If you have little ones that are learning phonics I really like MP First Start Reading. It does a great job introducing letters and then blending. It introduces dictation and reading comprehension. The workbooks are very reasonable and you don’t need the TM. MP also sells a cheap guide with a schedule if you want to add in Core Skill Phonics workbook in the same order, so it will skip around to match the pace and schedule readings. My oldest had trouble with blending and FSR really helped him when he was having trouble with AAR. For that reason with my youngest I waited until she finished the first book before adding in AAR1 and it’s going much faster with her. For mine adding in the writing component has really helped everything click. I still love AAR and use FSR alongside it.

I’m tired of battling with my ES over her checklist in regard to DD and her Social Studies/History section. DD listens in on SOTW read alouds but she is still learning how to read CVC words so she’s obviously not ready for much in the way of actual writing. I think it’s ridiculous that a K’er can’t get credit for what she can recite out loud to the ES, which is pretty impressive recall, but the ES will happily accept easy Brain Pop quizzes. There just is not a lot of content for her there. I cannot find a workbook but there must be one out there, right? Any recommendations? I’d rather just spend a few minutes on it instead of constantly battling over this requirement. Is there something similar to the EM Beginning Geography books? Leaving the virtual charter school is not an option because I’m willing to overlook the annoying bureaucracy to use the funding.

Don’t feel you have to follow it a certain way, feel free to change it up. I can only speak to FSR but we do it much faster. I have their recommended schedule, which might be old now as I bought it when I used with my oldest. I just brought it out to use with my youngest who just finished Book A. It’s a great schedule as far as planning since it jumps around in all the different books but you don’t have to stick with as written daily. I judge how much DD should do and try to stop before it becomes too much so she’s having fun but as written it wouldn’t be enough for her daily most of the time. The writing and letter introductions are easy so we keep going until she’s done enough for her. Sometimes their dictation daily is too much, they have two pages but one is enough for her now so we break it up. If you think your child needs a different schedule then feel free to change it and don’t feel like you have to follow a certain schedule.

I’m definitely doing SSL2 since we have it. Since I know nothing about Latin I’m just confused about what to do since the retention ended up being way less than I had expected. Like I said I also have MP PL so I’m just trying to figure out what I should do going forward. Maybe I’ll add in SSL2 with the vocab review from SSL1 and then add in PL too once we get going.

I’m sorry about the trouble you are having together! If you want to try tiles you could try the app. I’m starting my second child through AAR and I’m loving doing it with the app and not keeping track of the letter tiles. FWIW when DS misses a word I just have him try it again next time. I’m not sure writing it out that many times would help him. He’d probably just start copying and not really be spelling at that point. My son is a natural speller but for the longest time he kept adding an extra m to woman or women. He was writing out that word a few times a week over the summer before he finally remembered how it’s spelled. Sometimes it can take awhile. You might want to review the rules for the words she is missing.

Last school year DS surprised me by loving SSL. It became his favorite subject. He always knew the words and completed his workbook pages and remembered the words in the review pages so I never bothered with the flash cards. But somehow by the end of the workbook with the review he had forgotten a ton. I’ve spent the summer going over the cards with him but his retention is way less than when he was watching the DVD. Is SSL2 basically the same, just new vocabulary? I’m wondering if I should just start it and keep up working with him on the cards. I also bought MP PL that I’d planned to start over the summer. Should I just go ahead and begin that? Going forward I have no idea where we are going with Latin. If we move on to MP CL is that a different series of vocab than SSL? Should I keep up the SSL flash cards if we are going onto MP?

FWIW I started AAS with DS in K. AAL recommends starting after AAR1 so that’s what I did. I was nervous about starting so early when spelling wasn’t on my radar yet but it was a great choice. It reinforced phonics rules and helped DS with spelling as he learned to write more.

