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Meg429

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Everything posted by Meg429

  1. Thank you!! I was going to purchase this anyways so this saves me money! So excited.
  2. AAS 10 minutes AAR 15 minutes (she has now finished this program and we read together at bedtime instead) FLL 5-10 minutes WWE 15 minutes Handwriting 10 minutes (done independently) All in all it ends up being less than an hour. She takes a break then while I work with her brother before rotating back for math.
  3. We're doing first this year and have been happy with our choices, plan to use the same for my son in the coming year. History - FIAR, reading D'Aulaire biographies as bedtime stories Science - FIAR, BFSU as it ties in Reading - AAR Phonics - AAR Handwriting - New American Cursive Writing (if you did it) - WWE 1 Grammar (if you did it) - FLL 1 Spelling (if you did it) - AAS Logic (if you did it) - Planned to use Lollipop Logic but haven't gotten to it yet
  4. LA: AAR 4, AAS 3, WWE 1, FLL 1, Beginning Cursive Math: RightStart B History: Mom made American History using AG and Little House books Geography: Simply Charlotte Mason Visit North America Geography Science: BFSU 1 Art: ArtTango.com, Usborne Famous Paintings card study Music: Piano Lessons PE: Ballet, Ice Skating
  5. This thread is so timely as we just found out we are also expecting a surprise baby #4, also due in March. I appreciate the encouragement here. I am feeling overwhelmed!
  6. DS will be 5 in November and will be doing prek this year With MBTP 4-5 and AAR1.
  7. DD1 will be in first grade next year. Language Arts - AAR3, AAS2, ZB2 printing and begin cursive (she's begging for it), FLL1 and WWE1 Math - Rightstart B and CLE 1 for review / memorizing facts Science - NL 1 History / Geography - Early American History through picture books and Little House books, state study and US Geography Art - Usborne Famous Painting Card study, Learn. Imagine. Create! Art Series (free download) Lollipop Logic PE - Ballet/Tap, Ice Skating
  8. OneNote!!! My life is in it - homeschooling, housekeeping, meal and grocery lists, vacations, blogging, and spreadsheets for my small business. I love that it syncs with my laptop and my andriod phone. I have a binder for each topic.
  9. Haven't used this but looking at it - Living History of Our World America's Story
  10. I have a wiggly child, also :) I think it's normal for their age! I think it's a good thing that it's different than traditional school - that's why you're homeschooling and it sounds like you're doing great to me. We don't follow a strict schedule, either. We do better with a flexible routine. My kids thrive on this routine. It doesn't matter what time we start, but they know we do calendar, then reading, then math everyday. Next is story time, and if we have time we do one or two short activities that reinforce what we read that day. That's it! I do plan things out but I don't worry if we don't get to the extra stuff. As long as we're reading and doing math everyday, I'm happy. I use all 'do the next thing' curricula for our core subjects so it's easy to just move on to the next lesson - no planning needed for those. As far as how do you teach it all - we use Five in a Row which some people love and some people really do not. We love it. It includes social studies/history and science for us and it doesn't take too much time, generally 30 minutes a day when we do it. Sometimes we don't do the activities, just read the books depending on how our day is going.
  11. We were stuck at the same spot of Singapore 1A. I decided to put it on the shelf for a bit and I purchased RightStart Math A used (we probably could started with B but I have a younger DS who can use A also). I am in LOVE with RS and how it is giving her the foundation she needs. I plan to return to Singapore but hopefully it will be easier for her when we get there because she has built a foundation.
  12. What you're looking for in your last post sounds a lot like how we use FIAR. Check out some of my posts at my blog to see what a week looks like for us. Many (if not most) stories include an animal which can be studied more in depth. Some other options that I haven't seen mentioned are Picture Book Activities : http://www.amazon.com/Picture-Book-Activities-Preschoolers-Childrens/dp/0743216172/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412470258&sr=8-1&keywords=picture+book+activities And also Itty Bitty Bookork: http://www.ittybittybookworm.com/ Good luck!
  13. We also have a loose schedule - but we do FIAR so reading the same book every day is the point, and my kids love it. I get many quality library books each week that have to do with the topics we will be learning about. For instance, this week we're reading "How to make an Apple Pie and See the World" so I picked up many apple books, both fiction and nonfiction, and they go in the book basket. I read the scheduled book first, and then each child is allowed to pick a few books from the book basket to read. It seems to be a happy medium between what I want to read and letting them choose.
  14. I'm doing Rightstart Math A with my DC right now, ages 5 and almost 4. They REALLY enjoy it. It is basically all manipulative work and games and they don't know they're 'doing school'. It is pricey, however. I previously used Singapore (which I like!) but I prefer RS at this young age. I have heard the Miquon is also hands-on and very good, but I've never actually seen it.
