Ok, I am looking at BJU as a possible switch from RS. My biggest concern is not being able to do Algebra in 8th. I also am looking at miquon for my kindy student, so this is mostly older levels (3rd and 5th) questions. Looking at manuals BJU looks about 1/2 year behind where RS is for 3rd and 5th. How do you place? And like I said my husband who is an engineer wants algebra 1 in 8th.

For history, I'd check out beautiful feet. They have around the world with picture books and Early American for 1st. You pick 1. We are working on early American now, and love it. There are nice longer meaty picture books to read and copywork or coloring to do and some oral questions. I really like it for lower elementay. WWE is scripted, so if you like that you could go that route. You could also "just do copywork" and "oral narration" on your own. Simply Charlotte Mason has a book called hearing, relling reading, and writing that guides you with that. I also think that Baur has an older book, perharps still has it, that is a "make your own" WWE like thing. I wouldn't really add in grammar till 2nd or 3rd grade. My plan is light grammar till Middle school then do analytic grammar. There are lots of routes here-lots of personal preference. I also like MFW language lessons for today. It starts in 2nd too. It has copywork, narration, oral composition, some written composition, light grammar... Another on to check might be cottage press primer 1, but probably not till 2nd grade. I would continue AAR over the summer and some math, perhaps just finish RS a then start fresh in the fall. Its more exciting and everyone needs a break;) Add in lots of outdoor nature study and art projects and enjoy having a little!

But he's only in 4th now. Would you ever jump "ahead" in BJU?

Janeway, could you elaborate? He is going to be in "5th" next year. Also, I have the 5th grade manual for bju (4th edition). With RightStart we have already covered through chapter 11. How would I place him?

I have only used Horizons (4th) with 1 child for a few weeks. He is getting division down finally. So in that sense its "working". I think I'll probably keep it for him at least. They have a nice long (like 12 +) lessons focused on division. He understood it just fine going in, but was terribly s l o w. It seems less sprial that RightStart honestly now... I like RS B, but not A or C so much.... So I was thinking of switching all the way down... I am just not sure that I won't "mess up" I guess... I worry about this way more than likely is necessary;) Aboit a cd of extras... I like having it all in the book, but even Horizons has extra sheets in the tm that I can copy if needed. Thanks for your thoughts

I am planning a countries and cultures study for next year. I am pulling from severa. Sources including My Fathers World. Does anyone know what is in the student sheets other than Bible verse coloring pages and outline maps. I'm just wondering if they'd help us?

Thanks for the thoughts. I like to teach math, but 15-20 min each oer day is more what I can do than 45... Mostly the games for drill bogged us down. The kids didn't like them and didn't want to do them and i didn't have time to teach and then drill x2 or 3. Peterpan, how long does it take to teach a lesson? Is there enough drill and practice? My son usderstood division and coild do it, but until we switched into horizons, he was painfully slow. He is starting to pick up speed now. Past 6th grade or perhaps prealgebra doesn't really concern me. I plan to use Foersner Algebra.

As we add to our family, our current math program (RightStart) is becoming unsustainable. It needs way more drill and review than I can get to with games ectra. It has become particularly apparent with my 4th grader. I need a math program that is more streamlined. I am happy to add in fact drill via flashcards, math facts that stick, calculadders, but I need it to have plenty new practice and review in the lesson not as games that i have to participate in. I like to teach math, so teacher friendly is not necessary. I like to have a teacher book so I know what the point of the lesson is and any review that I should give the student. I have narrowed it down to Horizons or BJU. I actually like Horizons teacher book better and it looks more streamlined, but is BJU "better"? I also want to be able to do algebra in 8th grade. I would have to skip a BJU book or something to do this? My son is finishing this year with Horizons and boy he needed the long time spent on division practice. The review is good for him too. He needs to get plain faster at arithmetic. But will it help me lay a strong foundation in elementary? We will use Foerster for Algebra and likely Jacobs geometry. ETA we will have k, 3rd, 5th in school next year plus littles

My 3rd kindergartener Horizons math K with extra games and manipulatives All About Reading 1 with montessori pink and blue series stuff (into 2??) Beautiful Feet Around the World with Picture books plus anything I add from various sources;) with older sister Study animals and ecosystems around the world for science, and nature study D'nealian moving from tracing sandpaper letters to slate to copybook at his speed Spanish listen in with sister on Songschool Spanish 2 and little Pim with little sister Read Bible together and weekly memory verse

I think they have suggested grades in the front somewhere...

