I am new here but PLEASE help me :-)

Can you return the WP?  If not you could sell it to recoup some of your investment anyway.  I’m not familiar with that, but you’re definitely right about wanting to take it easy.  Create a love for learning and a desire to know – and you will have more than succeeded!  As for materials…there are so many possibilites.  Some that come to my mind are Five in a Row using the library to get the books to read (or forget the Five in a Row and just read whatever books you like for fun), Christian Liberty Nature Readers (or Outdoor Secrets from this site – I just ordered this so maybe someone should confirm that it would be the right thing) or any living books from the library about things in nature…and go outside and look and see the great outdoors (nature study).  Play and be curious and find answers for their questions so that you can share them later.  For teaching  reading, I used the CM method for the last child I taught and we loved that – so I was very happy to be able to order a ready made set to accomplish this here – Delightful Reading.  I am thoroughly looking forward to starting this with my almost five yr old.  My plan for him and his almost 3 yo sister this year goes something like this:  teach them to obey with one telling by playing the “Yes ma’am” game and continual reinforcement, teach them to take turns talking, teach them to sit and play quietly with one thing (attentiveness) and not be in total chaos while others are studying, teach them little bits of verses that can be meaningful to them right now and tell them in short bits about God/things from the Bible. Then when I feel like we’re getting a good handle on these “big rocks”, we’ll try starting Delightful Reading.  I’m hoping (again) to do some nature study with them like I mentioned above, but with 3 older ones to teach as well…we’ll just have to see how it goes again.  Maybe once or twice a week anyway I could commit to.  I wish you well!  And hope this helps…I’m sure five different people would give you five different opinions…but I would just encourage you as your own heart is telling you to keep it light and fun – but that doesn’t have to be a lot of work for Mom either or a lot of money!!

Julie

Well, the book is Wiggles Giggles & Snuggles, Homeschooling your 4-6 year old by Kim Gray. But it does not have an originating website and I didn’t find it with an online search. Her suggested reading list:

Suggested Reading:For the Children’s Sake by Susan Schaeffer Macauley, A Charlotte Mason Companion by Karen Andreola, Educating the Whole Hearted Child by Clay and Sally Clarkson, The Article found here on Imparting Living Ideas to Children:http://amblesideonline.homestead.com/LivingIdeas.html, Charlotte Mason’s 6-volume Original Home schooling Series

And she offers lots of encouragement and suggestions for homeschooling preschoolers from Nature Study to art to reading, etc… If you want to try to find it. Since it was s free download, do y’all think it would be OK to pass it on if its no longer online? I’d be happy to email it if we don’t turn it up.

Don’t panic!  We bought that program, though it contained different books when we got it – it did contain that ridiculously priced “make a letter” pack of trinkets.  I have to say, at the time, I was horribly disappointed, and we barely used it, BUT now that my girls are in third and first grade and I have a just turning 3 year old, we’re going to pick it up again and do a designated pre-school time with it – my preschooler LOVES the Sing, Play Create book – and even her older sisters like to join in.  My 3rd grader is going to do the craft activity with the 3 year old while I work with my 1st grader on reading.  The craft activities really are quite fun and you can find most of the materials that you need to do them at the dollar store.  While they are kid-like in quality, they should be good for building gross and fine motor skills so useful in handwriting later. 

Also, I’ve never seen the “One Small Square” books, but from what I’ve read about them, they might be good for nature study.

For reading – I really liked, “Mommy, teach me to read” which I haven’t read for quite a while, but really struck me as being CM in style and a lot she suggested used basic things around the house – so just the cost of the book!   

http://mommyteachme.net/autographed_copies.htm

For Math – just teaching him his numerals, how to write them, identify them and count objects – if he’s not able to write yet, then just use number cards or magnets and set some objects on the table and have him pick the right number card and put it next to the group of objects.  We have some puzzles that do this. 

Hope those ideas are helpful to you… and while I KNOW that some people LOVE WP, my biggest problem with programs like that is the exoribinant price they charge for their teacher’s manual – any program that charages excessively for their teachers manual should raise red flags for parents and have them checking them out in person (from personal experience!) – that’s one of the reasons I LOVE SCM – VERY reasonably priced teaching plans/guides – THEY ARE THE BEST!

Rebekah

I found the Wiggles book

http://www.oocities.org/montistrick/WigglesGigglesSnuggles.pdf

I don’t think you need to spend hardly any money for their ages, you have most everything you need at home probably.  When I need cheap books I use half.com or abebooks.com but you won’t need some of those for a while.  The library is a huge blessing for us and I’m sorry yours isn’t that way. 

I’ve never used a phonics “program”, just things I’ve made from free worksheets online, like letter wheels where you pin labeled letter clothespins to a wheel, short poems/nursery rhymes where they circle one certain word all the way through, etc.  You can go somewhere and get them laminated, or use packing tape.  Look for very cheap phonics readers at garage sales or on craigslist or ebay.   Math is simple too, the idea above was good about cards with numbers, I also use baggies with a number on them labeled 1-10 and 10 random household objects and have them put them in the correct bag.  The other suggestions are great, reading aloud is important, having them read to you, and outside time. 

As for a schedule, just choose what is important for your family to get done and make one on Excel spreadsheet.  It shouldn’t be too long at this age so easy to make in time blocks for a guide.  Have fun and enjoy the process!