We absolutely love TYCTR! It has really worked for us. My 9 and 8 yr old girls didn't finish the program, by lesson 70 or so they were reading anything and everything out there. They did go to public school for a while, they both entered K reading, and their teachers were always surprised of their reading skills and always said they were easily reading at 2nd grade level. My youngest (6 yr old boy) just finished the entire book...it did take him a while longer for it to "click in". After we finished I've just been getting everything I can from the library (level 1 and 2 readers usually) and his reading fluency has vastly improved. Not sure if I need to use any other phonics program with him? I don't think so though. Probably will do AAS1 and FLL1 next year, keep him reading all sorts of books and hope for the best :001_smile:

I am from Colombia (haven't been there since 1999 though, but I believe certain things have not changed much). I don't know as far as Chile and Argentina, but one fascinating thing for me here has been the access to a public library... that was something foreign for us while growing up. Our closest public library was downtown, probably 45min-1hr (in car, longer if we took the bus) from where I lived. Also, I do keep somewhat in contact with some relatives who still live there, and when we talk about my homeschooling ideas I can tell that they think I probably lost it, or I am a weird monster with 2 heads :) Can't speak for other countries, but I do get the impression that this is not something that is not done in Colombia very much at all (which makes me question how easy/affordable it would be to get your curriculum? I know my mom has to pay VERY expensive fees any time she has to mail anything over there)

I had mentioned in your other thread, we are fans of "Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons". For us it was hard at the beginning and we had to back out for a while and come back to it in a few months (this happened with the 3 kids I used it with), but once we started that second time they did great! Since your kids already know some reading they might not have that problem? I never had to finish the entire program with my 2 girls...by lesson 75 or so they were reading anything and everything they could get their hands on. With my 6 yr old son it was a little different.... with him we did finish the entire book and now I am just borrowing a lot of library books and have him read them. It has been exciting to notice how in the last couple weeks he is finally picking up books on his own...it's like it finally "clicked in". This program has always helped for us, probably you could do more than one lesson at the beginning, and it could be a great "over the summer" program?

Just my 2 cents....since I also feel that we do a lot of language arts over here. I have a K, 2nd and 3rd grader, and we do a lot of LA.... I do like to have my bases covered, so we do grammar, vocab, spelling, handwriting and I can't remember what else. Not sure if you take summer break or school year round....but what about focusing during the summer just in reading? It does make a world of a difference (at least for me) when the kids are strong readers. A lot of people have a love/hate relationship with :How to teach your child to read in 100 lessons". I hated it at times.... actually, if I remember right, with all the kids I started it and at about lesson 6-7 had to drop it and come back to it later (it was too challenging for them? for some reason it just didn't work the first time around). Anyway, we did eventually finish it with each child and they are very strong readers. My 6 yr old son just finished it, and it has been great to watch his reading "emerging". Whatever reading program you use, my point is that it might make it easier for you to focus in reading for a while and if that improves it could benefit you?

Thank you so much for sharing these! We'll be using them next year for level 3 and level 1. They are great!!

Thank you so very much ladies!! Yes, trying to cover "all the bases" ended up with way too much. Need to make better decisions at saying NO to shiny, new curriculum :)

Hi everyone! OK, confession time... I am a curriculum junkie, I like it all and love to browse over here to check out all the great suggestions, and have a hard time saying no. Trying to put LA together for next year is getting out of control! Some help would be appreciated! This is what I have so far: For 4th grader R&S English 4 AAS 3 Seton Reading Comprehension & Thinking Skills 4 Writing & Rethoric CAP books 1 and 2 Inside Stories, Book 1: Study Guides for Children's Literature, Grades 3-4 Wordly wise 3000 level 2 Handwriting without tears For 3rd grader R&S English 3 AAS 3 Seton Reading Comprehension 3 Some writing program (can't remember the name right now) Inside Stories, Book 1: Study Guides for Children's Literature, Grades 3-4 Wordly wise 3000 level 2 Handwriting without tears - cursive for 1st grader FLL1 Writing about me/writing about my world books AAS 1 Handwriting without tears Nature readers He just finished "How to teach your kids to read in 100 lessons" and reading more fluently is finally clicking in. Debating if we are doing the Little readers workbooks or if those would be too simple for him? So...here's the problem. On top of all these, the Seton Freedom Readers are REALLY calling my name (for the 3 of them, just at their grade level), and also the Seton phonics books look like so much fun. Not sure I can add more LA for any of them though! It already seems like we have more than enough? I do like the phonics, but would hope that somehow in the other programs we are covering phonics? Why are there so many "branches" to LA and so many good materials? I mean, is it really necessary to reinforce phonics in a separate "area"? I want to make sure I have a solid LA program, but don't have enough time in the year to try them all, unless we want to just learn LA and forget the rest of the subjects :lol:

