Hi, I purchased RSO Chemistry. I read that it is recommended for 2x per week. Has anyone used this curriculum and did you do it 2x per week and how long (min) did each lesson take you and your students to complete. I am looking for an average time so I can block it out in my planner. Thanks!

Thank you all for all the support and help. I really enjoy homeschooling my DS8, he is such a joy. I scramble to keep up with him. The writing issue has me perplexed. We have been doing OT for dysgraphia and cramping hands, it gets better for a while then it feels like it reverses. His writing is probably between 1st and 2nd grade but his abilities are above 3rd grade. To answer about science, I use middle school books for pictures, graphs and basic info bc that is his level, he finds elementary science too easy. For notes, I mean jot 3 main ideas from the reading once a week. We use hands-on projects, models, and experiments for science as the main learning tools. We alternate history and science. I think I will stick to my gut and pass him on, but keep working on his writing. I think is maybe a maturity/dysgraphic type problem. This boy delights me at every turn as we homeschool. There is never a day when I do not feel amazed at his accomplishments. I became really worried when I started looking at 4th-grade expectations and writing examples. I did the basic panic over am I doing too much or not enough. Thanks for the guidance!

Hi, I am having a problem. My DS8 is showing signs of not being ready for the workload of 4th grade. He is not even able to to the complete 3rd-grade workload. Here are some details. Math: Saxon Int. 3 he is completing on 85-93% basis. I would definitely pass him onto Saxon 5/4 next year. Grammar: He completes all work and seems to understand, so I feel confident passing him forward. Vocabulary: His vocabulary based on the San Diego test is close to a 7th-grade level. Spelling: He can learn words just by glancing at them. Reading: He can read at 800-1000+ Lexile and answer multiple choice problems with near 100% accuracy; written answers he wants to complete orally. The short answer (1-3 words) he can answer with almost 100% accuracy. Written paragraph or 2-3 sentences he will not write at all. I can not get him to read novels, so I am using ReadWorks on higher Lexile scores for a challenge. Yes, I have tried many ways to get him to read, he does not enjoy it and thinks it is stupid. Currently, I am reading to him, so he has exposure. Writing: We go over and over paragraphs, we practice brainstorming, summaries, opinions, etc but he will not complete a paragraph on his own. He will not complete sentences or paragraphs without a lot of prompting. History: He will complete map work but NO writing, we complete work orally. Science: He will fill in short answer, completes hands on labs, but NO notetaking or summaries So, here is my problem. How can we go forward if he will not write? Should I hold him in 3rd grade with the sole purpose of improving his reading and written communication? He is 8, so holding him back one year would not be an age problem. Or, am I looking at a maturity problem that will work out and I should pass him forward and work on the written communication.

Thank you for the awesome feedback. We do all I mentioned every day. The exceptions being History and Science which I rotate every 9 weeks. Grammar/Spelling /Vocabulary takes 20 minutes tops. DS8 is really good at these subjects, I don't even study spelling words with him. He can glance at the words, score 100% and spell them forever. I wish DS20 was like that--that was a nightmare I am so glad I don't deal with anymore... My plans were to do German 3/4/5 and French 6/7/8. Then DS8 can pick a language of his choice for HS. Read Aloud, we do at bedtime typically unless we are going to be out. Math Facts are about 5-10 minutes per day/4 days a week. Math, I try to stick to 45 minutes. Writing about 1 paragraph per week: 1-day brainstorm, 1-day write draft; 1-day revise. My thoughts for 4th grade was to substitute Latin for his Grammar/Spelling/Vocabulary block. Now, the big question what is a good Latin curriculum for a teacher that has no idea about Latin, for a 4th grader, and that we can do in about 20-30 minutes per day?

Have you checked out Sunshine Math? Its free. http://www.lcps.org/site/default.aspx?PageID=96814 Worksheets http://www.loudoun.k12.va.us/page/57891 Answers

I have read in a few places that many substitute Latin for English Grammar, Spelling, and Vocabulary. How much time do you spend per day on Latin? Our schedule is pretty full now and I am trying to wrap my head around how I am going to incorporate this subject next year, 4th grade. 3rd grade Schedule Math Facts Math Reading Writing Grammar Spelling Vocabulary Science/History German (3rd,4th,5th) Read Aloud

I thought this was the best reason for Latin. I was on the fence literally no love or hate to teach Latin. After reading this website's reasons for Latin I will begin in 4th grade. http://www.heritagestudycenter.org/why-do-we-teach-latin.html