I aphad said the above was tentative....boy is it:) As our family grows some things just aren't serving us too well... The bold is the changes I've made as I evaluate this spring.

I just don't get to all the phonics and basic math practice thats so good....involving the olders is necessary, and they like it. The writing strands we have has my name on the cover from when I was in 5th or so grade... its level 3. I think My Fathers World reprints are pretty similar. My mother in law is teaching it (she has the same 25-30 yr old books), but it's hard to get over there. I may have to take it over...

Memoria press says Elementary Koine Greek is 4th on up. It is what I am leaning toward for my 5th grader next year. He is doing code cracker now and enjoying it. It will give him a good jump start. I want grammer in a Greek course and trust that Memoria has it;) It also looks straightforward (he really hated song school spanish this year...) and cheaper, both of what I want.

Thanks for all the thoughts. I have been reading them and appreciate them. I am goig to try to work ahead some. I ordered Foerster Algebra 1 and 2. I'm not sure how far I'll get with a baby and toddler. I have taken through PreCalc in college and my hubby did differential equations ect. as an engineer. If I brush up enough, I want him to teach me calculus, but I'm also having to keep up with Spanish and Greek...no problem so far, but they will catch up;) Luckly my sis in law knows way more of both these then I do, and can help.

My current plan for my 1st 5th grader. Things are changing around here as I no longer have only 2 in school....;) Math Horizons 5 supplement with hands on equations and perhaps division facts that stick LA: AAS 3-4, Language Lessons for today 5, read books I assign and narrate some, write at least one short research paper/report, writing strands History: Beautiful Feet History of horse (he needs fun here) and listen in on my around the world study with k and 3 siblings Science: Apologia zoology 3 Animals and family nature study Koine Greek: He's learning the alphabet this year. I think we'll either do Hay Andrew or Memoria Press elementary Koine next. I took 3 semesters in college and my sister in law took many more, but I want an elementary approach. He's excited about this. Piano: continue Other: we do drawing, mad libs, math puzzles, picture study, poetry and Bible together. Not all every day;) Help teach preschool and kindergarten about 10 or 15 min 3-4 X a week. It's good for him and his siblings;) We have lots of good books to read and montessori type activities, so he does 1 of those things.

I am quite confident in my elementary math teaching ability, but our oldest will be in highschool in just a few years. I like math, but realized it late. I only took preCalculas my senior year of college. I loved it;) My husband took lots of math....engineer, but doesn't really like math. For him its a means to an end. Anyway, I really want to teach Algebra and geometry at least myself. I planning to use the Foerster algebra and Jacobs geometry texts. How do you learn to teach upper level math well? I'm also interested in learning Calculus, but I have a toddler and another on the way as well a homeschooling and housekeeping, so I'm not sure a college class is a great idea...

Science in the Beginning by J L Wile is good. Only 3x a week. A simple experiment with each lesson. Review questions at 3 levels; the older 2 ages keep a homemade science notebook. No fluff. It is based on the days of creation, but I've heard people use it without being Christian. It is really just science;) I'm not as fond of the rest of his elementary books, but this is perfect for your ages. You could totally add books to it and use it for the spine and experiments. There's only like 3 pages of text per lesson.

Has anyone used Adventures in Phonics from CLP? It looks like a solid inexpensive phonics option. I think I'm wanting something with writing in it. I have used AAR for a child who had trouble with reading, but I think its drawn out and lacking in writing.....unless you also use all about spelling.

My 4th grader is not very independent either. A checklist and being 9.5 seem to help some. I have been working him to self motivation this year;) Patiently and persistently training children is as hard (or harder) as teaching them, hang in there, and don't give up on good habits;)

I usually teach younger math lesson while older does warm up. Then i teach his while she works on the practice part. I do turn some of the "games" into worksheets. Not all of them, because sometimes the oral practice with mom is just what someone needs. It's not bery hard. I read the game directions, then jot down drill problems based on it. I do a parent intensive spelling program with them together, and do 1 on 1 language lessons. 1 does independent work while i do language and perhaps science with the other. We break for "morning" time about 10 or so to give the toddlers a refresh time. I am teaching them to play together without me in the a.m. and simultaneously teaching my school aged ones to focus with noise....a great lifelong skill! I'm not sure how next year will work when I add a Ker student. Right now, I do phonics with him for about 15 min 3-4 days a week and math about 2x a week.....next year that will go up. Just some ideas....