BA is surprisingly lengthy so I’m not sure if it’s the best supplement. I have never used RS but I’ve read that it’s pretty intense so you might not want a supplement that is also intense. BA only has a few problems per lesson but it can be very time consuming. They did start an online program that another thread says has a trial period so that could be a good place to start, but I think that thread may have said that the grade 2 materials aren’t online yet. What about Miquon? I’m not sure how that would compare to RS but I think it’s a really solid math program. DS really likes how it explains things. It can simplify concepts and make them easy to follow. It is black and white but it’s a very puzzle like program. Sometimes I would be confused and DS would get what they wanted. Does RS have word problems? We really like the FAN books here if you want something like that. I did pre-k through K CTC Mathematical Reasoning books with DS years ago and they were too repetitive for him. There was a lot on shapes. I’m not sure about the later books but that’s why we stopped.

That’s how we use AAS too. DS has a notebook that he writes the words and sentences in and I just read aloud the lesson. DS is a natural speller too but we still like AAS because of the rules. He remembers them and uses them when writing. I break up the lesson over a couple of days so it’s just a few minutes a day. It does a great job of breaking things out and teaching. Most of the time it’s easy for him but every now and then there is a lesson that he needs the rule for.

I used the first one with DS but we didn’t like it. We liked this series a lot more if you want a workbook: https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/sku/053696

I was going to say Xtramath too when I saw your title. My kids use it on Safari on the iPad so it’s free

MP Enrichment is great. It follows the traditional school year so make sure you take that into account for planning. For obvious reasons you want to be on the right weeks for the holidays and seasons. Some weeks are more random, like a focus on frogs or something, but then another holiday will be coming up. It’s a great option and easy to expand on or skim through depending on how much time you have or interest in the options for the week.

They have a good amount for little ones I used with both of mine. My youngest had even more to choose from since they expanded their options. They added sticker books too. There is a similar company called Gakken that has books that are like the Kumon ones, which were really cute and had stickers to put on every page when completed which DD loved. The books were bigger and have more pages.

What about Kumon books? They have little books meant for 2+ that work on fine motor skills.

Are you still in AAR1? If so MP First Start Reading would be a great addition. It’s a workbook that has writing exercises and passages to read. It’s really well done and you don’t need the TM. You can also get a Phonics curriculum guide that recommends a sequence of exercises from Core Skills Phonics and outside readers, like Fun in the Sun. This really worked well for oldest when we were doing AAR1 so I’m doing it again with my youngest. The Usbourne series of readers were also great. They have wonderful picture books like Big Pig on a Dig. There is also a series of books they make that is meant for buddy reading. The parent page has about a paragraph and the child’s page has much less.

We just keep moving forward. At this age it’s too easy to lose progress if we don’t keep it going.

I love the Kumon books! Do you mean these? http://kumonbooks.com/books/by-series/thinking-skills/ If so I used these with my Pre-K’er and wouldn’t recommend them as challenging for a 1st grader. With my oldest I think the only one I used in 1st was telling time. We used them when they were young and starting to write and working on letters and numbers. The Thinking Skills series has been a let down and really just busy work. You might want to consider Critical Thinking Company if you want workbooks that have more content.

I had never heard of this before today when it was emailed in the Cathy Duffy newsletter. It looks great and it’s an approved vendor in our virtual charter school. I searched here but most reviews mention it on DVD as outdated. I’m not sure if the online version is any different. I’d love to hear any experience with it. It looks like something DD would enjoy. When choosing a subscription do you have to commit to one language? Is it one subscription per child? I am hopeless with languages but also felt that my studying French was wasted in CA where there was no opportunity to practice it. For that reason I thought Spanish would be far more useful for my kids but DD really likes the idea of learning French. How long are the daily lessons? Is it worthwhile for kids to use independently? Does it work well on an iPad? If you haven’t heard of it here are some links: https://cathyduffyreviews.com/homeschool-reviews-core-curricula/foreign-language/publishers-offering-courses-for-many-languages/muzzy-foreign-language-programs https://www.muzzybbc.com/schools

I always find it easier to just google, so try searching for Bravewriter and if you want forum results you can add in Well Trained Mind to the search term. Without it you can find blogs. Check Cathy Duffy too for reviews. You might want to ask in a separate post too if you want specific answers about BW or IEW. There are always threads on grade levels so you could try searching for specific threads on K or 5th. Sorry I haven’t used either. I clicked because of your heading since we are in a virtual charter. Does your charter have a list of approved vendors? I love that ours has a searchable website and use it all the time. It’s also great to know what’s forbidden, like mine won’t pay for anything from VP or MP, even if the material is seemingly secular like Latin. Have you used AAR? That would be great for K and it’s secular so your school might cover it. If you want to add a writing component I really like Core Skills Phonics K and 1 workbooks.

