We did CC a couple of years ago. I'm considering it again for next year, but now they are using their own timeline cards, along with a song. My dd has done VP self paced history this year, which of course uses the VP timeline cards and their timeline song. She would like to continue, so I'm wondering how this might work along with CC. Has anyone done this since CC came out with their own timeline cards and song? I've read that people did VP self paced history along with CC in the past, but that was when the timeline cards for CC were VP cards. I'm just wondering if this would create confusion for dd or if it would work.

I think it is too expensive to use just for spelling. I bought it in the fall, used it for a while, and sold it. It was overkill for my dd 10 and was taking too much time for what it was gaining her. If you want just spelling, have you looked at All About Spelling? Same phonograms and rules for the most part. If you don't like that, I'd relook at WRTR or SWR. You could get How To Start A Spelling Notebook by Mari McAlister (it is only about $10 and goes with WRTR - it doesn't stand alone) to help get started with WRTR.

I take (and give to my kids) Carlson liquid fish oil that comes in a bottle (not cod liver oil, the regular fish oil). I take 2 tsp per day, and give my 10 and 2 year old 1/2 tsp per day. I just bought the largest bottle on sale at a local store for $34. I like the lemon flavor, but it also comes in orange flavor. It has a slight lemon flavor, and I don't have a problem burping it. I have also taken New Chapter Wholemega (which is huge capsules), which I think is good, but I have terrible burping problems with it. If you can take the oil, it is cheaper than buying capsules. At first I didn't like taking it, but now I'm used to it. My kids actually like it. I would also say don't buy it from Costco. Here it is at Vitamin Shoppe (I order a lot online from them, and have had good service) http://www.vitaminshoppe.com/store/en/browse/sku_detail.jsp?id=CL-1944&sourceType=sc&source=FG&adGroup=40-60&keyword=CL-1944&cm_mmc=Google+Shopping-_-Product+Listing+Ads-_-40-60-_-CL-1944&gclid=CK3y8fvBibYCFfA-MgodawsAbQ#.UUi8lVc5VD0

I did about half the year of ECC with my 4th grader this year. I really didn't care for it for several reasons, and I sold it. I liked aspects of it, but overall it wasn't a good fit for me (my dd was OK with it). For what you are wanting to do, I second Galloping the Globe (which I also own). It is very flexible, unlike ECC which is all laid out for you week by week.

I doubt that you will regret it if you intend to use them through several kids, but it might affect how easy they are to sell if you do want to sell them later. I had the binding cut off and had several TMs spiral bound (WWE for example) which is the format I much prefer because the TMs are still thin but are easy to keep laying flat (I hate wrestling a thick paperback TM, like FLL for example). However, that doesn't help at all in preventing coloring on them. The only other downside I can see is that would be a lot of page protectors so it is going to make your TMs heavy and bulky, but it might not bother you. Personally, I don't like having tons of binders to wrestle around, but if it works for you that's great. I have done the 3 hole punch in a binder thing for all the student pages (WWE, Easy Grammar, Daily grams, math pages etc.) Just fyi, it doesn't work too well to try to spiral bind something that has been 3 hole punched, or vice versa, both of which I have tried.

You're welcome! Donna's explanation was much clearer than mine! I just went to get my book and was about to tell you that the Basic Package with Tm Edition 1 lists state sheets and cards and flag stickers, which is all included in the student sheets now as well. I would recommend buying the student sheets. It is so nice to have it all ready to go, and it was worth the $20 or whatever they cost. I got them at the convention, so i didn't have to pay any shipping.

What MFW did (from what I can figure out having used it) was take the parts of the original Exploring American History that was used in Adventures (because it is just a small part of the book used in adventures) and rewrite it (condensing it mainly) and republish it into a small spiral bound book called The Story of the U.S. which sells for $8.95. It isn't the CLP book (which I also own). I bought the new one (The Story of the U.S) at the convention along with the student pages, to use with my 1st edition TM. It is one of the main spines; that is the biggest difference in the 1st to 2nd edition, imo,-- they reference Story of the U.S. vs. Exploring American History. They use the updated edition of Exploring American History in a later MFW package. If that isn't clear, PM me and I'll try to better explain it :) You don't even need to buy student pages if you have the first edition TM, because they are all in the back and you can photocopy to them. I think people didn't like having to do that, and that's why MFW changed to selling the student pages. Also, you would then have to buy a bird coloring book and a states coloring book, which are part of the student pages. It is all listed in the front of the 1st edition TM, which is downstairs right now, but if you want to know more I can go get it and let you know exactly. Just PM me :)

No difference in content from what I understand (based on the MFW emails I have received), just a difference in the cover like the previous poster said. I have used Adventures, and my advice is buy it used (I used a 1st edition TM last year, and bought the components to go with it; not much change between 1st and 2nd edition either). Here's a link from an email I received from MFW recently that might help you: http://www.mfwbooks....#whats_new_2013 Here's a quote from that link if you click on the Our New Look button: "Along with our new logo, our Teacher's Manuals have new covers. (The only significant change to 2013 Teacher's Manuals are the covers, with the exception of My Father's World First Grade.*)" edited to add: Also, I see that there is an Adventures Deluxe set for sale on the classifieds board, with the 1st edition TM. If I was looking to buy Aventures, that one is a very good deal. in 2010, I compared the 2nd edition TM, and decided to use the 1st edition (which was given to me), and then bought the student pages from MFW at the convention . Just an idea...I have no connection to the poster who is selling her set :). I happened to see this listing because eventually I am going to sell my own 1st edition set, and I was searching to see what it was selling for.

