I have used RS A-C. A was a fun, informal-feeling intro to math for my kids in PreK, B was absolutely incredible and I could gush on about it forever, C was "meh" and I didn't feel there was a lot of content there. At that point, my oldest was begging for "hard math" and my middle wanted to see exactly what she needed to do to be finished each day (not games!). I moved my oldest to BA3, where he has been thriving. My middle only went halfway through RS C and didn't hit much new content, so I started her back at SM2A. She was able to fly through that material and is now zipping through SM2B without difficulty. (I'm not even using the textbook to introduce topics; RS has given her such an awesome foundation that the concepts all seem common-sense to her.) It's been a smooth transition, and SM has proven itself to be great for someone who likes fun-looking, not-too-busy/cluttered math pages and does well with visual representation for learning.

Woot! I missed out on the one I really wanted last time (Gears!), so I'm so happy this came around again so soon so I can stop kicking myself over it. One Christmas present ordered!

I've been using All About Spelling. While I'm pleased with my kids' retention, I'm switching for two reasons. 1. My oldest needs my one-on-one (he's ADHD, and the interaction keeps him on-task), but he's flying through the AAS levels and doesn't need all the fiddly hands-on. To avoid draining my budget just on spelling, I bought How To Teach Spelling, which looks much like AAS but without all the extra parts. 2. My middle is more visual. She's a fast learner, but she does well if she can SEE something. She also doesn't need my supervision. I'm going to move her to R&S's workbooks. I'll still be delighted to use the first level or two of AAS with my youngest, but I'm not sure we'll go all the way through level 3 again; at that point I feel like it's too intense unless your child really struggles with spelling.

I've not used Z-B, but G-D uses a one-stroke method, as well. I loved it (though I did adjust the order of the first book for my young writers). Rainbow Resource has page samples from each book, if you want to use that to compare the workbooks.

My aunt picked them up for my mom one year...and I think she didn't bother to look at names. I got Camela Jelafna. (My sister suggested that we call her Cammie.) I later added Adora Christina to my little family. I also had a boy, but I can't for the life of me remember his name--I can only remember Vincent Xavier, which was the doll owned by my friend down the street. I think my boy doll was named something with Marcus. I played with dolls constantly from toddlerhood until about age 10, and I think at least one of those dolls was my own purchase. Oddly enough, I was very disappointed that my first doll looked like me. All the Cabbage Patch dolls I chose for myself had brown skin and hair. In the end, though, my favorite dolls were bigger, more realistic-looking ones. And sadly, though I kept all my beloved dolls, none of my kids are doll-players, so I finally got rid of all but the one my mom made for me. And here I was so looking forward to reliving my childhood. Well, at least I have a grand-sheep and a grand-teddy and a grand-puppy. (My kids have favorite stuffed animals that have personalities...so they use the doll clothes on them. Still not nearly like I was playing with my dolls, though. Alas!)

Letter Factory and Starfall here, too. And when they have letter sounds down, try out LeapFrog's Talking Words Factory. All three of mine started sounding out words independently. I read to them a lot, true, and as soon as they knew letters I'd point out familiar ones (beginnings of store names, easily-decoded words in books)...but I still think that the Talking Words Factory video made a big impression on them and gave them the idea to try decoding on their own.

