[teaching letter sounds]

Super Why! from PBS was a big factor in helping get our kids reading.  My 5yo is a little bored with it now, but I think it is because she has seen all of them multiple times, not because the content is actually boring.  The episodes were the most help, but the kids like the games on the PBS website as well. 

 

We also had a ABC Text and Go by VTech.  Kids loved it, I saw it more as a toy but it did help them with learning-without-them-knowing-it.  But, it has two modes: loud and louder, so only get this if you are okay with toys that talk.  5yo no longer uses it, but again I don't know if it is because it is too simple for that age, or if they have gotten everything they can from it. 

 

Oh! And if you use apps, try Endless Alphabet.  It has the kids move little monster letters into order to spell words.  When they are dragging the letter, they make the letter sound.  Once the word is spelled correctly, it does a little explanation of the word. The words can be big, "gargantuan" is the first one I remember, but definitely helps with letter sounds and gets some new vocab in there.  It is on my iPhone and iPad, idk if it is available for anything else. 5yo still likes this even though she now knows all the words.

[Catholics-.what do you love for science and history?]

Disclaimer: I have not used this curriculum! 

 

I know a lot of people who have used the program themselves when they were kids and/or are using it with their kids, Mother of Divine Grace.  I also know the people who founded the curriculum, and I can definitely state you will not find anything that is contradictory to Catholic teachings.   It is a whole program though, and i don't know how easy it would be to extract the history/science from it.  They post their book list for each year, but you have to get the syllabus through them.  Maybe look at the booklist and go from there?

 

My personal impression of it academically is a bit on the light side (but definitely adequate!), but I also tend to be more heavy on science. If you are preparing your kids for a classical or liberal arts school/education, such as Thomas Aquinas College or Christendom, they will have a great foundation and head start compared to others; really, it does prepare them well for critical thinking.  If you want them to grow to be engineers, maybe find a secular curriculum to supplement when they are older (at least for the science).  

 

(Oh, and to agree with you: My husband did Seton as a kid, and he totally agrees with you on the dryness.  He emphatically stated our kids would not do Seton.)

 

Hope that helps!  Good luck, please post whatever you decide so I can maybe add it to my own curriculum!   :)

 

(Edited the first paragraph for clarity, I got a little wordy the first time around)

[Interactive Spanish for K-3?]

I second the Salsa Spanish.  It is not interactive, as in waiting for your kids to repeat whatever the character has said or answer questions, but we stick with the same episode for a week or so, and the kids will reply "Hola" or "Hasta luego" whenever a new character comes/leaves, they "help" on the counting parts, etc. If you want to use the lesson plans you can but it isn't necessary, it can be a click+play and still be effective.  

[Would love rec's for K math! (Not Saxon, plz :) )]

We are using MUS Alpha.  5 yo DD likes it so far.  It does come with a lot of worksheets and writing; I end up doing the writing problems together on the board, and any coloring activities/problems I have her do on paper.  So I basically use the worksheets as our learn-it-examples.  For the review pages (that come at the end of each lesson and go over a bit from all previous lessons) I do have her mostly get the answers on her own, but I help her write out answers so it doesn't take as long.  

 

We are having a little bit of trouble in that she already knows how to do things (counting, basic addition, etc) but we are taking the time to spend a couple of days on each of these things anyway so we learn to do them "the MUS way". I am hoping this stage is over quickly, but I see at least another couple weeks before we start to really challenge her.  So, just a heads up that it may have the same issues as the Saxon you are trying to get away from.  

[Cursive for a left-handed kindergartner?]

Thank you all for your suggestions!  I will definitely look at all of these. Good to know that HWOT may be a good starter for just the formation, you are right that a style/look can be developed later. And I will keep in mind the paper turning tip, thanks for mentioning that!

[Cursive for a left-handed kindergartner?]

I have been trying to choose a handwriting curriculum for DD.  She really wants to write and has been teaching herself "stick and ball" letters, and I want to curb this before she develops any bad habits. I am pretty set on doing cursive after some research and just her personality type: she is adding serifs  to everything so that her letters are "pretty and professional" (husband does type design so she is imitating him), so I think a cursive would appeal to her.

 

My main concern is what program would best suit a left hander.  Cursive First, Teach Me Joy, and A Beka look good, but are slanted; are upright cursive easier for lefties?  HWT does a more upright cursive, but I am not as impressed by it visually. I have seen some French cursives that look like they would fit the bill, but I have only found worksheets and not any directions on how to form the letter or which letters to form in which order.  I could parse the directions from one program with the worksheets from a French script, but if there is something that already exists, that's what I'd go with.  

 

So, any suggestions? And, how do you handle handwriting issues that happen to lefties that a rightie wouldn't know about?  

 

Thank you for any insights!  :) It is my first year homeschooling (kind of obvious, huh?), and this forum has been a much-needed treasure trove of ideas.