My 5 year old is 2e and at that age he spent hours on educational apps. He loved the endless alphabet series. They have a couple of similar ones (Endless reader, Endless numbers) which are also good. He liked the hooked on phonics app until he outgrew it. He was obsessed with http://iluvtrucks.com/ for awhile. Eventually he started using ABC Mouse, which isn't the greatest thing in the world, but I think it's worth the price. He also used to love sitting down and reading flash cards, when we had the time to go through them with him. I second the advice to ignore well meaning people's opinions. People who are not raising a child like this just don't get it.

So far I'm thinking: Bible - BSGFAA Spelling - Looking at AAS or Spelling You See History - Probably Beautiful Feet Books Early American History Primary (might add some books from MFW and/or Sonlight) Geography - The 50 States: Explore the USA With 50 Fact Filled maps (book) along with a sticker map and states coloring book Math - Singapore Primary 1B/2A Phonics - Explode the code Reading - Readers from the library / Mensa for kids K-3 reading list for read alouds Handwriting - A Reason For Handwriting Science - DK First ________ Encyclopedia's along with some hands on kits and probably those Inquisikids DVD's -------- Gym & Swim class Social Skills class Warm Water & Movement class (sensory) Possibly Hippotherapy every other week This will probably change though!

So, the more I look at it, the more I am liking (possibly loving) Beautiful Feet Books. Plus, as an added bonus, it looks like our library system carries all but 3 of the Early American History Primary jumbo collection books, and they may even be able to order those ones from different library systems from me, so the cost should be really reasonable!

Thank you! I've never even heard of Beautiful Feet Books before, so I'm glad that I asked. I actually really like their study sequence. I read the article, and I guess that's kind of along the lines of what I'm thinking. I'm sort of picturing the whole thing geographically since my son is not really able to understand the difference between 10 years ago and 100 years ago yet, but he does know what country we live in, and he's starting to ask questions about the president and different states, etc. I feel like he'll be more interested in American history and hopefully as we learn some geography and his concept of time increases, ancient history will make a little more sense to him.

Hi there, there's a thread floating around about 1st grade planning for next year and it got me thinking about how I have no clue what I want to do for history. I see that a lot of people are using SOTW or MOH, but I think I might like to do US history first. Is this uncommon? Does anyone have any recommendations for US history at this level? Also, I would like to start introducing some light geography. I might go through "The 50 States" book (Explore the USA with 50 fact filled maps), but I'm totally open to suggestions. I think I would like to possibly do that book and then branch out into a general overview of the rest of the globe, but I'm just not sure yet. Thanks!

Library for books, thrift stores for jeans and sometimes shoes (especially for toddlers since they outgrow them before they get worn out), shop clearance at the very end of a season for the next year (now's the time to start looking for next years coats, btw.) I used to sell old toys at consignment sales, and the money that I made would at least partially cover the cost of whatever used toys I purchased at the same sale. DIY when possible. Shop at Aldi.

Currently doing K with my 5 year old: - Homemade bible timeline. - Progressive Phonics. - Explode the code. - Essential Math. - A reason for handwriting. - Readers from the library. - Thames & Kosmos intro to engineering kit. - Natural World (book) & How things work encyclopedia (DK). -Social skills class. -Homeschool gym & swim class. -Warm water & movement class (OT/sensory stuff.)

This really depends on the child. My older son was hyperlexic and honestly loved sitting down to read flashcards at age 2. Now my younger son is 2 and he has no idea what a flashcard is and he couldn't care less about that sort of thing. My best advice is to tune into who your child actually is, and not what anyone says they are supposed to be at a certain age. That's one of the things that I like about this board - people are very open to the idea of children developing in all sorts of different ways. Spend some time on the special needs and accelerated learner boards to get an idea of the vast differences in child development, it will help you to be prepared for anything.

I'm on the border of being underweight, and memes about "bones being for dogs" and whatnot do kind of bother me. I don't think it's ever appropriate to shame someone else's body type, whether they are purposely trying to attain that particular look or not.

I have a 2 and a 5 year old, both with autism, home with me right now. I make a menu and use it to limit grocery shopping to one trip per week. My husband preps meats for me on the weekend (I would still probably do it myself on the weekend if he didn't.) and separates them out into individual plastic bags for each meal for the whole week. He will usually prep veggies when need be as well. This helps tremendously when I'm running out of time and energy in the evening, all I really have to do is dump the food in a pan and cook it. We also do sandwiches once per week and a rotisserie chicken on grocery shopping day because they're easy. Pulled chicken/beef is a good crockpot meal because there is no prep. Just dump the meat in and dump some BBQ sauce on it when it's cooked. Honestly, I wouldn't be able to handle both prepping and cooking on weeknights right now. I can hardly manage to dump and fry a bag of chicken chunks. Oh, also, we've been doing frozen rice/veggies and tater tots for easy sides. Sometimes I'll fancy it up and bake some actual potatoes lol.

Thanks for sharing, I went ahead and watched it. I'm on the spectrum, and I think this was pretty spot on. I really appreciate that they explained that a lot of the social difficulties are rooted in simply being so overwhelmed by your environment that it's hard to tune into the social world. If you can't tune in, then you're not going to pick up on how to socialize in a natural way. Also, I think that these two young ladies are very blessed to have such supportive families.