I second stickers! My 2 year old is on a sticker craze, and will sit at the table for 10 or 15 minutes at a time just stick them randomly on a big notepad or her own spiral notebook (this is like gold to me for her to sit that long!). Another hit for her is model magic, which I like better than playdoh because it is much neater. She sticks popsicle sticks into blobs of it, and makes little beds and pillows for a small set of plastic animals. I also recently bought her a set of Melissa and Doug animal magnets (for 2 yr olds -- they are not swallow size) which only come out during school time, along with a set of large number magnets, and a wooden number puzzle. She has a little white board on an easel for the magnets. Keeping her set of "school stuff" (which is in a small crate) put up at other times has helped a lot. She will also occasionally play with several shape sorters, some other wooden puzzles, and a set of big counting elephants (ok for 2's, unlike a lot of other counters), but I made the mistake of leaving those things out all the time so she is now bored with them. She is just now learning to cut, so while I am sitting next to her I give her thin strips of paper to cut with round tip scissors which is a big hit; I wouldn't allow cutting unsupervised though!

If you want her to be able to do math more independently, I would look at CLE. It does require you to help to some extent at her age, but not as much as Saxon. And it is spiral. It would be easy to jump back to Saxon at 5/4 I think, although you might like CLE enough to stay with it longer. It has the benefit of being in workbooks up through 8th grade I think (vs. having to copy everything starting in 5/4). There are placement tests, so I would not assume you would put her in CLE 200; definitely look at the placement tests, because you might want to back up a few lightunits if CLE 100 covers things that Saxon 1 does not (that is what the workbooks are called...there are 10 per grade).

I own both. RR is really just a book list with a bit of info about each book. Unless you have TC (or know how to do it), RR won't really help you beyond choosing books.

We have a Dell that we got from the online Dell Outlet a couple of years ago. You get the same warranty from their outlet as buying new, and save substantial $ (I think we saved about $200 over the same model new; the one we got was refurbished, and was probably a return. It was just like new). They often have sales, and not just in August.

I see you don't have to make the trade (yay), but just to add 2 more cents you don't need :) No way. I have a dd who did 2 years of CC, and is on her 3rd year of piano. I feel the long term benefits of piano are much too great to give up for something like CC. Also, I agree that the ages of your kids make it even less of a good trade. My dd did CC as a 1st and 3rd grader; 1st was too young in my opinion, and 3rd was about right to start CC.

Wow! Your 31 Days of GTD for Homemakers is fabulous! I just read GTD this summer, but wasn't translating it to home very well. I have read almost all of your series and found it really helpful! THANKS!

Bare bones you need the TM, and a workbook (you get to choose cursive or manuscript). If you don't get the Phonogram cards, you will need to make your own, so I would say you need those too. Everything else is gravy. I think the other things are nice to have in this order: fold out reference chart, spelling rule cards, spelling journal, games book & 2 or 3 sets of cards, grammar cards. If you have any interest in buying this gently used, send me a PM and I can give you a good price on all or part of it. I have all of the above components and have only used through lesson 7 in the cursive workbook. It is a great curriculum, but it isn't getting done at my house for a variety of reasons and I realize we just need a spelling workbook (plus my dd9.5 probably didn't really need it to begin with). I listed it a few weeks ago, then changed my mind and took it off, but see we can't get to it regularly so I think I'm going to list it for sale for good.

I am using LOE, and curious what you mean, Hunter? So far, the lists are too easy for my dd9, so I've been mulling over what to do about that. I also own WRTR, and was thinking after LOE I'd just continue in the Ayres list with LOE rules and markings.

I don't know anything about KISS but see it talked about a lot here. One you could look at is First Language Lessons (which you could start at FLL4, but that is where it ends so you would have to choose something else next year; if she hasn't had much grammar you could use FLL3 and then 4). Rod & Staff is a strong grammar (includes diagramming) that a lot of people here use (and popular after going through FLL. I own the fourth grade R&S English, and it is pretty gentle but it is a bit schoolish (either they have to do a lot of writing, or you do a lot of it orally). It also includes writing, but we have used something else for writing (IEW). Other popular ones you could look at would be Growing with Grammar, Shurley, Michael Clay Thompson (MCT). I haven't used or owned any of those so I can't give any input on them. Not as popular on this forum, but popular in homeschooling circles in general is Easy Grammar. Maybe those will give you some ideas.