I find that there are so many times I use math in daily life, and just vocalizing my thoughts can give my kids an opportunity to see its usefulness. On vacation, for example, we'd talk about how many more miles we had until our destination (or our next stop, or the next state, or...) and estimate how long it would take us to get there given our current speed. After getting gas today, I talked through my mental process of estimating my car's mpg--as well as a few comments about what that data tells me, and the fact that Daddy's car uses far less gas, which is why we drive it whenever we can. (I reset my trip odometer every time I get gas and always fill all the way to the shutoff, so the mileage and gallons should roughly correspond--and I keep track of mpg to make sure all seems well with my car.) When I'm planning dinner, I talk out loud about how long each step will take, add all that time, and then determine when I need to start cooking to have it finish when I'd like to eat. When I'm making my grocery list, I estimate how long it takes us to go through each gallon of milk or loaf of bread and decide how much I will need to buy in order to last as long as I'd like between shopping trips. At the store, I figure out the price per unit on sale items if it's not listed and show the kids how to compare the true cost of different items. I think if you consider your thought processes throughout the day, you will find a lot of times that you use math. The trick is to notice them and vocalize them and involve your child in them. As for books, my kids love the Sir Cumference series, and some of the MathStart books are pretty good. Sir Cumference shares terminology and skills in silly stories about math-ly-named knights and ladies, while MathStart books tend to be more everyday stories about kids applying math to their lives. As a side note, I've noticed that my DD loves math when it's on her own terms. At the moment, I'm letting her choose which pages to do in her Singapore workbook, and it seems to be going well. She starts from where she left off and pages through until she finds something that interests her. She tends to stick with a topic until she knows it pretty well, so I'm not too worried about her missing skills. And her attitude and motivation and performance are all vastly improved when I let her take the wheel...scary as that feels to me. We'll see how long I last. Another thing to consider is a game like Prodigy, which my kids are addicted to. It's a fun, free, online RPG in which your wizard has to answer a math problem correctly to cast a spell. DH says it's pretty well done and similar to some of the first RPGs he started on, and it sure motivates them and offers lots of variety in topics. You can set the level to match their ability, and you can assign them problem sets on topics you choose from other levels as part of the game, too.

Hi Lace! You're looking familiar. :-) Welcome to WTM, and enjoy your upcoming addiction to the boards here! I don't have a set time for BA work. I look over the upcoming problems, gauge their difficulty, and determine how many pages I'd like to see him finish. If things take vastly longer or shorter than anticipated, I adjust my requirements on the fly. (Actually, I wouldn't term them "requirements" since I usually say, "I think you can probably get through ___ today, but we'll see how it goes.") On days when he's frustrated or unfocused, I cut our time short; on days when he's really hitting his stride or is loving the work, I let him go for longer. We've done as little as 15-20 minutes and as much as an hour or more depending on the day. (He's ADHD, so sometimes it's impossible to get him to focus, but when he gets really immersed, it's impossible to peel him away.) Sorry if that wasn't as helpful as you might have liked...

Both of my older kids are solid readers, but like PP they only get into certain books--and then it goes in phases. We had a month or so where they couldn't get enough of A to Z Mysteries and would read them constantly...and then nothing (except bedtime reading and my read-alouds). This pattern seems to repeat. It does give me faint hope... Actually, what gives me more hope is that DH never liked reading much until he was in 6th grade or so, at which point he discovered science fiction and fantasy. He's now a librarian and he continues to devour his beloved genres. I think often it just takes a kid finding the right author, the right genre. If no one keeps encouraging the act of reading and showing different genres, it may never happen. And you may never have a kid that just lives for books, but even a kid who enjoys reading for a while in the evenings to unwind is a win for me. Give it time, keep "strewing", and hope for the best.

I went to Greece for a college interim course, so it's been a looong time ago, but... Knossos was one of my favorite sites. The size of the place, the way the tour guides describe what it must've been like... Crete in general is absolutely stunning. As I recall, we took an overnight cruise from the mainland to Heraklion and made stops at Knossos palace, Phaistos palace, Matala beach, Mallia palace, Ayios Nikolaos (beautiful little coastal town--quick stop, as I recall), Gournia (Minoan town), Rethimnon (Venetian fort), Khania harbor (beautiful lunch stop). We spent five days on Crete, just for reference--but I think you would not take as long in musuems with kids, and you could easily pare down the palaces and just pick a palace, another archaeological site, and a beautiful little coastal town to visit and spend a day on it all with overnight cruises there and back. From the mainland, I know we flew into in Athens and saw the Acropolis, the Areopagus, the Agora, and the changing of the guard in Syntagma Square, as well as the National Archaeological Museum. We went to Corinth, which I thought was cool to see as a Christian. Make sure you visit Mycenae! It's pretty cool to walk through the Lion Gate and to see the Treasury of Atreus and walk inside it. I definitely recall our tour of Olympia--running on the field, seeing the theatre, walking the column-lined streets. The other thing that you HAVE to do is see Meteora. It's this ethereal place with these spires of rock on which monasteries were built. You can visit a couple of them, but there are some that are unreachable unless you climb the rock spires. The view is breathtaking, and driving through them is like being in another world. Dug out my itinerary: We took a ship to/from Piraeus, if that helps. I can probably also find more info if I go digging through my notes, so let me know if you want more details on anything.

