I am doing an accelerated K year with my DD at the moment and she is LOVING it. We are using - FIAR - this is excellent and brings good quality books into your home. It also touches on geography and history without being full on. Math - we tried MUS primer and hated it, we have Singapore EB 2A, 2B which are not really a challenge so we are tending to do our own thing waiting for Math on the Level to arrive. Handwriting - we worked thru some Kumon workbooks early in the year and have now moved onto copywork. Phonics - We are working thru 100EZ, i added ETC1 at lesson 50 and also the Nora Gaydos readers. DD has really blossomed now and is finding the 100EZ lessons VERY easy. She doesn't like ETC so we have stopped and have picked up the Webster Speller. We are using it first as a reading list for phonics and will also use it as a spelling list once 100EZ is completed. My focus for her is reading (phonics), math and handwriting. Everything else is exposure. I have BFSU and Come look with Me on their way which i will add in once they arrive. We also take nature walks, look at the Atlas, go to the library and investigate anything we find interesting along the way.

That's a hard one. I didn't really like my piano teacher either. I did piano for a couple of years and stopped because i didn't want to do it anymore. At the end of the day i didn't have a passion for playing an instrument. I had another go with the clarinet a few years later, and again gave it a couple of years then stopped. I am just not musical i guess. For my kids i think my philosophy will be like this. If you want to do something that's great but you see it thru the season or year (whatever period you pay for) and then evaluate. Do they want to continue or find something different? Does she LOVE playing piano? Does she practice without being asked? For me it was always a chore and that speaks volumes. If you are no longer enjoying something it is time to stop.

Thanks for sharing. It is great when others can say this is working well for us. It really helps newbies like me to work out where we are headed and what we want to use in the future!

I think it is great. I shows responsibility too. I had an after school and weekend job from age 13 in a deli. Sounds like she gets in a lot so i would keep it going while she stays keen and interested.

Oh another thing, if they are interchanging words watch pronunciation of new words. I remember reading as a kid in grade 2 the name Penelope and calling her pen-E-lope. I did this for an entire chapter book and it wasn't until i was discussing with Mum later that she caught i had the name wrong.

I think you are spot on asking her to slow down. Basically i think her eyes are reading the next word because she is keen to find out what happens next before she has processed and said the previous word IYKWIM. I would have her read aloud more when you can watch what she is reading so you know she has it right. Also you could use a book mark to not reveal the next word until the one she is reading has been said correctly aloud. That would slow her down too. Maybe you could explain to her that interchanging the words could change the meaning of the story so she should read it word for word.

Great thread. I have been wondering the same thing myself.

I feel your strong, you can do it!

Depends what you are after ... if it's soft frame then go with Ergo or Padapum. if it is framed for hiking/tramping etc then i would go with the Macpac, we just love ours!

What a great job! I am so jealous because i have been wanting those same bookcases for all my books for ages. One day.

If your wanting to mix it up a bit without forking out a fortune you could look at one of the grade level Kumon workbooks. They are fun but not a game obviously. We are enjoying Kumon here.

I guess you could use anything - bottle tops, metal & plastic a stick a strip of fabric paper glass

We have done MUS Primer - didn't work with DD, to cut and dry, not enough interest She quite like the Singapore EB series although she already knows almost everything in those, just a refresher really. She likes them, nice and colourful, inviting. We have also worked on the Kumon numbers workbooks which she loves!! I am getting Math on the Level now because she learns best thru using what she knows in life. I have also heard good things about the living math curric.

I will definately share with everyone what i think and how it goes once it gets here.

After much deliberating, discussion and exchange rate watching we have bit the bullet and are getting Math on the Level. I am putting the order thru as i type. So excited i had to share! Looking forward to this very much!!:party:

Wow, that's excellent! Can't wait till me dc are writing like that.

If you already have great books on your shelf you could look at the lists on Homeschool Share and see if any are there. You could then use a FIAR style approach to those books without spending money on the FIAR manual as the activities are all listed. In our house we are using B4FIAR for DS who is almost 3. We are using FIAR for DD 4.5. We don't row every week and we don't row day after day we do our own thing with the info they give in the manual it helps me with what to focus on for that reading. We also throw in cutting and pasting for motor skills and other pretty normal K age stuff but link it to the book of the moment. KJB thanks for the tip on the Usborne First books i must read more non-fiction to my kiddos.

Yep, i'd be getting more books too. We can borrow 10 per person and we do.

As far as i know, and as you can see from my sig i am new at this with oldest only being 4.5. The idea is that you choose a sentence/passage from a well written book that has interesting wording/grammar or both. Then you have them copy it down but not directly, letter for letter. The idea is that they study each word by taking a mind picture of it so they can visualise the way it is spelt when they close their eyes. They study the word then you cover and they copy down, you are watching to check for mistakes because any mistake should be removed immediately so as not to create the wrong mental picture of the word. Am i making sense? Anyway once you are doing copywork well like that and they are old enough you would move to dictation. Child is given the passage to study, check up on meaning of new words, take a visual pic of new word spellings. Then after the preparation you wold dictate the passage for the child to write down. Someone with more experience can enlighten you more i am sure.

We could set aside some of the money for sure and probably will but we literally have no reference books so if the kids ask a question i can't answer i am suck. It is onto the computer or off to the library (not always convenient). I guess if i am going to spend money i feel i don't want to waste it on junior versions of things or 1 part when i can get an anthology or compilation IYKWIM.

Thanks for passing it on.

Thanks for the suggestions so far, keep them coming! My parents have a set of world book not in use, i wonder if they would part with them??? They have offered loads of other books including some excellent geography ones i think they are called People & Places, so i don't see why not. Will have to put a call in today.

history, art (picture study, appreciation, artist info), geography, animals, composers, dictionary, etc, etc ?? My DH has given me the goahead to put together all of our reference books that we are going to need for the forseeable future. I'm talking atleast the next 10 years. Needless to say i want to purchase the very best reference books available for every topic. I have an almost unlimited budget as we have just got a great bonus so suggest away.

The nudity doesn't really bother me because i can sensor it until they are older and it is a part of art afterall. I will checkout the Art Treasury, thanks for the suggestion.

Can anyone please provide me with any feedback/comments/reviews on The Usborne Book of Art. Are the pictures within suitable for picture study? I have not seen this book IRL but from the info i have found sounds like it will be OK for picture study whilst the kids are little and a great reference for different artists when they are older.