Welcome!!! I'm new here too... maybe I should have done a more formal introduction. I pretty much just started posting. ;-) Anyway, I'm Laurie and I have 5 little ones ages 8,6,4,2, and 1. #6 is due in June. Nice to "meet" you. :-)

Yep, starting at about age 6 my kids do math facts drill for about 15 minutes each day... and that's it for math. We do no formal math until all math facts are mastered (all 4 operations through the 12s). My oldest mastered all her facts shortly after she turned 8. She then started Saxon 5/4 (although still reviews math facts for about 10 minutes each day) and is doing very well... because all her facts are mastered! :-)

The book Teach Your Child to Read in Just Ten Minutes a Day, by Sidney Ledson is fabulous if your 2 year old is interested. The great thing is, with a 2 year old you can just grab 5 minutes here and there through out your week, and make it all fun and no pressure. I am working with my 2 year right now, and she can sound out words like CUP, PUP, HAT, and CAT.

We only do the 3 R's at our house and we follow a routine, but not set schedule. I have 5 kids ages 8,6,4,2, and 1. In the morning after breakfast... 8 year old... Starts with math. She does 1/2 lesson of Saxon 5/4 and does 150 math facts for review on Sterling Math facts. She does this completely independently with no help from me. Occasionally she has a question, and I basically just "ask a few questions" back to her, and she figures it out. She might take a small break and then she does one page of Pentime Cursive 3, and a small paragraph of copywork from a book she's reading. She reads for 1 hour from a book I select (this covers her history, science, literature, etc). That's it for "official school her her. Depending on her pace she either finishes just before, or just after lunch. It is all done independently. She also reads a lot on her own. We have a very well selected home library, so most of that ends up being "educational" as well. In the morning... My 4 and 6 year old (at the same academic level) We do reading lessons (usually consisting of a game or two) and we have also started AAR level 1. We probably work for a total of about 45 minutes or so, but in 2-3 sessions throughout the morning. We do some kind of math activity. About 10-15 minutes maybe. Sometimes they work out of Pentime1... 1-2 days a week. That's it for official school for them. The 1 and 2 year olds... are generally well behaved and kind of just play for the most part. Of course my 4 and 6 year old still play a lot in the mornings to, so they interact a lot together on and off as we do lessons. In the afternoons after school is done... The 2 babies go down for a nap, and the big kids usually do some kind of project. They do different art activities or play with play dough, do a science experiment, etc. We also usually do a short read a loud (anything that strikes our interest at the time). Before bed, I also read a short story to all the kids (they are all awake for this one). That's the gist of our days... for the most part. ETA: Chores are done on an "as needed" basis. The kids help when I ask. They also help with meals and such here and there as well. Laurie

Well, I don't even use graded curriculum, so I guess that makes it easier to just use it "at their level." I guess math is... but even that is Saxon 5/4 for my oldest, and that's not really a grade?? Anyway, I'm a fan of simply letting the child be "where they are" and getting material to suit that level. Then, you proceed at whatever pace (slow or fast) that you need to to ensure that the child learns the material they need to learn. ETA: The things you really want to have "at her level" are the basics... so reading, writing, and math instruction (the 3 r's). So, you can use an all in one kind of curriculum such as My Father's World that is more geared toward her age/grade, but then make sure you have separate instruction that really focuses on her "level" for the 3 r's.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE the book why Johnny Can't Read. It is fabulous. Another great book to read which can help (and even give you an idea for a "game" to play which REALLY works) is Teach Your Child to Read in Just Ten Minutes a Day, by Sidney Ledson.

I really love the HOD book selections, but the biggest problem we had, was reading just little bits out of books at a time. We still utilize many of the HOD book choices, but we use them in a Robinson Curriculum sort of way. We simply read through them one at a time from cover to cover!

So there is a way to "override" it and let them move on?!?! Wish I had known about that. My poor dd was getting like 98% for several days in a row in addition, but the program would not let her move on without 100%.

You got some good suggestions. If it's any consolation I have a 15 month old who does the same thing all night. We do co-sleep/nurse though, so it doesn't really bother me. I just stick a nipple back in his mouth and we both go right back to sleep! Honestly, I have found that will all 5 of my babies, they slept the worst from about 4-9 months, then things got much better. I have never had a baby sleep through the night until they were a year old, but they all eventually do. Hang in there. In the grand scheme of things this "phase" will be short lived.

Well, nearly 7 is still young!! I wouldn't necessarily worry about the younger one surpassing the older one either. We have this situation, and honestly, it hasn't been a problem. They each know they have their own strengths. If I were you I would take a break from ALL reading curriculum for 2 solid weeks. THEN... I would start with a "spelling program." Forget about reading for a couple months all together. Apples and Pears looks really fantastic, and it will also be "sneaky" and work on those reading skills as well. ETA: And make sure you do lots of reading aloud (which I'm guessing you probably already do). :-)

That's a great idea about the games/crafts. I do have at least 3 more kids that will likely use this after my current 2. However... mine love to cut and paste and color themselves, SO... I guess I will need to purchase new workbooks. Still, in the grand scheme of things, purchasing a new workbook to go with the program is not a huge expense.

