My son is 7 and he uses his fingers like a ten frame. He will use a long ten frame but when it's not available he will use his hands. It is faster then setting up the ten frame. We play the games in addition Facts that Stick and he is getting better with seeing the ten frame in his head.

A good book for resources of books for multiple age levels is "Give Your Child the World; Raising Globally Minded Children One Book at a Time" by Jamie Martin I have enjoyed the selection of books from her lists.

I am using it with my strong reader and speller. We do a lesson every 2-4 days. It is very open and go and requires no prep for me. We also don't use the tiles. I tried them, he found them tedious, but he was able to write or "see" it in his head faster. We use a small white board for the lesson either at a table or sitting on the couch. My son learned to read with phonics (OPGTR) and AAS is reinforcing his phonetic skills and he is applying the rules he has learned to sounding out words and we have discussions on how words are pronounced. He enjoys how quick it can get done and is learning at the same time. We will see if that continues if it becomes challenging, which it hasn't been up to this point. BUT I'm still using it because he is learning those rules and I see them making a difference.

This is what we've been doing...I don't know if it is high interest enough for your child. I am using the book "Give Your Child the World" by Jamie C. Martin as a reference to find books about the different areas of the world. We are just about done with Africa, but we did one or 2 countries a day and read a little bit about the country (looked at the map, read about major features of the land, maybe a famous person, looked at the flag) very generally and then colored the country on the map. He also traced the continent of Africa daily. I have not expected him to draw it free hand at all. I'm going for the basics and general knowledge at 6/7 years old. Then we read from the books suggested in the book or I find others at the library. One was an anthology and we just read one short story a day. We also read from the Usborne World Geography book on Africa, one double page spread until the section was finished. I did have him tell me one or two things he remembered after I read it to him and I wrote it down. I am only homeschooling one, so we do lots of teacher intensive stuff because I can. I think he has enjoyed it. He can locate countries on Africa or at least knows their general area. He really enjoys the picture books and stories we have read from around Africa. He then likes to find the country on the map. So connections are being made. Next up is Europe. My plan is to do one continent every 6-8 weeks until we've hit all 7 (Antarctica will not be 6-7 weeks, and I will probably do United States and Canada separate) Planning is still being figured out.

My 1st grader is currently flying through AAS level 2. He is about 4 lessons from the end. About 3 lessons ago, I randomly had him spell various words from lessons 20-25 and he got them all right. I am planning on finishing the level at his pace which is about 4 days per lesson. He has his phonograms and rules down and he is able to apply what he has learned in both reading and in writing. He is currently reading on somewhere between a 4th and 6th grade level. We just read everything! He loves to read and listen to books (both audio books and me reading). He does a good job with the dictation sentences. Suggestions for my next step? Continue on to Level 3 when he finishes? I really like AAS because it teaches rules and even I'm learning. Switch programs? to what? Continue to Level 3 in the fall and do higher level phonics the rest of the year? I'm thinking Elizabeth B's "A Crash Course in Polysyllables".

We are enjoying The Phantom Tollbooth.

My preschooler liked Scholastic's Branches Series. Larger type, lots of pictures, and chapters. They were a great bridge for my kid to a typical chapter book. He was ready to read chapter books, but still wanted pictures. But he also didn't want to read picture books, preferring those for evening read aloud time. I still struggle to find books for him to read, the good reads list above will help me I'm sure. My 1st grader is now reading on a 4th-5th level.

I review about 5 cards from each section each day. After reviewing, I put them in the "mastered" section. When I run out, I move the "mastered" back up to review. For the "green" word cards I review 5 each day. I do not add the cards from the current step to the review section until after I finish that step. So we just started Step 12 today in book 2. We reviewed 5 phonogram sounds, wrote 5 phonograms (different ones), reviewed 5 rules, and orally spelled 5 word cards. I put the 5 phonogram sound cards behind the mastered card if they were right, if they were wrong, I put them randomly back in the review stack. Same with the written phonograms. When all the cards are behind the mastered tab, I move them back to the review tab and we begin again. If there is a new phonogram, I will not put it in mastered until we've reviewed it a few times. The rules get reviewed more often because there are less of them. I just tend to put not even put those in mastered, we just keep reviewing 5 a day. Every week or so I'll mix up the order. The word cards get reviewed either orally or written-just depends on the day. I try to shuffle these cards at least once a week. I only put new words into the review stack after we have finished a step. If they get a review word wrong, it gets put randomly back in the review stack. Otherwise it gets put in the mastered tab to be moved up periodically. I did spend quite a bit of time working just drilling the phonogram sounds. And we are still reviewing all the sounds even though we are in level 2 now. Maybe review 10 of the sounds both written and oral daily until he has all but 10 mastered? And keep reviewing the words and rules up to step 7. Once he has the sounds down, I think moving on will go easier. I don't know, I seem to have a natural speller. Good luck.

