My family and I are using Duolingo for Spanish and it is very good for what it is, i.e. I agree with everyone else about the lack of explicit grammar. I just looking things up on google as they come up, but not sure a student learning their first language would know to do this or what types of things they need to know. If you are learning it with her, you would be able to help her fill in the blanks. p.s., my son (4) just told me last night he no longer wants to learn Spanish, he wants to learn French. I thought you might be amused!

Not everything in school should be useful. School is the last place where questions of utility can take a back seat to those of beauty, the Good, etc. Let hear learn French. Best, LMC

Have you tried Interlibrary Loan? We've done that for most of the out of print books and gotten them very quickly. Any you can't get, you can just skip -- FIAR isn't really the sort of curriculum that has to build on itself. You can do the units out of order and skip any you can't find. Best, LMC

Hi, last year we did K4, so I guess a little different, but also had a baby in Jan and a toddler running around, as well as my 4yo. We did OPGTR and Saxon K. Didn't worry about handwriting at all. We did Five in a Row on an as able basis to cover other things and have fun. After about 38 weeks I was rather miserable, and rather than make everyone else miserable we stopped school until about 6 weeks after baby. Now we are doing R&S 1 (much more mommy friendly, less moving parts, less for the toddler to rip apart as we are trying to work), Dancing Bears (he had leveled out on OPGTR and is thriving with the change), and handwriting (Getty Dubay). My advice is that there is nothing at this age you can't make up for later, so just go with the flow, pick simple things that can't be ripped apart by a maurading toddler (can you tell I'm traumatized?), and give yourself a break when you need it :) Best, LMC

Just to second something that's already been said -- getting evaluated for ADHD isn't about the diagnosis, it's more about making sure it isn't something else that can be specifically addressed. As a family doctor, I see a lot of kids because the school thinks they have ADHD who are completely normal (usually boys who just need more activity that is commonly provided in schools these days), others who have a sensory issue that responds well to occupational therapy or glasses, and a very few who actually have ADHD. If you are worried about your child feeling like something is wrong with him because he needs evaluation, you can do the eval with someone other than a doctor or psychiatrist, and tell him it's to help figure out his strengths and weaknesses. Best, LMC

We kind of like the black line masters, but we pick and choose which to do. In the teacher's manuals you'll see them graded (one symbol means basic, one means 'try to do these', and one means advanced or fun). They are great to have on hand when do need extra practice or someone wants to do a dot to dot. YMMV, esp as yours is a bit older than mine :) LMC

We're doing it now -- on about lesson 13. It moves pretty slowly and, in any case, you can move more slowly through it. It doesn't have a lot of manipulatives, so I add in some. It's very clean and easy to use. My other experience was with Saxon K, which had a lot of moving parts. Initially it was fun, but it rapidly became burdonsome, and the spiral left me confused with what I was supposed to do if he didn't learn something. With R&S I don't have that problem. LMC

I was pretty anxious starting to teach my son how to read. Anyway, it turns out teaching reading is a straighforward thing and there are a ton of good resources. We started with the Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading, then switched to Dancing Bears A once he plateaued on OPG. I don't generally have to pull teeth to get him to do it, but it's not always entertaining for him. I just made it clear that the expectation was that he spend 10 minutes per day in formal phonics. I know there is a lot of phiosophical debate about when to start -- I feel like if you feel he's ready and he's able to sit for 10 minutes, it's as good a time as any to start formal instruction. I don't think kids hate reading because you made them sit for 10 minutes to learn how. Best, LMC

I enjoy the Montessori Stamp Game (you can get them from a variety of online retailers, including Amazon, or make your own) and the number strips. As far as a set, it doesn't include either of those, but I like the Saxon Math manipulative set from Rainbow Resource Center. It includes Teddy Bear Counters, pattern blocks, number lines, a hundred board, etc. Best, LMC

.. Updated, as we start the year right after their birthday :) Math: Addition with manipulatives (mommy led), dot to dots, etc... will do R&S later or possibly hold off until he is 6 Phonics: Dancing Bear (Volume B to be finished in a month or two, then DB C). Once done, will move into CLE Reading 1. Handwriting: I'm just teaching him to write his letters Getty Dubay style Catechism: Image of God PreK (repeat using Workbook A this time so that his little brother and he can be grouped) Science: Using Kingfisher First Encyclopedia of Animals as a spine, other books as we find them. Our first experience notebooking. History: Beautiful Feet Early American Primary... toned down a bit though. Too much talking for a child this age with some of the lessons! Thanks, LMC

First, this could be a normal developmental variation that will get better as time goes on if you continue to do modest direct instruction daily in handwriting (maybe limit it to 10 min per day). One thing you could try is teaching him a more 'natural' hand than Z-B, like italic. You could also try changing what he is writing with (e.g., there are fountain pens made for small children, or a felt tipped pen, or a crayon, etc.) so that he can write more with his wrist and less with his fingers. Best, LMC

