That is interesting to hear about the reading curriculum. What kind of stories are in it?

I've looked at it and almost used it at least 2x. I somehow just do not love her book choices...but that is so individual. The only book choices I consistently have liked are the history and science guides and from Simply charlotte Mason. I do like the layout of HOD and how it promotes independence in the later grades. There is A LOT more hand holding there then in the SCM guides. I really wanted to use Creation to Christ this year (and have it for sale on homeschool classifieds BTW;), but somehow couldn't. I do think there is some unnessary busy work in it. I was planning to cut some, but it really looked good. Somehow I just didn't like some of the book choices...a bit pushy maybe....I don't know. I do not like beautiful feets book choices altogether either. Maybe someday I will Wright out our Year HOD style using books I choose;) I do like the layout and her English and writing ideas....

What levels have you used....just curious.

Thanks Ellie. I think my son needs the just plain writing work...maybe drop a grade or 2 but do it all. He thinks it looks nice. He thinks school should just get done and he likes the plain text;) My daughter finds pictures distracting. I have the origional writing strands. My mother in law has used it some with the kids...maybe I'll try to do some too. I used it a bit myself many years ago.... I am open to other suggestions and ideas still. I love to hear from older mothers;) I am not all set in stone yet. I am looking at everything.

I wasn't trying to say something else was silly. My son really dislikes Wordsmith Apprentices because it was trying to be "fun".... He likes the looks of Rod and Staff because of the Bible and farming themes. He likes both of those....since he's my hardest one to fit, I think maybe I'll try Rod and Staff. I may combine both into 4th grade though. I have 2, 4, 5, and 6 on order to look at. I found some used. I like Analytical Grammar and have it, but it is pushing him a bit. I also like the premise of Jump In, but totally not yet. We lean Charlotte Mason too. I can get good oral narration out of the older 2, but trying to get the oldest into written narration and outlining is so mom intensive and time consuming.....Maybe we will be there sometime. I almost think his writing was better a few years back....

I was planning to teach it. Would 15 min per kid per lesson work? That I can do and expect to do. I just can't get in all the individualized lessons in written narration and outlining in. I will add in what I can, but I need a curriculum with a brief lesson from me then independent practice. My kids particularly my oldest hate anything that tries to be sure or funny....

We are just getting busier with 5 kids 1-11. As much as I love to do lots of 1 on 1 teaching I can't get it all in. How about using Rod and Staff for Writing and Grammar? I also try to get in written narration about 1x a week a long with history for 6th and 4th. Science is Apologia with notebooks now. Any thoughts? My kids do not love school. We do just fine, but would rather be doing outdoor chores especially the oldest. What about climbing to good English or Learning Language Arts through Literature? Any thoughts or comparisons? Just to clarify, we do history much more than 1x a week...that is just the outline and written narration. We do oral narration more than that as well.

We swapped Beautiful Feet Early American primary(1st) and mom assigned books (4th) for Notgrass Star Spangled Story for our American history strand for the middle 2.....somehow I just do not like too many Beautiful Feet book choices and the 4th grader was not ready to do history on her own yet.... Also for the 4th grader I dropped Language Lessons for Today 5 and All About Spelling for Spelling Wisdom and Using Language well. Also dropped RightStart B for Math with Confidence 1 and dropped All About Reading 1 for Abeka 1st grade language arts. (So much for my 1st grade summer plans....science remains the same though;) On the other hand nothing changed for the 5th grader.

I used the Little Seedlings Press one. The masterbooks title is only slightly different, if I recall correctly. My son found foundational phonics nice and unstressful so reading was not associated with frustration at age 5;) We sometimes added in parts of Abeka like blend ladders or 1 vowel word cards as time went on. Just keep the goal of sounding out 1 vowel words in sight however far away it is. The only reason to switch is if Abeka is currently causing tears and frustration. Yes handwriting is different. You could skip the tracing in foundational phonics and just keep up with abeka if you want too.

