Thanks for all the replies! It's nice to feel welcomed even though I'm not sure I belong here. Although, technically speaking, I guess a 5-year-old rising 2nd grader IS accelerated, lol. A lot of your kids sound like mine! The sleep struggles caught my attention as well...mine was never a good sleeper and still would rather sit up half the night reading if I gave her the choice. As far as what I plan to do, I guess I'm just going to experiment a little and see if I can't find a sweet spot or two for her to excel in, for a start. We have been struggling some with math...my fault. I love CLE math but it was just too slow and repetitious for her. So, I've shelved that, and last night I downloaded Math Mammoth Addition 1 for her to work on. She loves it! It's too easy for her, but my plan is to just let her enjoy math for a while, and work quickly through the levels of Math Mammoth dark blue books until she begins to be challenged...whether that be third grade level or fifth. I also want to get the first 3 or 4 Life of Fred elementary books for her. She loves narrative writing and I think she would get a kick out of Fred (and maybe learn something too).

Lol! Not for me! I was homeschooled, and I always knew I would homeschool my own.

Those do look great, but I was looking more for a reading program and not just literature guides. Something year-long and fairly comprehensive.

Ooo, great ideas, thanks! I had actually looked at the Jane Ervin ones before, but I had forgotten about it. Whoops.

What's a good reading comprehension program for grades 2+? My daughter is finishing up HOD's emerging reader set and I'm not really sold on DITHOR, so.... Give me some ideas please!

Wow, thanks for all the great (and fast) answers! Next question: how do you actually find the level that challenges your child? Okay, that sounded funny. I haven't jumped too far forward with DD except in the reading/verbal department...but I haven't really hit her challenge level yet in anything. I just started a math post on the K-8 Board about our struggles with math, but my intuition tells me it's not so much the program or her work ethic as much as she is simply bored with first grade math. She's not challenged by it and would rather not do it. But how do you jump forward without leaving gaps in her math knowledge? I'm pretty lost with all of this. I was homeschooled as well, and my Mom always considered me intelligent as well...reading at 4, graduated at 16, etc., but nothing like this. She just...knows things. It's hard to explain.

How do you tell? When did you just know that you had a gifted child? Or, how did you know that they were accelerated, but not truly gifted? Of course, everyone wants their child to be gifted. And in certain things, I think all kids definitely have their own 'gifts'. But I'm talking the teaching-themselves-to read, algebra-at-8 type of learner. I have suspected for a long time that my daughter may be gifted. She is certainly accelerated. She knew how to read when I began ignorantly teaching her phonics at age 3(and she was frustrated with me for it). She is now 5.9 years old and reads between a 4th and 5th grade level, with comprehension. She may be able to read beyond that but I haven't provided her with material that advanced. Her vocabulary is 5th to 7th grade. Grammar is frustrating for her, because she intuitively knows how to form sentences correctly but she isn't interested in taking them apart and learning why. She has not been in a public school environment and has not been tested for ADHD, but I am also almost certain she has it. Yes, she is young, and that is an attention factor for sure, but she is also incredibly distracted, fragmented almost. She overreacts to everything. She catches on to concepts incredibly quickly, but before she has figured something out, she immediately whines that she can't do it. Then, (20 seconds later), she knows the concept, is off and running, and doesn't want to hear another word about it from me! She doesn't forget it, either. Okay, so that was too much info, but I guess the real question is: she's homeschooled, so is there really any advantage to knowing one way or the other? And what do we do as parents to keep up with them as they rocket through life? I don't want her to feel labeled, so I'm really only asking for my own knowledge. Even if she is gifted...which she well may not be...I probably wouldn't test her. That would only make her feel even more 'different' if you KWIM. I hope this came across as an honest question and not just a brag :-)

Newbie here; just wanted to pop in and say good luck! I am also an over-scheduler...I always want to do everything I see that I like! How do we decide which ones we simply can't do???

My kiddos are still young (rising 2nd grader and K), but up to this point we've budgeted $20 a week for homeschooling. However, now that they are coming into more 'real' schoolwork (and soon there will be 3 of them to buy for), we really need to double that amount.

Hello! My name is Sara and I'm new to the WTM. I have a rising second grader and a K'er this year, as well as a toddler. I was reading through the 'books you've hated' thread and began to think that my read-aloud schedule might just need some sprucing up. Like some of you, we've gotten into a rut with some favorites. What are your favorite picture books (or early chapter books) to read aloud for a young K boy? Some of our favorites have been: The Seven Silly Eaters The Circus Ship (he should be well primed for poetry with all this rhyming, anyway) Go Away, Dog (leveled reader) Blueberries for Sal Make Way for Ducklings Anything Backyardigans...which, frankly, makes me shudder.

Hello, all. My name is Sara. I have been reading this board for some time, but as I'm not completely classical in my approach I've not posted before. We are now entering our third year homeschooling, and I have a math question. Now, I know that everyone has math questions, lol, so please forgive me and indulge yet another mother who has no idea which one of twenty great programs would be best, lol. I swear having access to so much information via the Internet is a really bad thing! My question is a specific one, but I welcome your thoughts! Has anyone here used Bob Jones math K-6 and if so, what did you think of it? Give me the dirt, ladies! I ask because: I have a K'er and a rising 2nd grader. The 2nd grader has been successfully using a spiral math program for 1st grade but now is beginning to struggle a little bit. There's a lot to each lesson and it can take her a long time. Now, my K'er is quite happily working his way through BJU math K5, and for now it's a perfect fit. Not too much each day. I've heard good and bad about BJU, but mostly the bad is simply that they don't include a lot of drill, which I can remedy. I'm specifically looking for a traditional, mastery math program (one that isn't Singapore...we are not a Singapore family, I'm afraid). We like workbooks. We like textbooks. We aren't picky at all, in fact. But I like BJU K5 so much I'm wondering if it might also work for my 2nd grader. Thanks in advance! (Yes, I know that was wordy...I'm a wordy gal. Kudos if you're still with me and your eyes haven't glazed over, lol.)