You mention "centers"--are you looking for things he can do independently (the primary goal of centers, since a teacher can't be everywhere) or merely hands-on learning activities? For relaxed math learning, MEP Reception (a snuggly, playful program available for free download--lots of talking about pictures, doing simple tracing, and playing occasional cut-out games) and RightStart A (lots of different manipulatives for various games, some songs and rhymes for number learning and writing) are options for that age. They require one-on-one involvement, though, and I'd recommend keeping it laid-back and informal unless he's really seeking more structure. For literacy, my kids did Learning Journey 3- and 4-piece word puzzles (they have number puzzles and other types, too), watched Leap Frog Letter Factory and Talking Words Factory, played with letter magnets and wooden letter blocks, practiced writing (even if it was just random lines they said had meaning), looked at books, went to library story time... Some good online options are MathSeeds and Reading Eggs (my kids loved the former and hated the latter--but lots of kids love Reading Eggs, and you can do the trial of both to see if he enjoys them), Starfall.com's subscription, and a variety of apps on all sorts of topics. Games like Mancala, checkers, Guess Who?, Uno, and myriad others can develop both sportsmanship skills (being a good winner/loser) and strategy/critical thinking. MagnaTiles, train tracks, Legos/Duplos are great for spatial planning. PlayDoh helps develop hand muscles needed for writing. Also consider other fine motor development (learning to button, zip, snap) as well as gross-motor skills like throwing, catching, hopping, skipping, riding a bike.

My 6yo is super into me giving him the chills lately, but the only rhyme I can remember is the one that was more popular when I was older...which is rather gruesome. FYI, the one I can remember goes: Treasure Island, Treasure Island [slowly drawing a large circle each time you say it] X marks the spot. X marks the spot. [making a large X each time you say it] Dot, dash, dot, dash, question mark. [self-explanatory] Spider crawling up your back--gotcha! [fingers crawl up back and grab the back of the person's neck] Spider crawling up your back--gotcha! [same as above] Dagger in the back--blood rushes down! [pound your fist between shoulder blades as if stabbing, then run your fingers down from there as a river of blood] Dagger in the back--blood rushes down! [same as above] Cool breeze, tight squeeze, now you've got the chills! [blow on the person's neck, squeeze both shoulders, and lightly tickle fingers all over back] I've been skipping the "dagger in the back--blood rushes down" bit with him, but I'd love to remember the clean rhyme I learned when I was really little. I know it started out "dot, dot, dash...dot, dot, dash..." And I'm pretty sure you pretended to crack an egg and have the yolk run down. I've searched online and found nothing like it, just odd versions of the one above. Anyone?

