The 1999 edition is the one I own as well. I've been tempted to get the newest edition, but I'm trying to be content with what I have (in all things :001_smile:).

Rod & Staff (my dd really likes MCT, but seriously,for rigor: Rod & Staff :001_smile:)

:iagree: My eldest is not a natural speller, and this is what we are approaching now. Okay, bordering on good :001_smile:.

The US Edition for levels 1-6 are still in print. Standards is the new edition put out to conform with CA's math standards. The only thing that went out of print for the US edition is the Earlybird math....well, and Challenging Word Problems, but that is another topic altogether.

I'd try Base 10 blocks. I love those things :001_smile:.

The old Earlybird workbooks are indeed out of print. The new Standards edition Kindergarten Mathematics A & B "textbooks" are consumable like the old Earlybird 1A/B, 2A/B. I used the old edition of Earlybird with my first two kids. This is my first go-around with the Standards edition with my third child. I prefer the old ones, but that may just be my dislike of change :lol:. The concepts covered will still get my child ready for Singapore 1A (US edition), which is my only real goal with K math anyway.

Oh my goodness, that is a great idea! Thank you :001_smile:! And to the OP, I agree with the advice Ellie just gave you :001_smile:. I start my kids out on playing with the rods before I start the worksheet pages. I only use Miquon as a supplement so I haven't given much thought to how to order it if one were using it as a stand-alone.

Many of the books mentioned already and Left Back by Diane Ravitch.

Well, I don't know about "fun" (my kids don't think handwriting is fun at all), but I like StartWrite for making my own handwriting worksheets. Modern Manuscript and Cursive are one of the style options. We started with D'Nealian since it was what was used in their phonics program and so I just stuck with it afterward.

Rainbow Rock covers Level 1 and 2. Vroot and Vroom covers 3 and 4. Wiggle Woods covers 5 and 6.

I think they're helpful. My kids certainly like them :001_smile:. I don't know how much they've changed over the years. My copy of Rainbow Rock says it was printed in 2004 and that the First Printing was in 2000. Vroot and Vroom says 2006, first printing in 1999, and Wiggle Woods says 2006, First Printing in 2000. I do know the CD-ROMs will not run on my dh's PC. They run on all of our Windows XP PCs, but my dh has Vista on his. I read once on a messageboard somewhere that it will run on some Vista PCs though. I'm techologically challenged but iirc, my dh said it's because his version of Vista is 64-bit (?), and there are some versions of Vista which are not. Perhaps someone more tech-savvy than me will chime in here :lol:. I don't know if they have released any newer versions. The games aren't grouped by Lesson number, so using it with Standards shouldn't be an issue. The games are grouped by topic. HTH.

Ooo, I am trying this tomorrow :001_smile:.

Singapore can stand alone. We use more than one math program because my kids like the extra math. Miquon approaches things from a slightly different angle, and Life of Fred is just fun. When she was younger, my dd needed more practice with her basic math facts. That can be accomplished with flash cards though. My ds isn't having that issue, so every kid is different, too.

Another opinion: I used the DVDs for LC1 and am currently using them for LC2. My dd likes them just fine. I didn't have the time to teach the Latin lessons to her so we were falling behind. I bought the DVDs so I wouldn't have to teach Latin anymore and they are working for us quite well.

I use TOG with my eldest dd (now in 5th grade), and I just bring my 6yo along for the ride :001_smile:. My dd does the Dialectic assignments independently. For my ds6 I mostly just read SOTW as it is scheduled on TOG's Alternate page. If I see any of the other LG readings are already on our shelves I use them. I have also bought a few that we didn't have if they looked really interesting. I think SOTW with some of the LG Literature selections from TOG is really enough for my ds at his age.

I finished up most of FLL 1 & 2 with my ds last year. This year I decided to put him in R&S 2 because I felt uncomfortable skipping it, but 25 lessons in, I am rethinking this now. After going through FLL, R&S 2 is quite easy. My son likes it, which is why I haven't moved him up to R&S 3 yet. I am seriously considering it though.

My 2 oldest kids do Singapore mostly independently. I will sometimes have to further explain a topic if they didn't "get it" in the textbook. Most of the time they can read the textbook and understand it though. But as previous posters have said, this depends on the kid. My kids are mathy.

Back when we were on 4A, I assigned both the textbook and the workbook problems. I used the weekly schedule in the front of the HIG as a guide. I also assigned the IP and the CWP books. I skipped anything in the IP that I thought was redundant, but she did most of the IPs. This means on some days she'd be doing both an assignment in her workbook and an assignment in the IP or CWP book. This wasn't a problem for us since so many of the workbook assignments are quite short. As for scheduling the IP/CWP, back then I sort of winged it. I am more anal about such things now :001_smile:. I tried not to assign anything extra on textbook days. My dd has "issues" with copying out problems into a separate notebook :tongue_smilie:. The work takes twice as long if she has to copy problems, so I made an allowance for that.

My baby is growing too fast... So I was reading the introduction to Life of Fred: Pre-Algebra 1 with Biology this morning and I see that Dr. Schmidt is allowing the use of calculators with this book. My internal dialogue goes off and says, "Ah yes, I remember being allowed to use a calculator when I hit Pre-Algebra type topics when I was in school." And then, "Oh my! My baby girl is starting Pre-Algebra! Where did the time go?" And then, "Wait, should I be letting her use a calculator for Primary Math as well?" And finally, "Oh crap! I should've picked up one of those cute four function calculators I saw on sale at Staples after all. Now I'm going to have to lend her my scientific calculator." What say you, Singapore moms? Calculators for 6A? 6B? NEM?

I bought index cards for our homeschool for the first time this year. I'm so disappointed. For years I've been working our way through a stockpile of index cards I had purchased back when I was in college. (Yeah, I had an issue with over-buying school supplies even before I had children.:lol:) This sounds so cranky, but....they don't make 'em like they used to!

Lab Sheet Annotations by Lore Rasmussen

May I ask what you like about it? I have been SO tempted to buy this, but I'm still on the fence. I have been assigning some of TOG's writing assignments without WA. What does WA add to TOG's writing program that I am missing out on?

:iagree: If you prefer paper though, donnayoung.org has free templates. I made my own planner from her printouts before getting HST+.

I don't know why the prices vary so much either. But...I have an interlocking set with two different colors (red and blue). I am indifferent to the interlocking, but the variation in color is nice for visually showing two separate numbers that are added together or subtracted. I got my set from Rainbow Resource, but I can't remember which set I bought.

We school year round, too. I generally try to "roll over" our school year in May or June. We take a week off for major holidays like Thanksgiving, Easter, and the Fourth of July. For Christmas, we usually take off a full 3 weeks. We do 5 days of school per week and I make sure we get in 180 days of school. This isn't due to a state requirement, it's just my preference. Any other days off from school are based on when we need a break or because of vacations or illness.