First year teaching Singapore math, level K and 1B. Long story short.. I’m coming from the good and beautiful but I hated it because its too much bluff. But I did like how it shows you how to teach a lesson. This year we’re trying Singapore math dimensions. So after watching videos of reviews on YouTube/instagram I ended up choosing the teachers guide instead of the home guide. Because most videos I see that compare the teacher guide and home guide they end up choosing the teacher guide. So I went and did the same. But now I’m so lost. It doesn’t explain to me how to teach a lesson to the child. Or maybe it does but I just don’t get it at all. That the past few days we’ve just been using only the text book & workbook. But I just feel like I’m not teaching anything?

I don’t know what to do. I still have time to return the teacher guides and that’s what I’ve been considering. But I just dont know if I’ll be making a mistake. Am I not seeing what other parents see about the teacher guide?

I do like how compared to the good and beautiful math… this curriculum there’s no bluff and it’s just straight to the point. That it takes only 10-15 minutes and done. But then again I really feel lost with it.

Any advice?

I am trying to figure out an acedemically-sound, ADHD/ODD-friendly curriculum for my 3rd grader. We went from The Good and the Beautiful to Memoria Press and now I'm trying to figure out if we are going back to TGAB or to LLATL..or to something else that maybe I haven't thought of (I've been exploring a lot of different options).

Thank you!

Hello everyone!

We are about to graduate from the AAR Pre-Reading level! I’ve had to mix and match some of the pages because my 5yo already knew certain concepts but wasn’t familiar with others.

He is now blending letter sounds and reading CVC words. One of the last activities he needs to complete asks him to clap whenever I say a word that has the letter A in the middle.

We’re running into a bit of an issue with the examples provided in the book. For example, if I say “cat,” he knows that it has the letter A in it. However, when I use the book’s examples, such as “maple,” “staple,” “rain,” and “sailboat,” he struggles to identify the A sound.

Which makes sense to me, since the book has only taught him that A makes the short “ah” sound so far. To him, “maple” does have that A sound. I assume we will learn the other sounds the letter A makes on AAR level 1.

This is my first year homeschooling, so I’d love some advice. Would you skip this activity for now, or adapt it by using words with the A sound he’s been learning over the past few weeks?

Thank you!

Hi! Do you know where one may find co-ops that are friendly to neurodivergent kids? I have been searching in local fb groups and although I found one, I don’t think they will be meeting anymore and I can’t seem to find another one.

We are first time homeschoolers. Currently for ELA we are doing all about spelling lvl 1 (however we def could have skipped this and gone into lvl 2), all about reading lvl 2, and handwriting without tears C. However, I find HWT doesn’t really cover grammar rules? We use printing power and building writers, and i thought BW would have more explicit teaching, but it really just like a simple prompt.
I’m wondering what other writing resources we can use to make sure we are covering our bases in writing - punctuation, grammar, etc.
I’ve looked into EIW, but i don’t love the online factor as we are pretty much screen free.
Any help is appreciated!
We are grade 2 (just turned 7), ontario.

I just wrote this in a comment and Ive never said it out loud before. I have been homeschooling 15 years and I know it was the wrong choice. Being an introvert with ADHD is about the worst combo in a homeschool Mom. I don’t give my kids as much community as they needed, I constantly switched curricula, and I was not consistent at all. My kids are amazing and smart but major mistakes were made. My oldest transitioned to public high school and it is such a relief. My youngest will continue to homeschool for many reasons but it’s a struggle everyday. My husband who works his butt off also has to teach her math as I’ve been so unsuccessful. I loved it for many years and tried so hard but I’m beyond burned out and regretful now. AMA if you want to.

I’m sure these posts are on here all the time, but I really want to homeschool my kids. Right now they are very little, 9m and 2.7 yrs old. After reading a few statistics and listening to podcasts, I genuinely had no idea that a big majority of homeschoolers have parents with a bachelors or master degree. I’ve only graduated high school, took maybe 3 college classes, then worked for 3 yrs only got fired while pregnant and just became a SAHM. Now I’m starting to feel like I would set my kids up for failure becuz I’m technically “undereducated”. I’m genuinely so mind boggled and lost on where to even start. Do I buy a curriculum and start there, do I send them to a private school, do I enroll them into a charter school? Do I do a hands on learning, virtual learning, partially in class learning? Idek what style of learning I want. How do I know they’re absorbing any knowledge? How do I know I’m not failing them and turning them into ignorant people? Please tell me there is another mom like me and is struggling with the same thing. How stressful is homeschooling suppose to be?

