I just got IEW today in the mail with TWSS along with SWI A, and haven't used it yet, so take this for what it's worth. I've done WWE 1 - 3 with dd9 and I'm going to continue probably through WWE4 because I think it teaches valuable skills. But I feel like dd needs more before and if we move on to WWS. I think she is almost bored to death with the WWE routine; I have seen results but it has gotten old for her and for me. From what I've seen/heard/read I like the keyword outline writing approach a lot and want to try it. I'm planning to slowly do SWI A with her. They have an unlimited return policy at IEW so you have nothing to lose in trying it other than your time. I looked at Writing Strands 3 several times and even borrowed it from a friend and really didn't like it. It seemed much more difficult to use (to me) than IEW. However, you and your child may love it. If you feel like he's getting enough with what you're already doing, though, I can see not trying the IEW.

I highly recommend these! I bought two of them at the Midwest Homeschool Convention (Turner and Constable), and they are really nice and priced very well for what you are getting (several high quality 8x10 reproductions and a paperback book with a short biography of the artist). My dd9 has really liked them, and asked to have the pieces in her room in a frame.

I have the whole Planning set, and I think the DVDs are helpful. They are a good value, imo. I'm contemplating ordering the whole day seminar. I found that the DVDs motivated me to work through the book.

Yes, I do think you could do it successfully for the levels that the DVDs go up to. I am not sure how far it goes, but it is only a few levels. But the teacher (at least ours) adds a lot that isn't in the books/DVDs (you still get the DVDs and CDs when you have lessons with a teacher; the student is expected to watch the DVD portions for the new songs they are working on each week). Since I never tried that, it is a little hard for me to imagine it, but I think their materials are good so expect that it would work if that was your only option. Personally, I'd look for a Suzuki teacher if I couldn't find a Simply Music teacher, just because I want piano taught by someone else (since I'm doing everything else). The methods aren't exactly the same, but there are some strong similarities from what I understand about Suzuki (esp. after hearing Andrew Pudewa's mastery learning seminar).

Definitely...you would not want to put a 6.5 year old in Phonetic Zoo. It was a stretch to have my 9 year old work that independently, let alone tackle higher level words. There is a big jump to where PZ starts from AAS level 2/early level 3.

I didn't even realize there was a placement test, and my dd9 has been using PZ all spring. Although she has done pretty well with PZ and actually likes it, her overall basic spelling skills aren't very good (she can't spell so many basic words -- I wondered if she had ANY retention with the 2+ levels I did with her in AAS). I think I prematurely pulled her out of AAS 3. I needed something independent, and PZ was suggested by a friend who loaned it to me and then I bought level A. Now that I've looked at the placement test, I'm pretty sure my dd (also going into 4th) wouldn't pass it either! I'm going to give her the placement test next week, and probably take a break from PZ to do some more basic spelling, maybe back in AAS 3 (although she really disliked it). I've really appreciated this thread & great review!

I just started a running program training for a 5K, and I'm following a schedule in Running for Mortals by John Bingham (he has a bunch of schedules in there for 5K and 10K). Generally, the schedules have you running 3 days a week, with 2 days of cross training, and 2 rest days. They generally go like this: Monday Run, Tuesday Cross Train, Wed. Run, Thursday Rest, Friday Cross Train, Saturday Run (long run day), Sunday Rest. I was exercising almost every day, with an occasional rest day, but on this schedule I feel a whole lot better. I was totally overdoing it before. I followed a schedule similar to this to train for a 1/2 marathon a few years ago, using his book Marathoning for Mortals. I am no expert on running, but this has worked for me. Both of these books are excellent, btw.

I am trying to revamp my calendar approach for myself and the whole family. I eventually want to start my dd9 keeping her own calendar, when she gets to 5th grade, like SWB recommends in the lecture about students working independently. So I bought a big family wall calendar to have everyone's activities listed in clear view. However, I can't figure out of that should be MY calendar too, or if I should keep a separate one. I have used a Franklin planner for years because I used it when I worked full time (but not well; mostly only the monthly pages get filled out). I always deep down want to combine everything into one binder or planner, with homeschooling and household/personall all in there. I think I didn't use the Franklin daily pages very much because they are the small half size (Classic) and I don't write that small. SO then I keep my to do list in my head which isn't so good. I'm curious to know what other people do, because I can't quite figure out what I need. If you have a homeschool planner, do you then have separate personal and family calendars? And do you do your daily planning (to do lists etc) in your homeschool planner? Or Do you have a separate household notebook that has calendars and to do lists etc? I need some ideas :)