I would guess brain maturity too. My son who is 6 now was totally NOT ready for AAR 1 or Abeka K last year! We did Foundational Phonics, bits of the early Abeka k workbook and bits of other stuff but that's all that really worked well. This year he is totally ready for Abeka 1st....1st is really complete so it's ok to do something else for K. Once short vowel words click even if they are not fluent 1st seems to work. Also my sis in law teaches Kindergarten at a Christian school using Abeka. For many kids she just stops at the short vowel part and does other stuff. Also the Abeka blend ladders and blend practice cards A were also perfect for my son as an early 5 yr old. AAR 1 from pre AAR was too big a jump. (I own AAR and Abeka too;) I like both for different kids.

My son likes the blending practice in Abeka better than AAR. Somehow the pretty pictures, some practice in the reader, some in the workbook, and some on cards helps him. He did the AAR fluency pages compliently, but he actually likes his Abeka workbook and reader. I like the tiles to. They are good for any program. Blending is tedious...reading will come.

Here are my thoughts. For whatever they are worth. Abeka is good strong phonics. I have it as well as All About Reading and have used both for different kids. However my son who was 5 last year was not ready for Abeka Kindergarten phonics. Neither did he do well with All About Reading 1. 1 does not really move faster than the other they are just different. We shelved both for the year and Foundational Phonics from little Seedlings press. It has a big workbook that slowly does all 26 letters 1 at a time. It only covers short vowels. I also used the Abeka blend ladders and short vowel blend cards and some k4 readers. He had pretty good phonetic awareness already though....just was not ready to blend more than 2 letters at first. He was blending lots of 3 letter words at the end of the year but not reading. We practiced some over the summer. He is doing well with Abeka 1st grade materials now. They start back at the beginning so he isn't missing anything. Honestly All About Reading 1 (which we started of the year with) was not going as well as Abeka 1st Is?? I don't use the whole lesson plan each day though. Basically we review special sounds on the basic phonics cards and then some blend or word cards that I pick out and he does his page. Later in the day, hereads a story to me. If your son needs phonetic awareness help the All About Reading preReading set has lots of scripted short games in progressing difficulty to play. I love them and am using it time 3 now. The cards and teacher book are necessary for the phonetic awareness. The other 3 books are not so much. Do read poetry to your son though. The workbook has letter pages to color and do some activity on. The readers are examples of poetry in one and letter rhymes in the other. Abeka K4 may also be a good fit, but don't feel like you have to do it all. Just do what your son needs.

We start the Wednesday after Labor day. We have had a breakfast picknic a few times. I think well do that again this year. We have also made an afternoon "hot air ballon" ala A Year of Playing Skillfully twice I think. The kids loved that one. I'm planning on it again too. Then we take a quick ramp up to all subjects by the following Monday. We always do math on day 1 and some history or science and something like handwriting at least. I guess I'm not one to dip toes;)

I liked AAR for my likely mildly dyslexic boy. I never had him tested, he just fufills many of the markers and I have had some little experience teaching and working with dyslexic kids. Also my next child was totally different... If you use AAR be sure to go as slowly as necessary streaching out a lesson as long or short as needed. I even repeated level 1 with my boy as he could sound out everything in it but was discouraged and not automatic at all. He is reading Spiderweb for 2 by Elizabeth Enright and Homer Price on his own quickly for fun now so we obviously have succeeded! He is 11. We had a few summers of required reading for 20 or 30 min 4+- days a week after AAR though. For more severe dyslexia my sister in law who is a 1st and 2nd grade teacher and has tutered dyslexic kids also recommends Wilson. I would honestly try AAR and see how it goes. I would start at level 1, just to cover all bases and have it be easy and encouraging. You can likely find parts used just make sure that the teacher edition is 2nd edition or color edition as these have alot more in them. Look into testing if you dont make progress in about 6 months or so.

I have and use the pre AAR. You totally do not need the student book though, however I like it so I use it for an activity book because it is not all just coloring. The best part is all the phonemic awareness activities (like oral blending, segmenying and rhyming) scheduled in the Teacher manual. I found the teacher manual used for cheap. You do need the cards too in order to play some phonemic games. (Kick the card out of the wagon that does not rhyme with the other 2 as an example). I don't like the poetry book so I do not use it. We read other poetry. It is important for children to hear lots of songs and rhymes. The alphabet book(the zig zag zebra) is nice to have with a short rhyme for each letter. I do use that one.

