Summer Reading From Sonlight!

It's almost that time...time for swimming pools, beaches, gardens and lots and lots of reading!!!

Sonlight has got ya covered so head over and get some good summer reading!

Relaxed Charlotte Mason or How To Get It All Done!...Again!

This is a repost from May 11, 2012 but...It bears repeatin'

If you've followed Charlotte Mason's Philosophy at all you'll eventually start trying to find a schedule and that will usually lead to burnout.  Why?  Because in most of what I've seen of the schedules available none of them take into account having more than one kid or even worse someone is sick or even worse you're sick because you're 8 weeks into being preggers with kid #5.  So now what?  Chuck it?

Nope..

Here's a schedule you'll actually be able to do and be SANE at the end of the year.  Notice I didn't say week?  You can do anything for about a week it's from then on it gets bad. I am purposely not putting in time.  Time doesn't work when you have a nursing baby or you've been up all night with a sick kid.

• Breakfast
• Chores
• 3R's  - Start olders while you work with littles who require more. Once Littles finish, start littles on project (cutting, pasting, coloring) and go over what middles and biggies need.  This shouldn't be much.***
• BIG snack and fun run  - (get the wigglies out, dance to music, musical chairs, trampoline) this is probably somewhere around 10:30-11:00 ish
• Read Aloud - Living Books (history, science, literature, Shakespeare. rotate subjects) 11-1
• Lunch
• Afternoons free!  This is the time kids can work on Nature Walks, Nature Notebooks, History Notebooks, Discovery Learning, quiet reading from Robinson Curriculum List, Sonlight List etc.

Sounds easy right?  It is.  No more being behind.  No more scope and sequence merry go round.  Now if for some reason you can't dedicate the huge time slot to reading then break it up through out the day.  You can read over breakfast, lunch and at bedtime. 

For Art you check out the big coffee table books from the library and have them open for display.  For Music just stream some classical or hymns.


          
****I am HUGE on self learning and mastery so I work towards ALL kids working independently by 2-3rd grade.  If you need more info go to Robinson Curriculum or UR the mom

Also check out my post on Popsicle Planning if you're feeling that you need something new everyday


now...GO ENJOY THE FREEDOM!

Mathtacular! Saves The Day!

picture curtesy of Mathtacular!

For some reason rocket dog woke up this morning and couldn't figure out how to read a clock. Yes he's young, but he's been reading a clock to the quarter hour for like 6 months and today in his math was clocks...and...there...he....sat.  I was getting pretty frustrated (not a good mommy moment) when I remember Mathtacular 1.  So I popped it in and within 5 minutes of seeing the clock portion he finished his math, perfectly.  Click the pic if you're curious about Vol 1 and the other great Mathtacular! videos!

FIAR vs Sonlight

I've seen this question come up enough on boards that I thought I might address this question since I've used both...extensively.  Now I say extensively because it seems to me that most people write their opinion based on either just looking at it or having used it very little.  That's not the case for me.  I've used both for a couple of years, though now I don't use them as prescribed.

First I'm going to the pros and cons and then I'll tell you what I think.

Let me just start off by saying that FIAR and Sonlight are NOT  alike at all.   It's like comparing apples with the oranges... One is a literature approach (Sonlight) and the other is a unit study approach (FIAR).  So that right there should tell you whether it will fit your style of homeschooling or not.  so...

