My boys are 3rd grade. If they have homework from the school always it happens first. Then they do 15 minutes of math from Math Mammoth, Strayer Upton, or sometimes just games to practice math facts. They have to read something each day. Usually it isn't a problem and they get in about 30minutes between the bus ride and just picking up random books. Last we do a nightly read aloud. This comes from the Build Your Library program. I read the assigned books. It is only 15-30 minutes a night that I read to them and we go slow and keep it fun. We have been working through Medieval history for the last year. The main thing to remember is that you let the school teach them most stuff and you fill in the gaps at home with the things that you feel are important and aren't covered in school. Keep it simple. Don't make them sit with workbooks.

I use Math Mammoth for my 8yo twin boys. For us it works well, we do it year round so that they can get through it eventually. The key to MM for us is that I only have them do 10-15 minutes or 2-3 pages a day. No more than that. I also bought the beast academy books and just lay them around the house. The kids pick them up and read them randomly. While they enjoy them I have decided that pencil and paper math practice gets the information into their brains better than the online practice does. The schools these days are doing more and more online math so I am making a point of having them do it on paper at home. I did pick up the beast academy workbooks but it took the fun out of it for them so we stick to MM. Spelling you see works really well for both english language practice and handwriting and can be done in 10 or so minutes a day. We read aloud every night for 20-30 minutes. I have them read aloud to me randomly through out the day just so that I can correct their pronunciations. We also use the McGuffey readers for a more structured reading practice when I feel like it is necessary.

We use Math Mammoth for our boys. We have them do 10-15 minutes or 2-3 pages of it a day year round. We skip it on days that they have math homework from school. I just start them in their current grade level and then we do extra practice if things are getting hard. For our family it works really well. On occasion I will slip in things like logic puzzles or games just to break things up. For handwriting we used Spelling you See for a long time and it worked really well. It helped with both spelling and letter formation. (I may have to start them back up on this) For extra reading we used the McGuffy Readers for a long time. I had them read me one lesson a night repeating ones that were hard for them.

Can you try to cut it down to a half hour? Maybe move the reading to some other time of the day such as in the car while driving to and from soccer, or just before bed, or on the bus? Maybe move foreign language to every other day and do more math every other day. What about Math in the morning before school? Also, stick hard to time timing. Talk to her and get a length of time that is fair, 15 minutes for math and 30 for language. Then each day have her set a timer when she starts and make sure she is focusing on it. Our kids stay at the kitchen table so that I can see that they are focusing.

LovesToLearn: We started with Apples in kindergarten and worked our way up to Dogs. At this point we have slowed down with so much else going on and I am trying to decide how to move forward with LoF. The boys love it when we do it but it is more time consuming and I want to do it with them. For now we are reading a chapter or two every couple weeks. We read it super slowly because they would chew through the whole thing at once if I would let them and I want to make sure they understand the concepts as we get to them. If I were starting now I would still start with Apples and just move quickly until it started getting harder for them. The story is pretty cute, and it's good to reinforce the basics.