Not audio, but Simply Charlotte Mason has reading schedules and some narration questions written up in a guide for 1-12. There are 6 different time period guides and I am planning to sort of combine the Rome one and the american portion of Early modern one to avoid the all ancient history. There is a narrative spine that you (or a child) reads aloud then older kids have other assigned reading. There are scheduled Bible readings and picture books also. It is a bit light, but I like that as we can either dive deep with our own ideas added on or gloss over it quickly and check to box (depends on the day/ year;) I have not found anything I like better. https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/history-geography-bible-lesson-plans/ They have a few audio books https://simplycharlottemason.com/store/product-category/product-audiobooks/

My 5th grade ds and I loved (actually we really did!) Exploring what God has made from Simply charlotte mason. It is just right for that afge and organizes trade (library) books around the days of creation. There are nature study promps, natration questions and some notebook entries. He read it to himself and is not a super strong reader. We didn't get totally finished and so are finishing up human body unit this summer. He doesn't mind (which is saying alot for this school allergic child;) and is telling me interesting things he has learned. She notes where evolution is mentioned in a book with ideas how to deal with it.

I love RightStart here;) Yes some lessons are long like an hour for at least some kids especially the later levels. I am positive that some of that is diddling here...we're working on that and Math Mammoth was no better. I thought RightStart was too teacher intensive in 2021 so we geared up to switch into Math Mammoth(5th) and Kate Snows Math with Confidence(K and pilot test 3). We did them for up to 1/2 the year. Math mammoth lasted the longest. By mid January all 3 children were back in RightStart. It is so easy for me to teach and makes so much sense to me and oldest and youngest especially thrive with it. Level D child switched seamlessly. We are a bit behind now in level A and F, but by the end of next year these 2 should be caught back up. (Both switches I filled in and switched carefully and these 3 programs are simular in many ways). My rising 6th grader never wants to switch again he even knows G has alot of geometrical drawang which he dislikes. He says he learns well with RightStart it makes sense to him. I think that you as the teacher really have to be comfortable with the math curriculum. Read as many samples as you can. What looks fun to teach and understandable to you? You can modify it for your kids. We do not love the card games very much. For more practice I have several montessori materials (100 board, multiplication bead board, Pythagoras board, teens and ten boards, red and blue sticks (the name currently escapes me;)), 10 sticks game with my plastic base 10 blocks, flash cards, and strayer upton texts (lots of great drill and story problems). RightStart is not Montessori, but it works better here. We live in the country with lots to do and my kids basically never get out the Montessori materials themselves. RightStarts discrete lessons work well. Then, I use the Montessori stuff in place of RightStart manipulatives and in some lessons as practice in others.

Here is for the oldest! Most things are not new for us so I expect it will work;) Bible- We're doing SCM Joshua through Malachi and Ancient Greece as a family instead Math- RightStart G and continue Calculadders General LA- Language lessons for Today 5 Grammar- Analytical Grammar wait till 6th for this Writing- Writing Strands with Grandma in the winter and continue written narrations maybe join little sister in with Write with The Best not. Instead we will do MP Classical Comp. I Fable Reading- Try a MP lit guide for Lion Witch, Wardrobe in the Fall then not He will read the books I hand him Spelling- AAS finish 3 do 4 History- [ s ]Truthquest Ancient Greece [ / s ] SImply Charlotte Mason Joshua through Malachi and Ancient Greece Science- Simply Charlotte Mason Jack's Insects Greek- MP elementary Greek if we continue Piano-with aunt Art- drawing textbook, and hopefully begin brush drawing AND NEW trying Feed my Sheep by Berry Stebbing

