K-2nd New Year Chat

[BusyMom5]

It's a new year, so let's start a new chat for those of us with Littles! 

We are starting back after a long break and I'm deciding what to do for now and starting to look at stuff for next year 🤩

I just bought thecZaner Bloser 1st Grade spelling book- in part for handwriting practice,  too.  She did 3 pages in that today.  I'm not planning to use it as a real spelling curriculum.   Overall I'm very happy with it!  

[Clarita]

I bought Schoolnest Spelling Notebook. It's not a curriculum but it has my first grader happily spelling 10 words a week and writing sentences. My Kindergartner requested her own too.

JAWM, because I'm complaining and I know she'll grow out of it. DD5 (in  Kindergarten) complains to me every day about doing school. 1) She even complains on days I have no school planned, and 2) most of the things we do for school are things she decided she wanted to do 3 months ago. Also she always has the option to not do any of it, she just can't bother big brother and me while we work on his school stuff. Of course when she stops complaining and does it she's fine with it and sometimes even enjoys it. 

[Nm.]

Second semester:

I did some decluttering!  

 I have preschool math at home, some letter flashcards, before five in a row/ more before for the prek ready to go for tomorrow.

2nd grader IDK math/la is fine.  Still decluttering! 

Edited January 2 by Nm.

[Nm.]

Also thinking of biting the bullet and getting all about reading prereading 🤪

[Brittany1116]

Finishing RS Patterns of Nature this week and then moving on to a human body unit including TGTB and other resources. He liked PoN but will like anatomy more. 

Finished LOF Dogs and another CLE math unit. 

He's big on Usborne Hey Jack books right now. 

No complaints, no plans for change. Spelling is coming quite naturally, reading is fun, cursive is neat... wish this stage lasted forever. 

[LauraClark]

We start back tomorrow. Ds 2nd finished OPGTR right before break so now we can just read books (host!!). We might start with The Velveteen Rabbit. 

I started using flash cards with our daily math. He is always counting up with addition and doesn't seem to be memorizing.

He wants to do typing with his older brothers. I'm torn. On one hand I don't care but on the other I don't think he's paying attention to finger placement and I'm not sure if that will cause bad habits. Anyone have an opinion about that?

I've decided that we're doing something different during the hardest homeschool month: Feb. We're going to put aside several subjects, learn state history, and complete some kind of project (I'll let them choose a state related subject to research). I'll probably assign my oldest at least a paper, maybe a poster. Next ds I might do a shorter paper and a diorama (I think he would like that). Ds 2nd... I'm not sure what to have him do yet.

[Nm.]

I bought AAR prereading!  The whole kit brand new.  Piecing it all together might have saved 30$… but not new, possibly wrong editions etc. 

I feel like I can breathe🙃.  I do so much better having math and phonics their own subjects.  I really want to keep things super simple and minimal- yet thorough.  Then lots of read alouds/crafts.

Edited January 2 by Nm.

[alysee]

We are on Lesson 40 with EZ lessons. We will be starting a new HWT book. Continuing with JUMP Math. We are adding in Evanmoor Beginning Geography and will do that a couple times a week along with reading through Usborne 1st Encyclopedia of Space & Human Body and Usborne Beginner sets History/Science/Nature because we have them and because winter is here and we won't have such quick access to a library. 

[BusyMom5]

4 hours ago, LauraClark said:

We start back tomorrow. Ds 2nd finished OPGTR right before break so now we can just read books (host!!). We might start with The Velveteen Rabbit. 

I started using flash cards with our daily math. He is always counting up with addition and doesn't seem to be memorizing.

He wants to do typing with his older brothers. I'm torn. On one hand I don't care but on the other I don't think he's paying attention to finger placement and I'm not sure if that will cause bad habits. Anyone have an opinion about that?

I've decided that we're doing something different during the hardest homeschool month: Feb. We're going to put aside several subjects, learn state history, and complete some kind of project (I'll let them choose a state related subject to research). I'll probably assign my oldest at least a paper, maybe a poster. Next ds I might do a shorter paper and a diorama (I think he would like that). Ds 2nd... I'm not sure what to have him do yet.