I went through this earlier this year. My DS8 has more questions than his grade level science book has answers. I checked out a lot of programs. I finally threw the towel in and decided to look at higher level books. I am using a PS science set for 6th/7th/8th grade. There are 15 books in the series. I buy them used from Amazon and Abebooks for anything ranging from $3.99 to $11. The books are pre-Common Core by Glencoe Science circa 2001-2005. The ones for Physical Science are The Nature of Matter: Chemistry; Motion, Forces, and Energy; Electricity and Magnetism; Waves, Sound, and Light. I pick and choose what to cover, but the material is well presented with clear pictures and diagrams. There are even questions and test prep. There are many labs throughout the text and more listed in the back of the books. Online I found the Physical Science Student Notebook by Glencoe that show how to take Cornell Notes. If you peruse the net by chapter there are teacher resources packs that include all the worksheets, there is even a lab book available for free download too. I purchased the teacher's editions but if you are science oriented they may not be necessary. There are 15 books total. 5 Physical Science, 5 Life Science and 5 Earth Science. I plan to use them from 3rd to 8th grade. Doing a walk through with lower grade appropriate work then in Middle School with the free downloaded workbooks, etc... If you google Glencoe Science 15 books the titles should pop up. If you then google a few titles, a couple of schools have a book or two as a pdf that you could check out to see if it would satisfy your student.

SOTW. I break the year into 5 blocks. Then alternate science and history, it keeps the class work reasonable, we cover our subjects and both my DS8 and I look forward to a break from science to do history and vice versa. SIDE NOTE: What was killing our daily schedule was math. We are working on math fact memorization. I taught him all the ins and outs, but I was at a store earlier this year and a young lady was mumbling to herself and using her fingers to get our change. I asked her if there was a problem. Nope, that is how she learned it. I decided right there and then my child would not be like her, he would know his math facts period. Sorry for the soap box, with time for math facts, math lesson, and daily exercises math gets long. So I set a timer for 45 minutes, after 45 we stop and continue the next day. I also schedule 4 lessons per week with a make-up day on Fridays. At first, lessons stretched 2-3 days, but now he thinks it's a game to beat the clock. His math facts knowledge makes math faster and he is more accurate. Now why I digress, I found when I fixed the area where time was most spent then we had time for all our classwork.

Why not teach French. It's a romance language based in Latin. Of the 70% of the English words that come from Latin & Greek, they really come through the French language first then into English. It's more fun to learn a living language. You will have the same verb conjugation and sentence structures to learn, but you can take a class trip to France as a reward for your classes hard work! Think croissants and a cafe on the Champs Elysees. DS8 is learning German this year. I have been toying with Latin going back and forth, reading everyone's opinions. This child has no problems with vocabulary, speaks and writes better than most upper middle schoolers. Grammar doesn't seem to be an issue either. So Latin is iffy for me, but a second language is a must. I have learned both French and German, so I have started with what I know. I am planning to introduce him to German in 3rd, 4th, 5th and French in 6th, 7th, 8th. Then for high school, he can pick what he wants to learn.

My DS8 is doing Saxon Math Intermediate 3 this year. I sit with him through the whole lesson. He completes the powerup (a power up is a quick review of critical math skills and completed each lesson) with minimal involvement from me. I teach the lesson using our whiteboard. We do the lesson exercises together, me first modeling, then the remainder him wading through them. The spiraled written work, he is required to do on his own. But he is not alone bc for all the reasons that have been mentioned above. For questions he gets right, we do knuckles or say WOOHOO. If I see a problem, I says oops, maybe check this one out, if you need strategy help let me know. I don't circle or do anything else bc its sets his anxiety meter into overdrive, he is a perfectionist. 9/10 he made a simple mistake, occassionally he needs instruction. If he needs instruction and depending on how much instruction, I sometimes make up a similar problem or two for him to do during power up the next day. I like to handle all of this as routine and low key to build DS's confidence. At test time (every 5 lessons), it is recommended that a score of 80% be achieved. The student has 3 tests to bring the score above 80%, if not, then remedial intervention is necessary. Remedial intervention is a complete reteaching of the concept or concepts missed. DS has scored 93% on each test but I still keep track of the question he missed and will add a like question to his power up during the following week. DS did have a few weeks where for some reason his math facts were off and he made a lot of mistakes, so I had him review his math facts with flashcards. DS has Dysgraphia so lots of writing is a nightmare which makes flashcards a perfect vehicle.

