Thanks Stephanie. Unfortunately my local libraries carry a number of books about homeschooling but not really any curriculum. Otherwise, that would be a great solution. But, I will consider your other suggestion. Thanks again.

I hope someone can help me... I like the Writing With Ease program but I'd rather have the guidelines and incorporate my own literature excerpts and poems. Does such a curriculum exist? Has anyone, maybe, created their own already and shared it on a blog?

Thank you for sharing this. Their catalog of videos is incredible. I'm sure this will become an invaluable resource.

Thanx ElizabethB for mentioning that spelling book. i saved a copy, i really like it! :)

Thanx for starting this discussion as I had a similar question. I didn't think about waiting to finish phonics before starting a formal spelling program.

Well, ou is a diphthong. So, you could try a search for that and you should get lots of results with worksheets and whatever else you may need. HTH

Thanx for this post. We're about to start 1st grade and I was trying to narrow it down, but was worried about leaving something out. This is a big help, especially the book lists mentioned.

I bought most of our books in February with the tax return like several of you did. I thought it was my geekiness flaring up again, lol! Actually, it's that I'm homeshooling year round and he's ready to move on to 1st grade.