I had my DD look at the online samples this morning for the Notgrass History and she said this is what she wants. I can't believe it. I thought for sure she would say it was too much reading. She is taking a outside class for Comp & Lit and says she wants to also do the literature part of Notgrass along with the history for an extra English credit. I am thinking this is way too much. I thought she hated reading! :lol:

I had first found the McRuffy posts on this forum. I went and checked out the website after trying everything else out there and it failing miserably! My 6 year old daughter was very resistent to reading anything when we started McRuffy at the beginning of this week. I have to say....MCRUFFY IS THE ANSWER TO ALL MY PRAYERS! Both my 7 year old and 5 year old told me everyday this week, "Mommy, we LOVE school!" Hearing this from my 7 year old whom I had so much trouble wiht last year and was at the public school filling out the registration to put her back in, is a dream come true! :D:D:D:001_smile::001_smile: I had purchased the 2nd grade and had to go back and purchase the 1st grade for my rising 2nd grader. It does seem a little bit advanced to me if it is compared to Hooked on Phonics or anything else we used last year (too many to list). Anyway, I bought Math and Phonics for both my kids and then went back and had to purchase the lower level phonics so I would say its the best $500 I have ever spent! :lol::lol::lol: McRuffy has really changed her. She is sitting here reading what I am typing! LOL Pam

Just went to the site to check it out. It looks fantastic, but we are already taking a Comp & Lit class outside of the home so we would only need Bible and History. Is there a way around that?

I used Homeschool Tracker (not plus) for the past two years. It did not do weighted grades (unless it has changed or it is just for plus). I have since switched to the forms from the Donna Young website which I love and I can use them on my iMAC which was a huge plus for me! Pam

Does anyone have any suggestions for American History? I am doing a classical education with my youngest children, but my oldest I would imagine would be too difficult to change the way we educate since she is so set in her ways. I ended up purchasing LifePacs this year. She started....we are through 3 days and she HATES them! We always used Abeka, but I decided I didn't want to use Abeka this year again. It seems as though the last couple years, we are done with school for the year and still have ABeka History to do! When I am done... I want to be done! :lol: Anyway, please give me all the American History suggestions you may have! I only spent maybe $30 on the LifePacs so its no huge loss (thank goodness!). Pam

My oldest is doing Apologia Human Body this year. I didn't bother to look through the book until last week (this is horrible since we started school today). I ordered the required slides, coloring book and microscope from Rainbow Resource last Friday. I get the email today that the MICROSCOPE is on back-order! Ugh! Go figure! I don't think I want my whole order held for a microscope, although, this was the best one for the price that I have found. Can anyone recommend a microscope I can order online from a trustworthy site? I am hoping to find one I can order and get shipped before next Monday so I can cancel the microscope from RR and have them forward the rest of my shipment to me immediately. Thanks! Pamela

I have received my McRuffy Phonics and Math for both K, 1st and 2nd. My kids are begging me to "start school" after seeing it. I am still wanting my summer break though! :)

I haven't seen that and was looking for forms myself! Those look great! :lurk5:

McRuffy for Math and Phonics

After reading the Rosetta Stone thread, I have steered away from buying Rosetta Stone for our Spanish 1 this Fall. What have you used for Spanish (other then RS, of course) that has worked for you? Has anyone used Switched on Schoolhouse Spanish 1 for highschoolers? I have heard good things about it (to my surprise). Pamela

Hey Jann! Would you by chance have the ISBN for the Introductory Algebra? Is the actual book I need a paperback and workbook? I was reading reviews on Amazon and it seems as some are receiving the Teacher's edition instead of the student's. I was able to look at a sample of the Basic College Math and the book looks amazing. It is so step-by-step and seems to be exactly what I have been looking for! Also, am I looking for the student's workbook version of this? Is the Teacher's Edition and solution manual two different things? Silly questions, I know! I am just not familiar with this math curriculum and hadn't even heard of it until now. :confused: Thank you for your help! :001_smile: Pam

Yes, she has used Saxon Math before (5/4, 6/5, and 7/6) which is why she wants to go back. We always used Saxon in elementary/middle school levels from the time we started homeschooling (4th grade). We have swayed from it, but always ended up going back to it because it worked when something else did not (i.e., Singapore, School of Tomorrow PACES). Pam

:lurk5:

Does Lial's have a CD/dvd-rom to go with the lessons? Where do you purchase Lial's College Algebra, Basic College Math, etc? Pam