I never considered whether people would consider our Bible memory age-appropriate. I started them on the Catechism for Young Children (just the early questions) at 1 and 2 and headed for longer Bible passages by the time they were 2.5 and nearly 4. We started with Psalm 100 one November and moved on to Luke 2 in December. One of the best ways I found to help them learn passages quickly was to put motions to each phrase. You have to find a nice balance--too few motions and they can't remember all the words, too many motions and they interrupt the flow of what you say. I start with one line or verse and keep adding as we master it. (If you do too much at once, it's a bit overwhelming.) To be honest, it's the same technique I use now that my oldest is nearly 7. Putting motions to the words and learning a piece at a time seem like pretty good strategies--even for me! We've cycled through the same passages each year to make sure they're really ingrained, and it's amazing how well they remember and how delighted they are with themselves. Each year I've had to add more and more material to our rotation because they remember past stuff (and thus don't need weeks of learning) and they pick up new stuff more easily. I've been meaning to compile a list of all we've memorized just to show them...I should really do that... As far as whether you're pushing or not, I'd agree that you'll know, even if you try to convince yourself otherwise. Learning is fun when you're not pushing too hard--they're eager and you're enjoying their progress. When it starts getting frustrating--not just every once in a while but consistently--then you need to take a look at what you're doing and evaluate your expectations and methods. (This is specifically for young ones, since there is a time and place where a child needs to push through something even if it's not fun or easy; preschool is not that time or place.)

Is this per kid or total? I voted my total, which is about $500 in materials for the year, for two elementary students and a preschooler. Thankfully, I have quite a bit that will be reused once my oldest is done with it.

How "under" are the 3-and-under set? The activities I have in mind would work for most 2-3 yos... Do-a-Dot painting, especially at a plastic-covered table PlayDoh (my DS3 loves to use little construction vehicles to make roads, scoop and dump PlayDoh, etc) Little-friendly "marble run" with big pom-poms and toilet paper tubes taped to a wall or window. (If you want to get really creative, I saw someone who bought PVC pieces/elbows and attached suction cups so the kids could rearrange them on a window to make their own route.) Duplos, expecially with vehicles or trains and people All of my kids could play indefinitely with water at that age. Fill a container, place it somewhere that can get wet, and give them boats and scoopers and pots and pans and things that float or sink... Finger painting Baking (Everyone loves helping to dump and stir! But that may be nuts with SO many littles.) Simple crafts (esp. the ones that merely require taking simple shapes and arranging them--like "pick some shapes and make a face for this Jack-o-lantern!") Both my sons and my daughter were fascinated by those Melissa & Doug people you can dress with magnetic clothing--though again, depends on age; you may have to remove some of the small pieces like the shoes and shorts.

I, too, went to bed last night pondering this post. Why, oh why did you delete it, Sahamamama!? I've been pondering this moreso as I watch my kids lately. My oldest I can understand--he attacks anything that interests him with his whole being. He loves math, maps, and guitar, so he spends hours obsessing over those passions, pursuing them, practicing them. He gives them his all and keeps at them if he hits a stumbling block, working until he's past. If I take away some of the time he usually spends on those passions, he's positively brokenhearted. DD has passions, but she seems to...I guess "settle" more. Meaning she'll be excited to do something, but she's fine not giving it her all. Frankly, she's fine not doing it at all. This past week she broke her arm. I thought she'd be devastated that she'd have to forego the last five weeks of the soccer season and miss a bunch of dance classes...but she's not. She asked to do those activities, enjoyed them, was always excited on the day they occurred...but she's perfectly fine not doing them. I just can't wrap my mind around that. For that, I wonder how DD would do unschooling. I think ODS would focus mostly on his passions, but he's always asking questions and pursuing answers, so I think he'd end up with a pretty well-rounded education. Would DD? I fear that she'd just float from one thing to the next, scratching the surface but never going deeper. Maybe she'd surprise me. I do think we all have an innate drive to master difficult things. Her difficult things seem to be physical. She rarely seems to be interested in mental challenge, though she has a perfectly capable mind. Then again, perhaps without me supplying the challenge, she'd seek it on her own?

We're also doing MindUP very slowly. My kids love the exercises and are getting better at mindful breathing (even the 3 yo!), and I love the material on how the brain functions. I find it really helpful to refer to when they are getting upset while doing work. It really helps them understand why I want them to calm down before attempting to solve their problem, and it's given them resources to help them do so.