My dd9 has been doing this for a year. Before that, she had 4 years of Music Together and 3 years of Kindermusik (incl. Music for the Young Child where they learn to read the treble clef). She has always loved music and seems to have some natural talent. I play the piano (trained traditionally), and we have a piano. So naturally, I put her in private traditional piano lessons after MFYC. Disaster. She had 2 very different teachers (the first not so great, the second one really good and classically trained), but after 1.5 years she was really burned out and begging to quit. She did learn to read somewhat, but she absolutely despised the lessons and the practice. She said daily that she hated piano. My friend had her 3 daughters in Simply Music. I had originally been resistant to non-traditional lessons. However, I did not want her to quit, so we interviewed the SM teacher and she then had several private lessons. Then she started partner lessons (with my friend's youngest daughter) and has done that for a year. It has been the best decision I could have made. She now LOVES piano, practices without much griping, and can sit down and play a whole bunch of songs. I am sold on a mastery method like SM. I wish I'd known about it from the start. I wish I had learned this way. It is very much like Suzuki, from what I understand about Suzuki, where they learn a repertoire of songs and then keep them all active. Eventually they do learn to read music (in the 3rd book I think). However, before that they are learning the keyboard (they can identify all the notes), and are learning chords. They learn to play songs by patterns. My dd can play accompaniment pieces and lead sheets that I am absolutely unable to play. I cannot say enough good things about SM. I highly recommend it, esp. if you have a teacher available. I am not sure how great it would be to do the home program, because the teacher adds so much to just the basic curriculum. Our teacher is a wonderful, inspiring teacher, so that probably makes a difference. She taught traditionally for a long time, but them switched to SM. LOOOOOVE IT! I can answer any specific questions you think of.

Phonetic Zoo might work for you. It is phonics based. It is completely independent. I don't think the rules of SWR (from what I know of them) would conflict with the PZ jingles.

I would say you should have at least a chair that raises so she can sit at the proper height. Otherwise, you are forcing a child to try to write in an uncomfortable, awkward position that can do some damage and cause them pain. It is like typing on a desk that is the wrong height and getting pain in your wrists and arms. I have an Ikea kids desk chair at our dining room table. The downside is that dd's feet dangle. For a long time, dd used her Stokke chair, and with that her feet were suported (but they are really expensive).

I have this CD, and found that just the probiotic reco did wonders for my dd who was having rage fits. She fit a lot of the description for yeast overgrowth. I got Primadophilus from the local health food store, and gave it to her 3 times a day like Dianne Crafft recommend. I never tried anything of the other supplements. Edited to add -- I also did give my dd fish oil up until recently, which I just remembered when reading the later posts.

I can't compare to Singapore, because I haven't used it. My dd9 used BJU for K-2. This year we switched to CLE, which I like for dd, but I have considered going back to BJU. What I liked: Traditional S&S - seems very solid and on grade level Colorful Scripted TM Teaches conceptually Uses manipulatives Mastery based, with a wide spiral review (each chapter is a topic) What I did not like: Doesn't incorporate drill as part of the daily lesson (which CLE does very well) and as a result my dd was very behind on knowing her math facts and this was becoming a huge issue. CLE has definitely solved that for her. Most of the instruction is in the TM; very little is in the worktext, so it must be "taught." I don't think this is a bad thing, but people complain about it in reviews I have read. Also, the TM is obviously written for a classroom, so you have to wade through all that. However, I think it is a great TM. I have considered going back to BJU because sometimes I feel like CLE gets to be drudgery for dd since every day the workbook is almost the same routine. It can be painful to get her through it day after day. However, she now really knows her math facts. She didn't have trouble with concepts with BJU (and not with CLE either), but the CLE review has really cemented things for her. The look of BJU really appeals to me. I think they do a great job producing visually appealing materials.

Another vote for CLE. But use the placement tests to figure out what level to start in. It meets your criteria pretty well. Another one might be BJU, but it requires much more teaching (although the TM is scripted). It is mastery to the extent that each chapter is on a topic, but it does include a lot of review. I've heard it described as a wide spiral. There is also a reviews book, at least for the younger grades. We used it for 3 years. I keep considering going back to it for various reasons, although there is a lot to like about CLE for my dd. You could also do the BJU DVD option if you can spend the $.