FIAR - Five In A Row

pros:  Unit Study approach that is very open ended and simple.  It is set up that each day you read the book than do one of the subjects (Mon- Social Studies, Tues - LA, Wed - Art, Thurs - Math, Fri- Science as an example) It can be beefed up by adding additional chapter books as read alouds and writing assignments, copywork or research.  There is easy (read doable) hands on projects but the majority of the subjects can be done verbally.  Its takes about 15 to 30 minutes a day to do.  You will need to add a Language Arts program or Phonics (or both) and Math, so that would basically be the 3R's.  It does not teach ancient history or really any history.  Now for you this may be a con but not for me.  I don't see any reason to teach children of ancient cultures when they don't have a very good concept of time...period...as in ancient history was what we had for dinner last night.  Also most ancient cultures had a system of religion and other topics that don't really sit well with my belief systems so I don't feel the need to "show" that stuff to them at this age.  In other words I feel that a lot of ancient history is age specific and usually a better topic for High School or at the very least Jr. High.  Planning* is easy for me because I use a sticky note system in the book that makes this easy.  I do my sticky notes once a year in summer and I'm done planning.  It takes me about 2 hours total.  FIAR is very affordable for the early years...as in you buy the Volumes at $35 and you can reuse them for several years.  You should be able to find *most* of the books at your library but several of them are out of print (OOP) so you'll need to utilize the ILL at your library.  A lot of the moms end up buying most of the books and that's about 130.00 per volume which would be $35 + $130 =  $163 per volume.  Each volume is about 1 semester of work and there are 4 Volumes in the younger years.  Volume 3 is really nice for summer and that was it's original intention but you could use it otherwise.  Volume 4 in the series is really for older children who are almost ready to read chapter books so about 8-9ish.  That would leave you with Vol 1-3 for the entire year.    Most of the critics I've seen think that FIAR is only a Kindy program because they don't realize you can rerow ( do the unit again) the books.  Because your child will be at different developmental abilities each year you can pick something different the next time you rerow the book to discuss.

cons:  Planning* as with a lot of unit studies can be daunting especially if you are adding in lots of lap books, notebooking and other things that are not in the Volumes.  I say this because it seems like everyone adds tons of this crafty stuff and makes what was once a simple idea into the Mt. Everest of unit studies.  There are many people that feel without adding these things that the unit isn't complete or "enough".  You'll see a lot of questions about whether it's "enough" on the official FIAR board.  If you live in a state that has testing on Social Studies and Science with a set scope and sequence they expect taught this could prove to be a problem, however I don't live in one of these states.  FIAR doesn't go to high school or in some cases even Jr. High so if you like the idea of having that all mapped out for you that won't happen so you'll need to change programs.   FIAR doesn't have the ideas under the general topics (SS, LA etc) organized by age appropriateness. So you don't have it graded as easy (4-5yo), moderate(6-8yo), hard projects(9-10) which *I* think would make it easier for beginners to get the hang of.  You have to just figure out what your kid is capable of.  Some of the books don't seem to have a lot of activities to choose from so they might not be of interest for rerowing.

Sonlight

Pros:  BOOKS!  If you love seeing books on you're shelves you've come to the right place ;)  It's a Literature based history curriculum using some of the best modern literature around.  Sonlight is ALL laid out for you, so NO planning ---this alone can sometimes can outweigh ALL the cons.   For many burned out moms this is a great weight off their shoulders.    Great Missionary biographies are included as is bible and as of last year LA, however my understanding is that most people don't like the LA.  Because this is content only and not skills you'll need to add math, possibly LA and science.  They do have a science core if you're interested in that.    Sonlight can reasonably be combined with kids about 3 or even 4 years apart in some cases.

Cons:  Price...seriously it's expensive but there are ways around this.  For me spending this kind of money on something that's not on the SAT isn't worth it but again there are ways around that.  You'll be reading A Lot of books.  If you don't like reading aloud or lots of books this would not be the curriculum for you.  In the age range that we're talking about I think the amount of books is fine but once you hit about Core C (3rd grade approx.) there is a LOT of books.  There is no hands on elements if that's something your interested in.  I know that when you read a good book to a kid they'll act it out or draw it so I don't see this as a problem but if you want a unit study this isn't it.  You can of course add those things but it's not built in.  Because this is driven by history some of the books just aren't that good because they have to fit the time period.   It's easy to fix by just replacing the book but if you don't know how or what to replace it with that could be a problem.  If you don't like the time period that's being studied...too bad...you're mucking in it for the whole year or in some cases two years.  You may need a core for each kid and that can be expensive.  The assignments in the IG can be choppy meaning you are reading several different books everyday.  For some kids (and moms) this is really annoying.  You can get around that by assigning each day of the week one of the subjects like you do in FIAR.  So on Mon - History, Tues  - Science, etc. or...you could just read the books without stopping....like we have ;^)  They rely on Usborne books a lot which some parents love and others absolutely despise so if you're really CM influenced you'll in most cases need to replace the science and in the lower grades quite a few of the history spines.  Speaking of history it starts off Core A in ancient history which is a big thumbs down for me based on what I wrote above.

