reading, schooling

I did an online reading assessment with Erik yesterday and today. He wasn't overly thrilled with it, because sometimes he wanted to give the wrong answer--he likes to do that, give ALL the wrong answers and then the right one. I think it's because of the over-emphasis on positive reinforcement in all of his computer games. It makes him laugh to hear 'try again!", etc.

Anyway, the assessment: 3.5 level for word recognition. 1st for word meaning and reading comprehension. 1.5 level for spelling. Mid-K for high frequency words (it was a time test... he was having too much fun with the game. He knew them all, just not fast enough). and Mid-K for phonics--he has no attention for phonics.

So, now I'm researching if there are any good phonics programs right now for Erik. He loves Study Dog, the free computer game, and he learns a lot from that.

It is mind-boggling to look at all the programs out there and try to decide what fits Erik the best. We're almost ready for the next Math level. I really liked Singapore Math, but I've heard there's a pretty big jump between EarlyBird and Primary 1A. So I've been thinking about investigating a different method that covers a lot of what he's done, but in a different way. The problem is, he knows some of the material just fine, so it would be a waste to get a complete first level. Teaching him number recognition to 20 is pointless right now. I guess I really should just get organized and come up with more activities to teach the things he needs more practice on.

Language Arts/phonics--there are so many great programs out there! I think I've decided that we don't want Sonlight's LA. The K program is too basic for Erik, but the 1 program is too mature (he's certainly not ready for a lot of dictation!). So I'm looking around right now at all of our options.

I can't believe how much of my brainpower this consumes. I want to make perfect choices, and be absolutely thrilled with everything that we get. That's a pretty high standard.