  15. You can check them out at the library because they are pretty common books. We really liked both BFIAR and Peak with Books, they're both great programs :)
  16. That's great! It's so awesome to see them grow and progress!
  17. I just started this with my just 5 YO DD and 3 YO DS simultaneiously. This is after doing Singapore Kindergarten Essentials A and B. It is very basic and under the level of my 5 year old - but that was what I wanted. She was struggling with Singapore 1A mental concepts, and I wanted to go back and review/solidify concepts to give her confidence. It is working wonderfully. Not only is it building confidence the kids think it's really fun because they get to explore with the manipulatives. So far, we're loving it and my 3 YO DS is enjoying it as well - although I will repeat with him at 4 or 5 when he is fully ready because some of the things are beyond him right now like some of the patterning.
  18. Ok this is making me feel better. I was not feeling the love for them but they seem to be very popular.
  19. I don't have experience with MM so take this as you may, but we used SM last year and continued to 1A this year. I wasn't feeling like a successful teacher (while using the HIG) and my DD certainly wasn't grasping the ideas. I wanted her to form a better foundation of math and numbers than what she was getting. I recieved some great advice here and in the end decided to jump in and buy RightStart A. I maybe could've started with B, but I have a nearly 4 year old tag-along and again, I wanted to start back at basics and build up. Well we've been at it for nearly two weeks now, and it may be 'new shiny curricula' disorder but my children LOVE it and it has been a blessing for me as a teacher. The box with all the manipulatives and materials was intimidating at first but it's so nice how it is laid out for you each day - questions to ask, materials to use, ect. and we haven't touched a workbook yet. My DD told me yesterday, "I love math now, I am not sad we're not doing that other math anymore". And they are learning. So I do think that RS can be a good investment (although it was hard for me to press buy!). I hope it contineus to work into the future. Of course, realistically, if your budget doesn't allow, try to incorperate more manipulatives or look at the education unboxed videos. But maybe if you continue to have problems it is an option for the future to look at.
  20. For K we roughly follow this routine: 10 minutes Bible / Poetry 10 minutes of Spelling (AAS 1) 15 Phonics (AAR 2) Break 15 minutes - Handwriting (Zaner Bloser or copywork) and Calandar notebook are done independantly while I work with DS 15 minutes - Math Break 20-40 minutes of Five in a Row, which includes a lit read aloud and either geography, history, science go-along books. Possibly short experiement or craft if we feel like it.
  21. Thanks so much for the input! She really did well with the vast majority of the K books so I felt ok moving onto the 1A book (was planning on taking it 1/2 pace and spending the entire year on it). It is Standards edition and I have the HIG, which explains that this should be memorized before we move on. We have been stuck on memorizing for a while and don't seem to be get anywhere. We are using the connecting cubes as our only manipulative but she is still having a hard time grasping it. I will definitely check out education unboxed with c-rods. I may have to invest in some of those, and I will also check out Right Start. At this point, I'd rather keep Singapore for later when she can grasp it than push her faster through a program that she will not retain info from. We are expecting a baby next month, however, so I will have to see how our time allows. Maybe we'll just play some games and wait for 6 months or so before trying again when life calms down. Hmmm lots to think about. Thanks all.
  22. For my DD we used Singapore Essentials Kindergarten A and B, and we both did relatively fine with the concepts taught. She struggled a little bit with the addition/subtraction but I knew we would hit those topics many times again in the future. Now we have just started Singapore 1A. We are in our third week working on number bonds. I am having such a hard time teaching this in a way that she understands. She just doesn't seem to 'get' it, and honestly I am struggling with teaching it. At this point, she is just guessing and it's frustrating for both of us. I am not mathy, and it doesn't seem to her her strong suit (she is very artsy and loves to read) but I don't want to label her, she's still so young - it may just be the style of teaching. I keep looking at different programs and wondering if I should switch to something more scripted or laid out for ME so I can help her more (Saxon? MIF?). Or just stay here with Singapore and spend as much time as it takes memorizing before we move on? We're new at this - any advice is appreciated! Megan
  23. We did BFIAR, and now FIAR, and we love it. But I do understand what others are saying - it is teacher intensive at times if you want to add more hands-on learning, and it does jump around. For K, we are using them as unit studies and enjoy the varied topics. It seems to hold my kids interest, and the look forward each week to see what the new books and topics are that we are learning about. It doesn't have to be super complicated though, and it's been a great fit for dd. I would suggest giving it a try. I don't plan on starting SOTW until 2nd or so because I feel that my kids would get more out of it then (and I can include younger DS at that time, as well).
  24. We're now doing AAR with DD and Pre-level with DS. I don't think any supplementation is needed. I have tried to incorporate BOB books and things in the past, but always went back to just AAR - it is enough.
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