How about Stack the States and Stack the Countries apps? We just downloaded Countries, so I haven't gotten a chance to peruse it yet, but States has kids learn state shapes, capitols, flags, nicknames, locations... I fully expect countries to be equally as good. (So far I just know you work by continent and can turn off/on the different question types to avoid being overwhelmed.) My 6.5yo geography nut LOVED States and has been begging me to get Countries for a while. His other hobby is pondering a Geography Bee Handbook that I picked up on the bargain rack. It has lots of fascinating facts about the different countries, maps to ponder, and 1001 quiz questions (which I've had to ask him 10 of nightly--we're up to 350). He will sometimes take a break from that to browse one of our atlases, which also contain brief articles about various places and cultures.

Like PP, I find that I view it as more my approach to education than the use of any specific products. My oldest was diagnosed with ADHD, and my middle child is just very active. I do read-alouds during snack time so their hands are occupied; we keep small toys nearby on the table (cars, PlayDoh, paper & pencils) so they have something to do if they finish eating before I finish reading. History consists of read-alouds and anything hands-on I can come up with to reinforce the content. Science is entirely experiment-driven--things to watch and test and then discuss. If we're discussing, the kids are often jumping on our mini-trampolines or turning somersaults while we do so. Those trampolines also come in handy during math, since they often need to get energy out while pondering or after succeeding at figuring something out. My curriculum choices reflect my kids' needs. We used RightStart math because of its interactive, hands-on, game-based nature. (Though I moved my oldest on after C and my middle halfway through C.) We use All About Spelling because I can be right there keeping ODS on task (though we will switch to How To Teach Spelling because he really doesn't need the tiles, just the parent-driven nature to help him maintain attention). We're using MCT's language arts because it's story-based and not workbook-heavy. (We often do this post-snack, and the kids literally roll all around the living room as I read.) I avoid workbooks for ODS because even if he enjoys the work, it takes him an eternity to do. Thus, the only bookwork he has is for math. As for learning toys, we love our Snap Circuits, magnet sets, Legos, stomp rocket, science experiment kits, and geography puzzles. I'm planning on getting some Knex education sets for Christmas, since I think those would be great to combine learning with play. I can't comment on Tegu; I've heard a lot about them but never actually seen them.

My kids are 6.5, 5.5, and 3.5. Here are some that all three enjoyed within the past six months or year... Pippi Longstocking (Frankly, I can't stand her, but the kids thought she was hilarious. I read it because we're nearly to the end of the MENSA list and I hate to quit with 3 to go.) Little House in the Big Woods (Laura turns 5 in this one, so her perspective is just perfect and she's totally relatable.) Trumpet of the Swan (We'd already read Charlotte's Web; this one is equally as good. It's old, but doesn't feel out-of-date or boring like some old classics.) Winnie the Pooh (I'd read bits to them younger; this past year seemed to be the perfect year. The older kids understood the silliness and the little guy just liked the stories.) My Father's Dragon (This one is short and has an incredibly clever kid and defeating some mean animals to save a baby dragon--what's not to like?) I read them 1-2 chapters a day, depending on length. The older kids read on their own before bed, I read a couple books to the little guy before bed, and we often have some other reading together during the day; all in all, I figure it's plenty. In regard to your search for other books for your daughter, my daughter who loved Frog and Toad also enjoyed Ling and Ting books (probably easier, but delightfully silly) and Mr. Putter and Tabby (more on-level with F&T). Both my older kids have enjoyed anything by Tedd Arnold (Huggly, Fly Guy, and Parts books--ranging from about early/mid 1st grade level to early 3rd).

What a feat! How awesome for him (and you)!

Add them as an assignment in Prodigy. You can choose which fact family to work on and how many questions to ask, and Prodigy will tell you each question that was asked and whether your child got it right. I started a couple days ago, picking different fact families each day and have him do 10 questions of each, and they seem to be almost entirely automatic now. I feel almost devious having worked that practice into something he was already (obsessively, ecstatically) doing.