Verdict:

Okay so what do *I* actually think? Let me say that I believe in self education a la Robinson, PACES, URtheMOM.com so that really colors my thoughts about mom having to run around like a chicken with her head cut off for non-skills stuff (meaning not the 3Rs which I've stated before is what's tested for on SAT's).  If you want to know what I really think then read Are You SURE You Have The Right Curriculum by Renee Ellison over at HomeschoolHowTo's.  Renee's book Teachers' Secrets and Motherhood Savvy for Homeschoolers  should be mandatory reading!

So first off you can print off the free Three Weeks of an IG of Sonlight and actually do it for a couple of weeks and see if it's what you're looking for.  The Core 3/4 and Core K books are definitely worth getting for this age range.   You can reread them over and over for your kids and enjoy them for years.  FIAR is a cheap investment and you can easily get the Vol 1 (even on ILL from the library) and see if it's what you would like. Here is a sample of Ping from Vol 1 So that's what I think...try before you buy if you're going to pay that kind of money.  If you enjoy unit studies than FIAR is fun and it's REALLY easy to add (as long as you don't go crafty crazy with it) to.  I have 7 cores of Sonlight and I'll say that I mostly use it as a booklist and to stock my home library.  However with that said I personally don't like about 1/4 or more of the books starting at about Core A so for *me* I wouldn't want it to be my only curriculum.

The Berenstein Bears Big Book of Science and Nature - RIP

So I've written before of my kids love of The Berenstein Bears Big Book of Science and Nature which is part of Sonlight Core 4/5.  Never in my wildest dreams did I think they would love it to death... here's the pics:

This thing has been hotglued beyond repair...so...

a new one arrived just in time before our vacay.  They've read it here between swimming and having fun.  Here's what the new one looks like...different cover and BONUS...only $7.62 with FREE shipping if you have Amazon Prime!

Sonlight Curriculum Cookbook!

So in my previous post I mentioned cooking as a way to expand what you are learning in your literature based curriculum and guess what?  I had NO IDEA that Sonlight had a cookbook for just that!

Here ya go:

The Story of Doctor Dolittle Art!

So...think you need to invent all kind of crafts so that your kid has a fuller experience of his literature based unit??

This is what my son did on his own...from his imagination after I finished The Story of Doctor Dolittle from Sonlight A.  Keep in mind he's only 6 so I was pretty impressed that he got the red sails and look at the wavy sky thing.  I think he learned some of this technique from Five In A Row.  When I finished the book he hugged the book and then said "I don't want it to end!"  'nuff said.

Add-On's For Your Literature Based Curriculum!

Well it's no secret that I LOVE literature and so do my kids...but...what can you do to add a little pizzaz without Mommy going nutz?  If you're not notebooking your book here's some ideas....

1. Cook:  Find a recipe from the country that the book is about                                                          
2. Read:  OUTSIDE!!!  or at least not in your regular places...make a reading "fort"
3. Art:  Give them coloring pages, empty pages, water color paints, coloring pencils, crayons, home    made salt dough, real dough, scissors, old magazines, egg cartons....you get the idea.  Ask them to make something about the book.
4. Act:  Let them have the bath towels, clothes pins, hubby's old shirt, your old skirts, scarfs.
5. Map:  Either make a map or download one  or get one and have them coloring, sticker...whatever!
6. Grow:  Definitely grow your food.  Lots of science first hand!  You can even just have a window garden.
7. Craft:  Just let them loose on the recycle pile and see what they can come up with!  Just don't tell them what to do, let them create!
8. Field Trip:  Get out and discover what your reading!  It will do you and the kids good to get out.  This doesn't mean homeschool group stuff, I'm talking about just you and the kids.  Even the grocery store can be a field trip!  Grocery Bingo anyone?  Shapes, money, color...the ideas are limitless.  You can also do scavenger hunts at the grocery store as well based on the same ideas.  Or even math using a worksheet and a clipboard
9. Puppet Show:   This really cements the story and littles LOVE this.  You can have the olders make the puppets and do the show or if you have only littles have them help you make puppets.  The puppets don't have to be elaborate.  They could just be paper bag puppets that they make ;)
10. Coloring Books:  Dover makes all KINDS of coloring books that you can buy about the time period you are studying.

Well I hope you find some fun this week!

Inquisikids!

Well you know that I LOVE me some Mathtacular and now I love Inquisikids!  What else can a busy homeschool mom say when you're kids BEG to watch Justin explain the skin that is
on water. LOL

Curiosity - The Mars Rover

Hubby came home last night and announced that the new mars rover Curiosity was about to land.  So of course we youtube'd it

Luckily - And this is why I'm BIG on Sonlight & Childcraft encyclopedia's we had stuff to talk about Mars.

