Ours is 30-45 minutes for my 7 year old. Our math lesson and worksheets only take about 30 minutes and then we do 10-20 minutes on reflex math.

It looks like some of your kiddos are still little. We love the Complete Tales of Beatrix Potter. It's not incredibly long, maybe 3 hours, but it is fun for the younger ones.

Another vote for the scholastic branches books. They are specifically designed for emerging readers. My ds was not ready to jump into chapter books even though he could. He has eaten up the Looniverse and Notebook of Doom books. They are series so once they start they want to finish. And Tashi is great too. We bought the Enormous book of Tashi mentioned above, and my boy has started it, but it is still intimidating. It will be a huge deal for him when he completes it. It has many short stories in it and I like that the stories get progressively longer and a little harder. The scaffolding is great for new readers.

I did not know it was on Hulu!! Thanks Farrar!

Thanks for sharing Hunter!

So glad I read this thread again! I didn't realize that there were limited seats. It seems like most still have plenty available, but I don't want to keep dallying and miss out!!

I completely understand what you mean. I CAN copy the cds to my computer, but audible would just be so much easier! Until my dreams come true I have to go through the steps many have listed above to make it easier for our family to listen. I love the idea of saving it to Google Play. We aren't an apple family so itunes isn't the issue, but loading the mp3s onto different devices seems irksome. Google Play may be the solution! All devices can access the same content and mama doesn't have to drive herself batty trying to constantly update playlists.

By the end of first grade I wanted to know that his foundation was solid in the basics. Reading- to be reading chapter books fluently and to have found books that he could enjoy on his own. Writing- to be able to do his copywork neatly. I have had to redefine what neat handwriting really looks like for a 1st grade boy but at least progress is being made. Math- Understand place value backwards, forwards, and upside down. Have a firm grip on addition and subtraction with math facts memorized. Have an introduction to multiplication. Be comfortable with word problems. Also understand money, time and measurement. We have had no problems achieving our math goals. This is an easy area, at least for now. Other subjects- history, science, art, music, computers, spanish- I wanted him to explore these subjects and learn to dive deeper into certain areas as they interest him. These subjects provide the fun in our school, so even though they didn't have specific 1st grade goals, we spent tons of time on them.

Another vote for homeschool planet.

There are lower level Branches books too, with fewer words and color pictures instead of black and white. It might be something to look into! If it were me, I would leave the series until your DS is ready for them. They are fabulous for grabbing an emerging reader and hooking them on reading. I think that part of the problem we encountered is that we had read aloud several series, such as Henry Huggins or Magic Tree House, when he was younger so there were fewer early chapter books to grab his attention and really get him excited about reading. That may not happen for you, but I just wanted to share what happened for us!

We re-listen as well, although I don't have the full series yet. My ds LOVES the activities from the Activity guide and definitely remembers more about the subject if we do a project for that chapter. He also enjoys the mapping exercises in the AG.

I don't remember who it was on this board that recommended Scholastic Branches books for a reluctant chapter book reader, but THANK YOU!!! My ds is in first grade and reading at a 3rd grade level during our practice time, but I just couldn't get him to break away from early readers and picture books during free read time and he would only read when asked to. After following some great advice from the hive, I stopped pushing so hard and accepted that if I wanted him to love reading I needed to let him enjoy it and read at whatever level he enjoyed. I reeled in my expectations and stopped expecting him to read on the high end of his reading level just because he could. If he wanted to read Elephant and Piggie AGAIN, well, at least he was reading. More Fly Guy? Sure, why not. Meanwhile I kept throwing high interest chapter books in his path to see what he might be interested in. We have had a few successes along the way but nothing grand. But then, last week we picked up all four of the Looniverse series from our Library. They are part of the scholastic branches books which are targeted at kiddos that CAN read at a 2nd-3rd grade level but are intimidated by full chapter books. Oh my goodness! He flew through all 4 of them in 3 days. Every time I looked up he had his nose in a book. Every time we left the house, he had to bring his book. He has begged to go to the library today to find something else by this author. It was a beautiful week. Truly. So, thank you, whoever you were. You helped my son learn that reading is magical and made my week, maybe month or even year! For anybody that may be interested: http://www.scholastic.com/branches/looniverse.htm

We only use the CDs and activity guide as well. I purchased the book but don't use it at all. I won't be purchasing the higher level paperback books.

Just so you know, someone in the other thread mentioned that sonlight is still well stocked with all the cwp levels, including level 4. They are the same price as CBD and free shipping over $25. Can you tell I've been searching?

Does anybody know when these will be on sale again?

Do both standards and us editions currently have pre-a stuff or just standards?

I have wondered about this too. Has anyone compared the two? Should I search down the older editions or are the common core editions as good?

Signed up! Thanks for posting!!

Ahhh! I want a proclick. I keep telling myself that it isn't necessary. The 3-ring binders are working well enough. Congratulations on giving in to the craziness. I hope to join you soon. :laugh:

Ah, so happy to see this thread. Our biggest success has been a shift in mamas thinking. This is our second year homeschooling and for the first time I feel like things are good! I was a reluctant homeschooled, and I kept thinking we would put the boys in a local University model school, but this winter I came to the conclusion that this really is the best for them and we aren't doing this on a part time basis, we aren't changing course in a year. We ARE homeschoolers. It was incredibly freeing. And now there is joy in me. There is fun in our school. I didn't realize how much the question of change was holding me hostage from enjoying our journey. Now, that isn't to say that I'm locked in until graduation, but for now, this is good. And I'm happy to be able to share that with people who might just understand.

What a great resource. We love librivox but do find that we only listen to solo recordings. I think the collaborative would drive me insane!

I need to read over this thread. This book has been on my reading list. I'm hoping to be able to start it this month.

This is our 2nd day using Reflex math, so we definitely aren't experts, but my guy seems to love it! The first thing he asked to do this morning was to practice his math. We weren't even doing school this morning! Thanks again for the recommendation!

Thanks for sharing about Reflex math. We just subscribed for the 2 week trial. I'm excited to see how it goes.

I could try doing that. My boys love the selections. I'll have to look at how that would look. Also, The Jungle Book was a big hit here too!