Thanks so much for the help. It looks like we should give 2 plus 2 a try then! :-)

Has anyone used either of these books to help their child learn math facts? They both look great, but I don't really want to try and use both. I want to pick just one. So, does anyone have experience with them? How did it go?

Honestly, if she already has a good handle on reading, then I think Reading Eggs and AAS should be perfect. Reading Eggs will have the "feel good" aspect that will make blending more fun for her, less of a chore. It's definitely not as much "pure phonics" as a top notch reading program would have, but it has enough games where they break the sounds apart and piece them back together that it will help. AAS will do an excellent job of breaking apart the words into their individual sounds. It won't be as "fun" as Reading Eggs, but it's hands on (which helps greatly) and it does cover all the phones thoroughly.

Apples and Pears!!

Wow, just checked out that Two Plus Two book on Amazon. That looks really good. :-)

YOu just teach them that God made them differently. We all have things that we tend to naturally excel at. We also have areas that we will have to work really hard to get good at them. My 5 year reads fluently... my 7 year old does not. My 5 year old is better at math then my 7 year old as well. BUT my 7 year old is an amazing artist... better than my 9 year old. My 9 year old knows that art is not her thing and is happily writing amazing novels and reading at a high school level. My 7 year old knows that reading is not her thing, and asks my 5 year old for help when she can't sound something out. Point out their strengths, and then tell them that they absolutely have the potential to be great in other areas too, but that in those particular areas, they will just have to put in more work.

Dancing Bears by SOund FOundations.

Oh, I have the perfect book recommendation for you! "Teach Your Child To Read In Just 10 Minutes a Day," by Sidney Ledson. Also, I just started a blog myself about beginning reading skills, and I will be posting free "lessons" there that I am doing with my 3, soon to be 4 year old. Feel free to glean any information there as well. The link to my blog is in my signature.

Stuart Little to my 9,7, and 5 year olds. Miscellaneous picture books to my 2 and 3 year olds.

Definitely Betsy and Tacy. Also, my girls absolutely love Milly Molly Mandy stories. The boxcar children books are good. Oh, right now I'm reading Stuart Little to my girls and they love that one. So, maybe Stuart Little and other books by E. B. White.

Just keep lots of good quality books around and set him loose! It's always a good idea to ask him every now and then to tell you things about the books he's reading too, but don't go overboard with the questions. Honestly, after my oldest took off with reading we never did another kind of reading program again. She is now 9 and reads at a high school level - has been for over a year now.

As I was reading through what you think your child needs - more review specifically - I immediately thought Saxon would be a good fit. I love how Saxon continues to introduce a new concept with each lesson, but there is continual review of previous concepts all the time as well. It really works to keep everything fresh in the mind. I've also heard great things about CLE. I think it is somewhat similar to Saxon, but some people seem to prefer it. We started with Saxon (Saxon 5/4) and have found absolutely nothing to complain about, so we're sticking with it! :-)

You know, I always thought that would be hard for my kids to learn to, but it's never been an issue. Usually they get it right on the first try, but if they don't, they just self correct (because then the word makes sense). Obviously the more they read, the less they have to self correct. Also, try reading a work like "bath" with a buzzy "th" at the end (that's what I call it, lol). It's almost impossible to do! It just comes out like it's suppose to. :-)

Writing and reading skills go hand in hand. How long has she been a fluent reader? What kinds of books does she read? How much does she read each day? The more she reads good quality literature, the more her writing will improve without the use of any particular curriculum. Honestly, her writing seems absolutely fine for a 4th grader. Sure, there are kids that can write better, but I'm also sure there are plenty who are not to that level yet. I'd say just make sure she gets in quality reading time each day, and have her do copywork too in addition to free writing. In fact, maybe switch to all copywork for a couple months. The more she sees what good sentences are suppose to look like, the more likely she is to use those skills in her own writing. My dd was reading fluently at 4 (books like the boxcar children) and she read for hours from good quality books each day, but it wasn't until she turned 9 that she started writing. Before that, if I did ask her to write something on her own (which I usually didn't.... usually just stuck to a few sentences of copywork) it was similar to what your dd wrote.

Well, my first grader writes nothing... yep, you heard that right, nothing. She's just not ready yet. No big deal. Next year she will write something. Probably not much. Copywork - a sentence or two probably each day.

We love Atelier. We have been using level 2 with a 5,7, and 9 year old. Honestly, even I have been learning from the DVDs.

If you include lots of outside activities, costs can add up quickly! I don't include my dds' dance classes as homeschool, because that's something we would do either way (and grandma happens to pay for it as Christmas and birthday gifts anyway...). I also don't include things like our zoo membership, because again, we would have that anyway. Anyhow... I have a 4th, 1st, K, and preschooler this year. I will spend around $1000 for all of them for the entire year. About half of that money will be spend on my 4th grader... maybe even slightly over half. The rest will be spend on the younger ones.