I wouldn't encourage it because of bad habits.  Their fingers aren't very long either.  I just wait until mine are closer to age 10.

[Momof4sweetkids]

6yp DD will finish MM 1 this week. I think we will do Addition Facts That Stick before MM2 even though her facts are quick just for a change of pace. Since finish AAR 4, she's just reading aloud to me and she reads a lot on her own. I feel like all the booklists have all the same books and I'm running out of ideas for her independent reading since her reading level and maturity are so different. I got BFB Seasons Afield but have forgotten about it more weeks than not 😅

4 yo DD is in a holding pattern, she knows her letter sounds but doesn't understand blending. She likes ETC Get Ready for the Code. I think its just busywork. Lots of math practice with the Tiny Polka Dot cards. 

[Clarita]

1 hour ago, Momof4sweetkids said:

I'm running out of ideas for her independent reading since her reading level and maturity are so different.

I just started to let DS7 pick out his own books either from the library or otherwise. Some of it is probably in the "twaddle" zone but most are somewhere in-between. DS7 really likes Dragon Masters, I look through them and give him excerpts from those to work with. I'm trying to do what Rooted in Language calls "intentional copywork". So I pick a grammar/phonics/writing structure and then highlight it in the excerpt. 

Actually this line of books is decent https://www.scholastic.com/site/branches.html. The writing is easy enough to make doable copywork and it's written in grammatically correct english. Topics are interesting and appropriate for K-2 (I just don't know about 3rd and beyond). 

[Momof4sweetkids]

6 minutes ago, Clarita said:

Actually this line of books is decent https://www.scholastic.com/site/branches.html. The writing is easy enough to make doable copywork and it's written in grammatically correct english. Topics are interesting and appropriate for K-2 (I just don't know about 3rd and beyond). 

My daughter loved Owl Diaries and Unicorn Diaries from Branches. DH didn't love some of the content in Kingdom of Wrenly so we stopped but she loved those as well. 

Part of it is that I don't want her reading books with lots of bad attitudes or drama and DH doesn't want anything that could be dark or scary so we are pretty picky.

[alysee]

19 minutes ago, Momof4sweetkids said:

My daughter loved Owl Diaries and Unicorn Diaries from Branches. DH didn't love some of the content in Kingdom of Wrenly so we stopped but she loved those as well. 

Part of it is that I don't want her reading books with lots of bad attitudes or drama and DH doesn't want anything that could be dark or scary so we are pretty picky.

I second these books - my almost 6 year old has loved both series. I read them to her but they dont have a ton of words on each Page so as a first Chapter book it would be perfect! 

[Clarita]

56 minutes ago, Momof4sweetkids said:

My daughter loved Owl Diaries and Unicorn Diaries from Branches. DH didn't love some of the content in Kingdom of Wrenly so we stopped but she loved those as well. 

Part of it is that I don't want her reading books with lots of bad attitudes or drama and DH doesn't want anything that could be dark or scary so we are pretty picky.

Good to know about the Kingdom of Wrenly. Dragon Masters has some "scary" stuff in it (not every book but we've encountered one or two with a drak room or some bad guys). DD5 has enjoyed some of Unicorn Diaries; she isn't quite reading these by herself yet.  

[countrymum]

@Momof4sweetkids

 

My kids actually like the Alice and Jerry 1st-3rd grade readers. Nice calm interesting stories about kids.

Also Animal Stories (or something like that) by Emma Seral is quite nice.

Fairchild Family Series is good too. Schoolroom in the Parlor, Up and Down the River ...innocent and interesting.

 

 

Edited January 3 by countrymum

[countrymum]

We switched to interest led science reading from our well stalked non fiction bookcase. It's going well for the 2nd grader and the 5th grader. It's faster and interesting.

We added Memoria Press cursive to learn cursive this spring.

2 times a week a notebook page for history or science for writing/ narration.

We also added art in with I Can Do All Things. A book we had started a while ago. It seems perfect now;)

 

Math, phonics spelling, language, and history are going well. It's been a good 2nd grade year. 

