http://www.freehomeschooldeals.com/educents-take-an-additional-20-off-educational-products-with-this-discount-code/

Plus, I just found this.  A coupon code for an ADDITIONAL 20% off.  That would bring the price down to a bit over $30.  But is it a good program????  Anyone know?

http://www.educents.com/featured-deals/musical-ear-training.html

Has anyone heard about this?  They're offering 6 months at $39 rather than the normal $78

Yay!  I already have two Monki See gifts on the pile...not wrapped, mind you....that would be verging on Supermom status

http://www.home-school.com/news/homeschooled-how-american-homeschoolers-measure-up.php?utm_source=Home-School+News+-+October+2013&utm_campaign=HS+Market+News+Oct+2013&utm_medium=email

Above is a link to an interesting and easy read (charts & graphs) on homeschooling...a brief history, educational level of parents, academic achievement, perspectives of homeschooled graduates, etc.  There's a list of sources at the bottom.

No problem, MamaofWill!   

Not to switch the spotlight from Monki See to Readeez, but I LOVE both of them!  Seriously.  If I could pack up Krista and Michael for a weekend I would.  I'd shower them with love and appreciation for what they do...I'd listen to Krista read me poetry and watch Michael dance (while keeping a straight face) and I'd gush to both of them about how they have touched my life and my son's.  I have so much gratitude.  Now that my boy is a good reader and we are not watching them daily anymore, I am starting to mourn the loss...funny how you grow attached to people who wouldn't even recognize you on the street.  Anyway, Krista, Michael...I love you!

And now, back to the original purpose of this thread...

http://www.readeez.com/bible

Here's the link.  It looks like he's got a full on DVD planned! 

Korrale4kq,
Do you know how RAZ levels relate to the Fountas & Pinnell levels?
Thanks!

This will give you a better picture. http://readingandwritingproject.com/resources/assessments/benchmarks-for-student-progress.html   (from the same site)

It gives you a view of what classroom teachers shoot for.

http://readingandwritingproject.com/resources/book-lists-classroom-libraries-and-text-sets-for-students/current-classroom-libraries.html

This is an AMAZING SITE!!!  Get tonnes of lists of books by levels.  Go to:  (on right menu)  Current Booklist Spreadsheets   Below is a list of lists!!!  Each document has a list of topical books and their levels.  So, if you're teaching Civil Rights, for example,  you can find easy to read books for the little ones AND the big ones   I printed off the list of fiction primary series to take with me to the library next visit.  Someone has done a lot of work here and I'm getting that nerdy sweaty palms thing just thinking about how much I'm going to use the info.  (BTW, I used their assessment tools this morning to determine where my son was at - easy to use....and I printed off their comprehension assessments, too...I'll be using it more in teaching though, rather than assessment...so much to discover on this site)

Current Classroom Libraries
A Special List of Mentor Texts.xls
Anthologies.xls
Biography Booklist.xls
Books Students Want On The Shelves Now.xls
Civil Rights Booklist.xls
Expository Nonfiction Booklist.xls
Fantasy Booklist.xls
Historical Fantasty Booklist.xls
Historical Fiction Booklist.xls
Multicultural Booklist.xls
Mystery Booklist.xls
Narrative Nonfiction Booklist.xls
Primary Big Books.xls
Primary Content Area Booklist.xls
Primary Fairy Tales and Folk Tales.xls
Primary Nonfiction.xls
Primary Series Books.xls
Primary_Character_Fiction.xls
Social Issues Booklist.xls
Spanish Books to Support Reading Units of Study.xls
Spanish Books to Support Writing Units of Study.xls
Spanish Leveled Libraries Booklist.xls

I'm sorry you feel that way, Mom2Bee.  I, on the other hand was thrilled!  

While I am more than happy to bring the newest DVD by Intelbaby (also makes the Monki See videos) into my home specifically FOR the reason that it has Christian content, I understand that some may not.  I don't feel however, that it should deter anyone from buying their other DVDs.  There is excellent content presented in an entertaining and educational way in the Monki See videos.  I'd hate for your future kids to miss out on that.  But if you feel this way, you should also blacklist Readeez because Michael's excellent reading tool includes some great Bible memory videos, too.  

So, the other day I was delighted to see the following new Monki See video.  I watched it with my 5 and a half year old.  His response was similar to mine (with a little more volume and jumping up and down).  He cried "Again!  Let's watch it again, Momma!"  "That was excellent!"  "Mom, we HAVE to watch that again."  And we have.  Many times.  My husband loved it, too, and a good two hours afterwards he stated that the song was still in his head.  I also sent the link to a friend who is employed by the church we attend, as creation was the theme for September.  She's responsible for well over 400 kids.  This was her response: "Wow! So good!!! I find most little kids songs to have a lot of cheese factor but this one was really great!!! I’m not opposed to cheesy – I’m cheesy myself but it’s just a nice treat to see someone go beyond like that! Very enjoyable!"
 
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/ryAs8gHA8ms&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/ryAs8gHA8ms&rel=1</a>

Anyway, you can find the above song and I can only imagine, much more on the new Monki See video!  Here's a link to a preview of the "How God Made Everything" DVD.
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/v/HS-qzBVNAy8&rel=1" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/v/HS-qzBVNAy8&rel=1</a>

And here's the link if you want to pre-order.  The pre-order sale price is $9.95 USD.  I'm not sure how long they'll keep the pre-order price.  After that it looks like it goes to $12.95.  Perfect for those of you who want to get a head start on Christmas shopping.  I did  - pat on my back      http://stores.monkisee.com/-strse-41/How-God-Made-Everything/Detail.bok

Hi All!

I've been indulging my son in science videos while we have lunch these past few months.  We've gone through our personal dvd collection several times and moved to whatever we could find on youtube.  Then we got into a rut and watched every Curious George video we could find - which, if you stretch your imagination a fair bit, can be called somewhat sciency...but it's a stretch   We've just finished watching all the Bill Nye videos which we both liked quite a bit.

I'm wondering if there are any series that you and your child enjoy - science related...closer to the Bill Nye quality than the Curious George

Thank you for your thoughts!

Waterdreamer, 

I've been thinking about this daily since our coffee date.  I'm glad you brought it up.

A few weeks ago I asked my son what he'd like to learn in homeschool this year.  He said "How motors work."  Shamefully I responded "Okay honey, but I don't know anything about motors.  This might be tricky."  He replied "That's okay, Mommy.  Why don't you start by doing an online search on why oil is important.  That would be a good place for you to start."  He knows full well why oil is important - now he's schooling me! 

So, I came home from my last library trip with 4 massively heavy automotive books for him to look at and copy diagrams from.   

I guess this is my first "trade seed" to nurture!

http://www.theunlikelyhomeschool.com/2013/07/tips-to-starting-preschool-homeschool.html

Above is a link to a blog I enjoy.  This is the first in a series of how to set up a preschool co-op.  You may find some helpful information here.  I think there are five posts in this series.

Wow!  This is actually really great!  I skipped over this thread earlier as I feel I'm pretty set for the year..but now, having actually looked at the site and followed many of the links, I can see myself adding some of this!  I like the poetry and novel options - stuff I may not have picked out on my own.  I can see that opening them (the poetry and novel books) on a portable device like my iPad will make it much easier to enjoy.  Yay!  Thanks for the tip!