Benedryl was suggested for my daughter.

I'm doing Song School Latin alternating with Spanish learning songs I find on YouTube. I'm just looking for exposure for both languages and I think it is working. My son is now answering math facts in Spanish numbers just because he wants too. We spend anywhere from 10-30 minutes daily on one or the other. It just depends on interest and what we are doing. He looks forward to both Spanish and Latin daily.

I assessed my 6 year old (he will be 7 end of Dec) using 40Ls Quick Screen Grade Level test from the Phonics Page. He scored 4th grade. I'm going to see how he does with the nonsense words tomorrow. We are currently at the beginning of All About Spelling 2. If I were to continue phonic instruction, what could I use? We finished OPGTR. I like scripted, because I feel like I need the direction. And I want it to be engaging for an active boy. Or should we just keep reading. I do lots of read alouds, have him read to me a few times a week, and he does a fair amount of silent reading (around level & below). Glad I've got him at home and can teach him where he is at.

I asked to join as well.

I'm a newbie too, who is also planning on using Wayfarer's next year. Although right now I'm not using ELTL. I am thinking about using the history and geography in a loop schedule with Mr. Q science. I am thinking about looping Language Arts subjects in their own loop. I plan on using the bible reading, math, Wayfarer's literature readings (both the ELTL and what is scheduled as Literature in Wayfarer's) and handwriting daily. I have no idea if it will actually work. I am thinking that each loop will be 45 minutes to an hour. But I really have no idea. I am not going to use her art stuff because it isn't my forte and he will be doing art at co-op. We will do the music appreciation. I have included on my loop schedule the Activities section of the Wayfarer's plan on my history/geography/science loop. I also have an active 6 year old boy. BUT he loves to listen to stories about history, science, and a wide variety of fiction.

I'm listening in...I have drooled over Teaching the Classics, but Deconstructing Penguins is much cheaper.

Hi! I'm a baby, infant homeschooler. I'm probably bringing my kindergartner home next year, and I feel like I've got my ducks in a row with him. My now 7th grader, public schooled his whole little life, is seriously thinking about home schooling 8th grade. (insert deep breathing) I’m a little freaked out. I have told him we would figure it out if it was what he felt he needed or wanted. Sometimes I think he gets pushed to the side and I want to show him I support him. (Older sister involved in a lot of things and has a chronic condition; little brother is very bright and the baby of the family) We talked about how it wasn't going to be easy to come home. It was still going to be school work, and there would still be things he didn't like and things that would be hard. We talked about how he would have to get some school work done independently and not just play all day. He mostly doesn't like school. He doesn't find any relevance to any of the work they are doing. He is bored, not turning in some work because he finds it stupid. He hates math, yet could probably be good at it. He was placed in a horrible "gifted" class in 4th and 5th grades and I feel he missed some pretty basic foundational math skills, he agrees with this. And he is struggling in math. He LOVES science and video games! He is horrible at spelling and his writing could use definite improvement. He reads very well, but doesn’t like to read, unless it is about video games, non-fiction science, or other non-fiction subjects he is interested in. There wouldn’t be a lot in our budget for expensive out-sourced classes or curriculum. And having never done homeschooling, and with high school right around the corner, I don’t know what the plan for high school would be; I’d like to just take it year by year. My son and I also talked about taking 2 years to do 8th grade. He is on the young side in his grade (Summer Birthday), so it wouldn’t be that big of a deal except for his friends who are all in his current grade. Our high school does have a pretty good STEM program from what I hear. BUT he needs to get his math foundation a little stronger, in my opinion. After-schooling isn’t an option with this kid. He needs that down-time after school to recharge. He has really resisted it in the past. I don’t even know where to begin with him, if the decision is made for him to stay home next year. The only subject I have figured out would be history; he would join his brother in Ancients doing Wayfarers. Any suggestions on where to begin? Things for me to read (I skimmed WTM logic stage last night.)? Things for him to read and consider? Help?