AAR is super easy and will definitely not make you want to throw up! You could also get MP K Enrichment to make K fun and interesting but not too demanding.

I love that AAR explains the rules, like when c says /s/ because I absolutely do not know them! Since I don't remember learning to read I was really stressed about how to teach it but AAR makes it really easy. I don't actually think it has much busy work. There is a short lesson and then one or two little games or exercises to have the child get a chance to try out what they've learned. For that part there is a couple of pages with some things to cut out which DS just cuts out as we get to it. Then the lesson ends with the fluency sheets. Generally every other lesson is followed by reading a story that practices the phonogram they'd learned the day before. When DS started AAR1 we went really slow and could spend days doing only a part of each lesson, then when it clicked we sped up and it goes very quickly now. It was easy for me to use with my clingy DD who was very jealous and not used to the idea of me sitting with DS but slowly she got used to it. The great part about AAR us that you can reuse the teachers manual so you'd only need to buy a workbook for the next child you'd be teaching so if you're going to be using it with more than one child I don't think it's too expensive.

I highly recommend AAR. It's super simple to use and my DS went from not being able to sound out CVC words to reading everything in sight because of it. It's a remarkable program.

Definitely don't let it stress you out! My DS started AAR Pre absolutely not knowing his letters by sight at all. We just went through pre and separate from that did Kumon and HWOT because I wanted to develop his motor skills for writing and it all came together. By the end of pre he was begging for multiple lessons a day and breezing through it by the time he got to the letter sounds. I think if anything it probably helped that he saw a lot of letters to help him learn it all.

I didn't mean to imply HWOT doesn't teach proper formation but rather it lacks enough practice for proper formation. DS did HWOT pre-k through 1st and I'm just less than impressed with it. I used it because I'd read so many posts about it but in practice I think it's made for brick and mortar schools. There is very little practice of the letters per page. I had DS using the Kumon books as practice for fine motor skills like writing and I think he learned far more about proper letter formation from those books because there is so much practice. I won't bother with HWOT for my DD.

DS has a great memory so I want to do more memory work with him. Last year he pretty much only did his AWANA verses. He balks at the idea of memorization with poems but is very good at it. The poems in ELTL are long and there are a lot of them. How much should I be making him memorize? How are you using ELTL1? Thanks!

I can't say enough about how great AAR is. I think there are very clear objectives. Each lesson is modeled after teaching one phonogram and then the next lesson is reading a story with that phonogram. Have you looked at the samples? The table of contents lists the phonogram being taught for each lesson. It's super easy to teach and easy to speed up or slow down depending on how quickly the student is understanding it.

We loved MP K Enrichment here and it persuaded me to buy 1st Enrichment for this year and Junior K for my younger. DS was about 5 1/2 when we started and DD was even younger but would wander in for it and enjoyed it too. You can just do it with the Enrichment book and not worry about what MP would have scheduled for the full K curriculum. Definitely get the art cards to put up each week. Consider alternating which ones you put up, like instead of just one for the week keep up the last weeks and put up the next two which are upcoming, you might be surprised at the discussions which come up. It was amazing to hear what DS thought of the different art and how they compared to each other. I did buy the craft book too but dropped it altogether before the halfway point. Some are fun, DD really loved making a little Stellaluna bat, but they are pretty simple so if you are at all arty or crafty or pinteresty you can do better. Personally I'm not a fan of Eric Carlisle's drawing so for Animals, Animals we just checked it out from the library when it came up in that week's poems. Most of the books we checked out of the library. Different weeks may have different themes like crabs for the story of the week and the science so you can read books on that topic too. My main tip is to watch the calendar so you can follow along with the holidays and time of year as it will be a fun addition if you do, the stories and activities will match up to Halloween, Christmas, spring, etc. We started pretty loosely and then I had to scramble to stay on track to match up. I was very impressed at the questions to ask about the stories. They also pointed out great details in the illustrations that I'm sure I would have missed. Personally it's not outlined very well when you're trying to follow along with the questions but it's worth it. I checked out books to match up with the artist and composer study and we both learned a lot. I have BFIAR and FIAR and while I haven't been very good about doing them I do think MP is better for me because of the questions and extras. With MP I can order the books and sit and read them and we learn about different things for the week. With FIAR i have good intentions but it's harder for me to execute!

FWIW I am very math phobic and the idea of teaching Asian math terrified me! So I went with MIF since after a lot of research it is supposed to be easier to teach and it is supposed to have less of the gaps in teaching that Singapore may have. It is super easy to teach. Very colorful and easy to figure out. It has some fun logic type exercises that DS liked which impressed me because it really required him to think it through. I can't compare it to Singapore since I only looked at the online samples but I'm happy with MIF and now not stressed about teaching a math so different from what I had been taught. Forgot to add as far as books I teach from the teacher's guide and DS follows along in his textbook which usually has some exercises for him and then separate work done in a workbook. For 1A there were a lot of exercises that used the connecting blocks as far as manipulatives go.

I did AAR pre and HWOT with DS at 4 and Kumon letters and just went in whatever order the letters were presented in the different books. Don't worry about it being different. If anything I thought HWOT was a waste because it doesn't actually have much practice so it wouldn't have been enough to teach DS proper letter formation. I like the Kumon books a lot more.

I've been misspelling it and never noticed?! I went to UCSB too and driving back and forth from Nor Cal you'd think I'd know how to spell it from looking at all those signs! Thanks!! I'll check your link and work on my spelling!

