My daughter loves her "ABC on the computer" time. I was ambivalent about her having computer time at her young age, so I put her in my lap when she asked for it. My thought was I'd still be interacting with her, so it wouldn't be mindless. We've used Starfall and ABCMouse. She is starting to get a bored with both. I'm not sure whether to let her be bored and therefore drift away it. Or, look around for something she would enjoy more. What have you guys used and what did you think of it? For example, I think Starfall does a great job teaching the letters, but then it makes a leap and seems to skip the next step. I like ABCMouse, but it does seem to have lots of the same thing over and over. Plus, the stories read by that woman in a childish falsetto is seriously annoying. They should have just gotten a 7-year old to read those stories. It also annoys my daughter that to follow the learning path she sometimes has to repeat something you did earlier. Like one weekend she was sick, but she still wanted her ABC time. So, we cuddled while doing songs and books on ABCMouse. Then when we went back to the learning path, she was annoyed that they wanted her to do them again, and went off the learning path. Which meant that some of the stuff was over her head.

I recently bought the book "Games for Writing" and I am really enjoying it. The same author also has ones for Reading, Math and Learning. My library has the ones for Reading and Writing but I think I might buy them all so I don't have to return them. (That happens about once every 5 years for me)

Haven't I read that your average homeschooled kid is working two years ahead at the end of 6th grade? I think that is where the middle school went. With a bit more acceleration than normal, and a stress on important skills like writing papers, I can see this do-able for the top ... 15% of kids. Maybe more. Any kid taking honors and AP classes in high school, could have probably gone this route. I remember AP as being more difficult than the corresponding college class.

I thought high school was largely a waste of time, and college was where I truly learned. So, I think it is a great idea. It isn't that the family skipped college, they basically skipped high school. That is something I would love for my daughter.

One thing that makes the question tough is what would I have bought anyway? I can totally see myself buying attribute blocks, the Building Thinking Skills, Math. Reasoning books and a zoo membership even if we weren't homeschooling. But. maybe if I weren't so in love with teaching my child, then those wouldn't thrill me so much.

The problem is that Love Field puts you in Dallas-Dallas. I would personally never live in Dallas because then the city politics would drive me bonkers. But if you want to live 30 minutes from work, you won't be able to go too far away. If you are homeschoolers, I would to rent really close to work, and then explore. I think your school choice will have a big impact. I would never in a million years live in anywhere in Dallas or Irving if I had to send my kids to public school. In Dallas, the only kids that go to public schools are the kids that have no other choice and a small number of Asian kids. My husband went to school in Dallas (an exception to the rule. Except that his parents did not care about his education). He knows WAYYYYYY too much about living around gangs and beating the crap out of the first person that attacks you so that everyone else will leave you alone. Not something I want for my child. In Irving, you have very very nice expensive areas and then there is this invisible line and it is very poor. That is fine to live there because you can choose to not cross the line. But the kids are mixed together. So you get the Dallas effect in the schools. But, if you are homeschooling. Then no worries. I am very new at this (live in Plano and moving to Farmersville) but there seems to be many groups and lots of active homeschoolers. My MIL lives in the Casa Linda area and it very nice.

Not this year, but I am interested in how it went.

I'm such a fan of my local library that I once wrote them a Thank You note. Borrow first and then buy as cheaply as possible if it is loved. Mostly based on finances. I'll buy if I can find something interesting super cheap.

Amusing update on the book that inspired this thread, The Lorax. It has now been removed from my "Oh nooooo, not again" list. One of the things that drove me nuts was that for each and every instance of "Thneed" in the picture, DD said "What's that?" Some pages have that word a lot! I hate saying that word. It goes into my nose. She hadn't asked for it for a while, until last night. Last night instead of asking "What's that?" she would point and say "Thneeds" and giggle in glee and triumph. What is not to love about your baby starting to read?

Does anyone know of a website for the inaccuracies in SOTW? I think that would be very helpful. With maybe arguments for and against X being an inaccuracy. For example, I know that one of the complaints is that it says that Alexander wasn't really Greek. People complain that he Yes, he was Greek. But the answer is really both Yes and No. I still want to use SOTW, but I think that combined with a pro/con website would be ideal for learning facts and developing the proper Historical Thought Process. Plus other stuff, of course.

My best friend said her mother's menopause was horrible. Her, her dad and her three brothers used to fight to take the dog for a walk. Sometimes, one of them was waiting on the dog to get back, so that he could go on another walk. This was with public school.