Well I did use Abeka for 1st grade for my oldest.....RightStart B takes less time for me;) It is teacher intensive through C, but so far my younger than 3rd graders arent independent at all, and are way more productive under my nose. RightStart makes good use of my time. D and E move toward more independence, especially in warm up exercises, but still have me actively involved in teaching. My oldest isn't self directed anyway so I view it as time efficient as well as me having to be there. I had him do some multiplication lessons from math mammoth this year because he was stuck. I think they took as much time from me. Math is just teacher intensive;)

Just another angle. I have used/ am using RightStart 2nd edition. Currently, I have 1 child in level C and 1 in E. I have used levels A-E. It allows you to start algebra in 8th if you only do 1 level per grade with A in kindergarten. There are 140 lessons per level and a handful are enrichment and tests some of which I skip. The 2nd edition is way more teacher friendly than the 1st edition. I have found it mostly used and bought the e-workbooks since we have 5 children. Also i bought a cheeper balance from Rainbow resource....I bought other cheeper "off brand" manipulatives. Sometimes they dont work so well for a certain lesson (like their centimeter cubes weigh 1 gram), but mostly it works, or I make it;) I've upgraded some manipulatives as we go along and I see using it long term. I dont find it time consuming mostly 15-20 min for A and only a bit more for B. C and D are more like 20-30 depending on focus of child and whether it is a geometry drawing lesson. Those take longer. E is longer like 45 min or an hour if my son is not focused. Some days though it's more like 30 min. I find that there is sometimes not enough drill. I use Math mammoth pages or more likely problems from Strayer-Upton, make my own, add flash cards or reciting facts, or another game.....depends on the concept and the child. I would look at the placement on the RightStart website. Your daughter is probably in B. They have great e-mail and phone placement help too. They will help with a sticking concept too. A is the most "jumpy". It is really just a playful and interesting introduction to formal math...I really like it for 5 year olds;) The later levels (D and E) are more like several lessons on 1 topic then move on and come back later more in depth. C drove me nuts with the first child. It is going better this time around. It is kind of a transition level and also stretches math thinking. Older had not much patience for it;) Also the objectives in the front of each book are a great help for kbowing what to focus on and what is just an introduction. Sorry for the novel...let me know if you have any questions. Also, I'd do math mammoth for older, unless he's really hands on or pencil phobic then I'd talk to RightStart about placement. I'd do RightStart with younger. Math Mammoth is visually cluttered and lots of black and white. They do have a color edition now! Also RightStart will go into Math Mammoth well if you want to switch younger later. Both these programs are written by mathematicians and have a good long track record. These were important points for me.

This is tenitive....always for this early RightStart D Nope we're all switching to Horizons. We need the drill, review and streamlined approach....I will teach with some of the RightStart ideas though. I've learned alot;) Rod and Staff English 3 finish and start 4 Nope doing MFW Language lessons for today Apples and pears b+c with brother or just b(spring and summer) and move to dictation Nope doing Christian Liberty spelling Parts of Heart of Dakota preparing....she likes the looks of the science and I want a history overview Nope We are doing Beautiful feet around the world with picture books with kinder brother and adding in some resources from MFW exploring countries and galloping the globe The above will have some science and will be all the science for little brother she will add in Apologia ... we may do Apologia plants too or instead... Doing plants with notebooking journal Spanish song school 2 maybe?? quite sure we will with little brother and sis listening in And books, random worksheets...

I use RightStart with 2 children. 1 is in level E and 1 in C (I think this is my least favorite level;). I would say both are average. Mostly they have no trouble, but sometimes we get stuck (hello check numbers in the beginning of E;) I have found that e-mailing RightStart is very helpful when I have had trouble. They get right back to you and have good ideas. I agree with the above post about not worring too much aboit the balance now. I also agree that you want her to see that the 2 fives make 10. It comes into play over and over, but it will be reintroduced in B, so a somewhat shaky understanding is probably ok. Sometimes when my kids have trouble with something, I get out my ol blue plastic base 10 blocks. They aren't a RightStart manipulative, but they seem easier for my kids to understand at first than the abacus, balance, or paper cards. Can she see that 7 and 7 makes 10 and 2? Does she understand that 10 is a very special bundle from the tally sticks and other examples. I would say that place value is the mose important concept in A. My kids knew it was illegal to bundle at any other number than 10! They would sometimes tease me by adding tally sticks to or taking them away from our bundles....we never left them that way though...that would be illegal or CHEATING;) (If the kids wonder why 10, I told them it was truly rather arbitrary, but it was the rules of our number system. Other number systems could "bundle" (binary perhaps is an example) at a different number, but WE don't!)