My 16 year old daughter (Junior this upcoming year) has always struggled with Math. She really just doesn't "get it"! We did TT Pre-Algebra and followed that this past year by TT Algebra 1. We had her tested as required in our State (NC) and her Math tested out at 7.6 (7th grade, 6th month). I was completely astonished since the prior year she tested out on grade level! I came home and handed her the TT Chap 1 Test to complete for me so I could see where she was. She completely understood this all year long (or so I thought! :confused:) She probably got 2 problems right out of the whole test! :001_huh: Anyway, I contacted a Math tutor who has been working through it with her this summer and she is doing much better, but still doesn't completely "get it". Her tutor seems to think that she will be ready to move onto Algebra II. Me? I am not so sure!! She is only a quarter of the way through the Algebra I TT book and we are over half way done with summer. She will be a Junior this year and wants to switch to Saxon since that is really the only time she really understood Math prior to high school (or so she tells me now). My problem is this... If I switch to Saxon, I would want her to start with the Algebra 1 book as it has a bit of Geometry throughout the text. I don't think she could move right into the Algebra II text. We only have 2 years of high school left. She says now that she doesn't want to attend college which makes me sad, but I am not going to push her to do something she doesn't want to do. I am still trying to make sure she has all the credits she needs (in case she changes her mind). She wants to be a cosmetologist/make-up artist and I believe she will be amazing at this! I just do not feel confident giving her a credit for Algebra 1 when she has not retained much and we can't move on until she completely understands the concepts. Do I purchase the Saxon Algebra 1 along with the DIVE CDs (she likes to do her Math independently since we butt heads a lot of the time). She does have her tutor for one hour a week though (not even sure if thats enough), and let her do Algebra 1 all over again this year? I think it would be much needed review for her and she would also get some Geometry. Hopefully, we would be able to go on to Algebra 2 her Senior year, but then what happens with only 2 credits? I am so confused and CAN NOT LOOK at ONE MORE textbook sample online! WWYD???? :bigear::confused::confused::confused::confused:

Does or would it count as a full Math credit for a highschooler or should it be supplemented?

Is this a full curriculum? What order does LoF generally work? Is it beginning algebra and then geometry or both Algebra programs before Geometry? I am trying to find a Geometry geometry program for my teen daughter to help her get a better understanding then what we went through this past year. She finished Algebra 1 using TT and when I went back this year to review her with the Chap 1 test, she seemed to not had retained ANYTHING! I am in need of a Math program so she can have a much better understanding then what she received from TT. Thanks! Pamela

Thanks for all the responses and we are going to try McRuffy this year for phonics. I haven't received it yet as I just purchased it last night. Pam

I just purchased my AG for Vol. 1 today. I really would like to add bible history to our SOTW study. I looked at Biblioplan, but not sure if this would be too much. I am stuck on if I should go ahead and add bible history, purchase a separate Bible curriculum, or just use the Children's Bible along with some narration. My kids are 5 and 7 (K and 2nd). My 2nd grader is fascinated by Bible stories so it is pretty important to us. My K'er just follows along... :D Pamela

I have decided that I am going to purchase the 1st grade McRuffy for my rising 2nd grader. I had planned on using WWE, FFL, Explode the Code, and a Spelling Program. She apparently still needs a lot of first grade phonics review (and her reading shows it) after looking at the McRuffy samples online. I had asked her to read some of the words on the 2nd grade samples. She did tell me the words correctly, but it took her a long time to sound them out. I think we need to BACK UP! :confused: OK, So now to my question. Is McRuffy a full LA program (which is what I am assuming after looking into it further, but want to make sure), or can I still supplement with FLL? We have already started a bit of FLL and she loves it so I really don't want to take it away, but I don't want to overdo it either. Thanks in advance for any suggestions! I would love to hear from those that are using McRuffy K or 1st as I am definitely getting it for my K'er after seeing how my rising 2nd grader is reading (not so good) after using HOP, Time4Learning and Abeka readers. I still want to be able to implement copywork an dictation and not sure if McRuffy is set up this way. Pamela

From those who have had experience with both or either, I have a K'er this year and a 2nd grader. Would you use HO or just the SOTW Ancients and the AG?

I just got one a couple days ago! I love it!

Ok, so McRuffy is a whole LA program and not just phonics? So if I purchase the 1st or 2nd grade for my rising 2nd grader, I won't need a separate writing program? I was going to use WWE with my rising 2nd grader (or hand planned to) along with FLL. Will I be over doing it ?

The good and the bad please? My rising 2nd grader needs some phonics review so I was thinking of starting with 1st grade McRuffy Phonics. I also have a K'er who I was thinking of using the K Phonics for. We have used Hooked on Phonics, Time4Learning, Explode the Code, Pathway Readers and we still need a lot of reading/phonics practice. I don't think she is ready for the 2nd grade after reviewing the samples. What exactly does the LA cover? I was going to use FLL for both of them, but wondering if that would be overdoing it. Please give me all the good and all the bad! I really need to decide! :confused:

This is the thing. We stopped homeschooling and have only been reading every so often because she had me ready to pull my hair out and I was actually at the public school wanting to register her. She wants to do WHAT SHE WANTS TO DO and not what she needs to do (if that makes sense). It has taken 3 months of taking a break and only me reading to her for her to FINALLY just now decide that she wants to read (every couple days), but will only read a couple sentences and then push the book away. She "gets" the phonics (I think). Today my oldest daughter (16) spelled "supposed" like "suppost". My oldest daughter has always been an amazing speller and I guess just wasn't paying attention when she did it or moving too fast in her writing. I wanted to see if my 6 year old daughter could spell "supposed". I asked her to write it down for me and she spelled it "suposed" which I think is pretty great for a 6 year old. She "gets" it when she wants to. When she really pays attention. Some days she will have great fluency and other days she just does not want to have anything to do with it. I have been reading to her everyday. We are working on it. I just need a really awesome phonics program (I think)??? I am confused after tonight and the conversation in the car and listening to her read me a book when we got home, whether it is her just not wanting to do it or she really needs phonics help! Ugh! :confused::confused::confused: