For his plan to "work" it would take public boarding schools. Kids and parents need to be separated for truly "equal" access to education. Not all parents are going to promote education in the home... I have always said if your worldview requires universal compliance your worldview will result in conflict not peace.

You might be able to sell just the manual. Silly people like me like to buy the manuals but don't care for the DVDs ;) I stalk ebay.

My 2 yr old, just turned 3, was begging to read. I started her on AAR Pre 1. It's slow going but she's happy so I humor her. She also loves Leap Frog Letter Factory! I don't think she'll be reading anytime soon she simply wants to do school like her brothers.

Gag! This book is eye opening. I grew up in a rural area, worked on a farm, studied Forestry in college. My kids are urban through and through :-( So far this week we have learned about trespassing, beavers, moss, that tree branches snap back to hit your sister if you aren't careful.... I'm ashamed of myself :-(. So glad I'm reading this book while I still have time to fix my short comings! We'll be trespassing a lot more :-) BTW this is my first ever book club, if there are unwritten rules feel free to write them down for me!

I gave away my MUS skip count CD, it was so mumbled I couldn't understand what they were saying! I would have sent it back but it wasn't worth the return postage. I really like the few songs "LearnMultiplication" has posted on YouTube, if I could find their CD I'd buy it! The songs by "havefunteaching" I did not find fun, my kids weren't fond of them either. 9s, 8s, 5s and 2s are simple enough without songs. 4s we use Row Your Boat. 6s Ants Go Marching and 7s to Imperial March. I'm pretty disappointed, with all the options available, I couldn't find a skip count CD that made my heart go wild!

I just started going through Teaching the Classics. I think the meat of the program can be enjoyed without the DVDs, keep in mind I've read the book but I've only made it through the first DVD. I have no experience with Reading Roadmaps, I'm stalking the Internet for a used copy! Exodus Books has the best price I've seen on Teaching the Classics and sometimes they have used copies, FYI.

This thread is cracking me up!

BFSU lovers here. It is meaty, age appropriate, fun and the ebook is only $5.

Thanks!

My DD turned 3 on Saturday. She was begging to do school so I got AAR Pre1 for her a few months ago. When we started she could recognize her name and the first letters of her brother's names, that was it! She is doing just fine with AAR Pre1. We do it slowly and repeat often. I'm not sure she fully understands rhyming but she matches the cards up well for the rhyming games. I let her play with the HWOT app for the letter we are working on. We are a cursive first family, I use the HWOT app to help with letter recognition not specifically for letterr formation. She spends 10-15 min a day doing school. We play with base 10 blocks and work on math during that time too.

I read Deconstructing Penguins, it's great but I too need more handholding. I found "Teaching the Classics" on sale. I can't offer a fair review as I'm still going through the DVDs and haven't fully implemented it. I am however beyond thrilled with the study guide so far and I've started pointing out simple literary elements to my K'ers. I think "Teaching the Classics" might work well for you, it's a teach the teacher tool that can be used from K thru college.

Oh what a timely post. I am looking too. This weekend we came to the realization that manners are not being caught in our house and must be taught. I'm all ears!

On the AAR forum the moderator said by the end of 2013.

That was sarcasm. If I can't read I can't answer the question ;)

Yes! Reading is prohibited in my religion!

We love BFSU in our house. A $5 ebook download that covers 3 years! For that price I don't mind that it's not open and go. It is also the most thurough program I've looked at. When I'm being lazy I pull up a lesson plan someone else created and I run with it. Between Pinterest and the BFSU Yahoo Group there are plenty of resources to implement to program with minor effort. My 5 yr olds will happily give you an example of a solid, liquid and gas.... Poop, pee and farts! I'm pretty sure the author knew where his suggestion of pee as a liquid would lead most young minds. I bet he's still laughing.

"100 fact sheets" made me cringe. If you feel like trying a different approach check out... http://www.crewtonramoneshouseofmath.com/division.html

I agree with you. Kids are capable of almost anything if we just give them the chance. My K'ers are doing 2nd grade Math but they can't read fluently. I pottied my kids as infants, like moms did before the invention of diapers. All of my kids, even my "developmentally delayed" preemies, were potty trained before the age most pediatricians tell mom's to watch for "readiness." If a child is interested in something, has fun exploring something and the parent is willing to provide the experience why hold a kid back because of their age? Their little brains are sponges and they are so curious I can't not fill their heads with knowledge. I also enjoy the look on the dentist's face when my 4 year old explains that X-rays are shadows of his bones :)

There isn't that many. I have my guys make 9 and 10 as review every day, it takes less than a minute. I do this with a deck of cards while they hang upside down. I pull up a card and tell them to make 10, then we go through again and make 9. I'm such a meanie if they get a 10 card while making 9 I have them say minus 1. Having those bonds down will decrease the frustration level with new material. If a child gets the 9 bonds down too it will make the chapter on money easier when they learn to make change. There are only 5 bonds to remember to make 10. 1+9 2+8 3+7 4+6 5+5 I would keep moving forward but review everyday. He should have a good handle making 10 after a week or so.

I love the MUS methods. My kids didn't like MR Demme :-/ or the workbook :-/ they love the blocks. I bought old MUS texts off eBay. The really old stuff MUS Foundations, Intermediate and Advanced levels. Now I use the old MUS texts to teach concepts and Singapore as my spine. FYI my kids finished MUS Alpha, I started them in Singapore Standards 1b and they are flying through. If you switch to MUS I recommend supplementing with Singapore's challenging word problems. MUS has lots of word problems but the challenge is lacking.

I'd make her follow through. We are going to lose in life more than we win. It's best to learn those lessons EARLY. Also, if she never tries she'll never win. I had a college professor that always read a eulogy of sorts to the kids who didn't turn in homework, he'd say "John Smith died with his potential intact." Quitting something small now is a gateway to quitting for the rest of her life, don't open that gateway. Don't let her die with her potential intact.

I alternate my kids on "Sister Watch." It took awhile but it's working most days. Her brothers will occasionally get fed up with her and put Dora on, she counts better in Spanish than English :-/. She's 2 now and speaks reasonably well so I give her 10-15 min of school time playing with manipulative and doing AAR Pre-1 (VERY SLOWLY!) Don't call Child Protective Services.... But in the warmer months I made (Sister Watch) happen outside. I could see through a window and that worked out really well for me. I'm pretty sure the neighbors think I neglect my kids. I have a friend that trained her toddler to stay on a blanket and play with toys during school. I've heard of other's doing that too, I don't have the patience to try it.

I have 2 K'ers, we do about an hour each day. It's plenty. When we started in the Fall my K'ers didn't know their numbers. (Feel free to gasp, it's true!) Monday they started a 2nd grade math book. My "problem" child didn't want to do Math this morning, he wanted to stack blocks. We stacked blocks for 20 min, in that time he playfully practiced skip counting by 2,3,4 and 5 using block towers. We built bar graphs with blocks and checkers, he did mental math answering questions about his graphs. Then we busted out a deck of cards and practiced making 9 and 10 from the number cards. When we finished he thought he got out of doing Math and I checked off a weeks worth of lessons!

It will depend on the child. Right now science is brain candy :) I'm an egghead, DH is an egghead. We are not skimping on early Math and Science however we currently emphasize LA specifically Reading. As my children grow I plan to push writing. The greatest minds in the world are useless if they can not articulate ideas well.

Meanie right here! We had a good 2 weeks off and I'm ready for a routine again, I think the kids are too.