We had the same trouble, but unfortunately the area we lived in until last year had very few homeschoolers. I had been part of a MOMS Club, but the only people attending activities were those with toddlers and babies. I enrolled each of my kids in a weekly class. Those weren't especially social--more activity-focused, and the kids in there were busy enough with school and activities that they weren't interested in playdates--but at least got my kids around other kids consistently. I also found a MOPS (Mothers Of Pre-Schoolers--twice-a-month morning of childcare and adult time for Christian moms) program that had a lot of kids; enough of them did preschool only certain days that there were about 10 kids each in the 3s and 4s classes. Where we live now, there are LOTS of homeschoolers, but it took me a while to find activities for the younger set. (With the in-town group, I inquired about starting a park day that wasn't during everyone's littles' nap time and was told I was outta luck until my kids were older because they didn't want a second day or time for the park. Nor did they really want ideas for field trips that would suit anyone under middle school age. That group seems to have died this year...) I finally happened upon a group started via MeetUp, and there are tons of families in there with young elementary kids who drag their preschoolers and babies along to events. It was started by a mom who couldn't find a group to join, and it has grown so much in two years that there are often 60-75 people signed up for each outing, and they have to start turning people away. (That's the only downside...) But as someone upthread mentioned, if you have a need, there's almost certain to be someone else who has the same one. (Okay, now that I've written that I realize that I did try to start a park day for preschool families back in my old area; we had three others show up, all of whom lived 30-45 minutes in completely different directions from the park at which we met, and two of whom had actually signed their kids up for preschool... We never had a second meeting. So I guess there IS the chance of failure, but there's also the chance of glorious success, and you never know which it'll be unless you try.) On a related note, does anyone find it sad that the 3-5 crowd is so overbooked that they have no time for playdates or time at the park?

I think the key is tuning in to your child. If they are ready for a skill, they will often naturally be interested in learning it. Provide the opportunities and follow their lead. So, for example, read ABC books, do ABC puzzles, watch LeapFrog Letter Factory--provide the opportunities, and watch for their interest to be piqued. When it is, praise and encourage their learning and open new doors. They recognize some letters in their puzzle? Point out those letters on store signs and in books. Introduce them to the sounds of the letters. Show them that letter sounds combine to make words. Continue to provide opportunities until their interest wanes; then wait for the next wave. Somehow learning always comes in cycles or waves, switching from one interest to another. I think the studies that show problems with early reading instruction are more a reflection on general readiness than on age. Since most children are not ready to read at 3 or 4, most will not progress well at that age. By age 7, most children are capable of learning to read, and thus more of them will become successful readers. If you follow your child's lead, they will be fine (barring any innate learning issues) regardless of age.

I taught in both public and private schools, and this right here was my heartbreak. Even as a teacher who truly cared about her students, I felt like I had no chance of really getting to know them all or really individualize their instruction--there were just too many of them, even in the smaller classes I taught (18 or 19 vs. 24 or 25 kids). I felt awful that I saw these kids for more waking hours than their parents and still could tell you very little about them as people. Sure, I knew their names and a little about their families and personalities, but I only had a relationship with the ones who really put themselves out there. Most of them did not, and I didn't have the time to pursue that many kids individually. And the curriculum met the needs of the middle-of-the-road kids. Many of the kids either understood the material from the moment they laid eyes on it and could easily have moved at double-pace OR desperately needed me to slow down...but I couldn't possibly do both, so I had to do the best middle-of-the-road I could. I felt like I failed so many kids. That said, my teaching experience was not the sole determining factor in our choice to homeschool. In fact, we were planning to utilize our highly-acclaimed public school system up until the year before our oldest started kindergarten, but stories regarding the mentality and methods of the schools from friends with kids a year or two older combined with the capabilities and personality of our oldest helped to steer us toward homeschooling. The longer I homeschool and the more stories I hear bout our public system, the more I love homeschooling and see myself continuing indefinitely.