[Paige]

I'm not sure what to do with my 6yr old for language arts. He's technically still K but he picks things up quickly. Anything like AAR or LOE seems like too much, or that he's really between levels. I hate spending money on a full $$$ curriculum when we only need 1/3 of it. We are doing AAS because I have it from older kids and it's boring and only spelling, but then again, he's only K so it probably doesn't matter. He's finished Alphaphonics, he's reading at about early 2nd grade/late 1st grade level, he can spell pretty much all the level 1 words in AAS and most of level 2, and his handwriting is good. But he gets bored quickly, hates review, and I'm not sure he has the patience for any kind of grammar or workbooky thing. All other subjects are covered.

I kind of feel we could just read and practice fluency, keep doing a little AAS, write a few sentences, and draw a picture for English for the rest of the year, but then I feel I'm being a slacker. 

For other subjects- he's doing MM, dreambox, and a little BA for math. I have Young Scientist kits and a few kits from Home Science Tools, and we were doing Exploring the World through Story, but now I'm holding off on level B until he's older. 

[Nm.]

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Edited January 19 by Nm.

[Clarita]

48 minutes ago, Paige said:

But he gets bored quickly, hates review, and I'm not sure he has the patience for any kind of grammar or workbooky thing. All other subjects are covered.

I kind of feel we could just read and practice fluency, keep doing a little AAS, write a few sentences, and draw a picture for English for the rest of the year, but then I feel I'm being a slacker. 

I don't make my DS do review, basically what I tell him for spelling, reading, writing and math I need to see him do it quickly and accurately. Show me that and we can skip the lesson and not do specific review on it. There's some built-in review for all those topics, so you'll see when they need to review a topic.

[Brooke]

We are in my 5 year olds K year. We are still easing back into school now. We are starting off with random read alouds and some pages from explode the code book one in the morning. Next week we will go back into our regular routine and I’m actually looking forward to it. Oh and mystery science will be on sale this month around the 15th so I’m excited to dive into it with my science loving boys.

[Brooke]

3 hours ago, Paige said:

I'm not sure what to do with my 6yr old for language arts. He's technically still K but he picks things up quickly. Anything like AAR or LOE seems like too much, or that he's really between levels. I hate spending money on a full $$$ curriculum when we only need 1/3 of it. We are doing AAS because I have it from older kids and it's boring and only spelling, but then again, he's only K so it probably doesn't matter. He's finished Alphaphonics, he's reading at about early 2nd grade/late 1st grade level, he can spell pretty much all the level 1 words in AAS and most of level 2, and his handwriting is good. But he gets bored quickly, hates review, and I'm not sure he has the patience for any kind of grammar or workbooky thing. All other subjects are covered.

I kind of feel we could just read and practice fluency, keep doing a little AAS, write a few sentences, and draw a picture for English for the rest of the year, but then I feel I'm being a slacker. 

For other subjects- he's doing MM, dreambox, and a little BA for math. I have Young Scientist kits and a few kits from Home Science Tools, and we were doing Exploring the World through Story, but now I'm holding off on level B until he's older. 

Sounds a lot like my guy! I’m not sure what to do with him either. We are in AAR 2 and it’s starting to feel like most lessons are a waste of time. I’m trying hard to figure out what to do because I want him to get reading instruction. Slow and steady isn’t his cup of tea. If you find something that works please let me know! 

[Paige]

9 minutes ago, Brooke said:

Sounds a lot like my guy! I’m not sure what to do with him either. We are in AAR 2 and it’s starting to feel like most lessons are a waste of time. I’m trying hard to figure out what to do because I want him to get reading instruction. Slow and steady isn’t his cup of tea. If you find something that works please let me know! 

Have you tried something like Alphaphonics? It's really basic and there's no extras or review but it gets the job done and is inexpensive. I switched after trying a more complete program that I felt was too much fluff that he hated. But now that we're done I'm not sure what to do. I think we can just wait on or skip entirely all the "put this list of words in ABC order," or "circle the words that say ee" exercises. I've flipped through some other workbooks and seen curricula samples and, with my 5th kid, I'm starting to think most of it is busywork or just handwriting practice until about 3rd grade. DS wants to learn cursive so we might start that soon- at least it'll be new. 

