I am a little late in joining this post, but thought I would add my thoughts. My son has attended a UMS the last two years and we've been very happy with the model. Our school is Classical and expressly Christian (many denominations represented but centered in Christ). Meets two days a week with electives offered on Fridays. We are still in the early grades and so far the workload has been great for us. As an introvert mom I appreciate the break and yet I want to be intimately involved in my child's schooling and I am. I love that I get to teach him, see first hand where he struggles and shines, and that we can be done with school in the morning and he can go climb a tree or invent a backyard adventure. I really cherish that time not in a classroom. I'm happy with their curriculum choices so far. They are things I would probably use myself if I homeschooled full time. I supplement with tons of literature and reading instruction at home because my son was ready to read early so we use OPGTR (he's in K but reading chapter books). I also think the home component allows me to add more nature time and exploring a la Charlotte Mason. I do hear the workload can be challenging in the later grades, but we aren't there yet. The class sizes are generally small, the parents are very involved and committed, the teachers love Jesus and are wonderful and don't turn over much. It's been a perfect blend for us. It's a little daunting thinking of paying tuition for two (our other child will start next fall), but we love the school and are thankful we have it because many communities don't have the option.

Someone asked if the free books on iBooks were the same. 50 of the first 52 books are the same. Reading teacher.com refers to these as unit 1 and they match BR1 and BR2 list on the 3Rs website. (For some reason there are two extra books on iBooks, Sis in a Mess and The Bad Man---otherwise the list matches up.) After that, books 53-80 that I downloaded to iBooks do not match the list of BR3 books on the 3Rs website. We haven't made it to them yet but it sounds like Cathy said above they are not as good. Just wanted to let y'all know. The iBooks are great though--colorful, fun illustrations and easy to use!

Sorry, that link was my attempt to "quote" the poster above me, which I clearly don't know how to do! Lol. Anyway, thank you MMASC for the info about the free download, what a blessing!

http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/index.php?app=forums&module=post&section=post&do=reply_post&f=3&t=518525&qpid=5758965 Wow thank you for posting that....I am now downloading all 80 books to my iPad!!! 🙌🙌🙌

We like the American language series K readers (fun in the sun, scamp and tramp, etc). I got the first three from MP but they sell the full set of 6 on rainbow resources. https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/American+Language+Series+K+Reader+Set/042639/c699c5b481912d4caccd76fe?subject=4&category=6704 I like that they are big books with color photos that feel like a real book. They progress from short vowels, consonant clusters, silent E, controlled vowels, digraphs and diphthongs. They don't include words or concepts not previously taught. Anyway just another option for readers for you! (Ps I literally looked through 1,000 items on eBay looking for I See Sam books because of all the good feedback on this post. Those stinkers are impossible to find used I guess! 😬)

I also love OPGTR. My son (5.5) and I do a lesson or two on the couch and they are short, focused and simple. It's not sexy but my son doesn't have patience for bells and whistles. He's progressing nicely. I don't typically do the optional activities or the "review two, one new" thing (although we do review a prior day if it was bumpy). I got WRTR from the library and even bought the spalding phonogram cards and try as I may, it is just not for me. It's so complicated and we are ready to read! I think once we are deeper into OPGTR the cards will be a nice way to firm up knowledge on the phonograms. I also got phonic pathways from the library and struggled to comprehend it, although I know some people swear by it! We have BOB books, some Nora Gaydos readers (which are not my favorite---some random sight words), and I got some nice readers from memoria press such as Scamp and Tramp. We also use Classical phonics from MP to occasionally just do some word lists for review. Leapfrog videos (talking words, code word caper, etc are great too).

I bee lined right for their booth at a recent convention because I've been dying to get my hands on the materials. My oldest is K in the fall so I lean toward the younger stuff. I bought First Start Reading, classical phonics, the first copybook, and some readers from the K package. I've been wanting FSR for awhile and then realized my son has already been through CVC words so he is beyond it, sadly. I was considering doing it anyway for handwriting practice but we are going to use the copybook instead---Which I love because of the scripture (the religious aspect is a plus to me but of course not for everyone). Going to save FSR for my daughter but I'm so sad to hold off on it because its so pretty! I love the beautiful simplicity of their workbooks. Never busy. Really clean and focused. Classical phonics has been a nice review/assess book while I go through OPGTR with my son. I love the look and feel of their products. I guess I'm in the minority as I love the preachy articles in the catalog. Ha! I loved the recent one that finally helped my pea-brain understand phonics the WRTR way versus traditional phonics.

For those of you who have used First Start Reading, has it been too much writing for you? My son is 5 and attends preK at a university model school two days a week. We have slowly been using OPGTR at home but he sort of sneers when I get the book out because as you know if you look at it, it's not written for the child. I think the lessons are solid and he goes through them pretty well but I wonder if he'd like something with a workbook for him. Best I can tell First Start follows a similar style of teaching phonics so I was eying that as an alternative. He knows his letter sounds very well and assorted CVC and sight words that have come up through BOB books and the Nora Gaydos readers. In OPGTR we are finishing short vowels and about to enter two consonant blends. My concern with first start was the amount of writing and that perhaps we ought to skip the first book or so because of how far we are into instruction already. He writes pretty well for his age (using HWT PreK at his school). He likes reading real books like the BOBs but I can tell he tries to guess on words instead of doing the work of learning how to read them. He wants to dive into reading without the boring reading lessons! I'm afraid with the writing and pace he'd get frustrated with FSR. But I love the look and feel of them and really all of the MP stuff looks great. Any advice would be appreciated. I would love to be more intentional with him this spring and summer.

My son attends Coram Deo Academy in Dallas. They are accredited by SACS and in process of getting the university model school accreditation i believe. It is classical, Christian, and collaborative. It is non-denominational and adheres to the Nicene creed. The mission of the school is to "train ethical leaders and wise thinkers shaping culture for the glory of God." They are explicit in that whereas some Christian schools are evangelical in nature, in their case they are equipping the saints, so to speak....families are believers and a pastoral reference is part of the process of admission. It's a supportive community and the parental involvement is high because of the collaborative model. Most students attend class two days a week and are homeschooled the other days (there is a 5 day program at one of the campuses but I don't know anything about it). They are adamant that the parent is the primary teacher of the child. This is a big deal to me. It has been an ideal model for our family because I am overwhelmed at the idea of full-time homeschooling at the moment, but walking in partnership with them has been a delight. Our campus has small class sizes (12 is about the largest i have seen, some as small as 2-3). Electives offered on Fridays such as art, music, world culture, hands on science. My child is in grammar stage but in older stages they use a house system for the kids that I think is highly character driven and accountability focused. There is good outdoor recess time and time for lunch wiggles as another poster said. I wish there were more time for charlotte mason lovelies (Perfect word, prior poster!), but with only being on campus two days the time is packed. Of course that's the beauty of three days at home! We can do our nature walking then. I know you were leaning towards a full time model but you may glean some ideas from their site. Www. Coramdeoacademy.org