My DS8 struggles to get stuff down on paper. He has Dysgraphia. It is a processing problem where the child has trouble getting ideas down on paper, it can also affect spelling and writing quality. DS can take dictation, copy work, spell really well, and is very verbal but a no go on writing. I am in my second year homeschooling and we have been simply chipping away (to quote another homeschool mom) at writing. By age 12 I would like to see him writing independently but I am skeptical. As another said, if you pick another program (we have been through 6) and it doesn't get any better, then check for Dysgraphia. Other things to consider, is he able to write neatly? Are his letters perfectly formed, consistent size, and with good spacing? Does he often become overwhelmed by any written exercises and prefer hands-on projects, verbal replies, and multiple guess questions?

This is one holiday that I don't stress over when it comes to costumes. For years I purchased all the boys costumes at the costume store, agonized over the right selection, etc. Then one year, the year my Mom passed, I forgot. It was the Halloween morning, my older DS was devasted. So I told him to get creative, he more than likely had enough pieces from all the other years. It was the best Halloween according to him. From then on, my children make their own costumes, they may get a piece from the WalMart or costume store but they create and design their own costumes.

No to one size fits all boxed sets. I make up most of DS8's curriculum. We do use Saxon Math; SOTW1 the rest is homegrown based on my son's interests and academic level.

I am working on the same problem with my DS. We tried games but DS8 cried and refused to play because every time he moved it was a monumental task to count out the answer, so the game was not fun. I used all the math tricks help him remember, we tried the three-corner math fact cards, the wrap-it things, the grocery store cards, nothing worked. My DS has Dysgraphia, introvert, and ocd. I came across a theory that some kids learn right brain. Meaning that they need to take a picture of the whole problem to get it into their memory. Simply showing them a card that is incomplete, such as 2 + 2 = ____ is equivalent to an unbaked cake. I had a hard time finding right brain math cards for addition and subtraction. The cards need to be colorful, have the whole problem 2 + 2 = 4, they can also have relevant pictures. I ended up making mine one Saturday afternoon. How we use them. I divide the cards up into piles of 20 and baggie them, labeling the baggies 1,2,3,etc. Week 1 I give DS the #1 pack, he looks at each card saying the entire problem 2 + 2 = 4. He will review all 20 cards for 5 consecutive days. On the last day, we pack that stack away and begin on the next stack next week. So far we have almost completed the addition facts stacks. I have seen a remarkable improvement in DS's ability to complete addition problems. His accuracy has greatly improved, his confidence has boosted and I have noticed a decrease in the amount of time it takes him to complete his daily math work.

We used manipulatives at first. Then the public school showed them how to count on their fingers if the number you are adding or subtracting 3 or less (worst idea in my opinion and the hardest habit to break). I used the tri-corner cards, bust. Tried the wrap things, many tears and expensive. Then I used the ones you buy from the grocery store where the answer is blank, bust. Lastly, I made flashcards that are colorful and have the whole problem on the front, 2+2=4, winner. I found out DS was a right brain learner and actually takes a picture with his eyes and remembers the answer. I have him review the same 20 cards over a 5 day period. He looks at the card and says the entire problem 2 + 2 = 4. So, by seeing the whole problem and saying out loud while touching the cards, DS is reviewing math visually, kinesthetically and audibly. Every 5 days I switch cards. I don't do timed tests that just stresses DS out and makes for a bad school day. Instead, I look at the time he is spending on his math work both time taken to complete and correctness. So far, he has really improved. His confidence in his ability to do math has gone from me having to walk him through every problem (and watch him count on his fingers and toes) to him being able to complete his written work on his own with near 100% accuracy. DS is 8 and he is doing Saxon Int3 even though he tested into 5/4 his Dysgraphia made 5/4 to difficult with all the writing. We are almost done with the addition facts, next subtraction and so on.

I read the same article and I agree with it. We also have bounced through language arts programs and writing programs, but don't tell my husband. My DS8 is in 3rd grade and has focusing issues, Dysgraphia and does not like school. He is also a reluctant writer and if I can get a couple of sentences out of him a week then I have a parade. A couple of things. Boys mature later, and this is very true for writing. I believe writing is between 9-11 years old for boys. DS is 8, so that makes me less crazy about his writing right now. Then there is in the fact that he is an awesome speller. I give him the 4th-grade spelling lists and above and he spells everyone with little or no studying time, usually within a few moments of seeing the list. When he does produce sentence work, it is grammatically correct. His vocabulary is advanced. Where he does have problems is his reading stamina. He cannot read anything longer than 18-32 pages with pictures. Solid paragraphs shut him down. For Reading: I require that 3 days per week he reads, narrates and does comprehension questions. 1 book is informational, 1 book dramatic, 1 book for fun. 2 days per week I read to him from more complex books then he completes narration and comprehension questions. GOAL: increase stamina, introduce better literature, build comprehension skills and summarization skills of written material. For Grammar, we do hands on grammar. I am bored of worksheets. If we do a worksheet it is a proofreading type exercise. I find free grammar activities online such as common and proper noun sort, etc. Or I purchase from TPT (Ashleigh) units. She combines hands on and simple worksheets. GOAL: learn parts of a sentence and how they work in a sentence. There is also another TPT seller Ideas by Jivey that I used last year. She has mentor sentence bundles that take sentences from books like Owl Moon, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and disassembles them into their parts of speech. Each week is a different sentence that you paste into a notebook and then the teacher is instructed on what to point out to the student, the student records the info in their notebook, then there are exercises where the student is instructed to manipulate the sentence by adding or changing words. At the end, there is usually a quiz or another exercise to complete independently. DS thought this was good. I will probably use some of her 3rd-grade bundles this year too if he needs it. She has a free week bundle based on First Day Jitters available to try. For Spelling, I have switched to word play instead of spelling. I once again purchased from TPT (Ashleigh) her bundle that addresses Antonyms, Synonyms, Homonyms, and Suffixes & Prefixes 1 word per week. I use these words as the basis for our spelling list and add words from science, history, math or reading. This exposes DS to more complex words and a bigger vocabulary. In the case of Suffixes and Prefixes, he is also learning how word endings manipulate the meaning of the word and use in a sentence. Also, he learns the meaning of each prefix and suffix, this increases his word knowledge too. GOAL: Challenge DS to understand wordplay, how words change based on sentence position, increase vocabulary and word exposure across the curriculum. For penmanship, we are doing famous quotes on HWT paper. We have daily exercises for strengthening the core and reducing stress in the shoulders and neck (dysgraphia related). For writing, right now, I am working on 1 paragraph per week in one of his subjects. So, it may be 1 paragraph in history but science will have MC or short answer. Then change the following week. However, when he does oral work I require a full answer. So, he has to restate the questions, answer the question, offer evidence and conclude. I think this will prepare him for when writing kicks in. Hope this helps.

I am confused. I taught DS8 last year using GoMath. The program uses conceptual math. There is a page of word problems to work through every lesson, a mini spiral in the Homework book plus enrich and reteach available for the main lesson. On top of that, each lesson has a HOT (higher order of thinking) problem. If you don't have access to GoMath Enrich or Reteach here is the link http://www.dist228.org/index-new.php?page=southwest/parentresourcesmath2.html The Homework link is http://www.aplusmathcoach.com/Grade_5/Grade_5_Go_Math_Homework.html With Saxon are you trying to give her more actual math work to strengthen skills? Or are you trying to give her more "real world" math problems? Saxon would be for the former. We are using Saxon this year and I love it. I am a firm believer that math needs to be learned before applied. Also, children need to develop parts of their brains such logic and rationality before being able to apply conceptual math. Maybe the problem you are facing is that in 5th-grade students are expected to use critical thinking skills in math. If this is the case you might try this link for Sunshine Math http://curlewcreek.org/math-superstars-forms-5th-grade/ Just click on each link to a printable. I read PRO TEACHER blog quite a bit, many teachers from FL use Go Math and with their 5th-grade students supplement with Sunshine Math because the HOT questions in Go Math are very difficult. I found this too. Here is the alignment by chapter of grade 5 Go Math to IXL (an excellent math program) https://www.ixl.com/community/IXL-GO-Math-2011-Common-Core-Edition-5th-Grade.pdf I hope this helps you help your child succeed.

I agree with the other posters, you need some outside evaluations or perspective. However, my DS8 would just sit there literally till the cows came home. He would grit his teeth if I asked him to complete his work. There would be no forthcoming answers for his lack of response. We were diagnosed with Dysgraphia (inability to get written work down on the page), sometimes he could answer a few questions and then not be able to. Because of his dysgraphia, anxiety built up to the point it shut down all his learning processes. I decided to reinvent his school experience. I started with 30 days of field trips, art projects, walks, park days, etc Then I introduced subjects back. The only ones we covered were reading, writing and arithmetic. For reading: I read to him, letting him pick the topics/books. Every chapter or book I quizzed him gently on characters, setting and beg/mid/end and then book-specific questions--all orally For Math: we operated at 1/2 speed, supplemented with with flashcards and math games For Writing: we did practice copy work only 1 sentence and then build up This was 4xs weekly; on Friday do art, field trip, park, etc Has it worked, yes, but it has been a slow process of building confidence, lessening anxiety and building up his stamina for school. Honestly, I have never worked so hard. I am proud of strides we have made.

