Have her read books below her frustration level aloud to you and silently every day. These books are identified as high interest /low readability. High Noon and Start to Finish are two companies that sell such books but there are many other sources. The books don't seem baby-ish, they are very age appropriate. The Start to Finish series also has cds available with the texts. (I have no relationship to these companies). Read a bit of a chapter book that is of great interest to her daily. If you watch television, turn on the closed caption function. Hope this helps!

We have four young children. We schedule tabletop schoolwork (language arts, fine motor activities, math) in the mornings. They don't seem to have the balancing skills or attention to do work away from home, but we do listen to some audiiobooks in the car. The kids help with chores; we work together as a family during chore time. They can vacuum, wash down cupboards and table, fold wascloths, put away their laundry, clear the table, etc. I think it is important to have them realize the work required to maintain a household. However, it also is important to know though that our house is never clean like it used to be! I go to a 24 hour gym after the kids are in bed while my partner is home. We go to a lot of sports and I get to talk to parents during those classes. Some parents drop off and do errands during class times, but I don't feel comfortable with that. The internet, forums abd facebook, keep me connected. All the kids have nap or rest time after lunch to maintain everyone's sanity. We shop as a family. Most errands are done together. My partner can take the kids when I have an appointment or we schedule a sitter. On the weekend we have family time but also we take some time for each parent to have a couple hour break. I'm not an early riser so my partner wakes up early with the kids and has time with them until she has to go to work. Good luck!

I use the How to Teach Spelling Series, with accompanying How to Spell workbooks, combined with Natural Speller. I like having a basic workbook that isn't cutesy or full of busy work. How to Spell fits the bill. I like the dictation provided in both programs. The combined wordlists from the two program provide a nice level of variety. Go Phonics also has a nice single book for teaching spelling across multiple grade levels. AAS was too much hassle with all the tiles and cards. It is a great program if organization of materials within a lesson, transitions between activities within each lesson, and materials storage/organization is your strength. With four young children who were not too far apart within the AAS program it was too much for me. I do like the All About Reading readers. I don't use the whole reading program but I find the AAR readers have a higher level of vocabulary and sentence complexity than most readers. The readers would be applicable for your first grader but not your third grader. After their initial reading instruction I use traditional texts rather than a reading program. The children read to me, read independently, and I read to them each day. Spelling and grammar are separated from the reading. For grammar we are using Shurley Grammar, but I do not recommend it. I am looking for something else right now. The jingles are awkward and not helpful. The stories intended to make grammar kid friendly are overly cumbersome. The classifying that composes the first half of the first year is a waste of time. Let us know how it works out for you.