I really like RightStart. We have used A-F. New material introduced in logical chunks and seems to always move to a new tipic at just the right time. There is alot of build in review. It is scripted for the teacher, bit you can totally look at the objectives listed at the top of the lesson and teach it your own way. There are fewer lessons than a school year which gives you the freedom linger on an old lesson or spend some days just playing games to practice facts. For my kids there is not enough plain fact drill (we likely don't play the games enough) so I bought CalcuLadders to fill this in. A feels a bit random compared to the other levels, but it is really an exploration introduction to numbers. RightStart has great costumer service and will help you with any questions you have. I have asked them about various problems my kids have had and they always have good suggestions. Do get the 2nd edition if you go with this. I tried Math with Confidence with my k and 3rd grade (3rd was a pilot) students this year and ended up going back to RightStart. I was trying for something quicker and it was not. I really like the sequence in RightStart better. Math with Confidence K seemed to go too fast at first with not enough review. RightStart was a better sequence and pace even though RightStart ends up ahead at the end of the year? I really like the Facts that Stick books from Kate Snow and my Sis in Law teaches at a small school and likes the Math with Confidence series there. You may also like BJU math or Miquion. Just for more options. Whatever you do please do not push a 4 year old, taking 2 years with a K book is fine At this point!

This is number 3 of 5. He gets lost so the MP enrichment is for that;) I totally get to don't worry and be laid back. I also am not going to let this one get by with so little writing as the older 2 did. That made me have to push way too hard in 5th and 3rd to convince them that writing is necessary. History however is not as important as early as I made it in the past...we're just going to enjoy culture and stories here;) Math: RightStart B Reading: Memoria Press story time treasures Spelling: Traditional spelling 1 Handwriting/copywork: Memoria press cursive and copybook Science: MP enrichment and SCM Outdoor Secerets (both are 1x week and we will not fo enrichment every week...only when I and he want too) History: MP enrichment and maybe 50 famous stories retold Geography: maybe Charlotte Mason Elementary Geography Art: Memoria Press, drawing textbook, paper modeling

I am using first start reading with my k`er now. I used AAR with my older 2. I really like the integrated writing! Just agreeing here;) I do really like the looks of the MP pre K. I think I am going to use it next year with another as well as most of 1st with this current k student;) I think I'd drop back to MP preK or just do AAR prereading. I'd do AAR if I wanted phonemic awareness and Memoria press preK if you wanted more than that. You can do AAR pre with just a teachers manual (try to find used) and the cards. The student book is a letter craft page for each lowercase and uppercase letter as well as 1 sound page per letter....

I used AAR for 2 kids, nowI am using Foundational Phonics from Little seedlings. I love it for my 5 year old. I started with book 1 even though we did letter sounds last year. It gets fast into short vowel words. It includes some writing as well as hearing sounds and noticing words. The activities are developmental and with a set of sandpaper letters and extra readers if you need the practice your all set. It is not daunting, but is phonetically sound. It is based on the old book Word Mastery by Florence Akin. My son does not love all of it, but he does like some pages each unit. https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/9162/Foundational-Phonics.html I think the stories in AAR are too long for K and 1st graders learning to read. We struggled with them and the fluency sheets too. I like the American Language Series much better for readers. https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/042643/Fun-in-the-Sun-ALS-Kindergarten-Readers.html?

The math with confidence series is easy and gently progresses. It is very easy to teach and not too expensive...maybe use it for math for the 6 year old? I also really like little seedlings for a not too expensive phonics program. It consists of 2 workbooks. https://www.rainbowresource.com/category/9162/Foundational-Phonics.html Level 1 starts with letter sounds and moves to short vowel words using the letters learned. It is pure phonics and very open and go and includes copyable flashcards. The teen could probably even do some of it. It is that easy. And has lots of practice. Add the American Language Readers (start with buyingnjust the first 1 or 2) to it for more cheap reading practice that is phonetically sound.https://www.rainbowresource.com/product/042643/Fun-in-the-Sun-ALS-Kindergarten-Readers.html? I am really liking Math Mammoth for my 5th grader. She has free comprehensive placement tests on the math mammoth website. It goes through pre algebra. Not sure where the teen is math wise, but all the teaching is in each worktext and they run about $12 a workbook per semester and then a $12 answer key. So $36 a year. You could use this for the 1st grader as well.

We changed too, but at least it was befoee we started;) Math: Math Mammoth 5 Language Arts: SCM Using Language Well 2, written narrations and paragraph structure Greek: Memoria Press Koine Greek 1 at 1/2 speed Spelling: Memoria press Traditional Spelling 1 (It's his nemesis...mine too) Science: SCM Exploring what God has made (love this) History: SCM Ancient Egypt sort of with Dianah Warring cds and some other stuff