So I just re-read my post from July and thought through where we are now that more than a month of 2nd grade is behind us. I decided an update might be useful for someone. Afterschooling: 1 day a week Gymnastics at a non-competitive gym. (Yes, and this year they are in a class of just boys with a teacher who seems to be pretty good. They are advancing nicely, and having fun doing it!) Daily Reading: a book AT reading level instead of what the teachers think their reading levels are. (This is a challenge. The boys are advanced readers and the school is completely ignoring the fact. They regularly read books for 3-4 graders at home and the school only allows them to read picture books and Magic Tree House. Conferences are next week and I'm going to have to bring this up with the teachers. Our approach is to make sure that at home they read more advanced books. They also have about a half hour on the bus so the bus ride has become their read to self time at a higher level. So far it seems to be working, it's just hard to figure out what books they should be reading.) Daily Handwriting: Our school didn't care about handwriting at all last year. In fact they ignored it enough that we are seeing a possible dyslexia issue with one child that the teachers didn't pick up on. They do one page a day of Spelling U See. Great program that they really enjoy. The one page takes about 10 minutes. (We are continuing this through the school year and it is a great program. They are still boys who don't see a need to have good handwriting but it is still good practice.) Spelling: I have one boy who is a natural speller, it's awesome to watch his little brain churn. The other boy has a tougher time. I'm not sure what spelling will look like this year but I am planning to use the method put from Andrew Pudewa on spelling and the brain. Waiting on the teachers for this one. (This year spelling is taught at the teachers discretion, there is no formal spelling program for 2nd graders. Unfortunately the son who is the natural speller has the spelling lessons and the other one doesn't. At home they have to BOTH practice the spelling lists from the on boys teachers. It's going well but I'm not sure it is worth the time.) Daily Math practice: they are working through Math Mammoth doing one page each day if the school didn't send anything home. Math games on the iPad including TODO Math, Monster Math, and Code Spark Academy. We do a chapter of Life of Fred together each week just for fun, am going to look into beast academy just for fun. The school does okay with math but they ignore the advanced levels my boys are at so there is a ton of boredom. (Math in school is a nightmare. They are both doing 3rd grade math with no problems and little instruction. One teacher challenges my son and the other day he came home over the moon because she taught him multiplication tables! The other son gets no extra work from his teacher. All math instruction at this point is at home. They still are working through Math mammoth and are doing great with it. We have added the math game Prodigy as well. They both love the layout and style of the game.) (The next section is where things changed a ton. I have started working our way through the Build Your Library 2nd grade curriculum with the boys. It focuses on Medieval history and uses Story of the World as the history spine. I needed something laid out for me and this one is great. We do all the History activities, all the Science readings & activities when we have time, and we will be reading all the literature selections as audiobooks in the car. So far I am loving it. The boys don't seem to care much but when we are reading it they enjoy it and they have already started making some connections. I am hoping to work all the way through it even if it goes longer than this year. 1 week of the curriculum is taking us about 1.5 - 2 weeks which I think is a good pace for afterschooling. ) History: Our school teaches NO history that isn't part of social studies until 6th grade. At home I am going to do American history using This Country Of Ours as well as a ton of other resources that I just can't seem to stop picking up! Literature/Fables/Poetry: I have a book basket where I rotate through a series of books as read alouds. I also am starting to add in some of the shorter classic childrens books to their "Bus Box". We keep a box of books for them to pick from so that they always have a book when they are riding the bus.

I have little guys still, but my approach is the same as Sneezyone. At the beginning of the summer I had my boys start doing just 2 pages of math (Math Mammoth) a day in the book for the following year. Then once school starts they just continue but instead of 2 pages we do 1-2 pages depending on time. I never have them doing more than 10-15 minutes of math a day during school. You could also look at some of the math based games and other apps like Kahn academy.

We do public school 2nd grade for our twin boys. Afterschooling: 1 day a week Gymnastics at a non-competitive gym. This is our only out of the house afterschool activity. My DH is adamant that we restrict afterschool to 1 hour a week we will look at adding a second one when they hit third grade. Daily Reading: a book AT reading level instead of what the teachers think their reading levels are. Best I can tell they are at about 4th grade level for reading as well as comprehension but the teachers just ignore it and teach them at the high end of their grade level. It means a ton of extra work for mom to keep them from backsliding like they did last year, end of year they were almost at the same place they had been at the start of the year. I keep the reading loose from their point of view though. Primarily they read on the bus and at bedtime, I'm trying to keep it untimed and gentle. I have them read aloud to me on a regular basis to work on those skills since the school doesn't. Daily Handwriting: Our school didn't care about handwriting at all last year. In fact they ignored it enough that we are seeing a possible dyslexia issue with one child that the teachers didn't pick up on. They do one page a day of Spelling U See. Great program that they really enjoy. The one page takes about 10 minutes. Spelling: I have one boy who is a natural speller, it's awesome to watch his little brain churn. The other boy has a tougher time. I'm not sure what spelling will look like this year but I am planning to use the method put from Andrew Pudewa on spelling and the brain. Waiting on the teachers for this one. Daily Math practice: they are working through Math Mammoth doing one page each day if the school didn't send anything home. Math games on the iPad including TODO Math, Monster Math, and Code Spark Academy. We do a chapter of Life of Fred together each week just for fun, am going to look into beast academy just for fun. The school does okay with math but they ignore the advanced levels my boys are at so there is a ton of boredom. History: Our school teaches NO history that isn't part of social studies until 6th grade. At home I am going to do American history using This Country Of Ours as well as a ton of other resources that I just can't seem to stop picking up! Literature/Fables/Poetry: I have a book basket where I rotate through a series of books as read alouds. I also am starting to add in some of the shorter classic childrens books to their "Bus Box". We keep a box of books for them to pick from so that they always have a book when they are riding the bus. Music: I have a playlist of classical music that I play when we are on the ride to school and they want to read books in the car. I have another playlist filled with music that I want them to hear and memorize. We listen on the way to school and other times we are in the car.

