My grade ones would do about 20 minutes of reading, 10 minutes of printing, and about 20 minutes of math with me (broken up if necessary) then they would join in on whatever was being read aloud to their older sibs. And would do violin practice later in the day. The rest of the day was playtime.

Oh! The case has a heavy plastic cover that snaps on for carrying in a bag.

I have a case called lifeproof. With 6 kids and me (the most awkward and forgetful person on the planet) we needed something tough. It is waterproof to 6 feet, snow proof, fall resistant, and basically everything proof. It has survived many falls with only a crack in the cover. The iPad is fine. I've spilled everything on the sun on it, no problems. It is huge and ugly, but it has survived me and the kids for 3 years now. I got it at the Apple Store. It was not cheap, but it has saved my poor iPad from many a disaster.

What about R&S? My kiddo on the spectrum loves it. Clear instructions, clear assignments, uncluttered pages, teacher is unnecessary. You could skip the grammar and just do the writing, but the grammar is good. My oldest does it independently (just the odds) and I correct it. You could put feedback for revisions on paper rather than orally. I typically work on one thing only with feedback, and we honestly don't revise every piece. I do change out writing assignments that are boring or preachy, or think of ways to make them funny. My favourite so far is when he did a compare and contrast of an electric keyboard with our acoustic piano. It would be a heavy slog for a kid who didn't like to write, but for one who does, it's dull but clear and efficient, and it gets the job done.

Now, I am scheduling challenged, so take what I say with a grain of salt, but a schedule is a tool, not a moral imperative. If it makes your life smooth and peaceful, go for it. If it brings you joy, do it. If you are like me, and it causes stress and gets in the way of productivity, then don't. I block my time: school, work, practicing, meals, and then prioritize within each of those blocks. Some days not everything gets done, and that is okay. When the toddler puts food colouring on the carpet or the Baby has an explosive poop, obviously the plans change. Maybe the 5 yo doesn't read or the 11 yo doesn't do Latin. Life goes on, and it all mostly gets done in the end. The rhythm keeps me sane and happy without getting too stressed. Where I fall down is housework, so I'm working right now to get some rhythms built into our week for that. I think life with kids is a constant work in progress of figuring out what will work for you and your kids right now, and knowing it will change with the next developmental stage. Good luck!

We (for fun) call our school street name school. (I am the Sultan). We are moving, so we decided on a new name. We will be New-street-name Consolidated School. My kids didn't know what consolidated meant, but they liked the sound of it. And we are consolidating junior high and elementary, so I guess that's fair. I love the idea of tshirts to celebrate our new name. Now we need to find a motto and a mascot.

i believe the reading lists in TWTM were largely developed for SWBs oldest, who was a particular type of student. They certainly are a bit (and sometimes way too) advanced for my own kids. Ditto the advice to start teaching reading at 4. Most of my kids were so not ready at that age. The framework is great, all booklists are just ideas, pick and choose what works, and teach the kid you have right now.

Maybe play with a metric ruler (or better metric measuring cups.) 15 100mls in litres 15x 0.1 l is 1.5l

I tweaked mm for my adhd kiddo by doing it on a white board, otherwise it was too cluttered. But we switched. If the beast is good, keep going. MUS is also great with big, wide open spaces.

Awesome! Thanks. I've been looking for something just like this.

MUS could work very well, but I hear the budget issue. Another option is Grubes method. It is more than 100 years old, but I used it with my kid who didn't quite get it, and she now has a solid number sense. It teaches addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and fractions all at once, and can be done orally. It is ideal for the older child. I do supplement with mm worksheets and lots of flash cards, but any worksheets/drill would work. I teach my kids this way now up to 20, then move on to MUS, but you can teach all of arithmetic this way. https://archive.org/details/grubesmethodofte00seelrich

Ditto think about generalization. Also anxiety. My ASD kid is a super math student, but can't think if he is anxious. Often if he is a little stuck he can't do it unless I am there for moral support. Something to think about.

Not sure about in the US, but in Canada, a fair number of people go on into medicine after nursing degrees (also pharmacy).

For sure I would ask for accomodations. I would have a frank conversation about my kids needs. Maybe the volunteer could be someone she knows, and will accept nodding and pointing. And ideally the same person for each book so she gets more familiar and confident. This is a great opportunity to work on social skills if they are willing to be helpful. Then you can role play ahead of time.

In general, I don't discourage interruptions because it means the kids are engaged in the text, which is the goal. Ido ignore D when he asks a question being answered in the next line of the book. Which he does about every third sentence. But they now know that if I don't answer, that the answer is forthcoming. If it is worth discussing, we stop and discuss. I quickly define vocabulary and continue. Sometimes after the fiftieth interruption or so, I will tell D to stop, or if his interruptions are not relevant. Gotta love ADD.

Robert Munsch ( I think that is spelled right)

My kids always say this, and I just wink at the adult and say "we just don't CALL it school" and they laugh. One time some workman asked "why aren't you in school" and Miss T answered, quick as a wink "because we don't want to go!" What can you say to that?

MUS epsilon is completely dedicated to fractions and is very clear. It is heavily manipulative based. You would have to buy the fraction overlays. It teaches cross multiplication rather than lcd, which is my only complaint, but it does prevent muddying the waters. You could just use it as a supplement to TT. Eta clarity

Hugs, but you taught your kids a far more valuable lesson: to lose with grace, to laugh at yourself, and to accept that everyone has those moments from time to time.

Quick comment re MUS. Dd 9 with add could not figure it out with the videos, but did fine with me teaching it. The videos went too fast, and she needs to move the manipulatives herself. Make sure you do a placement test for MUS if you decide to use it. The weird sequence usually puts kids at a pretty low level, but that's great for review.

Oral narration (see SCM) is a great way to assess comprehension and work on composition skills in a child that reads well, but is not yet ready to write.

Love apples and pears for my daughter with add. We did half a lesson a day until her writing tolerance improved.

BTW none of my kids would read 25 serious books in a year, maybe 15 for my biggest reader. But every kid is different.

Very reasonable and appropriate. You could include a second language but I would reduce something else.

My kids had heard about "the f word" in Sundayschool (of all places.) I hadn't really discussed it with them, when we were walking down the street in my hometown, and my daughter accidentally bumped into a guy, who started cursing her out (she was maybe 7). Well another guy jumped out of his car and started cursing the first guy. They were about to fight, so we gently and quickly withdrew. Anyway, they heard all the cursing and swearing they would ever need to know used fluently and in context. And they pretty much lost interest in the subject after that.