Hi there!! well...first of all, many blessings for you and your family. Homeschooling is a new journey, and as any new path, it can be intimidating. I love this forum and read a lot, but don't have the time to respond/interact a whole lot. I do have to say it has been a great source for me, just reading what others are doing and sometimes finding out about programs/curriculum that I had never heard of. I just had to respond to your post, since I was in the same place as yours maybe a year and a half ago, and there are some days I feel I am in the same place :) so... my humble input.... 1) When it comes to any curriculum/program etc I've found that there is usually a 50/50 chance. About half of the families love it, and the other half hate it! 2) It really depends on how your kids are, and no one knows your kids better than you do. 3) Take it easy and take a deep breath, it will all be ok. 4) As some others have mentioned.... if something doesn't work it's not the end of the world, you can resell what you got and try something totally different. 5) I am not one to ask about schedules... still trying to figure that one out. 6) More about me... I am currently homeschooling a 9 yr old (3rd grade), 7 yr old (2nd grade) and almost 6 yr old (K). I just wanted to share some of my favorites with you. Again, MY favorites don't have to be your favorites. We do: Saxon Math, My Father's World (doing Adventures this year), and for language arts to have a total mix. "How to teach your child to read in 100 lessons" has been great for us, we also do "Wordly Wise" for vocab, All About Spelling (you will see the shortcut for it, AAS, quite a bit around here), my 2nd grader does FLL2 (First Language Lessons), and my 3rd grader does Rod and Staff 3rd grade grammar. We also do some logic, catequism/religion and other mixed stuff. I've tried to implement Spanish, but honestly I haven't been able to fit it in the schedule. (Our kids go once a week to a school for homeschoolers, and we also belong to a homeschooling group... so very often I have to squeeze in a 5 days work in 3....) With that being said....breathe, try out some things, and trust that everything will be ok. I just wanted to share which were some of our favorites.... Good luck!

Thanks so much!!! lots of great suggestions, thank you!

Thank you so much for your help! Definitely not trying Horizons...will check out Abeka.

Thank you so very much for all your suggestions! I tried the mat dance one and was having fun myself :laugh: Definitely will start with that one for the kids, and in the future try some of the other suggestions. Thanks again!

Has anyone tried any typing books or programs? What has been your favorite? Wanting to also start this with 2 and 3rd grader. I need to just stop looking at the rainbow resource catalog! :drool: Thanks in advance for your input!

Literature guides have always got my attention, but oh my...some of those are so pricey! Would love to do some next year with my 2nd and 3rd grader, but hopefully without breaking the bank :huh: Would really appreciate any suggestions!

Has anyone here tried this? I have come across it a couple times recently and it's really calling my name, but I have only found a couple reviews and there are not too favorable :glare: Any pros/cons/comments would be greatly appreciated! It sounds so good and looks so good in the catalog... but unfortunately almost everything looks good in theory :lol: If you haven't tried this one specifically... have you done a health curriculum? Any recommendations? Thank you in advance for your input!

Thank you so much for your input! I had no idea there was a MFW section....will go check it out. Thanks again!

I get the impression that some around here are long time "My Father Worlders" :) so I thought I'd bug you. I am really thinking about giving it a try next year (not 1st grade, but the next one, Adventures I believe?), but I also want to stick to whatever I choose... don't want to be switching back and forth, that sounds like a total mess :p So, I guess my main concern about MFW is their cycle approach. I have looked at their catalog a gazillion times and the more I look at it the more I like it. I like how their cycle seems to "flow". I have a younger one who would come into the family cycle later (so he would start probably when we are on year 2), and that puzzles me so much!! I like their cycle so much, how it begins from Adventures and goes on... I don't want him to miss on Adventures. How can he start in the same stage in they cycle where his older sisters will be? And I personally like the way their cycle is set up, so the idea of him starting in year 2 instead of Adventures like the others just puzzles me and I don't understand how things are supposed to flow as nicely for him if he is starting the program at a different stage? Any comments/help would be appreciated!! How has MFW worked for your kids (spaced out a bit)? How do they do when they start the cycle just where ever you are, instead of the beginning? Don't they miss out on a lot if they don't do Adventures first? How does all flow nicely and fall in place? Thanks! Trying to decide what to do here and hopefully stick to it :)

Thank you so very much ladies!!! I have decided to give FLL a try....we'll see how that goes :) Thanks for all your input!