Today we measured how big Curiosity is, checked where it was via the NASA website on our Ipad, even looked at the "tweets" it's sending.  Ah...Relaxed (child-led, Delight Directed, unschooling...whatever title) Homeschool at it's best!

Summer Really? or What Are We Going to Read Now?

So Summer is upon us.  We have planted most of our garden and our little friend Groundhog has managed to help himself last night to almost my ENTIRE garden....yes...i'm bitter.

To keep my mind occupied I was thinking about summer.  That always makes me smile.  Sunshine, butterflies..ah..that's better.  We homeschool year-round but if you don't you may be wondering what to do for summer.  Most people who don't do school year round go on holiday schedule.  Which usually means keeping up on a little math and ALOT of reading.  If you're wondering what to actually read may I suggest something?  Try the Robinson Curriculum list found at Rosegate Harbour or Sonlight has set up a summer reading list.  They even have broken it down by boy or girl and school level...love that.

ah..now if fixing my garden was this easy....

Sonlight vs HOD day 4!

It's official...we are HOD flunkies.


That's right...we lasted 4 days.  Any curriculum that makes your kid say "please don't read that"  points to something wrong for your family.  At least that's what I figured out.


I pulled out the books to start and my oldest said "please don't read that anymore"...um...what??  "I don't like that book."  Okay let's go to the other one.  "I don't like that one either"...um...what??  "what do you like"  He pulled out our Sonlight stuff and FIAR stuff.  'nuff said.


Now to be honest I don't think 4 days is enough to tell much about anything but I also don't think it should be torture to use either.  I'm pretty fast on the uptake so I was able to give you a list of "pros" and "cons" that was evident to me very quickly but happy sad that I will not be able to post my thoughts after using it for several weeks.  










*BTW...the songs were torture to listen to..

Sonlight vs. Heart of Dakota (HOD) Day 2

Okay so today didn't go really any better than day 1.  Kids still not really interested in the Pioneers book or the God's Wonderful World.  They did the same thing they did on Day 1 which was to pull out the nature books from our Sonlight A(1) and Bernstein Bears (P 4/5) and look at those extensively and talk about them.  For biography I've been using Eggleston Book "Stories of Great American for Little Americans" that I had on my Ipad Ibook app for biography reading which is more their speed.  I realize this  is in Bigger but they're not interested in the others suggested for Beyond.  I'm starting to think they are just too advanced for this guide....even though they are "suppose" to be in this one based on the placement.  And just as an fyi you're suppose to place based on the youngest child not the oldest so that you add extensions for older but there are no extensions for Beyond.  mmm....another "con".   You're also suppose to place heaviest "weight" with where you're kid is at in LA which is what I did.   At this point I"m not sure we'll go more than a week or two on this test.  Again I realize I "should" be running two guides but there is no way I'm going to do that plus the other guide was Little Hands and it was WAY too babyish for my youngest who is 4 1/2.  This guide also is turning out to be quite babyish for the grade it's suppose to be if you ask me.

So what do I see as the "pros" you may be asking?

1.  I think if you just want someone to tell you what to do and when this would be great.  "open and go"
2.  If you would like a combo of Charlotte Mason/Unit studies this would be a great idea.  *However      Charlotte Mason herself was against Unit Studies where all the connections are being made for the child and I see this quite a bit with this curriculum*
3. If you want God to be commented about in everything than this would be for you.
4. Uses CM method of copywork for LA
5. It's more like a Hybrid Unit Study that's planned for you.  This is nice because you won't be overwhelmed with planning like what happens when you first start doing Unit Studies  
6. If you want more hands on activites planned out for you but don't want to be building canoes this would be for you
7. You don't have to use what they have scheduled for skills (3R's) content  See #10 below

Cons so far:

1. Can't combine easily in content areas (science, bible, history etc) 
2. There is no scheduled bible reading
3. Uses Rod and Staff for language arts which is not a true CM method.  Yes they add copywork etc but I'm curious as to why Emma Serl's Primary Language Lessons and Intermediate Language Lessons wasn't used.
4. Uses textbooks as "spines" for history not "living Books".  Living books appear to only be used for read alouds and readers.  You could just use a child's encyclopedia as a spine and get the same results if that were the direction you were going for Unit Studies.
5. Doesn't have a missions focus
6. Would be very difficult to use secularly - this isn't an issue for us but could be for someone else
7. Some of the connections between books is really a stretch.  It would be better to just read the textbook as is rather than jump around to make connections with the "spine"textbook
8. There are better Unit Study type curriculum out there like Christian Cottage Units that are planned which you truly could combine all your kids with.
9. If child's skills (3R's) is above what your guide uses you are forced to run 2 guides for one child!
10. You don't have to use their suggestions that are planned out for skills BUT that is almost half the guide so now you're paying for stuff you are not using and that would make this an expensive 1 year history unit study.

So I'm finding this curriculum to be slightly "schoolish" meaning each child has  a "grade" just like in school which for me isn't what homeschool is about.  Like I've said before, yes you have time in the afternoon for other pursuits (if you have 1 or 2 kids)  but I can't imagine what it would be like for moms with 6 kids trying to do this.

That's all for today :)

Sonlight vs. Heart of Dakota (HOD) Day 1

Well it's homeschool catalog season and all those lovely catalogs just make you want to curl up and read, read, read...okay maybe that's just me...

 I've used Sonlight, FIAR, KONOS and Robinson Curriculum and anything that's Charlotte Mason extensively so I'm really familiar with them.  The one "hot" curriculum I haven't tried but have looked at was HOD.  Now I have to say I really have not been impressed with HOD in the lower grades because they use text books as their spines but I do like their order of history.  I'm not a big fan of a 1st grader doing ancient history.  Sure you can explain away the myths and gods but...why?  Why go there?  There's other stuff to do with kids like...Social Studies.  Remember that?  That's what history use to be called before we all got programed that your child had to do "cycles" of history.   But I digress..

So I decided to do a challenge and find out what all the hoopla was all about and got what I "thought" my kids would fit into.  Let me just say right off the bat that I find it a "con" to not be able to combine kids in the content area (history & science).  Granted kids won't be the same in skills (aka..3R's).  But to HAVE to run different guides would mean that if you have say 5 kids you have the potential of having to run 4 or more guides.  I find this ridiculous and a recipe for mom burnout.  Even if your kids are somewhat independent with most programs you still have to deal with correcting except with the Robinson Curriculum which truly is independent.

Now I have the guide in my hot little hands and I'll tell you we are combining using Beyond and I'm NOT using the math or language arts so I see that as also a "con".   My little one is just listening and doing what he can which is a lot frankly given this is suppose to be 1st grade. And yes, I did look at the placement chart and I have the Bigger just in case.  However given all the writing that's needed in Bigger my oldest isn't capable of that yet so it didn't seem like a good fit.  The reading...no problem.

We have currently been using Sonlight Core A (use to be called 1) and my first impression today was that I hardly read ANYTHING from HOD.  Seriously I read like 2 pages.  We then did hands-on stuff which my kids enjoyed.  It "kinda" reminded me of KONOS only organized for you, BUT with KONOS you can keep all your kids together and like I said earlier that isn't quite the case here.  Also with KONOS you've got books from the library (or your personal library) and this was like...nothing.  NADA.  If your kid was interested in sailing after reading the first day you'd have to youtube it or go to the library as an example.    I have to say that of the 2 pages I read the kids were pretty bored with it.  They went over to our Sonlight shelf and started pulling out books from there.  Also I had nothing to show where the continents went  for the activity so again I had to pull out a Sonlight title (Usborne Children's Encyclopedia) to show where the continents went since I don't have a globe sitting around.  Guess I could have looked it up on the internet but I'm not big on computer use at this age.

more tomomorrow

Still Sick and Curriculum!

Homeschool has been puttering along and I'm glad I took a more RC (Robinson Curriculum) approach a couple of months ago to the 3R's because I'M STILL SICK!  WTH!  I went back to the Dr.'s only to find out that they didn't dose me correctly on my med's so I had to start a new round of antibiotics.  I can finally hear but still am struggling with congestion, sore throat and ear problems.  So concentrating on the 3R's has been a real blessing. 

