My son is doing AR but without a minimum goal set (he's 5.5 in K). He just hit 50 points last quarter (they get cute little reward and incentives). He gets through the smaller (0.5) point books quickly -- up to 2-3/day at times, we just started the MTH series and it takes him about 1 week to read those (& still read about 1 regular 0.5 book per day). I think the min goal is 50 points for 1st grade level next year.

The program is fine, but be VERY careful of Pimsleur's misleading practices. I tried to cancel a month after my surprise billing, and it was not until I got my credit card company involved AND canceled my card that it was canceled, 3 months later :(

Looks interesting. I am wondering how much were the kits after the co-op discount? thanks! :)

my 3 year old got a firetruck lego that he was asking for all year, we built the original model for him (with him helping by finding the correct piece), he's having a ball dismantling and reconstructing it.

AAS :) it's 'my' Christmas present to myself this year :)

I am subbing. I have a kindergartener (5) & preschooler. For the kindergartener, we do a mix of promoting core subjects (reading/math) & extra STEM stuff (mostly child-led...i.e. we saw a video and read a book about manatee today). We have done life-cycles of different animals, read about different occupations, learn how a compass works, etc. I am interested in a simple, yet interesting science, geography and history book that could be used for afterschooling. Currently, I get our curriculum from the internet or library.

lol @ your last statement. sounds like getting the teacher on board may help. my stinky boys get a bath every night before bed, otherwise, I'll have food, sand, mud and god knows what else on the bedsheets. good luck in finding an option that may work.

Is there something your kids look forward to for school? or what are the consequences if they are tardy? (not your taking 0.50 cents out from the piggy bank, but the consequences from the school?). My DS5 loves walking to school (vs getting dropped off by car), so he gets himself up the moment the alarm rings (6.50am), gets dressed, goes to the bathroom and while he's doing that, I get breakfast ready and helping my 3 year old. While he eats, I'll be eating breakfast and prepping lunch. If we walk, we have to leave the house by 7.20am, any later, we'll have to drive to school. Also, depending on the personalities of your kids, have you thought of sticker charts, etc?

You obviously have another 6 months to decide :) and by then, I think your DS would know all his letter sounds & names. Speaking from the perspective of having a young K boy (end of July birthday, cut-off for us is Sept 1st), I decided to go ahead & put my son in regular K this year and he is simply thriving. He's among the top few kids academically in the class (probably 1-2 in reading, math and spelling) and despite some goofiness and squirming, is doing well socially as well. Since yours is a charter/homeschool situation, my only question for the school would be the difference in academic work for your son when picking Jr K vs K. My son is doing some mid-grade 1 level work concurrently (in addition to regular work) with another academically advanced child in his class.

DS1 is at 1.5 - 2.5 level and we do 1 book a day, 2 over the weekends.

I am subbing, but I have bigger problems. They use Bridges syllabus at my son's school...so I am working hard to keep him ahead in Singapore Math, to complement their spiral games math method.

just keep up with the reading! My DS1 was in speech therapy until age 3, and was speech delayed till about 3.5. He starting reading at 4.5 & is now among the top readers in his grade, speaking fluently and doing great. I was very worried about the speech delay kids being late readers, but that is definitely not true for my son. He's in the advanced program in his class now, and started doing spelling words this week (silent e & long e words).

trying to get some suggestions from other parents here. my son's K teacher asked me if we wanted more homework for him. he's among the top 2 in class (one of the pm kindergarten kids just transferred into his class & that boy is very advanced (reading at 3-4th grade level/doing multiplication, etc), and that boy's mum is asking for more homework. I told her no for now (as we are still trudging along with our reading/singapore math/etc), but might reconsider and see what she sends home with him (there are some days that I work 7-10 day stretches, 12 hour days in a row), and he might be able to do her homework instead. what does the bee hive think? *just to clarify, I am happy with where my kid is at right now. we strive to work harder, but my son really loves kindergarten and he enjoys our eclectic afterschooling style & he's very social, I do not think my kid is a genius, but am happy he is working (&thriving) ahead of the curve.* thanks in advanced!

My son's school uses the Reading Street program. It seems okay, but it is heavily supplemented by his teacher (she is very experienced & a great K teacher) with BOB books, and another phonic book series that I am not familiar with.

ok, looks like I'll be saving up for AAS as MY Christmas present! lol, I think I'm more excited about (in the past) new diapers/new kids clothes/new kids accessories/books & syllabus than the kids are :)

I work full time, in a hospital, 40 to 50 hours a week on average (rotating shifts, days/evenings/nights; sometimes, I work 7 days in a row, and then have 5 days off) which makes it challenging. My husband or I would pick the kids up from afterschool care at around 5.30pm, they both have swim lessons on tues/thurs, so we don't get home till 7pm on those days. we normally work on reading (homework: he has to read his AR book 3x before doing the test the next day), math, play time & bedtime is at 8.30pm. DS1 (age 5) is normally exhausted by then, as he does not nap at his afterschool care. My kids wake up at around 6.45 in the morning, and both REALLY need their 10 hours of sleep. On Mondays/Wednesdays/Fridays, we would work on science, more math concepts and leisure/home reading, homework reading & other eclectic stuff that catches my (or their) fancy. DS2 (age 3.5) is joining in on some subjects, but it's close to impossible to get him to sit down. I work alternating weekends, and normally would leave practice type worksheets for DS1 to do (with the husband supervising). Some weeks/days are better than others. If it gets super hectic at work (i.e. winter/cold season), we may get away with just reading some nights. But hey, something is better than nothing, right? On my days off, I do the lesson planning, sorting worksheets, etc.

