Whoa, I stepped away from the computer and this has turned into a goldmine of leads! Thank you! In terms of scary/intense elements I'm trying to avoid, both kids are scared of witches (with pointy black hats!). DD8 is very turned off by rude, mean spirited behavior, while son might try to imitate it. We saw the National Parks imax movie recently, and they showed a very intense forest fire which scared DS5. He also cried and was overwhelmed by Born Free (skipping the scary man eating lion parts of the movie) because the couple had to let their hand raised lion go back into the wild. We have seen Winnie the Pooh movies and Curious George movies and those were great. Disney's Cinderella and Fairy Tale Theatre's Cinderella were fine too. Re-watching Toy Story as an adult, I really did not care for the neighborhood kid that was a complete sociopath (why do they even include those elements in a children's movie?!) and the sometimes rude behavior between the toys. I forgot about Shirley Temple movies; I loved those as a kid! I think my daughter would really enjoy those, but I'm not sure they would hold my son's interest as he does not care for Anne of Green Gables. Thank you for all the suggestions! Warmly, Konglish

Hi folks. I was hoping to get some movie recs for some non-violent/scary movies I could watch with my little people on an upcoming flight. It seems like every movie I look up on commonsensemedia.org has scary elements. My kids have watched and loved Mary Poppins and I was hoping for something along those lines. Thanks! Warmly, Konglish

Hi there. I don't post often, but after reading your post, I wanted to reach out to you. I'm sorry things are so overwhelming. As a mental health professional, when I read your post, I too thought it sounded like depression. My vote is for you to take care of YOU next year to the greatest extent possible. So that may mean a very light year of homeschooling or maybe public school or an out-of-the-box solution like a relative coming to live with you. Tell your husband you are in CRISIS and need his help and professional help, because honestly, that is what it sounds like to me. By focusing on getting yourself well, there will be a trickle down effect to your children. If you are in bad shape, your whole family is going to be in bad shape. Being pregnant and possibly breastfeeding will limit medication options, but I would still look into that, and going to see a marriage and family therapist individually and with your husband. You need to be on the same page in how you parent (generally) and specifically how you parent and educate your special needs kids. Hang in there and get help. You will not always feel like you do right now. Warmly, Konglish

Thanks for the replies so far! The seatwork vs. total school time was a good distinction for me--thank you. That is the crux of my issue. I don't think my rising 3rd grader could do seatwork (as described by various posters above) for 3 hours a day. She has limited patience for the teacher-led stuff, she is not a fast worker, and her concentration gets broken by a rambunctious younger brother. On the other hand, she has a long attention span for read-alouds, loves science projects, and loves to read. She will read field guides, history books, geography books, a thesaurus, Magic Tree House books, etc. on her own. So I think we could meet 3 hours of structured learning time easily. I guess I've been wondering if I am "supposed" to crank up the seat work time (to get to grammar and Latin, or make faster progress on other subjects), but my gut tells me we are not there yet.

This is something I've wanted to know for years and finally got around to asking. I've heard the general guideline to plan on an hour of "seatwork" per grade (i.e. 3 hours for 3rd grade, 4 hours for 4th), but what counts as seatwork? It seems obvious to include skill work like math, writing, penmanship, spelling, grammar, etc. But what about: read alouds, memory work, "morning time" stuff, nature study, science, history, art, music, and reading to self? Does it depend on whether there is output (oral/written narration, mapwork, etc.)? I'm mostly thinking about this in terms of my rising 3rd grader. On reflecting on our last year, I feel like a) we spent too much time on curricula, while simultaneously b) not finishing the (reasonable, I think) amount of work I planned on. She was sick A LOT this winter and spring. My tentative plans for next year: Rightstart D (we are finishing C over the summer) math fact practice (something like Reflex math done independently) WWE 2 (wanted to get through half of this in 2nd grade, we got through 3 weeks) AAS 3 ZB cursive 3 (after finishing 2B) read to me several times a week independent reading of literature, history, and science (not sure if these will be completely interest led or from a limited amount of choices) Other things I'd like to get to (including my rising 1st grader): Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization, The Sentence Family, nature study, SOTW 1 (just listening to CD's mostly), lots of read alouds, field trips, and unit studies on insects, simple machines, and rocks/minerals. The kids do go to a learning center through our homeschool charter school once per week and do art, music, and unit studies. So...I guess I would be interested in general replies as to what you consider seatwork and/or more specific replies to my plan above. Does it seem like a reasonable amount for a 3rd grader? Which parts would you include in the 3 hours of seatwork? I'd really like to get all of this done by lunch, even though we only school 4 days/week. Thanks in advance for your replies! Warmly, Konglish

I posted a similar question a few weeks ago and here are the replies I got: http://forums.welltrainedmind.com/topic/563725-rightstart-level-c-2nd-edition-reviews-vs-1st-ed-or-singapore/ Hope this helps. Warmly, Konglish