Hi, First off, this is a really rough situation, so hugs. In my experience as a family doc (as well as a similar incident in a 4 year old of my own), the sudden onset of anger in a child is usually a sign that their sense of fundamental well being is threatened. That doesn't mean you don't want to get him evaluated as others have described above necessarily, but realize that children have far fewer ways to cope with instability such as that caused by a move than adults. And even adults sometimes have a few months of anger/sadness when they move. The Kindle may be his way of checking out emotionally. While I don't have a bunch of studies to quote to support this, I think in general getting rid of the electronics, while it does cause some increase in acting out in the short term, is the best approach for most children. A Kindle isn't going to restore his fundamental sense of stability -- his relationship with you and his dad and siblings will. By taking away the Kindle (which is entertainment without relationship) you force him into relational forms of recreation. And you should offer these forms of recreation repeatedly -- reading aloud, going to the park, board games. Allow him to decline. Some children when they are in the "no to everything mode" are more likely to engage if you first engage some of the other children and, though body language (leave a place for him, for example) make sure he's invited to join. Of course, this only works if you give up your "entertainment without relationship" also -- TV, facebook, iPhone, etc. And dad has to be on board, too. I would avoid using the Kindle as a carrot -- it isn't something that he earns back, it's just mommy and daddy decided it wasn't the best thing for him right now, and maybe not ever. Another thing that can help restore his fundamental sense of well being is keeping solid boundaries and schedules. Whatever discipline you use (time out for example), apply it consistently even if he is less than cooperative. Keep calm yourself as much as you can. He most likey needs you to be strong (i.e., telling him that you feel out of control also is not going to help). As he feels drawn back into relationship with the family and secure again, you'll likely notice the anger dissipate. This may take months. As far as the other children, while you have to tend to their needs as well, realize that your angry child needs you a lot right now. It may be that the whole family gets derailed on fun outings, and while the other kids might be upset at that, you may need to accept that as a mom with many children that is what happens sometimes and stay calm yourself. Try to limit it, of course -- you don't want him to have the sense that he is the only child in the family, but realize that when a usually good kid suddenly changes behavior like this, it's usually short term and they are usually doing the best they can. Anyway, YMMV. And take it easy on yourself. LMC

I started with handmade flashcards with letters on them, then started in the Ordinary Parent's Guide at about lesson 27 after he knew his letters. I didn't like the approach to the initial introduction of letters in lessons 1-25 or so. It was just too much made of something that could be taught quickly with a few flashcards. We did that through about lesson 54, then needed a change of pace so are doing Dancing Bear A, which my son loves. If you haven't looked at Dancing Bear from Sound Foundations, it's worth a look -- all of their books, and the entire book, are available for free online preview at their web site. They have multiple versions of the same material depending on where your kid is right now. Dancing Bear is nice because there are no moving parts like Saxon, lessons are short at simple, and they are a bit more engaging than OPGTR. Best, LMC

I can't speak to your child's specific disability, but I'd check out Dancing Bear from Sound Foundations and their related programs. They have a program that is meant to teach blending to children who have been unable to develop this skill on their own. All of their materials can be previewed in their entirety online, and they are less expensive than the other O-G based programs I've seen. My son is using Dancing Bears A now after plateauing on OPGTR and it's very easy to teach with all of the instructions in the text (but not mixed up in the text like 100EZ lessons, which was extremely distracting for both of us).

I really enjoyed Five in a Row, and I resisted for a long time because I didn't feel like "that kind of mom." FIAR is actually much easier to execute than you would think -- if you are in doubt, I would download the free Story About Ping lesson plan from the FIAR website and just try it out for a week. As a bonus, the Story About Ping is available for about $5, or printable for free online. Because you select the activites you choose to do, you can select things that involve just you elaborating on some point in the book or you can do something that is more of a project and requires more prep. We had so much fun with it, we now do FIAR every couple of weeks. As far as not everything being included, if you order from Rainbow Resource Center they have a FIAR literature pack for each of the volumes; if you prefer to save money, check out what is available from your library. You don't have to do every single one in each volume to get the benefit, and I found that between what was already in the library (13 books) and what I was able to get on interlibrary loan (we have gotten everything we have requested so far). Again, I'm not the kind of mom who ever envisioned myself doing FIAR, I also thought it was going to take a lot of prep, but my son is very into it, and I'm having fun too. And it's a lot less work than I thought it would be. LMC

I was hoping one of the more experienced moms would post, but given that no one has... I can't imagine that her writing the letters wouldn't be a good substitute for letter tiles. I always figured the reason for letter tiles rather than having the child write was so that a kid like mine wouldn't get bogged down in the fine motor aspect of trying to write a word. If your kid can write that well, I'd totally let her do it.