I know, I miss that Amazon promotion as well. I believe it was until the end of 2012 only. Hoping they bring it back! I have ordered several times from Rainbow Resource and have never had an issue. Their prices are usually cheaper than Amazon, and I get free shipping in orders over $50. I really can't complain about them, they have been good to me :)

Hi everyone! I don't post much around here (this is my first year homeschooling, so honestly, can offer very little advice so I don't post a lot :(), but I do read constantly, and it's such a helpful place!! Lots of "long time" homeschoolers out here, who make me feel I can do this :) Anyway...Language arts... please help!!! Trying to plan ahead for next year... definitely would like to try "Rod and Staff", but I get the impression that is grammar only. We do AAS and we like it so far (so spelling is covered). But I realized the other day I have done no vocab at all this year! ugh! Trying to do some research I ran into this: http://www.aaaspell.com/vocabulary_lists/10315/exercises?1 Has anyone done this one? Is it any good? I like that it's free :) So, would appreciate any vocab advice. What has worked for you? And what about reading comprenhension? Any specific curriculums/plans that you recommend? Any help is appreciated!! Loving homeschooling, but choosing the curriculum and trying to make sure I do enough is overwhelming :p

this seems to be our past week or so! this is also my first year homeschooling, and for some reason this last week has been awfully hard. I think I was meant to read this thread for a reason... thanks to all! :)

thank you, thank you, thank you! All this info is extremely helpful, and just shows me that there is no right or wrong way... things will fall in place. And yes, I do need to RELAX first :iagree:

Hi! I desperately need some help with English. This is my first year homeschooling, and trying to figure out what to do/curriculum has been a nightmare! Would really appreciate some help! We are currently doing AAS1 (which we have liked), and just doing some "general" english books (some from scholastic, some from CHC 2nd grade). I have a 6 and almost 8 yr old, they are both fantastic readers. I just feel this "general" stuff is not cutting it, I am so afraid of leaving a huge gap! Just ran into Voyages in English... would I need the whole package (student book, teacher book etc) or probably would be just fine with the student book? I've also been looking into KISS... can't beat the cost of that one! And for the amount of money we've already invested this year... free sounds great. Is KISS sufficient enough or more like a complementary program? Is Voyages in English really worth the investment? it looks great from what I can tell...but have already purchased lots of stuff this year that "looks great" and ends up not working. It just feels like the "general" stuff we are doing are just a good practice, but there is really no solid theory. Would Voyages in English provide that? and what about writing?? is Voyages good as an entire english program (that has grammar, reading and writing) or is it only grammar? :confused: ANY help/comment would be really appreciated!!! We are supposed to be already into week 8... and it feels that I am leaving so many gaps behind (not only in English... science, social studies, haven't even started health...)! I keep telling myself that I must be doing an ok work (the girls seem happy), and that it's just me trying to get used to such a big change. They were both in school last year, it was a great school, so I am overly paranoid that I am not teaching them enough :001_huh:

Thank you so very much ladies! Crystal, thank you for the very detailed review, I appreciate it so very much! I kept looking at the catalog and didn't know exactly what to think about it... the information you gave me is extremely helpful! Thanks!

Hello everyone! first, let me introduce myself. My name is Wendy, and we have 4 wonderful kids. This is our first year homeschooling the 3 younger ones (prek, 1st and 2nd grade), so the last month or so has been a lot of trial and error. The whole "curriculum" thing is just confusing at times, and can be overwhelming. We got Catholic Homeschooling Curriculum, thinking it was the right fight, but our 1st and 2nd grader come from a very good school and their 1-2 grade materials were too basic. Besides, most of the material I found it dry, just didn't care for it. Then I ran into My Father's World (a great friend of mine uses it), I love what I see in the catalog and how much you get for your money. And it looks like the materials are fun and enjoyable! But then, looking at their catalog I ran into the whole evolution dilemma... UGH! I guess my main question for all of you is, can you use My Father's World and still teach an evolution perspective or not really? I really like their lesson plans, and all the extra books and materials that come with their deluxe package, but I also can tell from the catalog that it might come from a different perspective from what we want to teach to our kids. Is there a way to do MFW and mix evolution in there or would that definitely be a bad idea? I would REALLY appreciate any help on this matter! I have looked at so many curriculums (I've been thinking about homeschooling for about 8 years now, since my oldest was in second grade!), so by now I am just tired of looking at stuff, reading and thinking about it. It feels like when I run into something we might like then for some reason or the other it doesn't seem to work... I want to try MFW, but not sure if it's doable from an evolutionary perspective. Thank you in advance!! I have been reading quite a few of your curriculum threads... I am hoping I can find some very well needed guidance :confused: