lovedtodeath- Thanks for the schedule!!! How have you liked PR with HOD? Will you continue it? Is there much separate planning with PR? I was thinking it had lesson plans but I believe I read in a post somewhere that you had to actually watch the DVD's to get the plans. How are you able to plan ahead of time without watching the DVD's? I have been trying to decide whether to even use PR or not, but it seems the type of instruction it provides (or AAS provides) may be what my son needs. Thanks!

I currently use TOG, but have been feeling the struggle of planning for all of the different subjects (I have 4 children, only three are doing planned activities, the 2 yro has her fun boxes that she does). I have many thoughts swirling around, because I really do like TOG!!!! My oldest son LOVES reading his history books so it hasn't been too much for him. My three other children are too young yet and so just catch what they can (I do read some of the LG literature and history readings with them when they are interested.) I am currently looking at Phonics Road (PR) because my second son is struggling with reading and spelling (he's 6). I like the idea of the AIO but am wondering if I were to use HOD for everything but LA if that would really defeat the purpose of HOD (and how nicely everything meshes together) or if PR and HOD would be too much for my son during the day. Or whether I should just stick with TOG and pray that going with an already planned LA curriculum will help alleviate some of the stress of planning for everyone. I would still have math, science, and Bible to plan though. The other thought is maybe go HOD with AAS. I believe someone suggested that if I were going to do AAS, why not do PR and get the phonics instruction too in the same amount of time it takes to complete a lesson. I am pretty confused at this point as I muddle through everything. I do like TOG, but am thinking about setting it down for something that I don't have to plan so much. Oh, I am not the creative, need to change everything type, so scripted doesn't bother me at all. I just want a Christ centered, academically challenging, solid program that will help train my children to think critically and be prepared for whatever God calls them to do. Is that to much to ask?:lol: I think I am just tired of the planning. Any thoughts for PR users or others who have used a different LA curric than what HOD uses?

:lurk5: I would love to hear the responses to this too!

I am interested in this too as I have been stalking PR posts because my 6 yo ds struggles to read and spell. I was hoping that either AAS or PR would be an answer to some of his struggles. I don't want to confuse the poor kid with too many rules! :bigear:

Thanks for the input! My concerns for teacher intensiveness are regarding how much prep time it takes. It does sound like more than what I am currently doing with my LA program, but if it works...it could beat the frustration and tears that sometimes come! It does sound like I would miss the Bible based readers from Rod and Staff. It would be great to be reinforcing what we are teaching Biblically through our LA program, so that is something I need to think about too. Thanks again! I will have to go check out Tina's blog! I would still be interested in hearing from anyone else who has used both R&S reading and phonics and has also used PR.

Thanks for the responses...I have to get started on our school day but will write more later!

I have a 6 year old son who has struggled to read. He is doing okay now, praise God, but we just have to take it slow! I am currently using Sing, Spell, Read, and Write and am to the point where it is mostly lists of spelling words. I am not making him spell the lists to continue on as it would take us a long time to continue to work through the material. He has taken 4 weeks just to work on spelling some sight words (I have tried to make it fun where he practices the words with shaving cream, painting on the deck with water, snap together blocks, play dough, etc.) but the words are just not sticking. All of this has had me looking at spelling and phonics programs. My previous plan was to go to Rod and Staff reading and phonics after this year of SSRW because I LOVE the Bible Reader (we are using the R&S Bible Reader each day in addition to SSRW). I was just going to use the Spelling Power method of spelling since that is what I use with my older son. I am intrigued by PR because it is mostly all in one, and because so many have shared how it is helping their children read and spell better. My questions at this point are: 1. Am I expecting to much from him this year in terms of being able to retain and spell these words? Do I wait and just see whether he will struggle with spelling next year before I make any changes? I know he is still young...but it is just different than with my older child! 2. I have looked at AAS but the teacher intensiveness of it scares me...is PR considered just as teacher intensive? If you have used both R&S and PR how would you compare your time investment between the two? 3. R&S also teaches the phonics sounds, why would PR be a "better" approach for a struggling reader/speller (can you tell I have not done my homework about the method)? 4. Is Scripture or Biblical values taught within the curriculum or is it fairly secular? Thanks for listening and for any insights you have!

Great questions Brownie! I honestly have not been using the HIG. I started out using them in 1A and 1B, but then stopped as we had our fourth child and I could basically hand the textbook to my son, he would read through it and then do fine answering questions in the workbook. When he gets things wrong he is quickly able to correct it. It "seemed" to me that he understood the concepts. Basically, I am ashamed to say, he has taught himself using the textbooks unless he had questions or I noticed him struggling.:blush: Hmmm.... now you have me thinking. Do I actually have to "teach" him?:lol: I would say that he figures things out quickly and not always the singapore way, I haven't pushed that though. I need to think through this more. Any further thoughts or questions?

Thanks for the great responses!! It is very helpful to hear your results too! My son has been tested through our county schools using the ITBS so I did not get to see what he has been missing. He scored 99 for computation for both 1st and 2nd grade but 80% for concepts both years. As I said, we have only used singapore us ed, but we were almost finished with 3B when he took the test this year. So, since others have not really had this problem (which I know 80% isn't bad, but compared to his computation score it just shows me that something is not clicking or I do need more practice cementing those concepts in!) Would the IP be enough or adding in more from a program that does drill and do more practice help?

I have used singapore us ed now with my son since kindergareten. We only have to turn in standardized tests for 1st and second grade. My son scored perfectly in the area of computation for both 1st and 2nd, but math concepts was one of the lowest areas on his test both years in a row (they weren't bad, but this surprised me especially since he grasps math quickly...I thought). I wanted to hear from other users whether they experienced similar results with singapore or whether I need to be teaching differently/better with the different concepts. FYI: I tried adding in SM IP in the past, but did not do that this year. I am considering supplementing Singapore with R&S or perhaps I should consider Saxon. I do not want to base my decision because of test scores, but do believe it can reveal an area of weakness. Any thoughts?

:lurk5:

As I am ALREADY planning for next year, I have been looking heavily at different LA programs. At this point I am interested in MCT island level for my 8yr ds. I have come across the Jacob's ladder reading comprehension program and wondered if anyone has used it and what you thought of it. I will be doing TOG which already has a lot of reading and with MCT may not need anything else:confused:. But I do want to add more in the literature area and in the comprehension to what TOG does. I have thought about doing VP but Jacob's ladder seems very intentional about developing your child's critical thinking skills. Any thoughts? Thanks for any help you can give.

StephanieZ, How do you plan on using the W&M stuff with the MCT? I have been looking at starting MCT with my 8 yr old ds next year and am open to other suggestions. Will you be using the Jacob's ladder and navigator items as part of the Utopia unit study? Sorry I am confused:confused:. Wendy

I would love to hear more responses to this question too. :bigear: I am possibly going to start MCT next year for my 4th grader but will have three more kiddos coming up behind him. So far I have struggled to find something I have liked. I have done SSRW for phonics for K and 1st, Abeka for 2nd for phonics and writing, and then I am doing EG this year. MCT's approach really interests me too and I would love to know what is similar to that in the early years. GREAT QUESTION!

I am going to be one of the lone TOG supporters. I am currently using TOG YR 1 with my 7 (now 8 yr old) and 5 yr old sons. My 8 yr old loves it and I do too. I feel like we both have learned a ton!! We do the UG readings together in the afternoons when the youngest two kiddos are sleeping. My 5 yr old listens in while playing on the floor. I also read to my 5 yr old from the LG literature and history selections, but we do that on a less scheduled basis. I then am participating in a TOG co-op with 2 other families where we get together and do fun hands on stuff together once a week, the lapbook (which has really enhanced the learning), and we do some memory or geography work together. We are using Writing Aids too and that has been fun tying in our history/Bible with writing assignments. The Bible aspect has been wonderful. I am going to continue with TOG next year!!! We love it so far!