I have accumulated a lot of information from various threads on this site. I am now looking at a good spelling curriculum for my son. He is reading well, but still needs a lot of help with basic spelling. With lots of prompting, he could spelling basic CVC words. I am looking for a gentle spelling program that does not take a lot of time (we do not have enough time between reading his book 3x, math, science, etc), also a program that does not need a lot of prep work on my part (work full time & starting some afterschool with my younger son as well). *bear in mind this is for afterschooling purposes, and we will aim to do it 2-3x per week* I have narrowed my choices to the following: All About Spelling -- great views, a little pricey up front, but has 100% satisfaction guarantee & can probably use the same syllabus for my younger son. not too sure how preparation intensive it would be, and I would be terrified of dropping those card-boxes. How to Spell -- inexpensive. seems to be based on the same concepts as AAS. cons: seems more writing/workbook extensive. Sequential Spelling -- very mixed reviews, some say it's quite open & go and takes 15-20 mins/day (which would be nice!) Calvert Spelling -- limited reviews. seems ok. Rod & Staff Spelling -- open & go concept, some reviews say the program does not teach spelling patterns well, also, seems to be 'below' grade level (which should be ok as he's only in kindergarten). Thanks!

I've seen both sides of the coin. One of my dearest friend kept her son back one year (early Aug birthday). He was so scared of school by the time his turn came about & had lost his confidence, while he is doing okay now (reading at/slightly below grade level in grade 1), I think he didn't gain much by sitting out the year. Quick a few people had suggested we held DS1 back a year, I am glad we did not. Despite being one of the youngest in class, he is thriving & really enjoys school. Had we waited another year, I am not sure that he would have lost a lot more skills, but I do not think he would have benefited either.

thanks! this is something for us to work on this weekend. need to gather our books & find their AR numbers for DS to do his test on Monday. His substitute teacher forgot to send him to the library to get a book.

one of my friends with an advanced 4.5 year old used calvert K & is now using grade 1. she highly recommends it, but it is $$. we afterschool, so I just mix and match as we go along :) very eclectic mix.

I keep an eye on DS1's homework, but I do not sit next to him while he does the work (except for parts like, recite up to no 25). I would be doing household chores or cleaning, but would provide guidance if he asks (hasn't at this level as it's pretty simple work). The first day he came home with homework, he told me he was not going to do it because it's too easy & that my DS2 (age 3) could do it for him. Needless to say, we soon got that one straightened up (it's your work, get it done quickly & correctly if it's too easy).

Just try focusing on phonics -- starfall/leapfrog is very helpful initially. my late talker (DS1) who didn't use basic words till around 3 & started speaking around 3.5 was a CVC reader by 4.5 & at 5 now, reads fluently at mid grade 1 level. the I see sam & early bob books is quite helpful as well (DS1 brings home 1 bob book a day (set 3/4/5) which he flies through -- he probably misses 1-2 words in the entire book). we love reading mo willems books because it's styled like a comic book & is pretty funny. I gave away my 100ez book because *I* felt like crying when we used that! we mainly learned from the HOP books/leapfrog/starfall/early-reading.com series & explode the code for reinforcement.

I have a younger kindergartener (end of July boy). Try to have set (short) times to focus on specific kindergarten skills afterschool. Is he in a half or full day program? I would recommend some rest time, and then 15-20 min intervals of doing different 'stations' & activities, and after completing a task successfully, he gets an incentive (play on pc, watch a show, build legos, finger painting, etc). Soon, he will get use to 'homework' time and 'afterschool' work time. Would it be an option to pull him out of school, do a rigorous program (at his pace) at home for kindergarten and for him to start grade 1 slightly ahead? We went from having a speech delayed child (he did not speak properly until around age 3.5) to one who is reading fluently by age 4.5-5, and 'enjoys' school/work.

here's our 'normal' routine, but my kids are a lot younger (3 & 5): Mon: pick up from afterschool care at 5.30-6pm, have dinner, 7pm - 7.30pm do some afterschool work, 7.30pm -- quick computer/legos/etc time, bedtime is at 8pm Tues/thurs: swim lessons till 6.30pm & we don't get home till 7pm. they are normally pretty worn out by then, so some light reading, games then bed at 8pm. we do more work on fridays (if I'm not scheduled to work) & the weekends.

our kids go for swim lessons every tues/thurs & my DH brings them to the pool at our Y on Saturday mornings. My older son wants to try karate or soccer, but we might hold off for now (both will be twice a week), may sign him up for basketball over the winter season (which is once a week on Saturdays).