I asked her that question specifically and she said no, she meant for her curriculum to stand alone and not need extra supplements. Some of the games she uses in the curriculum are identical to the FTS books, but many are new.

Plans so far for my last 3rd grader. Mostly just continuing what we are doing this year. Language Arts: Lightning Literature AAS 2/3 Writing With Ease level 2 Math: Hopefully continue pilot testing Math With Confidence (Kate Snow) History: History Quest Middle Times Science: Science Odyssey Physics level 1 Other: Art projects with mom Cooking using 4H curriculum with mom If things have opened up a bit more handbells class, choir, and musical theater

We have an Amex Blue Cash Preferred that gives 6% back at grocery stores. Our one "hack" with that card is to use it to purchase gift cards from the grocery store. So we use it to buy gift cards to give as gifts, but also cards that I then use at the gas station or if we know we are going to do a big purchase at Home Depot or something I will buy a gift card for that as well. As long as it's purchased from the grocery store I can get the 6% back.

That's why I've only ever looked at it, ha! I do think I'm going to use it for my upcoming 8th grader next year.

Maybe Mosdos Press ? I haven't used it personally, but I seem to look at it every year.

Yes, the 4 day a week flexibility is fantastic! Also, you mentioned place value, from what I've read first grade covers place value very thoroughly, but only up to 100. 2nd grade goes to 1000. To me that pace seems a bit slow compared to other curriculum, but it is covered throughly and reviewed often.

She also has a facebook group where you can ask more questions about the curriculum: Math with Confidence Community

Unfortunately she only has the K curriculum out right now, 1st is scheduled to be released this May. If you sign up on her website to receive emails, she will send out an email later this year looking for pilot testers for 3rd grade. It has definitely been a welcome change in our home.

I am pilot testing her 2nd grade curriculum right now and we love it. I did not pilot test K or 1st, so I can't give you specifics about them, but I can give a general overview. If you like her Facts that Stick books, you will probably like her curriculum. She incorporates a lot of hands on learning with household items and a lot of games. Workbook pages are colorful. I think in the K level it is 1 workbook page a day, 2nd grade is 2 pages. The teacher's guide is fully scripted and daily review is built in. It is a 4 day a week program with an optional 5th day enrichment that involves reading a picture book and doing a small activity related to the book or to review the week's lessons. By her own description, her curriculum is "middle of the road" in difficulty. We moved from Singapore Dimensions math to her curriculum for my 2nd grader and I would say her curriculum moves at a gentler pace, has much simpler word problems, and fewer daily problems. Overall I think her curriculum builds a strong foundation and strong number sense. I feel like it gives kids confidence in math as well as building confidence for a homeschooling parent teaching math.

I was cleaning out our fish tank once while trying to talk to my MIL on the phone at the same time. I managed to scoop the fish out and get them into the temporary bowl while I cleaned the other tank. Apparently I forgot to put in the dechlorination drops before I scooped the fish into the temporary bowl and by the time their tank was all clean, they were dead!

Um, I feel dumb for asking this, but is this something I would add to my homeowner's insurance policy, or would one buy this separately?

My newly 11 year old DD is 4' 10", she has generally been in about the 50th percentile if I remember correctly.

Since you said she enjoys painting, maybe check out Let's Make Art. They have a really nice watercolor subscription box as well as an art journaling box.

I am grateful for being able to slow down and focus on building family relationships this year.

I am grateful that I have been able to continue educating my kids at home. I have seen what my friends are dealing with having their kids do distance learning through the local schools and it's tough. I feel blessed that our homeschool has for the most part continued uninterrupted.

I'll answer for my 8 y/o and 11 y/o which is none, except for what I assign. For my 11 y/o assigned reading usually takes her 30-45 minutes a day, and my 8 y/o is about 20 minutes a day. My older two love reading and were gladly reading for several hours a day at their ages. My 8 & 11 y/o will gladly listen to audiobooks for hours on end on a daily basis, so I am happy about that at least.

