My daughter attends a UMS school 2 days a week but on our "homeschool days" we have poetry and tea time. We have a lovely stack of poetry books and we snuggle on the couch or sit out on the screened porch and drink our tea and take turns reading poems. We probably spend 15 to 20 minutes doing this and it has become something she and I both look forward to so much! She was hesitant at first but by the end of our first time she was asking for more, took the book from me and was asking if she could read some. She is starting to recognize poets names ( hey . . . Emily Dickinson! I remember that other poem she wrote . . .). I can't ask for more from a 2nd grader. I just love this deep, rich time as we listen to and read something beautiful together. I walk away from that time really thankful that we didn't spend that 15 minutes on a worksheet. It is a reminder of WHY I'm doing this homeschool thing. It's because of rich time like that. Her school has poetry memorization that we work on as part of her memory work. They tackle longer poems - may 2 or 3 a semester. www.storywarren.com is a fantastic resource for all things poetry.

I've never even heard of half day Kindergarten. Even the church preschools that offer 5K are full day programs here (in SC). We have a September 1st cut off for public and private schools. We live in an affluent area and red shirting is rampant. My oldest is in a classical university model school and a high percentage of the kids there are red shirted (I fail to see the logic in holding kids back, putting them in a grade a year behind, giving them "advanced" work and calling it rigorous). The youngest child in her class has a birthday in January. My 2nd child is in public kindergarten - same hours as the rest of the school 8-2:30. No nap. One recess at the end of the day. The age range in is class is 18 months! The oldest turned 7 in January (so he 6 1/2 when he started) and the youngest started the year at 4 years old in August and turned 5 on September 1st. Several of the summer birthday kids were "lapped" by red shirts. His class of 24 kids has 7 redshirts. Not just summer birthdays - January, March, April, several Mays. I can't imagine as a teacher having a class with that big of an age range. Many of the parents of younger kids feel like they have to hold their kids back because so many of the spring birthdays are now held back. Who wants their daughter in a class with boys 18 months older in middle school and high school? I also have a child at a private 4K (he goes 3 mornings a week but all the other kids in his class go 5 days). The teacher recommends many of the children are held back. She scares the heck out of the parents of these kids about Kindergarten. They don't want their kids to fail or have a bad experience that will scar them for their academic life so they send them to private church preschool 5K then on to public school for another year of Kindergarten. That is what most people do around here - two years of Kindergarten at two different schools. We also have a county wide gifted school based on test scores in 2nd grade. These are grade norm so the younger kids are at a huge disadvantage for entry to this competitive school I think it is out of control. Most of the parents talk about wanting their child to be confident and not being small compared to other kids. Sports play a big role too. I hear about not wanting them to be last to drive etc. My nephews were both held back (summer birthdays). My sister in law said she loved how when my nephew went to Kindergarten (for the 2nd time) he knew everything and was so confident. They bragged that he was one of two kids in his class that could read well. She loved that he didn't have to try very hard that second time around and he could enjoy himself without having to worry about learning much. I don't get it. My youngest son has an early May birthday and I get asked all.the.time. if I am holding him back. No way! He's a bright kid! He won't be reading as well as my other son (Oct. birthday) but he will be on his own trajectory. And that is OK. All of the research I've read says the advantage peeters out by 3rd grade then they are just older and more likely to be bored when they are 19 in high school and living at home. If my kids take a gap year it is going to be when they are 18. Not 5.

We are in a first year UMS and are using AAS. I don't have any experience with LOE (although I've heard wonderful things). I think LOE is a much more comprehensive reading, writing and spelling program where as AAS is just spelling. We use the PAL program from IEW along with AAS. I personally have not enjoyed PAL in this setting. AAS has been fine. UMS is unique and I think the curricula choices need to reflect that uniqueness. Although there may be a really solid program it might not lend itself to the school/home split very well. AAS is done completely at home at our UMS. It is great for home study but I can't imagine trying to do it in the class and at home. It is much more efficient one on one at home. The lesson is included in our at-home plans (so we are all on the same schedule) and there are short assessments at school but no class instruction time is spent on spelling. I'm curious to see how things are tweaked next year based on feedback this year. Other curricula have been great and some not so much. It takes a while to get the feel of things and figure out the whole rhythm of a UMS. Overall, it is has been amazing and we are so pleased. Good luck as you form your UMS!

My kids love Dreambox for math and we've enjoyed Headsprout for reading also (there are two different levels depending on where he is - early reading or comprehension).