[Clarita]

I stopped 3/4 in to AAR level 3 it felt like we were just doing it for the sake of doing it. So then I just jumped into working on spelling and writing. I read https://www.rootedinlanguage.com/instructional-materials/trees-in-the-forest-growing-readers-amp-writers-through-deep-comprehension and also Know and Tell by Karen Glass. Then for reading I just take a passage out of a book DS is reading and then we explore some literary structure, sentence structure and/or phonics thing. Expectations are super low but basically start having DS reading to learn. Then spelling covers phonics and word study/vocabulary.

If he hits a word in the reading he doesn't know then we cover how to break it down.

[Brooke]

24 minutes ago, Paige said:

Have you tried something like Alphaphonics? It's really basic and there's no extras or review but it gets the job done and is inexpensive. I switched after trying a more complete program that I felt was too much fluff that he hated. But now that we're done I'm not sure what to do. I think we can just wait on or skip entirely all the "put this list of words in ABC order," or "circle the words that say ee" exercises. I've flipped through some other workbooks and seen curricula samples and, with my 5th kid, I'm starting to think most of it is busywork or just handwriting practice until about 3rd grade. DS wants to learn cursive so we might start that soon- at least it'll be new. 

I’ve heard of alphaphonics but haven’t looked into it before but I’ll definitely check it out. Thank you! My son loves explode the code though so we also can just keep chugging along with that too.

[Brooke]

21 minutes ago, Clarita said:

I stopped 3/4 in to AAR level 3 it felt like we were just doing it for the sake of doing it. So then I just jumped into working on spelling and writing. I read https://www.rootedinlanguage.com/instructional-materials/trees-in-the-forest-growing-readers-amp-writers-through-deep-comprehension and also Know and Tell by Karen Glass. Then for reading I just take a passage out of a book DS is reading and then we explore some literary structure, sentence structure and/or phonics thing. Expectations are super low but basically start having DS reading to learn. Then spelling covers phonics and word study/vocabulary.

If he hits a word in the reading he doesn't know then we cover how to break it down.

Oh I’ve heard great things about rooted in language! I’m going to check back into it again. 

[Xahm]

We're struggling a bit to get back in the groove. We've finally got everyone healthy and through dentist appointments and Christmas stuff, so hopefully we won't have any more interruptions for a few weeks. My second grader is chugging along fine, but probably not doing nearly as much physical writing as he should be. My newly five year old is starting to realize he does remember his letter sound enough to read, but only starting. It's my older two who've been practicing the art of disappearing or telling me they aren't quite healthy enough to concentrate(to be fair, was definitely true several days), but they are a matter for a different thread.

[Momof4sweetkids]

Do you all find blending to be a skill kids just get at some point developmentally? Is there a fun way to practice it (we do the 100EZ say it fast, say it slow)? My 6yo just got it when I started with her and even my 2 yo seems to have picked it up. 4 yo doesn't get it at all.

[Clarita]

47 minutes ago, Momof4sweetkids said:

Do you all find blending to be a skill kids just get at some point developmentally?

Yes.

53 minutes ago, Momof4sweetkids said:

Is there a fun way to practice it (we do the 100EZ say it fast, say it slow)?

For DD we'd turn on our reading motors (pretend to turn a switch on the side of our mouths) then we have to hold out the sound of the letters as we go through a CVC word. (Hint: start with consonants like /s/ and /m/ as opposed to /p/ and /t/ at the beginning of words.) DS liked this game where I say a word all stretched out and unblended and he had to guess the word. I'd say "/b/ /a/ /t/" and he would have to figure out what it is (bat). Start with words with 3 sounds and move on from there.

[countrymum]

@Momof4sweetkids 

Yes blending seems somewhat developmental. I had one child who struggled with it alot and 1 a little (both dyslexia incedentally). I really found either the Abeka blend ladders or the CLE sound slider to be helpful. These 2 needed practice with Vowel consonant and consonants vowel blending for a long time before they could do 3 letter words. Also yes to saying please get me a /d/ /o/ /g/ or run to the /t/ /r/ /e/ excetra for fun practice. Also drive your truck or hop your frog up and down the blend ladder... 

[Nm.]

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Edited January 19 by Nm.

[Nm.]

 

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Edited January 19 by Nm.