Ivy Kids Kits are fantastic for that age, although not science specific. They usually include a simple science project as well as a craft, letter recognition games, and a simple math game or activity plus a picture book based on the kit's theme.

I have used Tattlers in the past (I haven't canned anything in years). I had success with them for the most part, although it seemed like every batch of jars would have 1 that wouldn't seal whereas with the regular Ball or Kerr lids I hardly ever had one not seal. I don't have any great advice, I remember the directions saying tighten all the way, then loosen a small amount, then tighten when the hard came out and allow to cool.

The grade 1 workbooks did, not the textbook, but grade 4 did not. I'm not sure at what point they make that change, I haven't ordered grade 2 yet.

So, I'm kind of a math manipulative hoarder... I used Rightstart in kindergarten for all of my kids, so I can't speak to what Dimensions requires for the kindergarten level. These are the things I used most often for Dimensions last year for 1st: Colored counters (could use anything as counters like coins or legos) Number cards (could use playing cards or Uno cards, etc) Base 10 blocks Geometric solids (could use things around the house like balls, dice, etc.) Place value cards Place value discs (could use poker chips or coins) Dice, 10 sided dice, and blank dice For my 4th grader, I used some of the above as well as fraction bars I printed some things from the blackline masters like game boards and 10 frames. The lessons may have sometimes called for other materials, but they might have been things I had around the house like legos or something. Sometimes games that would normally be played as a class would ask for random items, but I would skip those games or adjust them to be played with things I already had. Also, besides the dice these were things I already had because, as I said, I'm a math manipulative hoarder, I think you could make a lot of this work with things you have around the house.

We have at least a 6 month supply. When TP was nowhere to be found I had 18 rolls in the house for our family of 6. We were able to get a 45 roll pack through a friend who could order office supplies. It's not great TP, but I'm making everyone use it. We had just finished our 18 original rolls when Costco had TP again so I bought a pack. When I did my next Costco run a month later, I bought another pack. I told my DH, I never wanted to stress out about having enough TP again.

Hmmm... I just finished Dimensions 1A and 1B, I don't have my manuals right in front of me, but I remember them briefly introducing multiplication and division, they called it grouping and sharing if I remember correctly. They definitely introduced fractions, albeit very simply, recognizing halves and fourths I think. I'll get my books out later and take a more detailed look. ETA, I haven't gone through both programs with a fine toothed comb to compare, but my understanding was that both editions covered the same material in the same grade levels. I did think of one thing I miss from Standards and that is the mental math pages at the back of the HIG. ETA again, I looked through my TM and yes they call multiplication and division grouping and sharing in the 1B books. They also cover fractions of 1/2 and 1/4. Adding a couple of pictures so you can see what the books look like. All that said, if you like Standards and are comfortable teaching it, there's no reason to switch.

Have you read Kate Snow's review of Dimensions? She gives a good overview of the program and compares it to the other Singapore versions. I use Dimensions, the main thing I prefer is the Teacher's guide in comparison to the HIG for the Standards edition. That said, if you like the Standards edition and are comfortable teaching it, there's no need to switch.

I used Dimensions last year with my 1st and 4th grader. It is a solid program. That said, I think it was designed for classroom use and homework. In my opinion, Dimensions has a lot of work in it. That amount of work may not really be necessary in a homeschool situation, especially not for a kindergartener. Things I like about Dimensions: the teacher's guides are well written, it includes ideas for games, it makes good use of manipulatives, there are a lot of problems to practice if needed. I have not used Kate Snow's kinder curriculum, but I have read about it. I have used her "Facts that Stick" books and think they are fantastic! I think she has a really good understanding of how kids learn, how to incorporate games into math, age appropriate amounts of work, and how to teach math. She says that her curriculum is "middle of the road" as far as difficulty and should only take about 15 minutes a day to complete her kinder curriculum.

I used Moving Beyond the Page 4-5 with one of my kindergarteners, if I recall I still had to add phonics and math, but it did come with fun enrichment type activities. I also agree with @medawyn to look ar Ivy Kids Kits as an activity for that age.