Since my kid loves logic and reasoning workbooks, we've done quite a few this year and I definitely think The Mind Benders and the Mr. Funster's Think-A-Minutes were the best. The nice thing about the Think-A-Minutes is that it is a collection of the various types of problems/activities so you have quiet a bit of variety. I would think one or two books a year would be enough at this age.

The second half of the book is tracing words and sorting things into (easy) catagories. For example: copy the words (fast, slow, short, tall) then draw a line from each picture to match the words that describes the animal. It goes on and on like this, fruit, family members, etc. It's a lot of copying and drawing lines to very easy associations in my opinion. Not a lot of difficult reasoning going on, even for the kinder crowd. I just think it's overpriced for what it contains.

We had a free trial and my dd6 was all excited to try it, but she didn't like it that much. I don't remember anything particularly inappropriate, it just wasn't as much fun as Reading Eggs had been.

This year was technically Kindergarten for my dd6. I've been pretty relaxed about our schooling schedule and she's still managed to complete far more than I ever expected. I felt like I was constantly buying the next level of something. With next year being first grade I want to "plan" more and be better organized with homeschooling. However, how much planning can you really do with kids that go through curriculum so fast? How does everyone else handle scheduling/planning/curriculum budget with their accelerated kids? I

I haven't seen the 200 level yet, but I think the 100 level is pretty advanced. I learned some things! I had never heard of consonant digraph either : ) I might do what sleeplessnights suggested, and just start with the last couple 100 level light units before moving onto the 200. There does seem to be plenty of built in review.

I have purchased through HSBC quite a few times and I have had no complaints so far.

we have the primary book and it's the first book from them I have been dissapointed with. My dd6 loves logic and reasoning workbooks but this one is not a favorite. Personally, I would buy one of their other books or Prufrock Press.

Thanks. I saw that Educational Fontware had it, but Startwrite just seems like it would be easier to use.

I am going to use Pentime Cursive and curious if Startwrite has a font close enough I could use it for making worksheets?

We are just using the student texts and workbooks. So far no problems. Perhaps the higher levels are more complicated to teach; but I have found the level 1 pretty self explanatory.

We are using 100 level this year and I feel the teacher manual is definitely necesary. The new phonics concepts are explained in it. I would not get the full benefit of the program without it.

Everyone has had great suggestions. I just want to echo the storage tips. Homeschooling for me has meant a lot supplies and books and then you have to store all those supplies and books! I would invest in a large bookshelf or storage unit with baskets or bins. Buy the biggest one you can afford and fit into your space, you'll be thankful later as stuff accumulates :) I would also find something, a basket, bin, etc to store library books separate from your own books. If you use the library a lot, you don't want to misplace the items. Personally, I would hold off on buying too much stuff beyond the basic back to school supplies until you get a feel for what you need. I've homeschooled for 10+ years and never had wall maps or microscope. I am not saying it wouldn't have been nice, but it just wasn't absolutely necessary. I guess what I am saying is, don't overbuy the first year. Take some time to realize what you are "missing" or what would really add enrichment. It's too easy to just gather stuff because it sounds or looks neat, but a lot of it is not absolutely necessary to homeschool.

I know them as the publisher of Math In Focus. They are a rather large publishing company, but I haven't ordered directly from them.

Mathseeds, while cute, is very easy. My dd6 tested out of it, but had a free trial so she finished the entire program in a couple hours. I am thinking about Mathbuddies http://www.mconline.us/LEAD/login/welcome.html which is a Singapore math computer component, but I haven't been able to find many reviews. I think I'll just go ahead and purchase it in the fall.

If you can use dairy, this is my favorite http://www.floradawn.com/cooking/2011/09/04/butter-pie-crust/ It is super easy to work with and tastes great.

I raised my stepdaughter (now a college student). Her father had full legal and physical custody since she was about 1 and her birth mother was difficult to deal with, but we always settled things outside of court. I do know that laws vary from state. Where we live the non-custodial parent has the right to view medical and school documents, but not necessarily make the decisions regarding those areas. We never behaved like we were hiding anything, and always provided the requested information so she never sought it out on her own. She was initially against homeschooling, but we didn't ask her permission, we just informed her it was something we were going to do do. We always worded it "distance learning." We chose to use Calvert with ATS for elementary school, so we had transcripts and records (an umbrella school or virtual charter might even be better options now). We had "proof" we were actually schooling and that was enough to appease her. We did get annual standardized testing done at the end of each school year. This is beyond what our state requires of homeschoolers; however, my stepdaughter always had impressive scores and her bio mom seemed pleased to see she was doing so well compared to the "average." We only provided these documents if she had a visit at the end of the school year or during the summer. So, she didn't get this info every single year, as her visits were sporadic. We also did provide her with a list of concert dates, sports schedules, etc when she would ask; however, she rarely followed through on attending any. As my SD got older, she became less concerned, to the point that years pass between visits or phone calls. I think for some people, it is just a control issue (I am sure others are genuinely concerned about their kid's education). Basically, we stayed out of court, so we never were court ordered to provide any documents. We did give her things she requested and collected them for the next visit, but we didn't give her monthly updates or anything like that. Unless you are splitting physical time during the week, I can't see that the other parent would need your daily or even weekly schedule. I guess in your situation it will really depend on what the court orders or what kind of arrangement you can settle on. Hopefully, time will make it easier; it certainly did in our situation.