[keirin]

For my Kindergartener in the new year:

-We have finally started doing Handwriting in a more structured and consistent way. My daughter really hated handwriting when we started Kindergarten this year and so I backed off on the curriculum I had used with her siblings (Printing with Letter Stories IEW) and instead did more with our Handwriting without Tears chalkboard, drawing in shaving cream, rolling out play dough, etc. I think that a combination of maturity and a pack of Channie's My First Pencil have helped us get really going in the handwriting I had intended to use in August. 😅 I expect to at least have finished it by the end of the summer and be ready to move into something like Abeka's writing with phonics or Catholic Heritage Curricula's handwriting books.

-Reading is going well! We are continuing Progressive Phonics and BOB books along with some Lakeshore Learning materials. I'm going to finish Beginner Progressive Phonics soon and I'll probably dive on into AAR Level 1.

-Math is also going well. We are on track to finish Singapore Math Standards edition Kindergarten this year. Wisdom Wonder Project is going well for us as a way to help me plan and present lessons.

-Everything else: honestly, I have done way less science, social studies, etc. with this child than my older kids because I'm so busy with the older kids. She does sit in on morning time and get some various subjects there, and I get stacks of picture books from the library to read to her before bedtime, so I'm going to say she's good with that. I am adding an Ivy Kids subscription to help beef up this area a bit.

Overall, a smoother path is forming forward for my youngest, very headstrong girl compared to the beginning of the school year. We're pretty happy here.

 

[Brooke]

Today is my boys 5th birthday so lots of time spent planning his bday party this weekend. 
 

I decided to start the year dabbling in some CKLA and I often wonder why I ever stop using it because it really does keep my boys engaged, even my 3.5 year old likes to participate. 
 

Memoria press enrichment has also been going well over here. I’m thinking about getting the 1st grade enrichment guide for next year. We don’t use very all the parts every week  but it is nice to have. 
 

AAR 2 is going pretty fast but it’s getting the job done.

HWOT is smooth sailing so we will continue.

I cant wait to get mystery science this month. My boys love the mini lessons so why not? 

Singapore Earlybird math has been wonderful for us. I’m trying to figure out which version of primary to go with once we finish our last book. Any recommendations? 

[LauraClark]

We started going to storytime at the library. My big kids have a couple of activities, but my Pre-K doesn't so it is good for him. I've been trying to be better about reading at least a couple of books to him each day too. They sure do love books at that age.

[alysee]

We are on Lesson 50 of 100 EZ lessons. It's been so painless with her. I do think she could have learned no matter what I used but I'm glad I went with the minimalist option. 

I have just started pondering my options for all of my kids for next year. It will be strange with a 1st grader and a 9th grader. 

 

Edited January 20 by alysee

[ClowPow]

On 1/4/2024 at 12:26 PM, Brooke said:

We are in my 5 year olds K year. We are still easing back into school now. We are starting off with random read alouds and some pages from explode the code book one in the morning. Next week we will go back into our regular routine and I’m actually looking forward to it. Oh and mystery science will be on sale this month around the 15th so I’m excited to dive into it with my science loving boys.

Did mystery science already go on sale? It looks like fun! 

[Brooke]

On 1/20/2024 at 7:33 PM, Momof3boys said:

Did mystery science already go on sale? It looks like fun! 

It’s now on sale for the next school year but according to them in April it will be about 20 dollars off. My kids have loved every mini lesson I’ve shown them.

[Clarita]

We really like Mystery Science here too. The only complaint we have here is we wish there was more of it. The activities they do in the real lessons are easy to do at home. Originally I was a bit concerned about the online aspect but the lessons are different from just watching videos because the videos pause and you have to click a button to continue when they pose a question. So you can keep you kids from just zoning out during the video and force them to interact with it.

[Green Bean]

nm.

Edited June 12 by Green Bean

[Brooke]

On 1/25/2024 at 7:09 PM, Green Bean said:

Right there with you! It is strange having 20 years between the oldest and youngest. At least I'm not bored.

Hi, everyone! It is so inspiring reading what y'all are doing with your littlest crew members. I'm glad everyone is healthy and happy.

We have had a bit of a rocky start back with Little Man being so all over the place academically yet firmly still a little person.