I have been on the hunt for a LA curr. and as many have expressed, the MCT talk has me interested. My son and I walked through the student sample of Grammar Island together (he is doing Easy Grammar 3 right now) and I felt that I certainly would have needed a teacher's manual to enhance what I was able to do with him. My question comes from the fact that I am weak in grammar. I did not see sample pages for the teacher's manual and I am wondering how much help they will be as I am trying to work through the material with my son. I believe I read in a thread somewhere that people sometimes didn't even really know how to answer some of the questions. That has me a little nervous. I am very drawn to the interactive/relational aspect of the program, non-workbook feel, and all of the aspects it covers (BL, SI, Poetry, etc), but if I can't answer the questions, how can I properly teach my son? For those who have used the curr, have the teacher's manuals taught you how to teach grammar socratically and get it yourself? Also, I have been looking at Shurley Eng. and for those who have done Shurley, how much more time than Shurley would you say MCT is for the teacher. (I am sorry if this has been discussed somewhere, feel free to redirect me.) Can you compare the programs overall? Thanks for any help and experience you have.

I love reading the UG level books with my sons. We snuggle on the couch and my ds 5 plays something quietly and will come take a look at the book when something catches his interest while I read to my 8yo ds. He loves the couch time and I do too!!!:)

I am hoping to encourage my 3rd grade ds to do more independent reading...we do TOG yr 1 upper grammar level. I knew when we started that I would need to do a lot of the reading to him, but I think he is more comfortable now with the vocabulary and can do more on his own. And I am going to use more of the TOG literature worksheets to check his comprehension. I am not a big fan of worksheets, but I like the idea of having him put on paper some understanding of what he is reading. I need to spend more time reading to my younger kiddos now. They haven't been getting as much laptime as I would like for them. Anyone else struggle giving one-on-one time with each child (this is for another thread I am sure)?

Typing Instructor for kids!!!! :D

I have so appreciated all the input and I too think it does depend on the situation and needs of the family at the time. I will keep on praying about it and what God has for our family!! One added thing is that our ps is a high achieving school and kindergarten would be ALL day- bus stop is right off our door at 8:00 am with drop off at 3:00 pm. Which was just one of the many reasons we decided to homeschool our oldest ds to begin with. Desicions, decisions... Thanks!

Thanks for the great responses!!! That was helpful!! :)

Okay, so what are your thoughts on whether to put my ds in ps kdrgrtn only to bring him home for first grade? Next school year my kids will be ds 9, dd 4, dd 2 in addition to my ds 6. We can't afford preschool for the youngers, and I am concerned that I may drop the ball a bit for the oldest trying to juggle everyone. Will having my ds in kindergarten allow him to have the fun of all the activities and structure and at the same time lessen my situation by one for a year. Tell me why to do it, or why not to do it...Have any of you done it? I am coming from a point of view in which ultimately I want to be educating the children from curriculum that is teaching God's hand in all areas of academics. Will doing PS k make it hard for him to want to come home? I have already been working on phonics and math with him and he listens in to science and history with my oldest son. He may even be ready for first grade next year...any thoughts?:bigear: Hopefully you can understand what I am asking? ;)

Where did you get the 16 week schedule that some mom put out? Thanks for the help---we are thinking about doing this starting January.

I hit the books hard from the get-go. We tend to naturally slow down a bit as the illnesses start creeping in during the Fall :glare: and get slow again at Christmas. After the Christmas break, we start hard again so as to get in some good amount of work before the blahness of mid February/March hits and Spring Fever begins. We typically get our best work done in Sept/Oct and again in January/beginning of Feb. If *we* attempted to start slow and ramp up, I don't think we'd ever get to the "ramp-up" part. :001_huh: :iagree::iagree::iagree: I don't know how to highlight the above text, so I just copied and pasted it! That's us!!!

I have two sons going through the bugs and birds book now. One ds is 8 and the other ds is 5. I would say that the wording is difficult for my 5 yr old to always understand, but he listens and loves to do the experiments. I do not have him do the notebooking like I have my older son, but when it comes to the experiments (and now as we are going to start an ant farm and soon a butterfly garden when it gets a little warmer...he is very interested!