For preschool, I don't think you need to do anything more than what you're doing now. Just stay consistent, and make learning a part if your family culture. What to tell her about pulling her from outside preschool? I would probably say something like, "I'm really excited for us to start learning together at home, and now we'll have lots more time together! What kinds of things do you most want to learn?" As long as you treat homeschooling as a positive development, she probably will, too.

Given her young age, you also might consider trying the RightStart games. FWIW, it took my kids a while to warm up to Miquon (and one never did). It just feels really random and unstructured to them.

Off the cuff, I also would have assumed the homeschooled kids would be fatter. Not because of school breakfast/lunch programs, but because homeschooled kids have access to food more consistently throughout the day. When my son is home, he's always asking for a snack, grabbing some fruit from the bowl, etc. At school, the only chance he gets to eat is the 15 minutes (literally!) they allow for lunch at mid-day. I pack him a big, healthy lunch, but he struggles to get enough food down the hatch to keep from being ravenous by the end of the day.

I second the advice to focus on reading and (maybe) handwriting. Reading is the really crucial skill at that age. OPGTR plus a ton of read alouds would be perfect.

I think that amount sounds perfect! We homeschooled K last year, and that's about the same amount of structured handwriting we did. Now in First, DS has excellent handwriting and rarely makes mistakes in letter formation. Except he keeps forgetting how to write a lower case "e". Hello? :)

This is more for inspiration than teaching, but my kids enjoy watching Mark Crilley's learn to draw videos on YouTube.

How frustrating for you! I really wish kids weren't expected to have solid fine motor skills at such an early age. I'm no expert (obviously, since I started this thread asking for help), but here are a couple if things that worked well for developing grip strength in both my sons: 1. Mazes - I require them to be done without any lines touching the edges of the path. We started with the really easy Kumon mazes. My sons both really liked the added requirement (weirdos) and self-enforce starting over if they touch an edge. 2. Coloring - Both my sons hate this, but I still give them a page every week or so and require them to do it. They're happier coloring mandalas (there are several mandala coloring books on Amazon) than cartoonish pages. I usually have them use colored pencils or skinny markers so their hands get used to the feel of a pencil. 3. I watch their grip closely any time they are writing or coloring and correct it immediately when it gets wonky. 4. Tracing- we do a LOT of letter tracing, with me sitting right there, ensuring each letter is formed correctly. My theory us that the more they do it, the faster they form muscle memory of each letter shape. We do 2-3 of these every day. But I try to leave the rest of their Preschooling and Afterschooling free of writing so they can just focus on the relevant skill knowledge. Math is mostly oral, or I will scribe. Reading is oral (obviously...:)). We use the AAS tiles for spelling, and skip the writing part for my youngest. Maybe now that you've worried publicly, your son will kick it into gear, too! :)

We don't do anything formally. They know they're expected to help when asked. They're still pretty young, but I have them: Make beds Pick up toys Dry dishes Water plants Fold laundry Dust Sweep (at which they are hilariously awful) Etc

I've used OPGTR with both my boys, and I think it's excellent. Does your daughter write at all? If she's still learning to form letters, Explode the Code might be too much for her. The phonics in the first couple books is easy, but there's a lot of writing. Unless she's already got all her letter formation down cold, I'd probably stick with a handwriting program. We used Zaner Blozer. Handwriting Without Tears is also popular. There are others on this forum with more knowledge (and stronger opinions) regarding math - so I'll leave it up to them to advise you! :)

Congratulations! It's great to hear about happy, successful days!

LOL! Thank you for your thoughtful response! We were just out at DS's favorite restaurant for his birthday dinner. While the rest of us were chatting, DS took a crayon and wrote on the back if his children's menu: "Hapee Berthdae to me I am five." What!?! He literally has NEVER been able to write a single word before, not even his name. I should have known he'd have a breakthrough right after I started worrying about him publicly.

He can't write any words, including his name, unless there's a sample directly above the line he's writing on. Even with a sample, what he produces is completely unrecognizable nine times out of ten.

Thanks! There are days I really need to be reminded it's worth it.