We just switched math back to Dimensions after being bored silly in BJU for months.

We are 4 weeks into WWE 1 fighting the age-old boy battle of "I hate handwriting!".

He started ETC for spelling because I don't like anything I used before. TX says we have to use something, though who's gonna come check?

He has read all the Memoria Press 1 STT/MSTT books. We are reading through our bookshelves for now. I wish we had a good local library for this.

We covered basic parts of speech with Poodle Knows What? and FLL definitions.

He taught himself UK joined writing which is connected lowercase D'Nealian letters. Caps do not change. So easy to use.

He is still liking the Clever Dragons extra stuff.

I have RS4K Bk 1 set and lab kit on the way. We are looking forward to that.

He will not do any art at all. I wish Home Art Studio hadn't been discontinued!

So yeah- fun times.

I hope you don’t mind me asking how did you like story time treasures from MP? I’m highly considering it for next school year. 

[Green Bean]

nm.

Edited June 12 by Green Bean

[Clarita]

It's probably a silly question but I'm struggling mightily with what to do with my loves to write Kindergartener.

My eldest was a reluctant writer and is thriving on the whole learning mechanics, doing copywork, etc. My youngest is ready to write her ideas (even though her spelling and stuff is rudimentary as to be expected for a Kindergartener).  How do I mesh her love of writing and storytelling into our school day academics?  

[Green Bean]

nm.

Edited June 12 by Green Bean

[BusyMom5]

On 2/8/2024 at 6:20 PM, Clarita said:

It's probably a silly question but I'm struggling mightily with what to do with my loves to write Kindergartener.

My eldest was a reluctant writer and is thriving on the whole learning mechanics, doing copywork, etc. My youngest is ready to write her ideas (even though her spelling and stuff is rudimentary as to be expected for a Kindergartener).  How do I mesh her love of writing and storytelling into our school day academics?  

How fun!  Mine has really struggled with the physical writing but has so many ideas!  I have some little blank booklets from Target that she uses to write and draw her stories.  They are just blank pages, no lines.  You could get the tablets that have blank space at the top and lines on the bottom.  I wouldn't push anything specific,  just let her do her own thing. 

We took a long break over the holidays and it's taken a while to get back into a groove.  I love the Zaner Bloser spelling book I bought!  It's been going very well.  Starts at cvc words, ends with words like broom, pain, etc.  She can read those easily, but we've struggled with the handwriting part. I have her draw a smilie or put a sticker next to her best writing.  She has had a growth spurt in the last 6 weeks, lost 4 teeth with another almost ready to come out!  It feels like she's finally ready for more serious school time.  

It's time to start thinking about next year, but I'm not quite ready!  We will be starting LoE C soon.

[Clarita]

3 hours ago, BusyMom5 said:

It's time to start thinking about next year, but I'm not quite ready!  We will be starting LoE C soon.

Ahh! Do we need to start the planning thread??

[Green Bean]

nm.

Edited June 12 by Green Bean

[Green Bean]

nm.

Edited June 12 by Green Bean

[countrymum]

8 hours ago, Clarita said:

Ahh! Do we need to start the planning thread??

8th grade is already up;) I have next year mostly planned due to what's working now....just not sure what level of math and phonics dd4 almost 5 will fit into;) In some ways 8th grade is easier.

[Brooke]

On 2/8/2024 at 6:56 PM, Green Bean said:

Not at all!

This was my 3rd time through STT/MSTT. It is a lot of writing so we did the comprehension questions orally and did not write all the words for each story. Sometimes I wrote the shorter answers in cursive and he traced. The workbooks are a nice to have, but not a need. I didn't do any of the phonics stuff in the TM because he was a proficient reader already.

We love the books! Even if you don't use the workbooks, I would encourage you to at least have the child read through the books. They are too good to miss! MP makes a great booklist.

HTH!

Thanks so much! This is helpful. I see that there is a lot of writing but I have no issue helping him out especially since he’s 5 but I do feel he can get the questions right etc. I think we will start with story time treasures to see how that goes but I feel like it’s what he needs at this point. He’s so happy to be reading now and memoria press just has a fantastic book list. 

[Green Bean]

nm.

Edited June 12 by Green Bean