Cons: It's basic idea that unstructured play is a waste of time, and the corresponding idea that there is one way to play with X set of toys. Extended pretend play is important for the development of executive function. This is not allowed in a Montessori school.

Amazon thanks you. I also picked up his book on Historical sites and few other books that jumped into my cart.

I'm in the same boat as the OP. I read the Lies book and found it disturbing. We aren't ready for history yet, so I hadn't looked into. But, I did jump into this thread when I saw the title. I knew he'd made a textbook, but I hadn't realized he'd written another book. (Off to Amazon I go)

I am impressed that you actually got through WWI. The teachers were mandated to include a question on WWI and on WWII on our final exam. But, they could combine questions. Therefore the ONLY thing we needed to know from the 20th Century (yes, the whole century) was that the Italians were on our side in one war, and the opposite on the other. Didn't even need to know which wars. Never finished a history textbook until I took an AP class. People get grumpy about P.S's "teaching to the test", but I think part of it is grumpiness about having to finish all the material.

I would get one of the paperwhites. I would also not get a Kindle if you are looking for free books. I know that the library downloads work with less problems if it isn't the Kindle format. I personally like the light to be from a little clip-on. I find it more restful. Others probably prefer the opposite.

The NA or cowboy question is just a bad question. That isn't to say that testing in general is a bad idea. Although it is frustrating. I remember that the practice Teacher Certification Physics test had two out of 50 questions marked with the wrong answer. The thought of being judged by people that published that test irritated me. I never thought about it before, but I have always assumed that the test writers aren't as smart as I am. (And I am an excellent test taker) I remember the Princeton Review for the SAT said that an employee's 19-year-old daughter was hired to write test questions one summer. That was helpful knowledge. (And that was back in the dark ages when the test was a lot harder) The portfolios idea sounds good. But, I don't really think it is practical. Who judges the portfolio, and who has time to do so?

I've always suspected that my bad eyesight is related to my being an extremely earlier reader. The huge fonts available on my e-reader will be great to ease the mind of this worry-wort mommy once DD gets to that point.

I'm in the camp that thinks this is weird, but not a reason to reject Sonlight. I remember moving in the middle of 3rd grade and being taught history that was opposite in the new place. Actually, now that I think of it, it was American History. If I were to teach this Core, I would probably show the table to my kid, and then discuss why you should never just accept what it is said/written. I also plan to include "Lies my teacher taught" (going by memory, but if you've read it, you will recognize it) What ends up in History books seems to have at least as much to do with the conditions it was written in, then the facts. Of course I want my child to get facts as correct as can be known. But, I also want her to develop a "this doesn't smell right" meter, and look into things when the meter goes off.

This is me. I don't know why I do it. In my 43 years as a bookworm, I've dropped less than 5 books. Sometimes it is like a train wreck, you know you shouldn't finish, but you have to anyway. Actually, I'll even finish a series I hate. I HAVE to know how it ends.

One of the complaints I've heard about getting Sonlight books at the library, is that you can't get them when they are on the schedule. But, with P3/4 reading the books in order isn't really important. It isn't like you are reading history books, and you'll mix up your timeline. I think I remember reading in a thread here that someone made an excel document with the P3/4 then P4/5 stories in it. Then as you read the stories/books, you checked them off, or wrote in the date.

Thank you Punchie for mentioning the Hoot Owl game. I looked it up on Amazon, and it is a little old for DD. But, the same company has one where you work together to get all the runaway chicks back to the coop for the Mother Hen. That has been a hit. It made me thankful to the internet and Amazon. As a kid, my family was really into games. My parents would have gleefully bought the same games I am gleefully buying now. At my parent's house the games are stored on a metal shelving unit 4' wide by 6' tall, and they don't all fit. But, because my parents were limited to what was at the local store, which for kid's games was only Chutes and Ladders and the like.

This has been so helpful! I love the Usbourne books, but I can see how they should be banned from read-aloud time. Adding them to "readers only" list. For anyone else interested in the same thing, I'd like to add the picture book "Big Plans" to the list. A kid gets bored in school, and he ends up steamrolling everyone into letting him take over as POTUS and then do something to the moon that could be seen from earth.

Rather than a glossy magazine with colorful ads, what about a newsletter and all black and white? The Tightwad Gazette comes to mind. (Showing my age) It could be available either in an e-book format, or a black and white newsletter sent by post. Newsletter version with the postage price added. I personally get ticked when the e-book version of anything is the same price.

Our science book one year had a cover that showed a progression from some gorilla/ape-ish animal to modern man. But the topic was never covered. I don't remember anything being skipped over, we probably just never got to it.