We practice reading, handwriting, and math at home even though the kids go to public school and are doing well. I never make them work more than 10 minutes a day/subject. I even set a timer to make sure they don't get more than that. Focus on doing extra time or bigger projects on days that the kids aren't in school. Those are the days that you can push just a little bit further. Start tomorrow too, don't wait until school starts. Getting into the habit before the routine of school starts.

I know BraveWriter has some online summer writing classes. They may be worth looking into. http://www.bravewriter.com/program/online-classes/class-schedule

Our school does not offer any options for 1-3 graders who place outside of what is offered in the classroom. They are expected to continue at the highest level offered within the classroom, regardless of ability.

His biggest problem is that the work he is being asked to do at school is significantly below his ability. He loves challenges like adding 2 and 3 digit numbers. At school he is still doing 7+7 and such. I think he got so bored that he just doesn't care anymore. He failed a school placement test because he just kept clicking random buttons to get it over with.

Hey everyone, I have a dilemma. I have a son in public school first grade who started out this school year LOVING Math. For him it was a fun mental challenge that he loved. Now school has squashed his love of math. He has quit trying and is showing a backward slide in his skills. I don't much care for his teacher but she is all I have to work with. She wants a conference to talk about it. Does anyone here have any suggestions as to things I could suggest as options to help him re-find his love of learning and make school more enjoyable for him? We work on math at home and his skills at home seem to be improving at a steady rate but in school she is ready to put him in remedial math even though he is testing as advanced. I'm getting super frustrated with her lack of really looking at my kid. Because he doesn't fit directly into any of her little boxes she ignores him. Any talking points that I can bring up during our conference?

Spend time focusing on the alphabet and number sense. Play games where you add beads together and do patterns. My kids learned a lot from watching shows like Word World and Leap Frog videos. Keep it all fun. Try to instill a love of learning instead detesting rote practice. One thing that I learned is to not try to push the academics that the school will be teaching. While my boys love math I backed down on doing math at home and instead focus on things like science and history which our school is really bad about. My boys ended up quite a bit further ahead in reading and math than where their classmates are at and are now bored in first grade and "hate" school. I stopped all enrichment in those subjects at home and instead focus on other stuff. I wouldn't worry about him being behind. You are obviously a parent involved in your sons education, or you wouldn't be here, so he will already have a leg up :)

For practicing math for your younger daughter the game Shut the Box is a good option. It's a fun dice game where they have add small numbers to play the game. Since you are looking for add on information you may consider Life of Fred. My 1st grade boys do a chapter a week and the worksheets that I found in the LoF Facebook group and it's a fun way for them to get a bit of extra practice without it necessarily feeling like extra work. For multiplication here is a great resource for learning them in a different way https://www.tjed.org/wp-content/uploads/2010/05/LetsLearnTimesTables.pdf I also started watching Mental Math by Great Courses and it is a fantastic program that shows many shortcuts for doing math quickly and correctly. I try to mix up the math that I have mine do to keep them from getting bored MM 2-3 days a week, playing math based games or computer programs 1-2 days a week, and one day of LoF.