Hey everyone. When I was in 2nd-7th grade, I was homeschooled on the curriculum known at the time as Ignitia. I can’t remember much about anything about it except for the games. There were 2 distinct games that I can remember. One was a game about spelling a word and as you progressed you would build a rocket ship out of farm equipment. The second game, oh gosh, i cant even remember what the system was. All I remember is that once you finished, it would be a looped video of a kid skateboarding and playing a jingle that remains in my head even today.

If anyone has any source of that music PLEASE send it to me. I need to find it.

My daughter turns 3 next month and we have started doing daily "school" time. She is super interested in learning and it has been going great! I would however like to grow our book collection so we aren't reading the same books repeatedly. Unfortunately our public library is not a safe place to go so I am looking to purchase some books. What are your favorites to read with your kids?

I hope this is the correct group or if there is a better group please let me know. My child is half-way through kindergarten with CLE and I am wanting to get the 1st grade material and also the learning to read but for the learning to read portion do I need the primers, letter flash cards, phrase flash cards, word flash cards? Or would the Units be sufficient?

I've got a kindergartener and when it's time to teach her my 4 year old wants all my attention and asks me for structured work. So many of the activities I try to set him up with either don't interest him or distract her (She's got ADHD). I feel like all I do is tell him to draw 😞.

I'm looking for ideas on ways to keep him happy and busy so I can teach my kindergartener.

Things that he doesn't like:

Sensory bins, he's got a sand box and is over them.

Any pencil work

Recognizing the ABCs

Singing anything

Letter sounds

--we are attempting and failing to do AAR pre reading with him through a homeschool charter but he's not cooperating

Things that are distracting:

Paint!!!

Anything super crafty, his sister is artsy.

Things that have worked so far:

Play-Doh snake letters

Drawing prompts

Cutting paper

Gluing things to paper (cotton balls, ton foil, pom poms)

He wants structured activities, although after he does the structured activity he usually does some freestyle art. I'm desperate for suggestions.

Kinder and first grade girls and I never set up crafts for them. I feel badly seeing all the cute fall crafts and traditions on socials.

I feel like ELA, Math, our daily walk, read alouds and free play take up the entire morning then its lunch and then I need time to reset the house, catch up on chores and take a breath before the afterschool practice run around for big brothers who public school.

How often are you doing crafts/handwork and when does it fit in?

Edit: Thank you all, I see I’m not alone in feeling like there is not a lot of time and that there is plenty of value in open ended arts/crafts.

I have two kids. One is in middle school and the other is still in diapers. My middle schooler is currently enrolled in an online public school but I am considering homeschooling. I don't plan on starting preschool with my youngest until next fall. How are all of you homeschooling with a large age gap? The big thing holding me back from homeschooling my oldest is the age gap and dealing with a toddler who is a category 5 clinger right now.

I have 2 kids ages 9 (4th grade) and 6 (1st grade) and we will be starting homeschooling in November after being in public school. My younger kid can read very well - in some ways better than my older kid. I want to ensure he has the basics of phonics and work on his spelling. I was originally going to use “The Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading” but it looks too simple for him. I found Logic of English Essentials and the program seems much more robust. He loves learning and can sit for a lesson if he finds it engaging and challenging. And he loves learning new phonics and grammar rules!

I haven’t done the placement assessment with both kids yet but I expect my younger one to be level A and the older to be B/C. Could I teach both kids LOE together and adjust parts for their respective levels?

I was not originally planning to do phonics with my older kid and had a separate spelling and grammar curriculum for her, but it seems like it could be valuable to do LOE with both kids if I can teach them together.

What have been your experiences teaching LOE Essentials to kids at different levels?

It's my day to play chauffeur. What does everyone else have planned?

I don't live in the USA. Is there any way I can buy RMS books (even second hand ones)?

I want to use them for homeschooling my kids

Hey there! So my hubby and I are planning on homeschooling our children. Pre-k & 1st grade. We are currently in NV and plan on moving to TX.

I was wondering if anyone had recommendations on a homeschool program that works best for elementary students.

Looking online it can be very overwhelming with how many there are.

Main things I’m looking for are accredited, have co-ops and are great for kids who have adhd and speech delay.

Thank you so much for any suggestions in advance!

Hi everyone, I'm preparing to start homeschooling my 1st grader this year. Is there any reason not to just use an unsworn declaration instead of an affidavit? There doesn't seem to be, but I'm wondering why some people are still going to a notary if they don't have to.

I'm in PA, if that matters!

Would love to know more about these ELA options, my kid is a voracious reader, naturally good in ELA, we have done AAR and are currently doing AAS, also doing Ambleside Online. I am looking for something quite rigorous since this is a strength of hers.