We're now at the consonant digraph /ch/ (can't remember what lesson number that is). We started in August of this year, skipped about the first 27 lessons (he already knew his basic letter sounds), initially went at about the pace you're going, and then at some point found our current pace as he hit some of the harder material. I'm finding that what I think will be a huge leap (/sh/) isn't, but there are things that trip him up and need to be reviewed regularly. Doing lots of review also helps fluency a lot. The other reason for our slower pace is that he's so young, and I want him to feel like he's gaining mastery of something. When we were doing new stuff every day, he wasn't enjoying it as much. Now he'll comment, "Mom, I'm going so fast now!" or he'll tell his little brother, "I read like mommy and daddy now.". Like you, I've looked ahead and have a hard time imagining him reading the last lesson before second grade. It's hard striking a balance between letting him (and encouraging him to) progress where he's ready and recognizing when even if he's academically capable of learning something, we're spending too much of his time on it and cutting out other important things. LMC

I agree that there's an element of readiness. If you feel like your child is ready, but perhaps developmentally just can't sit still to learn yet, what worked for my son was letting him jump on the bed while I worked through the flashcards with him. It was the only time he was allowed to jump on the bed, which he loved. I did a couple of cards with a single lower case letter written on it, and focused on the common sound of the consonants and the short vowel sound of the letters. I added more cards when he was solid on the pack he had. He learned it within a couple of weeks or so once we discovered this approach, and really liked being able to sound out the letters. That said, he was then not developmentally ready to blend so we held there for a while. LMC

Thanks for all your advice (and no worries, Dust). LMC

We treat comprehension as a separate skill. Part of that is that I feel like his brain might explode with "just decoding", but the other half is that I find phonics sentences to be much harder to comprehend than normal speech or the other things we read aloud. As an example, "The tank went on the bank. It sank in the mud. The man in tan did yell, "Yank the tank!" The men put a link on the tank." [OPGTR p 127] Now, as the mommy, I get what they are trying to say, but as a 4 year old, it's a bit of a leap to understand what is happening here. So we do comprehension when we do our read alouds: Why did she do that? How do you think she felt? Where is the story set? Best, LMC

Hi All, I'm planning on scribing Saxon 1, at least for a while, with my 4 year old. He's done amazing in Saxon math K, and he's enjoying himself, so I wanted to keep going with him. His fine motor is not quite there, however, for him to do worksheets and so I was planning on scribing for him. First, has anyone else tried scribing Saxon 1 for a young 'un, and is it something you would recommend or was it a disaster? Second, if I am scribing, do I need the workbook? If the workbook pages were printed in miniature in the teacher's manual, I was thinking about just copying out questions onto a whiteboard and answering them together rather than buying the workbooks. Thank you, LMC

When we hit two consonant blends I was very nervous and planned to really slow down, but OPG starts with blends where both letters are the same 'ss', 'gg', etc. and he got the concept with that. Then it does 'ck', which was a little bit of a leap, but a gentle one since c and k both say /k/. So by the time there were other consonant blends introduced, he had the concept down and it went pretty well (although -ank is still a little bit of an issue due to the change in the 'a' sound with -nk; he does it well but it needs to be reviewed often). After Thanksgiving we're going to take a stab at consonant digraphs, and I'm again all worked up about it :) So we'll see how it goes. We haven't gotten to the various sounds of vowels formally yet, although we've started to talk about it when he asks about a particular word in a book or on a label. It's introduced pretty late in OPG, but I'm excited to get there because I feel like his ability to decode the early readers will really take off once he has that down. We also enjoy Progressive Phonics. For a while I was dressing up other books like PP by photocopying and tracing the words he was to read in red marker. LMC

I'd probably try to separate out decoding as a seperate skill from comprehension. Comprehension skills can be gained during read aloud time. OPGTR mainly focuses on decoding. So I don't worry if my son doesn't understand the sentence, although after he reads a sentence I always repeat it after him to model fluency and tonal patterns. If he has particular questions, I address them but I'm careful not to get off on a tangent where we don't actually do the lesson (he's in the delaying/negotiating phase). With regard to fluency, I've found that he gains it by just progressing through the book, so I haven't ever stopped progressing to gain fluency. I do, however, include a lot of review: once we found where DS4 was in the program, we only wind up doing about 1 new lesson per week and spend the rest of the time reviewing old lessons. It helps him build confidence, but also probably helps his fluency a lot. The other thing we do to build fluency is when we read a book together I point out words that he has been introduced to and let him sound them out in an unfamiliar context. We've also tried speed drills from time to time with varying levels of interest and success. LMC

We use The Ordinary Parent's Guide to Teaching Reading, which has worked very well with us. Like Teach Your Child to Read in 100 EZ lessons it has scripting there in the book, but no weird orthography, no "say it fast". Just a very straightforward program. If your child is overwhelmed with all the extra type, as mine was, you can copy out the lessons in 3-5 minutes and do it from your copy sheet. LMC

We use the washable crayons from Crayola, colored pencils, paints that clean up easily. Charcoal is a little messy, but the ones we have clean up pretty easily afterwards so if he really wants to use it we let him (they are his daddy's, so he's attached to working in charcoal). LMC