a righty, and his neatness degraded. But despite his neatness suffering he still always used proper grip. To be cheeky sometimes he writes or draws with 2 hands simultaneously. We steer clear of oversized jumbo type crayons and pencils. I read somewhere about how a big writing implement in tiny hands is like us writing with a broomstick. And after checking out my son's grip I agree. I highly recommend what are called golf pencils. Short ordinary lead pencils. We just chopped down ours with our chop saw. And I recommend 2B because the lead glides smoother.

Mine son is 4 in December. He does everything, such as, throwing, eating, playing apps, painting, cutting, using scissors, getting into pants, hitting a ball etc with his left. Except writing.... He uses his right hand for that. He used to use his left for writing as well, and his writing was neat and his drawing impressive. But he switched and his writing is terrible. I have no idea if he will switch back or remain handed in the way he is. And frankly it is what it is. And I it something that I will let him ultimately decide. Fwiw, the majority of little kids start using their left hands the most because they are mirroring us.

I guess you could say I have always had required reading. Even while he was learning to read, he was expected to read 30 minutes a day in 2 sessions. I selected the books. He now is able to read independently he reads whatever he wants whenever he wants. Before nap time and before bedtime he is to pick a book to read by himself. Pick a challenging book for us to buddy read. And then read to him. I try and have him choose something above his reading level.

I guess you could say I have always had required reading. Even while he was learning to read, he was expected to read 30 minutes a day in 2 sessions. I selected the books. He now is able to read independently he reads whatever he wants whenever he wants. Before nap time and before bedtime he is to pick a book to read by himself. Pick a challenging book for us to buddy read. And then read to him. I try and have him choose something above his reading level.

I have a friend who is braver than I am, but what she does is hands her daughter a pencil and has her underline all the words that she does not know when they read. We borrow heavily from the library and I don't want my son starting this. But I am going to start writing down the words he doesn't know as we read so we can build his vocabulary. I agree with Harriet. Print up a list of generic questions that applies to nearly all types of stories and keep it handy when you read. This gives you a little cheat sheet. You could also write up the names of types of stories and together work out what type of book it is. Fable, non-fiction, fiction, poetry, etc.

My husband works late shift and he works 6 days a week. So we do the more formal aspects of schooling during those evenings when he works. The toughest stuff is usually done from 8pm-10pm. When he has vacation we have vacation. Or our son might choose to show daddy his new skills. On daddy's day off we might have more of a field trip day. Our philosophy is that learning is life and it isn't limited to certain hours. Our exceptions for daddy's off no school rule is that he has to do some math and reading every day. And he chooses to. Even when he was sick recently and I said he didn't have to, he found comfort in snuggling up and reading to us or doing some mental math.

Yes i have known it to be done. But only into a state college.

I started by following some reading lists. We have several lists printed out. And my son loves going thorough the lists and checking off the books he reads. He is also a Biscuit lover and has read all the books dozens of times, and for a while I felt he was stuck in a rut. So I hid the biscuit books, and he simple moved on to something else without a fuss. He is now loving books like Madeline! Babar, Books by Lois Lenski or Virginia Lee, and he loves the Little House Books. We are also buddy Reading Charlotte's Web. When we are both inspired and agreeable, we will draw pictures, act out and write a little bit about the books that we are reading. Right now we are on the hunt for some overalls as he wants to dress like Fern. We have a "pet" spider on our porch called Charlotte. And he wants to raise a pig and call it Wilbur. I wish he could. :) Note: if I had felt that he was not enjoying reading I wouldn't have put the the Biscuit books away. Cultivating a love of reading is of utmost importance. But keeping him growing as a reading is important to us also.