My youngest son turns five tomorrow (!), and he's still not writing. I'm a little worried because his older brother was writing very well (albeit with a lot of mis-spelling) at this age, and also because we've been practicing writing A LOT, apparently to little effect. We've been tracing letters for almost two years now. We do a lot of maze books - so I know he has good pencil control. He doesn't like to color, but he's capable of doing a nice job if pressed. His drawing skills are nothing to write home about, but you can usually tell what he's trying to make. But ask him to copy a single word, even his name, and he creates a crazy scrawl that looks like abstract art. What's going on? His reading is coming along nicely. He's about half-way through OPGTR. He's doing great in math and spelling (using the AAS tiles instead of writing). Can you think of any reason why he doesn't seem to be able to write recognizable letters?

My first grader (reading on a 4th grade level) just flunked Dibels, too! He literally failed to read a single nonsense word correctly. I just about had a heart attack when I saw the test results, but his teacher just laughed and told me Dibels is useless with kids who are already reading well.

Congratulations! Finishing OPGTR is no small feat for ANY child!

I afterschool my first grader with AAS. We started it while he was in K. Yes, it's expensive and teacher-intensive, but it's completely "open and go." Some lessons take longer than others, and DS has little patience or energy after school - so I've learned it's important to set a timer for 10 minutes and STOP when it goes off. DS is (slowly) learning to spell very well, with little to no stress for him or me.

I'm tempted to set a timer for 15 minutes and put the homework away when it buzzes. But I think DS would freak out. His teacher has "Fun Friday" where kids who finished their homework play fun games and kids who didn't finish have to sit in the back and work until all their homework is done. My son would hate to miss the games. I'm also considering not helping DS with spelling/grammar the first time through, but circling his errors in pen when he's done and letting him fix them (which I know he'll opt to do, the little perfectionist). That way, he gets it "right" but his teacher knows where he struggled. I think it might make homework time even longer, though, which is the last thing I want!

We also play a lot of addition/subtraction war card games. We like using the RightStart cards. My DS never wants to play subtraction war - so we recently modified the game so that we switch operations after each "war." We also sometimes use flash cards. We tried Xtra math, but DS was too stressed out by the Race the Teacher aspect.

I second the advice about tackling homework early. I let DS watch one episode of the old Transformers cartoon (his current interest) right after school, provided he practiced piano with a good attitude before school. As soon as the episode is over, he does homework. At this point, he needs a lot of hand holding during homework - so I stay right there with him. He doesn't love homework, but he's usually very motivated because he knows that once he's done he's totally free to play until bedtime.

I think about this issue a lot! DS's teacher says his homework is supposed to take no more than 15 minutes each night, not including 15 minutes of reading to me. In reality, it would take him at least 30 minutes. There is just SO MUCH writing. DS is a perfectionist - so he's always asking me to help him spell words and check his work for mistakes. What he eventually turns in is MUCH better than what he could produce himself. I don't like the way this is trending, but I also don't want him to self-teach incorrect spelling or grammar. DS's teacher, in response to my question, said she wants the homework to be only the student's work, but I should be "involved." ??? And the whole situation is getting worse because DS's teacher started sending him home with the 2nd grade homework packet because she thinks the 1st grade one wasn't challenging him enough. Eek! I have a meeting scheduled with her on Monday to try to sort all this out.

My first grader needs a lot of down time, but we've sort of lost control of the after school activities. He has two nights a week of Taekwon-Do, and one piano lesson (requiring daily practice). He's starting Odyssey of the Mind soon, which will be twice a week. And he'll start Scouts when he turns seven this spring. This is all WAY too much for my introverted, quiet-time-loving boy, but I'm not sure what to do about it.

I'd say we're surviving rather than doing well. This is our first year if PS. The transition has been difficult. It's just so hard to find time to afterschool! DS'S is physically and emotionally exhausted when he gets home. Just getting through homework is a chore. The last two weeks we've tried to have DS complete his weekly homework packet over the weekend to keep weeknights a little calmer. That has helped. What we're doing: FLL at breakfast Piano before school Reading after school RightStart games after dinner when possible SOTW via CD in the car What I want to add but can't find time: AAS WWE Art/crafts

Wow! We homeschooled K, so I'm not speaking from experience, but that surprises me. I keep reading about how intense K standards have gotten. I just assumed most kids enter K at least blending CVC words.

This is good for me to read! This is DS's first year of PS. DS's teacher has been very responsive to communication via email, but I'm still looking forward to conferences!