I can't tell you how helpful these replies have been. Thank you! I appreciated the specific tips on how to modify to find the best fit for my particular student, like previewing the material to see what skills are to be taught, seeing how much my kid already understands, skipping warm-up review/games if not needed, etc. Jackie, I hadn't realized the pattern for the introduction of topics, so thank you for pointing that out! My daughter will also be glad that I got "permission" not to use the abacus if she understands the concept and can do it without it. :) It was interesting to see how different kids moved through the same material in different ways. I'm going to pay more attention to how my DD is interacting with the material and try to make some modifications for the best fit. Thanks for everyone's help! Warmly, Konglish

Thanks for everyone's replies! After thinking about Kiara's post last night, I realized one of my main concerns about continuing with Rightstart is falling further and further behind a standard scope and sequence. We switched to RS in the middle of first grade, so I already feel half a year "behind." I try to finish a lesson in 30 min., and sometimes I have to split a lesson up over two days, especially if there are games. So it feels like we are moving slowly. I should probably figure out how to cut out some of the review or condense the material, but I'm not sure how. Suggestions? Also, is she supposed to have mastered the material before moving on, or was this just an introduction? That is the part I like about the Singapore HIG's. If I remember correctly, they might state when a student is supposed to have mastered their addition facts to 20, etc. When I saw that the reviews of level C first edition said that it took a lot of people 1.5 years to get through it, I got nervous. I don't want to be finishing up level D in 6th grade. :) But I also don't want to trade good conceptual understanding for checking the box on material covered. She gets it with Rightstart, and I don't know if I am able to teach Singapore to the same degree of understanding. Thanks, Konglish

I decided to start with AAS, because I already owned all the tiles etc. I have found that all the work we put into AAR (learning the phonogram sounds, syllable types, syllable division rules, etc.) made the transition into AAS very easy. We have only done AAS 1, so I'm haven't decided if I like the program yet or not. But I do like that our previous work in AAR gets used!

I'm hoping to get some information about RS Level C 2nd edition, especially compared to the 1st edition and/or Singapore Standards 2A/B. We are more than halfway through level B 2nd edition and I'm trying to decide whether to continue with C, or switch to Singapore. I've been very happy with how Rightstart introduces and builds on a concept, and with my DD7's conceptual understanding and mental math skills. She doesn't like using the abacus though (even though she finds it useful). I am mostly a big fan of RS so far, but my biggest beef is that it is hard to accelerate. I noticed that in the Singapore Standards ed. HIG, it will mention what was covered in previous levels or what will be covered in future levels. With RS, I'm just not sure what will be covered in the next level, which makes me nervous about skipping or condensing material (especially since RS sometimes has a unique methodology). People seemed to criticize the first edition of level C for having too much geometry and taking about 1.5 years to complete--is that still the case for the second edition? So if anyone can share their experience with the 2nd ed. of level C, or even better, compare/contrast it to the 1st ed. or Singapore 2, I'd much appreciate it! Warmly, Konglish p.s. Did anyone bail on Rightstart and switch to Singapore and regret it? Why? Thanks!

I was going to suggest Paddington as well! The Paddington stories are the only ones that make me chuckle, just like the Winnie the Pooh stories.

You've gotten great suggestions. My very rambunctious 4 y.o. boy will listen perfectly quietly to audiobooks in the car or during rest time. He will also listen attentively during a meal. I thought the My Father's Dragon series were the perfect first chapter books. I also thought Mouse and the Motorcycle was a snoozer!

Thanks everyone. I'm thankful that you have validated that the meltdowns mean something needs to change. I think I will start with trying to adapt MEP for a bit and see how that goes, while perusing some of the other curricula suggestions. I actually have Miquon Orange, MM blue series for grades 1 - 3, Singapore Essentials B, and RS games, so I could try a few out to see how she does. I think this suggestion would help a great deal. I've been trying to let her attempt the problems I suspect are too hard for her, but then she gets so frustrated it is hard to regroup. I think she also feels inferior when she gets it wrong or I make suggestions. Honestly, I think I usually jump in too soon, so I will have to work on that. But mostly, I think I should try to give her simpler puzzles that are more suited to her ability level at this time. I do sometimes let her make up puzzles for me, but this was a good reminder that I should do MORE of it to let her be the expert sometimes. Rimk3, I will keep your specific suggestion in mind for further down the road. RE: the comments on needing to build her frustration tolerance and ability to handle frustration...yes, that would be the most helpful by far! She definitely struggles with that, and perhaps math is as good a time as any to provide some additional coaching in this area. I will try to have a heart-to-heart with her about some coping strategies. Thank you all for your input. I feel like I have some direction now. Warmly, Konglish

I won't be able to read through all these properly until this afternoon (west coast), but thank you all for your replies thus far! I feel the support! Warmly, Konglish

Anybody?