Have you looked at Kumon books? They are great for working on fine motor skills like writing and cutting. What Your Preschooler Needs To Know has great workbooks that work on skills but also have fun stories to read and engage with. Like yesterday my almost 4 year old used little cut outs to act out The Little Red Hen. Memoria Press has great materials and we are just starting their program for Junior K. It has lots of great stories and gentle activities. She was very excited to memorize her first poem just like she's seen her big brother do. When she's ready for blending their First Start Reading program is great. After that I love All About Reading for phonics. I remember being very eager to get started when DS was little. All the acronyms here can be overwhelming! Keep reading the posts and you'll get a great idea what is popular. Cathy Duffy Reviews and Rainbow Resources are great for looking things up and checking everything out.

We've been very happy using ours for the free funds and now someone we know wants advice on getting started where they live, which is San Louis Obispo County, CA but when I tried googling I couldn't find anything. Is there an online charter school there that offers funds? Does CA have any that are statewide that offer funds? Any idea where to find one?

Same iPad trouble here

AAR! It is great. It is systematic and easy to follow. It's all laid out for you and it's super easy to adjust the speed as needed. We started super slow as DS couldn't blend and then once he got it we sped up.its super easy to do everything quickly. DS loves all the games but does them quickly. I'm amazed that in level 4 the games are still new and interesting to him. He's an amazing reader now.

FWIW I was not at all impressed with HWT. I think the Kumon books have a lot more pages for practicing the letters which my DS needed.

After the devestating attack on officers in Dallas #BlueLight made its way around social media to support officers. After the attack this morning in Baton Rouge that has killed more officers I wanted to pass this on. Show your support for law enforcement officers by putting a blue light bulb out on your porch. I am very concerned that these attacks will continue and law enforcement could use our support.

God bless those officers and their loved ones. I hope those officers who are injured pull through. There are no words about how awful this is.

There's is a just devastating photo of a doll lying next to a body. It is beyond awful and tragic. I've been to a couple of Bastille Day celebrations in France and I'm just heartbroken for the French today.

We have never left our kids before except for maybe an hour at a time. It's a combination of just enjoying being together and not having anyone nearby that we trust them with. Unfortunately DH is having surgery soon so there is no choice in needing to leave them. The hospital is far so right now the plan is to drop them off while DH and I drive up for his pre-op appointment the day before and stay in a hotel and I'll stay there the next night after I get kicked out of his ICU room since I won't be allowed to stay overnight. Hopefully he will then be admitted to a regular room which I can only stay in if he's lucky enough to get a private room so I'll probably drive back and forth to see the kids and stay overnight with them. How far in advance would you tell the kids? They don't know anything about DH needing surgery and I'm not sure when to tell them that part. Has anyone left their kids when they were older for the first time? I know it's probably more usual to leave them for the first time as babies or toddlers so maybe it's never a big deal to them. DD is very attached to me. Last night I was sick and throwing up and DH tried and tried to put her to bed but she just kept crying for me. She loves her Daddy but she insists I put her to bed every night. I was in the hospital overnight a few months ago and she cried for me for hours. She has no problem doing things with DH all day without me but she will not let him put her to bed. I think being away from me will not go over well. On the positive side they visited me in the hospital so I'm hoping they won't be too worried about DH being at the hospital. His job can sometimes lead to erratic hours when he gets called out so they are used to him being gone for some days at a time so I'm hoping that will help with him being away because I don't think he would be up to having them visit. I'm less worried about DS because he's far more easy going and I think will enjoy being spoiled for a few days plus he can read and write so he can have fun texting me. I'll of course call and try to FaceTime them. I bought some kid books on hospital stays and being away but I'm not sure when to give them to the kids. Any advice about how far in advance to tell them? Any experience with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I'm a trembling mess and really can't think straight. My DH needs brain surgery. Words I really don't want to write or say. Local doctor said it should happen within the month. I'm trying to get in for opinions from the top places and I have no idea when that will happen or how quickly they could be scheduling him for surgery. I need to be ready to tell the kids but I have no idea what or when. Can anyone give me links or experience with this so I can be ready? They have no idea what's going on and haven't realized I'm crying in the next room but trying desperately to keep it together for them.

Thank you everyone. It really helps to hear positive stories since I'm a complete wreck over this. Creekland I'm so sorry about what you're going through!! Thank you for the advice about radiation.

My husband had a body scan this morning as part of a service through our insurance. The doctor found a mass on his brain and was very surprised that he has no symptoms from it. Of course I am beyond terrified. I'm trying to get him in a neurologist ASAP but of course that's not easy. In the meantime I'm a mess. I don't want to google because I'm scared it will make it worse. Does anyone have experience with this? Please please tell me it will be ok.

How do you use Discovery? I'm sure DS will play around with all of them but is Discovery like a science supplement with videos to watch?

The virtual charter school that we use just emailed that these programs will be free and not count towards our allotted funds so I'm excited to check them out this summer but I'm not sure how to use them. Waiting on the log in info so I can't see much from the websites until then. I know I've heard Discovery Streaming recommended how do you use it? I have no idea at all what Destination Math is, anyone used it? Go Quest looks interesting, but I do wonder how well a 6 yr old can answer the questions for differentiated instruction, anyone tried this? I actually paid for Brain Pop through the school but couldn't log in through the iPad so we never used it, does anyone know if you can log in and use on an iPad? I'm not sure if by reading eggs they just mean the reading portion or if it will include access to the other parts. As I mentioned in the other thread DS was never big on it and now he's reading which he wasn't then. Does it start at the beginning or is there a quiz to see where the child is? Is it worthwhile for a student who is reading? I'm not sure if they focus on reading comprehension or something outside of phonics. Reading Eggs BrainPop Discovery Streaming Destination Math Go Quest