The new Sonlight Catalog came and it made me think a lot about where I was with school. I love that RC uses just a booklist and you let your kids free to read as much as they want.  I love the old books but I also knew that it didn't have a lot to offer the younger years until about 2nd or 3rd grade when your child is reading well enough by himself.   I also knew I wanted to add more modern books.   Plus we love read aloud time around here.  I've always used FIAR with the kids and they learn so much from it.  We love the books, I love that it takes very little time and kids really remember what they've learned.  But I also love Sonlight.  I have Core 4/5 and Core A and we had to shelve Core A last year as it was just over my oldest head.  We haven't really followed the 4/5 schedule because it jumps around soooo much that I found it annoying.  I left out the science books so the kids have had free reign to just "read" and look at all those pics over the last year.  The Bernstein Bears has seen ALOT of wear...but I was feeling like it was time.  Time to pull out Core A and dip our toe in to see if my oldest was ready.  He was!  He really loves the Boxcar Children and has even been able to follow Hero Tales which was a complete bust last year.  I attribute all of this to the fact that I've been using the RC list as a read aloud list and been reading those older books to the kids over the last six months (and he's older of course!).  In case your wondering how I used the RC list I picked everything that was about 3rd grade and below and read them to the kids at whatever time of day I had available.

So now I just have to figure out how to incorporate all my favorite curriculum's into my "perfect" curriculum.  So far what that looks like is morning: 3R's, Sonlight stuff and then afternoon FIAR time and read alouds from RC all day.  It's working pretty well and it SEEMS like a lot when I'm saying it but the reality is it takes maybe 1 1/2 hours a day to do all the 3R, Sonlight & FIAR stuff.

Whew! off to go blow my nose...

Sonlight Too Expensive??...Really?

I've heard so many times "you use Sonlight...it's so expensive!"  Compared to what?  When you add up all the time I've spent online looking  for books at the library, paying library fines, returning books, picking up books and  scrolling through blogs and boards trying to find "the best"  you start to realize that you've spent more time looking for stuff than acutally DOING homeschool stuff.    So how can someone on a tight budget afford Sonlight?

Well let's start with budgeting.  Do you have a monthly budget for homeschool supplies?  Or do you use tax money?  If you do, start buying gift certificates from Sonlight.  Ask for gift certificates for presents.  Even $10 gift certificates will add up.

Take advantage of their payment plans.  They offer 3 month financing all year.   During April they offer 9 month financing and during May they offer 6 month financing. Cool!


If you have to buy used consider buying the IG from Sonlight so you are still supporting them for the hard work they put into this curriculum.  Then get the books from the library.  You'll have to be pretty organized but it's doable.

Happy Homeshooling!

Sonlight Core Label Colors

Did you know that Sonlight has labels so that you can find which books match what core?

The colors are:

• Core P3/4 - pale purple
• Core P4/5 - dark fluorescent orange
• Core K - hot pink
• Core 1 - red
• Core 2 - orange
• Core 1+2 - fluorescent yellow
• Core 3 - yellow
• Core 4 - kelly green
• Core 3+4 - fluorescent lime
• Core 5 - sky blue
• Core 6 - light fluorescent orange
• Core 7 - teal
• Core 100 - pale yellow
• Core 200 - cream
• Core 300 - pale blue
• Core 400 - gray
• Core 530- brown

There is a great post here about how to use the labels

A Time To Reap - Fall Curriculum

Here's What I've been working on.....




A Time To Reap -

FIAR CM Planner - Filled Out

I got a couple of questions about how I fill out my planner so I thought I'd just post some pics to help ya out

This one is filled out for FIAR

This one is with is filled out for KONOS

 

 This one is filled out for Sonlight but also has my addition of daily activities,  lunch menus and Iphone apps which is how I use it now.  I also have my own Activity Planner called "Discover My World" which has a schedule that looks like Sonlight that I have in my IG

Kindergarten Curriculum Revist

So can someone say crash and burn?

Since my original post (you can find it here) I have radically changed the way we are doing school. I dumped my original plan and I dove into KONOS Unit studies which we love but I felt like there was no organization in how the material was being given and I've been hording Sonlight catalogs forever...drooling.. so...I took the plunge and love the combo of using both!

We also love our nature study books and I just can't say enough good things about Kindergarten Gems and For The Children's Hour. Every kid should sit with mommy listening to these great stories over and over...well you get the idea.

So on the weekends I use Five In A Row and during the week I use Sonlight mixed with activities and the above mentioned old readers and it's working great. We're still Using Queens stuff for the three R's mixed with lots of 3R games.

So I guess what I'm saying is...we read and play ALOT! Sounds fun no?