AAR is an amazing program so I’d strongly recommend sticking with it. It’s very slow going at first and AAR teaches in an unusual order at first so you will be limited in what you can read at first but it’s worth it. My DS knew all of his letter sounds and we had done the AAR Pre level but he had no idea how to blend. AAR was agonizingly slow at first. We did maybe one lesson broken up over a week. Then ever so slowly it started to click. It laid a great foundation. In AAR2 we moved faster and then quickly sped through the program. The great thing about AAR is that you can go at your child’s speed. If they get it you can move forward. If it’s a trickier phonogram for them slow down. AAR2 is where you will finally be able to introduce more outside books which is great. My DS loves to read and reads well which is why I’m so glad I stuck with AAR. Once it clicks you can speed it up and match her readiness. DS took forever on AAR1 but after that we finished 2-4 in about a year or so. I added a few things in the beginning before it clicked that you could check out. DS really benefited from Memoria Press First Start Reading. They teach writing along with reading. At first it’s simple CVC words and then moving on to Silent E. The font is very large. You don’t need the TM and the books are pretty cheap and available at Rainbow. You could start at whatever point she needs practice with, so skip the first ones if she’s passed that. We also did the I See Sam readers on an iPad so it’s great to do wherever you are. That gave him a lot of confidence and was great practice. Large font and very colorful. DD is doing the Veritas Press Phonics Museum app and loves it. She’s just getting to CVC on it so I’m not sure how advanced it’s going to get but they have a free trial if you want to check it out.

No, definitely not. If you’re curious Rainbow has very reasonable bundles if you want to try them. Like buying the first 2 books plus the TM. I used them for the first few books but then just bought the workbooks.

I’ve done logic books and games with DS but I wouldn’t expect them to help with math facts. I didn’t realize that DS wasn’t memorizing math facts until this year when he was doing more multiplication. I wanted to help him learn his tables and found Xtramath.org which I highly recommend. I have him and DD doing it. They take a placement test and the software gives them a few questions everyday before it stops. It’s great because there is a short limit and it really helps. My DS is a bit of a grump but actually enjoys the smiley face rewards they get for getting answers right and gets excited about how many he can get in a row. I’m hoping doing it with DD younger will help her have a better grasp of math facts. I cant speak to Singapore because we do MIF, but is she able to grasp the materials in 1A and do the problems? If so I would keep going. I do think Miquon is great so I think that’s a great program to use as well. My DS is also strong willed so it really helps when he finds something he likes (or likes more). For DS it explains the material better when introducing a new concept. He prefers Miquon to MIF so I mix it in. I used it later with him so I’m using it earlier with DD. My DD is really enjoying the MindBender series from CTC. She thinks it fun. I think it’s great for her listening skills (she can’t read the question) and for her reasoning.

When my DD was little I would have things for her to do, like Kumon and coloring books. Eventually she would get bored and move on.

Have you looked at Math in Focus? I really hated math and was dreading teaching it. I had read how great Asian style math was but that MIF breaks it up into more steps. I wanted something easy to teach and MIF fits. The text is also very colorful and fun which might appeal. My DS just finished 2 and the amount of problems assigned daily is really pretty small. There’s a recommended schedule (it’s meant for classrooms) and we often at least doubled the assignment. There’s only a few problems per page so it’s not overwhelming. We school year round, if you are working over the summer you could help her not lose skills and make progress. I just discovered Xtramath.org which I recommend. I was looking for something to help DS work on his multiplication tables but when he took the practice test he wasn’t proficient enough on his math facts for that level. He needed to improve and have quicker recall of things like 8+7. It assigns problems everyday and only has him do it for a short bit everyday. It’s really been improving his math facts. What about trying a variety to help her? DS can get frustrated with math but really enjoys Miquon and Beast so he’s doing those along with MIF. Some days he might do a few pages in one of all.

When I saw your title I immediately thought of AAS. DS really enjoys the rules and uses them in his other writing. I dropped the extras and just use the the book.