My DS8 wanted to learn the Ancients, so I thought. He wanted Egypt and now Rome. We are barely out of Sumeria... We are going to skip around bc at this time in his life we can, and I want him to learn to pursue his questions. I would let him pursue prehistory, dinosaurs, ice age, etc. The Boy of the Painted Cave was a wonderful read aloud.

The best way not to waste dollars is to join a homeschool group in your area and borrow different curriculum to go over. Or, if you are lucky and have a homeschool resale store near you, then you could view the curriculum there. Now picking curriculum is a hot potato, inasmuch as everyone has their favorite. Look past favorites and choose based on your children's needs. Your kiddos are a little young yet but you could begin looking at preschool curriculum. Another way to narrow your choices is to develop a mission statement for what you want to accomplish in your homeschool. Such as, I would like to make God the priority in our homeschool and all curriculum will center around Him. Or, I would like to create a classical education plan that will give my children the best possible basis for their future career paths. It's what you want to do to help your children reach their goals academically, spiritually, etc. Once you have your mission statement then you could look for curriculum that satisfies those goals. You can also look at guideline books, such as SWB TWTM for guidance on what subjects by year. Another option besides buying premade curriculum is to make your own out of library books, free printables, flashcards, etc. Don't discard the idea of lots of kinesthetic learning through play too especially in the younger years. If a group or store is not nearby, start with your library. TWTM and many Pinterest sites have oodles of books for children at all grade groups for various subjects. I first picked the library's copy of TWTM before I bought my own. I have also read books on Kindle Unlimited for homeschooling and children's education. There are many blogs of people homeschooling children of all ages too. Now here is the caveat, even after all the careful planning be prepared to have to shelve part or all when life throws you a curve. If you have been on the forum long enough you will see Mom's and Dad's trying to figure out curriculum switches, modifications, and such. Homeschool is about fitting school to the individual and this is very difficult sometimes. So I would educate myself on the main ways math is taught, i.e. conceptual and incremental for example. This information will be valuable when your kiddos are older and you understand a little about them and how they learn. Match their learning style to the math curriculum. Right Now: Read, read, and read to them. All kinds of books, every day. Special reading time in a big bean bag chair, special time in Mommy's bed. The point here is to make it special. Start with a preschool book list and the library. CRAWL, CRAWL, CRAWL that wires the brain for reading. In a little bit Writing, start with tracing, fingers in pudding, etc. Make sure they do LOTS of coloring because it builds skills for penmanship. Good luck with your adventure. I understand the need to plan (I do too) but enjoy those little ones now because it will be here sooner than you think.

What age do you think would be appropriate for MEL science. I checked out the website and it looks amazing, nothing rinky dink about these kits.

DS8 is in 3rd grade. He will probably have the same schedule for 4th. We have not worked on independent time because he has dysgraphia. Math 45min to 1hour daily (should be 30 but DS takes forever, using Saxon) Reading 30-45 minutes;Narration 10min;Comprehension Q:10 min daily Spelling 15min (DS is an excellent speller) 2x week Vocabulary 15 min 2x week Grammar 15-20 min 2x weekly Art 1x week 30-45 minutes Ancient Civ. 20-30min 3x weekly Science 30-45min 2x weekly German 20 min daily Me Reading to Him 30-45 minutes daily

I have these social science books and felt the same way. However, they leave a lot to be desired and are geared to public school indoctrination. We were bored last year after about 2 readings. If your daughter loves science, why not get books from the library on the history of science? Biographies of scientists, look at a timeline when something was discovered or invented and research that era. This way she actually learns history under the guise of science. My DS20 did this one year Example: Computers Ancients and computers Inventions that led to computers Early Modern Computers Modern Computers Biographies of people who help invent the modern computer: Jobs, Gates, ...... The Personal Computer became a household item in 1985??? Why did this happen (economics) Loves Space=Hubble Telescope and How it has opened up our view of space Loves Chemistry=Research why vaccines were developed, what was going on in the world, who was developing these vaccines, Loves Life Science=How are we (as a people) helping to save endangered animals. Should we clone endangered animals, How was the human body perceived by the Ancients, Middle Ages, Early Modern times and Modern times? Loves Physics=Why were the Renaissance Era and a change in men's minds Loves Earth Science=Why was the world thought of as flat?

I love Poe and can't wait for DS8 to get there, but I would be cautious at 10. Lori D. I think answered the question superbly. The Raven is the way to go here without causing nightmares and sleepless nights!