You may want to mention when you give her the RR catalog that she will probably prefer a Catholic history text. Adoremus carries many and CHC has the new ones that have recently been updated. Actually, she may not care for the science in RR either. Most Catholics are Theistic Evolution/OE.

There are also things that are inexpensive and give you a lot of bang for your buck in terms of saving you a lot of time in pulling free things off the internet or are very well liked or effective for their price; how to teach spelling, natural speller, phonics pathways (my library has 2 copies!), miquon, the writer's jungle (if purchased on hsbc), comprehensive composition, building foundations of scientific understanding...hmm that's all I can think of atm but I'm sure there are many more.

MEP is free (and quite good) math for elementary. They also have math for upper levels but it is not laid out in a way that would jive well with American style. It is based on Hungarian and Asian math methods. KISS is free grammar (probably what pp was referring to as well) that you can do interactive online or use the workbooks. Take a few moments to search old posts and figure out how to use the site before you throw in the towel. Many people prefer KISS to other pay curricula. ILL is interlibrary loan-your ticket to the world. Many people like progressive phonics as well, though it's not my cup of tea.

We did the free trial and ds liked it. I decided to purchase click 'n read through hsbc because it was a much better value-$30 for life. DS lost interest after about 2 months. My mom asked him if he wanted her to sign up for reading eggs at her house and he was pretty neutral about it. I think if you're just looking to keep him busy rather than teach systematic phonics, I would find a bunch of good sites and save the links in a folder for him so he could choose and have variety. It would also be free.

Put in the 10 minutes upfront to understand free resources that rock with less-than-stellar sites such as MEP and KISS. Learn your library's ILL policy and use it...ruthlessly. Alter your educational philosophy to acknowledge that kids don't need $300 labs in elementary school. They can learn plenty with stuff you already have on hand.

The 8 levels include pre level 1 so the last one in the series will actually be level 7. Levels 1-4 are supposed to be the completion of the phonics portion. Levels 5-7 are supposed to work on comprehension and fluency. We recently started level 1 and with level 2 being released in Sept I think we will hopefully not go faster than they finish level 3. However, even if we only get to level 2 and have to switch to something else, I will still be glad that we got to use the multi sensory, writing-free, synthetic phonics stuff for the lower levels.

My 3.5 yo early reader does this sometimes. I was a little worried as he is my oldest so I'm glad to see it's fairly typical. I do plan to use the cursor to encourage left to right though. I can't see how it could possibly hurt.

My NAB reads that verse from Peter as "His divine power has bestowed on us everything that makes for life and devotion, through the knowledge of him." This is a verse saying that we've been given that which we need for Salvation. It does not say found only in scripture. He has bestowed us with reason, intellect, science, history, language and the like. The author is really reaching with the interpretation that we need to only teach our children what's in the Bible. The exodus verse is clearly referring to the worship of other gods, not the teaching of history to our children 2000 years later. There will always be people that make up their minds first and then find a verse that they can twist to suit their needs.

I'm at the same spot with my 3.5 yo. He always wants to do math so we are almost done with mep reception even though it seems we just started. I recently began adding in the miquon and I'm considering starting yr 1 of mep. I made number tiles for him to reduce the amount of writing he needs to do, which may be something you want to consider regardless of the program you choose. For miquon, for example, instead of writing the number in the square he can just put the appropriate tile there.

That's fantastic! I was just lamenting the lack of options in that area with dh.

Mostly because they use less water. You can cd with a front loader but it will present more challenges. You'll probably need to do a pre rinse, maybe 2, and possibly an extra post rinse.

I actually really like microfiber. I always wash them in hot with a dab of bleach so I don't have stink issues. If you are opposed to the use of chlorine bleach or if you have hard water and wish to only use all natural detergent that lacks chelating agents, then you probably will want to skip microfiber. Bamboo is nice too though. I'm not crazy about hemp because they get super stiff if you line dry. Also, fyi, front loaders to not get along well with cloth diapers. The sunbaby inserts, ime, will not be enough once baby gets to the 9-12 month range so you may want to plan ahead for doublers.

Velcro is faster and provides a better fit. Snaps wear better and aren't as easily yanked off by toddlers going through their stripping phase.

Another science major here...My main frustration is the lack of secular options, especially if you want more of an integrated approach instead of the 4 yr rotation. Our local public schools don't really do anything until 5th grade other than a few demonstrations. The bar is set pretty low if one just aims to do better than ps. I personally feel that a lot of the whiz bang demonstrations are overkill. I'd rather put time and money into good books and videos. The demonstrations are also, imo, the reason so much science doesn't get done. Unfortunately, when you strip them away from most programs, there are only a few small morsels left. Also, math governs physics, which in turn governs chemistry. Chemistry is responsible for most underlying biological principles. Naturally, they will not be able to truly understand the major forces in science until they get the math. Prior to that, I think it's good exposure (particularly understanding scientific method) but they simply can't have a very complete understanding so I won't be losing any sleep if we don't use the latest and greatest curriculum in the early elementary years.

SA of the cube is the SA of each side, 12*12 times the number of faces, 6. The volume is 12*12*12 but that's not what you're looking for.

It doesn't matter where you cut the cube from. The sa of the cube is 6*12*12 so just subtract that from the initial area.

It's here.

Yes, that's right. TWJ is everything you *need* and those extras are additional handholding if you want it.

Thanks for all the tips! He is interested in writing his name...um, on everything...but is pretty neutral aside from that. He likes to write with markers but would be just as happy to simply doodle. I was actually lucky enough to receive a hand me down GD instruction manual from a local mom so I was thinking of using that as a guide for some prewriting activities.

So I guess you're all saying that if I go ahead w/ the prek ball and stick it won't ruin him and if I skip writing until next yr (do prewriting now) I won't have major problems in a yr or two. I think that's what I was hoping to hear. Thank you! :grouphug:

Are you using the same level cwp as mep level or are you going with 1 level lower on cwp than where you are in mep?

I thought I would teach my little guy using a pre-k ball and stick workbook but after looking into it more I've decided I simply must teach him italic. Unfortunately, italic doesn't have a pre-k option and I don't think he's ready for the A book.:banghead: Should I just scrap handwriting until next year or try to make my own italic prewriting for this year? His math/reading are about mid k level right now so I'm kind of worried that skipping writing will work us into a corner a year or two from now but I guess I could worry about that when the time comes. The prek book is going ok but I really want to do italic long term. Would it really screw things up to let him practice ball and stick for now and switch next year?

They are a pretty big part of the program. AAR is meant to teach synthetic phonics. Trying to get random early readers from the library would negate this. Using readers that only contain words the child has learned to decode is important in synthetic phonics because it prevents guessing.

We just started recently and my son really loves it. I have some issues with clutter and it really bugs me when things are asymmetrical so AAR and all its pieces is a bit of a sacrifice in my own sanity but I'm getting used to it. It is certainly more engaging and enjoyable for my son than plain 'ol phonics pathways and other such things where you just go over the sounds and then practice. I also feel strongly that I want the phonics introduced before he starts guessing at things in a "blended literacy" fashion so many other options were off the table for me. The readers in aar are really nice which accounts for some of the high price. This works to offset how much the tiles disturb my inner peace because a cheap program with make your own readers sitting all over would probably make me even crazier.:blink:

I think I just typed in c-rod in the search and then browsed whatever came up as well as the related suggested threads that show up at the bottom of the page. Seems the overwhelming majority prefer plastic. There were fewer posts on notched/ridged vs. smooth and linking vs. regular. The search is not especially friendly.