Thanks, everyone - I went ahead and just ordered the textbook and the workbook. It didn't cost that much more, so I didn't want to risk leaving anything important out. I also threw in a set of Unifix cubes while I was at it :laugh: So much for saving money lol. On another note, has anyone tried those math wrap up thingys? They look pretty neat!

Hi there, my son is 51/2 and he's working his way through the Essential Math workbooks without any issues. He'll be finished with those in a month or two and I have to place an order for a different book right now, so I figured I might as well order his next math book while I'm at it and save on shipping. I'm looking at Primary Mathematics 1A and wondering, do I really need to bother with the text book? It looks pretty straight forward and I can't imagine what the text book could possibly have to offer. Is it reasonable to assume that I should just skip the text? If so, about what level does the text become necessary? Also - are these intensive practice workbooks worth it at this level, or is it just beating a dead horse if the child is reasonably good at math. Thank you!

Yes, I really want something small and manageable. My kids just need to take breaks in a quiet place periodically throughout the day, so as long as there's a soft comfy place to snuggle up with a TV show and a clean bathroom (just clean, not fancy), we're good to go. We'll probably be barbecuing the whole time, so the kitchen isn't even that important.

I honestly think that he would do well with flying to a beach and just keeping it at that. It's my 2 year old that I'm worried about when it comes to that idea. I picture a lot of tantrums, sand throwing, sand eating, chasing him, etc. I think that if I just wait a year it would be so much more enjoyable for everyone. I like that pontoon idea! I have never thought to try to rent one!

Yeah, I hear you. I guess I'm just used to NY lol. I actually moved up here from Long Island, so to me the rest of the state is very calm and peaceful and the traffic is a piece of cake in comparison. I wouldn't dare go to Corning though lol.

Thank you, I'm going to look into this - it looks like the weeks that we have available are already booked up for this year, but I seriously might consider registering for next year.

I'd agree that these don't sound like minor issues. While you're figuring out evals and what not, you could try some bubble baths to take the edge off. Water pressure without the hassle of finding an indoor pool :)

Thank you, I really needed to read this. I was feeling a little crazy. Thankfully this was all over text, so if anyone wants to know what really happened, they can just read it. This is really the last thing I need right now, but hopefully it leads to a better provider and some relief in the end.

So, I finally let that respite provider go yesterday. Our funding works in such a way that I am reimbursed for each child from two different agencies, due to their ages. It is up to me to seek out and hire my own provider. Being that I homeschool, I really needed someone during the day. I could only think of one person that I already knew who was available during the day, she was someone from church that we met a few years ago. I'm not really sure that I could have communicated what this was any more clearly, but this lady took my hiring her to watch my kids as something completely different than it actually was. She insisted the entire time that she was a "volunteer" and would only accept payment so that I would not lose my funding. When the funding ran out, she refused to accept money out of pocket. She also saw herself as some kind of a Supernanny and me as the parent who was asking her for help with raising my kids. Obviously that was kind of infuriating, and I was constantly working towards politely getting her to tone down the unsolicited advice a notch. Not to mention, she wouldn't listen to a word I said about how to care for the kids. She knew better then me, and she was going to show me how it's done. To add to it, she started with a pretty serious injury. I was obviously concerned, not only about her well being, but also about her ability to do what I needed her to do. She kept insisting that it would not be an issue. Beyond insisting. Only...it was an issue. It became an issue this winter, when she started having to cancel constantly because she was afraid to leave the house because she might slip and re-injure it. I get that - I really do, but she wouldn't quit. She wanted to keep working for me, even though she couldn't get here. Finally, yesterday, when she canceled due to RAIN that she was afraid might freeze while she was here, I couldn't take it any longer, and I told her that I had to start looking for a provider who could be more reliable. She took it badly. She reminded me of her injury, she told me that I KNEW about her injury from the start, she told me that she has done her very best to help our family. And now I feel kind of horrible. Like I am ungrateful for this saint who swooped in here to save the day in my time of need, despite being injured. And also like I am being completely unreasonable. She's injured. Of course she can't come out in bad weather. Why would I expect her to. Oh wait - because it was RAIN and people don't skip out on work when it's raining out. But it wasn't work...she's a "volunteer." UGH!

No, we're not military, but that sounds amazing for those who are!

I'm so happy to hear that you've done this with success! I'm impressed by the general affordability of the idea too, especially considering how well it might work for our family. We're in upstate NY, and we're going to try to stay in the general region and do a "trial run" of something simple this summer, that way if it's a disaster we can just cut it short and go home without too much of a headache or loss. I'm thinking maybe Lake George or Letchworth State Park. Maybe Niagara Falls. Something that isn't too over stimulating.

We stayed in a cabin a few years ago. It was okay. The bathroom was kind of gross, so that turned me off to it I think (I have OCD so I can't deal with a gross bathroom.) We were actually seriously considering purchasing a trailer, but then we found out that our Jeep can only haul 3500 lbs. which would mean that we would likely have to purchase a larger tow vehicle, and the whole idea just started to sound way too complicated.

We're thinking about renting an RV - that way we can have a little home base with us wherever we decide to go. Still not sure where to actually bring the thing though.

I was actually thinking about going to a Great Wolf Lodge before even reading your post. I was thinking that not having to leave the resort would make things much more manageable. Looks kind of pricey though.