I am in the exact same boat as you except a year farther along in the journey with my twin 6yo first grade boys. I vote for keeping at it :) We skipped preschool with our boys and just learned reading as we went, nothing formal. As a science minded mom I do push math a bit more. In kindergarten last year they were bored with the curriculum but kindergarten was fun enough that they did okay. This year is a different story. They have already tested out of both first grade math and reading and are horribly bored. They are very much first grade boys though, skipping a grade is not an option. Instead the teachers are trying to find ways to challenge them a bit more. At home we talk a lot about how important it is to practice and get good at the basics so that they have a good foundation for the future. :) See if there is anyway to talk to the teacher he will have for first grade early and put forth a warning that you would like your son tested early on for proper placement. At home my boys live in a Charlotte Mason inspired environment. I work hard to keep the house filled with living books that are at their current reading level, it's a challenge! We have a ton of math games that they play on a regular basis to reinforce the basics. We read Life of Fred once or twice a week to give them new math concepts to think about. I have the first grade Math Mammoth workbooks that they do with Grandma between when they get home from school and I get home from work. Our read aloud bedtime stories come from things they are interested in and the Ambleside Online history, literature, and geography selections. Over all I try to not cover anything at home that would be covered in school. We don't do a formal reading or math curriculum. Instead I try to focus on history, geography, mythology, folktales, and the sciences. I try for the arts but it's not my strong suit. The things that are important for them to know but will never be covered in school are our main focus. We also take lots of breaks to just read fun literature and study things the kids find interesting. I also allow video games in a controlled fashion. I credit much of their reading comprehension skills to text based video games. Kuddos to you for working so hard to make sure your child has every advantage in life!

I've heard good things about the Life of Fred Calculus book. It may be a good way to have an alternate point of view on it. The more different ways you learn that level of math the more likely you are to understand the core of it.

Here is my summary: This is my current working list: Organized - Swimming lessons MOM FAIL, I didn't even figure out when they were :( - Gymnastics camp They completed 3 week long camps this summer :) - Martial Arts program Decided to wait - Soccer They loved it! - T-Ball Did Soccer instead - Weekly Library visits After the first visit my MIL (who takes them) decided that we have better quality books at home and she wasn't going to waste her time bringing them if all they get is "Crap Books" which is awesome because for a long time all she could do was complain about all the books I buy :) - Weekly Nature Camp (?? have to find someone to take them) I was not able to find a non-religious based camp for boys to attend anywhere nearby. It was very frustrating because I found 4 for girls only. Outdoors - Daily Nature Journal Not a chance - Playtime Not enough - Their own Garden You mean their weed gardens..... Enrichment - Daily Copywork/Handwriting (10 min, print up for them) 3 sentences - Daily Reading (10 min, whatever they want) 20 minutes a day minimum - Daily Math (10 min, MEP worksheet or math game)(http://www.cimt.plym...ary/default.htm) 2 worksheet pages a day The three above were interesting. I picked up Math Mammoth first grade for them. I intended their daily work to be timeboxed but my MIL, who watches them, forced them to sit down and do 2 pages a day. I didn't fight it because they could easily do the work and if they really tried it would only take them about 10 minutes or so. They have pretty much finished the first half of the curriculum. I am a bit worried about boredom this school year. For reading the school sent home a summer reading challenge that was 20 minutes a day. They did really good! They are advanced readers for their age and I am constantly impressed by what they are choosing to read. I have a rule that they get to pick what ever they want to read. Some days it is super easy others it is really complicated. Handwriting is a challenge that my MIL took on as a personal quest. She didn't like their handwriting and would make sure they did it daily. I tried a curriculum but eventually she just started to write out 3 sentences a day for them. They had to write each one perfectly then they were done. It went really well and there is a marked improvement in their skills :) Everything below here was basically looped all summer. We did most of them once in a while but never on a regular basis. It was fun but I am going to have to reevaluate now that school is starting again and figure out what we will be doing. - Daily Nature Journal (Draw anything in book from outside) - Daily Rememborized Poetry Review - Weekly Reading Lesson (They read from McGuffy reader) - Weekly Artist Study (Show picture, talk about it, have kids draw it) - Weekly Letter Writing to family (choose one person each week) - Weekly Nature Connection book (work through lesson as a family) - Weekly Individual Cooking Lesson (each kid cooks a meal, Start recipe book with each) - Weekly Rememborize new Poem/quote - Weekly Teach your Children Shakespeare - Mom reads from Ambleside Y1 I feel like we spent more time outside than we have in a long time. None of the following actually happened but we did a bunch of other fun stuff! Outings - Zoo - Aquarium - Hiking State Parks (Monthly) - Camping (2x this summer) - Visit with Grandma and Grandpa - Visit GGma & GGpa