Thank you for all of your responses, I really appreciate the feedback! Although my kids have always studied with very well-respected string teachers (however teaching was not their only source of income), they have been much more flexible so I wasn't prepared for the strict policies from the piano teacher. It does seem like there are quite a few teachers with similar policies out there. I guess I'll have to think about it.

I have a dd6 that has taken private cello lessons for nearly 2 years (it's 45 min away). She started taking group piano a the same music center. She really enjoys piano and wants to continue, but the group lessons aren't really working (they are painfully slow to get all the kids through the material). I found a wonderful piano teacher in my neighborhood and we had a trial lesson, discussed goals, etc. My dd really liked her. However, when she emailed me her 'handbook' I discovered that she has a zero tolerance for missed lessons. You pay a set monthly fee based on the length of your lessons, but vacations, illness, emergencies, etc are not credited to your account. There are no makeups, not even if she cancels. She will have a phone lesson (whatever that would entail), if she is sick or the student is, provided there was 24 hour notice. I have had my kids in private string lessons for 10+ years and never heard of such a strict policy. We have always been able to schedule vacations or miss a lesson occasionally due to illness. Is this 'inflexibility' common practice for piano teachers? I can understand how this benefits her and insures her monthly income, but it just seems extreme to me and certainly a 6 year old is going to get sick a couple times a year at least. Any thoughts?

I have used some lit guides from Logos Press and been happy with them (purchased through Rainbow). Also, you might want to look into the Elementary Lit from Kolbe http://www.kolbe.org/index.php/academics/curriculum-grade-level/elementary/elementary-literature-curriculum/ I have only used their high school stuff, but it was very thorough and very Classical and I plan on using the elementary lit with my youngest in a year or so. We are not Catholic and we have still really enjoyed their curriculum through the years. I think it's tough to find good lit guides for 1-3rd grade, so many of them are just too easy and boring. If your child is a good reader, I would move up a grade or two as the content will be more substantial.

I guess we should appreciated their self-motivation, but sometimes it would be nice if they would just slow down a bit. My dd6 got upset with me for mentioning on a Sat morning that we were just going to hang out since it was a weekend. She said, very annoyed "What do you mean, there is NO school work today?! That is ridiculous." My dd is really clingy too. I am not sure I have any suggestions, just thought I'd let you know you are definitely not alone. I find my dd6 high maintenance and very exhausting. There is no way she would understand summer break, she can't even handle a weekend :)

We used the older version of CLE Learn to Read and doing 1st LA now. I do think they get carried away with dictionary markings a bit, but I never learned them (nor did older child that went to public school) and I do find them helpful to learn. I am a little tired of the schwa sound :) However, my dd doesn't seem to mind. I think there is plenty of activities if you occasionally skip some of the repetitive stuff, if it annoys you. Overall, my dd 6 and I both really like CLE LA. They cover a lot of skills in each lesson and the lessons are fairly short. It's inexpensive and easy to teach too.

My 6yo started k this year reading. We tried a few things, but Christian Light's LA for 1st grade has been the thing she likes the best. The lessons are short and have taught her a lot of phonics rules that she didn't really know (she likes to sight read). It also includes beginning grammar rules. It is not as basic as their Learn to Read program, which is fairly repetitive, but also a good program. Just another option :)

We tried to use if for K this last year. Although I like the idea of it, my daughter found it really boring. She was already reading when we started, but didn't have great handwriting skills, so I thought it would work. Unlike the previous poster, I thought the math and LA was the highlight of the program and the art and music study miserably lacking (but they now have art cards that weren't available before). I think it's got a lot included for the price, but it just didn't work for us. If you have a kid with good handwriting skills that doesn't need colorful and pretty pages, this might work for you.

We've used it in the past when we first started homeshooling, we did NOT use it through a public school option; we used ATS. The grades we used, 4-7, seemed rigorous and what you might expect in an excellent public school or a secular private school. It is very textbook based, but coming directly from public school it worked for my daughter quite well. It does demand a lot of writing starting in 4th grade, at least back when we used it. I do agree that there are cheaper options out there, but if you have a kid on grade level it's very convenient and time-saving, to have it all laid out for you ready to just open and go. If you are buying it, I would look for sales and discounts because they seem to offer those frequently these days.

Don't forget that a lot of the workload is going to depend on the particular teacher you have. I've asked parents of twins and always been told same grade + same school does not really equal same education. I am sure there are some great public school teachers out there, but the more work they give the more they have to grade. In our experience with public school, the larger the class size the less work they really accomplish. I am sure this is due to many factors. Sadly, your experience is fairly typical of what I would expect in my area. When one of my daughter's friends first explained her high school block schedule to me I almost fell over... 3/4 of the year with no math?