I would say you might not want Exploring World Geography, looking at the age of your student. It is way over what my dd9.5 would be able to do (without major handholding from me that I do not have time for), and seems like busy work to me at least at that age. I have not used any of it.

I don't think TWSS is going to break it down week by week like that, but it does instruct you how to systematically work through the units. It isn't just a collection of teaching tips. SWI-A (and B and C) does have a suggested week by week schedule, and I think the theme based books do too. I have both TWSS and SWI-A (which my dd9 really likes). You get a discount if you order TWSS with one of the SWI sets. You don't have anything to lose if you order directly from IEW. I have returned Phonetic Zoo and the poetry curriculum when I decided they weren't a good fit for my dd, and was promptly refunded with no questions asked. They even send you a prepaid mailing label. I wouldn't even consider buying IEW products from any other source with such a great guarantee (you can return any item at any time -- there is no time limit).

If I were you, I'd start on SWI-A. I had similar issues with dd9, and we're about 1/2 way through WWE3, which we started part way into last year. She can do narrations pretty well, but summaries not so well. The dictation is very helpful for her. I still do use WWE 3 occasionally, but she is loving IEW SWI-A and doing better with it than I expected. The WWE3 routine was getting very old for us, so SWI-A is a lot more interesting. She even asked me this week if she could come to the Midwest Homeschool Convention with me next year to meet Mr. Pudewa!

:iagree: With almost everything the pp said...we are "doing" ECC this year, but I am really tempted to just sell it now to free myself of the guilt that we aren't really using much of it (esp. considering how much I spent on it), and continue with GTG which I just bought (along with Eat Your Way Around the World and Geography through Art). Most of the ECC work is beyond my dd9's capability/interest, and frankly I realize I really dislike following a grid schedule. The YWAM read alouds are torturous for me (the writing, not the subject matter); my dd likes them, so I've decided to let her read them herself. The book basket is more stressful than helpful to me in some ways, because I have a hard time finding time to sit at the computer and search for/reserve the books so end up spending too much time on the Saturday before the upcoming week physically at the library myself. I have been using the free Homeschool Creations resources. I would say this was my biggest $ homeschool purchase mistake to date (shhh...don't tell my DH!;)). I loved the IDEA of a geography year, but GTG would have been a better approach for us than the $ I spent on ECC. I forgot to say that we really disliked that ECC started w/ North America. Having done some of MFW Adventures plus other American History last year, it made for a really boring start to ECC. Canada & Mexico were interesting, but it would have been much more interesting to study unknown countries first. I think MFW should have designed this to do NA last instead of first, like it is in A Trip Around the World. I honestly should have done more research into ECC before buying it, so I'll admit that my dislike of it is mostly my own fault for not looking at it more closely before I bought it.

I don't have any suggestions about reading, but if you want to continue with printing (vs. switching to cursive), you might try Handwriting Without Tears, because there is explicit instruction on how each letter is made that you can then use as a gentle reminder. For instance, there is "magic c", and then letters "a" and "d" start with "magic C". You might consider going to cursive now, because it is impossible to reverse d and b in cursive. I did use HWT cursive with my dd, but now sort of wish I'd used something else because it isn't the most attractive cursive (very vertical). At 7 and 8 my dd was still reversing numbers, but never does now. However, she does still reverse d and b a few times a week if she is printing. She is almost 10, and is a really good reader but has some fine motor skill issues.

This isn't going to help you if you decide to keep it, but so you know you're not alone in finding it confusing: I could not figure it out, and it would have taken way too much of my time to do so. I sent it back to CBD. I later ordered Logic of English. Much more expensive, but I totally LOVE it (all laid out for me), and my dd is doing well with it. After wrestling with AAS, Spelling Power, and looking at R&S Spelling, it is a good fit here.

I am with you. Love your slogging through jello analogy! I really wanted to love R&S 4 since it seems to be the gold standard of rigorous grammar, and picked it because FLL3 wasn't a hit here either (1 and 2 were fine). It is OK, but somewhat of drudgery for dd and me both. I'm leaning toward just making sure she gets all the grammar in LOE down pat this year (the rules they cover and the little bit of POS), and then use JAG or Hake next year. I've also considered using Winston Grammar and Fix-It, and then moving on to diagramming later when dd's brain will be in a more analytical stage (she detests diagramming at age 9). FWIW, I think FLL4 will be more challenging if you're interested in switching to that; I noticed that things covered in FLL3 don't show up until much later in R&S 4.

We're using CLE 400, and my dd had a similar problem of forgetting alot after finishing 300. After 4 weeks of school it is starting to come back, but the worst gap is her math facts. She finished 310 in June, and started in 402 in August. After the first couple of lessons in 402 where I realized she had forgotten a lot, I went back and had her do a few lessons in 401 which helped. I still don't have her doing speed drills, but maybe in 403 I'll restart those. If I were you, I would order 401-404 and just have him redo them. Or at least 402-404 since 401 is pure review. It is still super early in the school year, so maybe don't do all the quizzes and tests and you'll be fine. Like you, I realize that letting her take 8 weeks off in the summer was a BAD idea!