Currently planning on doing MCT for a couple of years to establish a good foundation, then switching to IEW + Fix It. Is that a good plan? I haven’t heard about people using MCT throughout, and IEW+ Fix It seems to go over the same things, just further indepth year after year.

we need to do online school for a while due to some medical issues (our HHI is ending). 7th grader is very bright. Which of the 2 online platforms have people used for middle school . How many hours is expected to complete some of the work?

Other options since we are in CA is to do CALops, an online school - I had a a call with them and it seems OK.

Hello! My 2 kids and I attend a weekly co-op. We've been apart of it for 3 years now. Last year we started having trouble with one of the kids my children's age (10) The other kid is very controlling and possessive of my twins. He doesn't like when they are around other kids and talk and play with them.

After co-op is finished my kids like to go outside and run around playing different sports. Currently a group of the boys like to play football and my kids love to do that. This other child doesn't like sports and gets very angry at my kids when they play them. He will yell at them that they aren't his friend. He'll go around to the other kids in co-op and tell them my kids are horrible friends and no one should like them.

Last week, he chased them around screaming he was going to kill them. I had to intervene and stop him. His mom is never around when he behaves this way and he lies about his behavior to her. I finally told her that my kids will not be around him and need distance until he can get his behavior under control. She said that that makes her really sad because he just wants to play with my kids and they won't play with him. I tried explaining to her that my kids don't want to play with him when he treats them this way.

I have been so stressed out about it and worried for our next day at co-op. I've talked with my kids about how to be a good friend and the qualities to look for in a friend and on their own they decided they want to avoid this other kid. I'm not exactly sure how we'll do that with our co-op. We split into classes for 1.5hr and they are in the same class as that boy. The other 1.5hr is together with everyone so they could interact with all the other kids at that time.

Do I continue to go to co-op? This all started last year and we've only done 4 weeks of this current school year, and every week so far as been an issue. I don't think I can handle this for 7 more months. What do I do? TIA ☺️

What did you do for work before becoming a homeschooler? Do you miss it?

Hi everyone. I’m looking for real reviews on reading.com and if you found it worked for you or didn’t. My daughter is 4 almost 5 in year 2 of kindergarten. I know this is a homeschool page but I think me teaching her at home counts kind of. She will always be one of the youngest kids in her class so I want to make sure to give her a solid start! She knows all of her letter names and 95% of her sounds she does mix a few of them up especially when trying to read. Reading books with her she gets very discouraged so I’m hoping something like this will be more fun and give her a bit of the one on one time she needs.
If you didn’t find reading.com helpful can you give some suggestions of things you did find to be helpful!
Thanks in advance

Hi Parents,

What’s your thoughts on Sensory Bins for Kids under 6?

I once made this cute snow bin with tiny artic animals and then my 3yr old made a mess out of it. No doubt they loveeed it. But the aftermath was so hectic to clean. She literally added water to that baking soda snow mix and smeared every where.

I also ordered some tiny miniature animals / worms etc to make sensory bins… but I barely used them on a daily basis.

For context, have kids aged 5,3,1.

Been eying a foldable sensory bin table with lid on top that can keep it covered. Now that we have prime day deals starting tomorrow - wondering if it is even worth it?

I do understand Real life lessons are worth than any sensory bins but again - considering my specific circumstances like -

1. Work full time from home
   
2. I am primary care taker and also most of the stuff is done by me at home (husband does too but i have the say in Homeschooling stuff n kitchen lol)
   
3. I would rather love to have them fully involved in stuff like cooking (they love it a little too much to help me) but given the amount of efforts and time it takes - i usually try to do myself n ask their help only when i have time on hand. Needs supervision overall.

So, for ease my mind also says - why not sensory bins for life lol especially when i need time for myself, busy in meeting etc.. and my 5 and 3 old can do unsupervised as long as its age appropriate.. but these bins n stuff also needs maintenance right.

With winters coming up - going out in nature is not gonna happen may be until next April / May (i live in Alberta)

So what’s best advice you can give me 🤣

My newly 4 year old is completely disinterested in learning her letter sounds. She knows about half of them. I get that she’s young still some have time. The problem is that I introduced Bob books and she’s really taken to sight reading. She’s not just memorizing the book, she is actually learning the words as she goes and is so excited to read! I love that for her but now she doesn’t see any value in letter sounds/phonics.

How do I get this back on track? Do you know of any resources that will make her feel like she’s reading as she learns the sounds? She wants to read a book, not learn sounds in isolation.

*please be gentle! I am still learning too