Sounds good to me. :001_smile: My 3 are young~preK and K so we do a lot of our school in my bed being cozy which is nice too.

Absolutely! :001_smile: My DD just turned 6 last month and was doing the very same thing. She has just started to be fluent the last few days. It just happened and I noticed when we were reading in bed at night that she was saying it easy. :D

This is absolutely great advice! :001_smile: I have a daughter that just turned 6 and my twin boys will be 5 in a month. I'm so glad that I never sent them to preschool and have kept this time about fun & play at home with me. We have learned a lot this last year and they are all reading but it's never been stressful etc... I can't imagine how sad I would be if my DD had started K this year and been gone from 7:30-2:30 5 days/week. We have enjoyed learning together so much and taking homeschool field trips. Yesterday we all went to see a play ~ Go, Dog. Go! It's based on the book by P.D. Eastman. We just had so much fun getting out early and doing that.

We just started using HOD Little Hearts for His Glory a week ago and really enjoyed our 1st week with it. I'm still trying to get used to it but it's really a good program I think. :001_smile:

If you wanted a christian curriculum~ http://www.heartofdakota.com/little-hands.php

My kid's really like this too. :001_smile:

Heart of Dakota :001_smile:

I am going to use Heart of Dakota for my twin boy's that will be in K and daugther that will be in 1st. My box should be here next week and I'm hoping to start in April. We will school 4 days/week throughout the summer. They recommend Singapore math with their guides. :001_smile: You should take a look at the Heart of Dakota website. Their program looks so sweet!

Thank you!!! ElizabethB, that looks like a fun game and will definitely try next week. :001_smile:

My twin boy's will be in K and my daughter in 1st. We are going to use: Heart of Dakota (Little Hearts for His Glory) and continuing with Phonics Pathways. :001_smile: We go to the library on Thursday afternoons for arts and crafts. I am so excited and really looking forward to starting this program.

Are there any sample pages for MCP Plaid Phonics? I have tried to find some but no luck. All I can see is the outside of the book. :001_huh:

Workbooks that don't use "word families". We are having great success with Phonics Pathways but they really enjoy doing workbook pages~especially the cutting & pasting type. :001_smile:

Thanks! I was mostly concerned about my DD switching to CLE 2nd grade after doing Singapore for 1st.

switching later if we needed to when they are 1st & 2nd? I am wanting to use HOD with them and might try the suggestion of Earlybird math. Just curious if they would adjust to CLE the next year if we needed to do so. I am really scared of Singaore and trying to teach it.

I'll post a couple of ideas: :001_smile: http://www.ikea.com/us/en/catalog/products/20116071 http://www1.macys.com/catalog/product/index.ognc?ID=316438&CategoryID=35569

I am in the same situation right now. I am looking for a math program for my twin boys that will be in K and daughter that will be in 1st. I have narrowed it down to McRuffy, CLE or Singapore. I am VERY much not a math person and never had any upper level math. :001_huh: Singapore scares me to death after reading the mixed reviews. :confused: I am wanting to go with Heart of Dakota and that is what they recommend. Anyway, I'll be anxious to see what advice you get. I REALLY want scripted too.

What method does it use for teaching phonics?

What about trying a light unit of CLE math?

But would I also be able to use CLE LA?

I really love the look of HOD but definitely don't want to use their math suggestion (Singapore). I'm really interested in using CLE for math and LA. Just not sure how it would work. Any suggestions or input from those that have done it? I will have twin boys in K and my daughter in 1st.

I think you can accomplish a lot in 30 mins since you said it did not have to include phonics instruction. I have been homeschooling a DD 5 and 4 year old twin boy's this year. What about trying the following activities. Calendar wall & review days of the week & ordinal #'s Learn recognizing & writing #'s 1-30 Counting objects Practice upper & lowercase letter formation I keep lot's of craft supplies~scissors, markers, crayons etc... out for them to use anytime they like. If you are not opposed to computer time, she could do Starfall or Time4learning while you are with the older children. Read alouds at bedtime. :)

I keep reading that the problems have to be copied on seperate paper and then worked. Is this right???

I read because it's not teaching them to read from left to right. But don't they have to look to the right first to recognize silent /e/ or when two vowels are together anyway? I am so confused on all of this. :001_huh:

MFW K is VERY gentle. It introduces a new letter each unit study based on what topic you are learning about. The first unit study was the SUN and the letter /s/. I used ABEKA ABC~123 along with MFW. My kid's already knew their upper & lowercase letters and the sounds they make so I needed to supplement.

That is what I was thinking too. I taught my 3 to recognize capital letters first, then their sounds and then to recognize lowercase letters before teaching any phonics or reading.