My dd really liked it at first too, BUT then sometimes she would make a silly typing error or two, and that kept preventing her from moving on... that was frustrating.

Thanks... yeah, I'm not very impressed with the upper grades. However, I have a K'er who is still struggling with number recognition and I thought maybe some "circle the correct number" and "fill in the blank with the correct number" would help her. We have used the Rod and Staff preschool books which look similar. But now I'm looking for something different. Anyone else?

If you have used ACE Math for kindergarten how did it go? Did you like it?

I asked this same question on a different forum a couple weeks ago. The conclusion was - GET THE READERS!!! Many people mentioned that their child liked the readers better than any other aspect of the program. So, with that, I did go ahead and purchase the readers... That being said, if you really can't afford it, maybe you could just get the first one? You likely won't need the others for another month or two anyway??? By then maybe you can save up and get the other two.

I am very much a firm believer in "pure phonics" with only the minimal introduction of sight words (only when absolutely necessary). This is one of the reasons I just chose to purchase AAR for my 4 and 6 year old to use (pretty much same academic level). We have only gone through lesson one so far, so I really can't give much of a "review" at this point, but in looking over the guide, this program is laid out fantasiticly. There is very little prep involved, and is very much open and go. Sight words are kept to a minimum. As for progression from "typical" K to 1st to 2nd... No, it probably doesn't follow the typical progression that one thinks of grade wise. Instead, they present phonics is a purely logical manner. So, at the end of level one, there are likely some "sight words" that may be considered K or 1st grade that your child will not know, BUT your child will be capable of sounding out words (using their phonics skills) that would normally be considered 4th grade.

I use Pentime with all 3 of mine that are writing age. This is after using HWOT and A Reason for Handwriting. I didn't really "love" either of those. I do love Pentime though. My youngest 2 (almost 5 and 6) are using book one, and my 8 year old is using book 3.

Does he understand blending yet? I agree that Level 1 is the place for him, but if he needs extra help learning to blend first, then... I would recommend downloading the first 2 lessons of The Reading Lesson (free from their website). Go through those exercises until you feel he has a good handle on blending and then proceed with level 1 of ETC.

Thanks for letting me know that HSBC has it from time to time! I will keep my eyes out for it. :-)

I signed up for the free trial for Deambox. I'll see how it goes. Any other suggestions?

We tried A Reason For Handwriting with my oldest for Manuscript, and I really didn't care for it... we quickly dropped it. My 8 year old started using Pentime 2 this fall (she started in the middle of the book where the cursive starts). She progressed very well on her own with no instruction from me. I did watch her here and there to make sure she was forming the letters correctly - she was! :-) She is now half way through Pentime 3 and her cursive is beautiful. I really like Pentime and the books are very inexpensive. You might be able to simply start your children on the 3rd book, but the cursive does start in the middle of the second book, so I went ahead and started there since the books were cheap anyway. Book 3 is set up so that they practice a couple individual letters on one page, and then practice words on the next page. They do this for the first half of the book. Half way through they start practicing words on one page, and then use those words to write a short phrase/sentences/small paragraph on the next page. It's really well done. Yeah, the more I think about it you can probably just start with book 3. I also really like their first couple books for manuscript, and I am using book one for my 4 and 6 year olds. The books are very well done.

This is something that varies so much by individual child. My current 6 year old is not anywhere near fluent, and is not able to read on her own at all yet. She can read Bob Books and some very beginner books, but they are still laborious to her. We spend about 20-30 minutes each day working on phonics, usually in game form. I also utilize beginner books and such (Bob Books, progressive phonics, sound city reading) in our lessons. I try to vary it up as much as I can to keep interest high. I read a loud to her each day (well most days) as well. The goal is a short story in the afternoon (or chapter from chapter book), and another short story before bed. My oldest who is currently 8, was a completely different story! She started reading fluently at age 4, and at 6 read the unabridged version of Little Women on her own over the course of a couple days. The important thing is to gage correctly where your child is at. Challenge them, but never overwhelm them. Try to keep the process as enjoyable as you can. Don't hesitate to use incentives and rewards for a challenging activity done with a good attitude. All children are different. My next in line after my 6 year old is 4, and her progress in reading is similar to my first dd. She is capable of doing more than my 6 year old - and that's okay!! :-)

I'm am looking for something to teach Kindergarten math skills to my 4 (soon to be 5) and 6 year old. They are at about the same accademic level. I'm looking for something that can be 100% watched on the tv (DVD), or something that can be done 100% on the computer. We already have some hands on things that we do for math, this is just something that I would like to add in for 30 minutes or so, maybe 3 times a week. Any recommendations?

I suppose you are right, at least to some extent. I can see it working better to teach to 2 or 3 at a time though, and then cycle in the next group. But that might be just me.

Robinson Curriculum if you like lit based curriculum. I don't think there are any other lit based curriculums that will individually meet the needs of all your children as well. If you are "teaching" anything you will always be targeting one age more than another.