Look into some of the living math books to help her understand the concepts. Life of Fred is one that she can read and practice on her own and will help with understanding many of the basic the concepts. There are picture books like Sir Cumference that go over the basics of a specific topic. Kahn Academy is a great free website where she can work on her skills starting at the basic level, the way they have "gamified" math is brilliant. Maybe sit down with her and talk through ideas on where she can look up information on the topics that are frustrating for her.

This is my current working list: Organized - Swimming lessons - Gymnastics camp - Martial Arts program (?? Not sure on their summer schedule) - Soccer - T-Ball - Weekly Library visits - Weekly Nature Camp (?? have to find someone to take them) Outdoors - Daily Nature Journal - Playtime - Their own Garden Enrichment - Daily Copywork/Handwriting (10 min, print up for them) - Daily Reading (10 min, whatever they want) - Daily Math (10 min, MEP worksheet or math game)(http://www.cimt.plymouth.ac.uk/projects/mepres/primary/default.htm) - Daily Nature Journal (Draw anything in book from outside) - Daily Rememborized Poetry Review - Weekly Reading Lesson (They read from McGuffy reader) - Weekly Artist Study (Show picture, talk about it, have kids draw it) - Weekly Letter Writing to family (choose one person each week) - Weekly Nature Connection book (work through lesson as a family) - Weekly Individual Cooking Lesson (each kid cooks a meal, Start recipe book with each) - Weekly Rememborize new Poem/quote - Weekly Teach your Children Shakespeare - Mom reads from Ambleside Y1 Outings - Zoo - Aquarium - Hiking State Parks (Monthly) - Camping (2x this summer) - Visit with Grandma and Grandpa - Visit GGma & GGpa

We have twin boys who are in public school kindergarten. We both have careers that we enjoy and make good wages. While we may be able to live off of one of our salaries we enjoy the lifestyle we have with a dual income. Did I mention that we love our jobs :) We are not super impressed by what the school system offers. So instead our kids go to school but at night and on weekends we are Afterschooling. I am using the Ambleside Online curriculum as a read aloud program. So far it is working really really well. The key isn't necessarily to decide now to homeschool. But instead to focus on how you can make the home the center of your childrens education. You can start by looking at yourself and how you can improve your own education in the home now. If you love him and want to spend your life with him then instead of trying to figure out how to convince him that homeschooling is the way to go talk to him instead about what your goals are for your future children and start looking at how to meet in the middle.

Our school uses the same program and so far my boys are both on track. Here are a few things that we do at home. I try to do one of these every day or two. - I have a book called Bedtime Math that we read a couple days a week. - We use Life of Fred (Apples & Butterflies) with the worksheets from the Facebook page as a supplement once or twice a week. - We play a card game using a Cribbage board. Each person draws two cards and adds them together then moves their peg forward that number of spots. - I use Ray's Arithmetic for verbal math problems (https://books.google.com/books?id=ntTy0NUjKHQC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false)

With my boys I have them choose what they want to read and only ask them to do "Hard" lessons once or twice a week. I let them choose from the "Easy" stuff the rest of the time. This seems to be reinforcing the stuff they already know much better and then the hard ones aren't so bad. Disclaimer: I am not homeschooling but my boys decided they wanted to learn to read on their own so I have been working with them at home using McGuffy readers and early readers like Dick and Jane. They are now up to reading Little Bear books with very few problems.

Nature studies and exploration are wonderful for that age. Legos and Blocks! We do lots of lego building in our house. Lots of Play Time. For TV time carefully choose a few shows that you think are educational and let her watch them instead of the garbage that kids seem to watch every day.