My son (will be 4 in August) will go to pre-k 2 days a week. He is already learning to read with The Reading Lesson and wooden letters, so I'll continue that. I'm not planning any other curriculum for him, because I'll be busy with 3rd grade and kindergarten.

We leave after church on Palm Sunday for a family gathering in the next state. Back on Tuesday, then playing for church services Thurs, Fri, Sat, and Sun. Then I have a major music gig the Tuesday after Easter. Let me just tell you, I'd rather do school.

I tried Jr K, haven't tried K. Jr K only covers the alphabet and counting to 20. It is equivalent to what my dd5 does in her brick-and-mortar pre-kindergarten program. Not appropriate for a 6-year-old, IMO.

I'm considering getting TT for dd7 next year. Math is the big time drain in our homeschool day, and also the source of conflict. She's very good at math, working ahead of grade level, but she has ADHD symptoms and a low frustration tolerance, the combination of which require me to be right with her while she does math. I think she would like the computerized lessons and it would free up more time for me to give attention to my little ones. So if she were placed in the appropriate TT level, could that get us through for awhile till she matures a bit? Or am I going to doom her to mathematical mediocrity forever? (I say that slightly tongue-in-cheek because I've heard some bad things about TT on this board.)

What are the best CTC workbooks for K and 1st grades? I'm looking for ideas for my work-book loving kids for next year. They'll be 4 and 5 1/2, both slightly accelerated.

I agree. Also, scripted, step-by-step BFSU for the ADHD mom.

I think AAS, while a great program, is overkill for a natural speller, not to mention expensive. I went through 2 1/2 levels before I realized it was essentially busy work for my natural speller. She is now making more than adequate progress in spelling simply through her extensive reading and her copywork.

My mom lives with us. It works because we get along. She doesn't like living alone, I have a house that's too big, and it just made financial sense.

iI dropped spelling for dd7, unless you count dictation from WWE. If she asks how to spell something, I make her close her eyes and try to visualize the word first, which often is enough for her to be able to spell it. She's a voracious reader and a natural speller.

Coming from my vast experience (ha) of having taught one K student already, here is my advice for new parents: 1. Start with the simplest thing and see if that works before getting more complicated. The $100 phonics program may not be necessary. Or your kid might be naturally mathy and not need video lessons and tons of manipulatives. Try just the HWT workbook first before getting into wooden pieces and Mat Man and all that. (This comes from the mom who bought 3 levels of All About Spelling before admitting that dd had the spelling gene and didn't need any spelling program!) 2. Any curriculum provider that claims their way is the only way that works is wrong.

I am a choir director and a piano teacher. I have a hard time getting men in my choir. There are men in my church who have nice voices and would sing with us, but they can't read music. There's no way I have time to teach tenor and bass parts by rote for every single choir piece! I have a piano student now who has great musical instincts, but his reading ability lags way behind his playing potential. It's frustrating for both of us. Learning to read music is required for my children as much as learning math.

My plans: Ambleside Year 3 Writing with Ease 2/3 Singapore 5A/5B First Form Latin 1 MCT Town, maybe Piano Activities: tutorial one day a week, 2 dance classes, gymnastics, voice lessons

Another vote for MFPA, Dd7 did it, and now dd5 is in the second half of level A. Soooo much better than other traditional method books, in my opinion!

I just correct dd5 when she gets it wrong. I figure it will sink in eventually.

My ds3 has an August birthday, and he will be in K at 5. I'd rather deal with some extra wiggles and modify the curriculum as needed than to force him to wait an extra year for a diploma down the road. I have struggled with the idea of him always being the youngest everywhere, but he is big for his age and a smart kid, so I think he'll probably deal fine.

Reading, writing, spelling: McGuffey Primer (I make copy work pages based on the lessons) Math: Singapore 1 Maybe BFSU science, maybe some CM-style studies of nature, art, composers if she will participate in her sister's studies.

My mom, the high school foreign language teacher, has worked with dd on 4-level analysis in Practice Island, and concluded that dd7 already has a better grasp on grammar and sentence structure than most high school students. So MCT is working. Also, it's dd's favorite part of the school day. Also, the poetry book is helping me as a beginner songwriter. Therefore, I will close my eyes and ignore the fact that I'll be spending more on Town next year than for the rest of the year's curriculum for 2 kids.

I live in a small town in middle TN. If all the homeschoolers here went on strike and put their kids in public school, the schools would have an overcrowding crisis. No one even blinks when my dd says she's homeschooled. We have a huge support group for parties and field trips, several co-ops and tutorials, both religious and secular, and a FB group with several hundred members. At least in my experience, people are respectful on religious differences and educational philosophy differences. I will say that political conservatism is greatly prevalent, but political discussion is not encouraged in these groups.

The description of the country of Mansoul in Charlotte Mason's "Ourselves" sounds a lot like the island of Sodor.

I only stick around during my children's activities if the teacher requests it. Otherwise I am gone! I can get the week's grocery shopping done during gymnastics class! As for the distance, I'm constrained only by the amount of time I have.

Do whatever curriculum she is academically and emotionally ready for; call her whatever grade level is age-appropriate. The two do not have to be even remotely similar.

My son's pacifier fell out of his mouth during his baptism ceremony, dh picked it up and would have stuck it back in ds' mouth had I not punched him discreetly. Not in front of the whole church, dear. Dd5 is my healthiest child, and the one with the grossest tendency to put everything in her mouth.

I let dd accelerate until she gets stuck, then we go sideways for awhile. For example, she got stuck in Singapore 4A because she didn't have her multiplication facts memorized. I used the Beast Academy sections on multiplication, perimeter and area, and perfect squares to give her enough fun practice to make the facts stick. Then she was ready to go back to Singapore.