LOL, sorry it didn't go well... now I'm off to see what this "Super E is all about! :-)

I used level 1 for a bit with my 5 and 6 year olds. It is definitely a solid program. Anyway, we ended up stopping for a break (my oldest really needed time for her brain to grow some), and when we started back to reading lessons we picked up with something else... Dancing Bears. Both programs work great. There is more hands on fun stuff with AAR, which is nice for the kids. However, for some reason that made it harder for "me" to get it done. It really is well laid out though, and doesn't really take any prep time at all. All that to say. My 3 favorite "teach reading" programs are AAR, Dancing Bears, and Explode the Code. Dancing Bears is "my" favorite, but AAR will absolutely get the job done, and if you have a hands on kiddo, might be your best bet (especially if they do not have the best handwriting skills yet). Oh, and I am looking to sell mine! I have "everything" although I am missing the first few pages from the project books/work books. If interested you can email me at hoble dot laurie at g mail dot com.

Thanks so much for sharing.

Yep, definitely have books that are "easy" for fun reading. My 2 readers that are fluent, didn't really take off with reading until they were decoding at a 4th grade level, but able to read 2nd grade level (Frog and Toad), and beginning 3rd grade level (boxcar children) for fun. I have one reader that is "almost" fluent at this point. She can decode at a 2nd grade level well - but it's still hard work for her. Fun reading for her are Bob books and Dick and Jane. :-) It will still be a little while before she takes off.

Yep, no way I would attempt that kind of program - sorry... In our house my 4th grader is completely independent. My K and 1st grader only do school for about an hour each day. Some days I do 10-15 minutes of "pre-school" with my 3 year old. The rest of the time we can do read a louds and projects at our leisure and desire, but there is no "I have to get it done" with that stuff. My 4th grader does school for about 4 hours each day - and sometimes she drags that time out to 5-6 hours. If I had to be involved for the majority of that time, our house would be in utter chaos. Oh, and we have a baby and toddler in the mix too. :-) My advice - have the 4th and 5th grader as independent as possible - and the 2nd grader too if they are a good reader. K can be short and sweet.

I don't really think I'd be concerned. All kids are different. I've heard stories of kids in the same family - one reading at 3 and another not learning until 10 (and the other 4 falling somewhere in between). Same thing for math - some grasp things early, others not until later. In my family my oldest was reading fluently at 4, my next in line just turned 7 and is now "Just" about to become a fluent reader. My next in line after her is 5 and has been reading fluently already for a few months. So, does my 7 year old have a learning disability? I'd say, not likely. She is reading at a beginning 2nd grade level... and she's in first grade. Oh, and about the numbers thing. My 7 year old struggled in that area at 5 as well. She still can only count to 12 accurately, then she skips 13 (always) and goes from 14-19, then can't remember 20. She can count 20-29, and then sometimes she gets the "big numbers" on up to 100, but not always. So there you go. Honestly, we haven't really worked on it much though until the last few months. I just knew she wasn't ready, and rather then try and drill it into her for months on end, I just gave her time for her brain to mature and it seems to be working just fine that way. I can't say for sure what is going on in your situation, but if it were me - no I wouldn't be concerned.

Sterling Math facts - by far the best thing out there in my opinion. You can set the initial "time out" to anything you want. I usually start it at 10 seconds for my kids so they don't get frustrated. I also build up slowly, and only add in new facts after they have completely mastered all the previous facts. Practicing daily is also key. My oldest is only now to the point where she isn't really practicing much anymore, which is after 3 YEARS of daily practice, and 1 year after having mastered them all to keep them fresh.

Lots of different philosophies out there on this one! Anyway, we don't start ANY formal math until math facts (all 4 operations) are memorized. My first dd started memorizing at 6 and it took her two years to get them down solid (we only spent 10-15 minutes each day on it). She then started Saxon 5/4 at half pace. Now at 9 she is almost done with Saxon 5/4 (and is working at full speed now). My next 2 just started learning their facts in the last two months (so almost 7 and 5... but same academic level). Of course we do informal things to learn the basics of counting, shapes, simple addition with manipulatives, money, etc. over the years, but nothing really planned, just as they come up. There have been studies done that show that most children cannot really begin to think and understand mathematics (more advanced thinking) until around 8-10 years old, even 11 or 12. So, to spend the early elementary years trying to get kids to "understand" can be difficult at best. Of course some kids are more apt to grasp then others, but these kids are also the same kids who can learn all their math facts in a few months and are then ready for Saxon 5/4 at age 6 or 7! Anyway, that's what we do.