Yes, this is exactly what I meant when I said Spelling Power doesn't teach the rules. I guess it sort of does, but to me, teaching the rule means the child learns it and can repeat it and apply it. There was no mastery of the rules and how to apply them for my dd with Spelling Power. I really disliked what Merry describes above where they have many ways to spell words that have the same sound in the same list. Then it is just pure memorization, which did not work for my dd. My dd had zero retention from SP (and I did it exactly like the manual told us too, even buying sand and a big rubbermaid box for finger spelling), so I sold it.

I switched to Phonetic Zoo partway through AAS 3. First we took a very non-productive tour through Spelling Power (it doesn't teach the rules, even though the words are grouped by the rules). My dd9 started in level A of PZ. However, I am seriously contemplating going BACK to AAS, or even doing LOE or WRTR. PZ does not teach phonograms and rules to the extent that AAS does, which I guess I knew but Andrew Pudewa's Spelling and The Brain talk convinced me it didn't matter that much. It is nice for PZ to be so independent, and she has done pretty well with it (she can spell most of the words she learned from PZ). But she is learning to spell harder, less common words with PZ (like conceive or siege) while she is still misspelling the simpler yet very common words she should be able to spell in 3rd grade. I notice this especially when we are doing WWE 3 dictation --- I have to spell almost everything for her. This is one of my major curriculum issues for next year!

I just finished looking through a copy of TT4 (the spiral book, not the CDs), which my friend loaned me. My dd is finishing CLE 3. I don't think she really needs all the review of CLE 3, and I'm debating what to use next year. I noticed that TT4 was quite a "behind" CLE3 -- what they are doing in TT4 was mostly what CLE 3 covered. And the CLE review seems more systematic to me. Also, much more drill in CLE. So if you're wanting something else that is spiral, you might look at it. It is very independent since the new teaching is pretty brief in each lesson. It obviously isn't as independent as TT. My dd also dislikes math, although she does fine with the actual work. CLE has helped a lot with solidifying her facts. I doubt there is any curriculum that she would say she liked.

At the Midwest Convention in April I think it all had to be shipped...but it was free shipping. However, it took over 2 weeks to get to me, which seemed a lot longer than when I've order online.

I saw the two FTF authors speak at the Midwest Homeschool convention. Their curriculum is about learning movement skills. One thing they talked about how group sports is the worst place to learn movement because you are being watched and with your peers, which keeps you from learning much (unless you are athletic already I suppose). One is a PE teacher at Texas A&M (I think that's the correct school) where they must take at least 1 PE credit to graduate, and told about how many college students he has that lack basic movement skills (like swinging a tennis racket for instance) so they spend a lot of time on basic PE skills before they can learn a sport. I had already bought the FTF curriculum in the fall but had not used it. Hearing them inspired me to get it going. We've been able to pull it off about 2 times a week. I want to do more than that, however.

Amazon. I can't get my Canon cartridges in stores nearby, so I have always ordered the Canon cartridges from Amazon. I just bought generic ink for Canon (I think the brand is Sophia or something like that) that seems to be working fine, and it was a fraction of the cost of the Canon cartridges. The only downside was the cartridge dripped some when I opened it, so next time I'll be prepared with a paper towel to prevent a mess.

I (fortunately) got it from the library a year or so ago, and had a similar reaction to you. I had to literally force myself to finish it.

Sonya Shafer, hands down. I heard her this year and last at the Midwest Convention and found the workshops very good. I heard Catherine Levison 3 years ago, and didn't get as much out of it. Hearing her made CM sound very, VERY laid back and unschoolish (which is her personality I think). Much different than the take I get form Sonya Shafer.

I do not use HOD, but tried DITHOR this year with DD for 3rd grade. It was a bust, and I sold it. She detested the workbook and it felt a little contrived to me. I wanted to love it and wanted to make it work,but it was just not for us. This year I've just had her read on her own. Next year I'm going to start doing very, very basic lit. analysis (just discussion) with her using the method in Teaching the Classics.

I just bought this at the Midwest Homeschool convention after going to every one of Adam Andrews' talks. You can actually download some of his lectures on his website, which you probably saw. Teaching the Classics is a syllabus and DVDs (6 hours work I think) that teach the teacher to do lit analysis. There is a book list in the appendix, and you can buy other resources for additional booklists and scope and sequence, but Adam Andrews encourages you to put together your own list of books. (I bought Reading Roadmaps, which is a K-12 scope and sequence). They also have something called Ready Readers, which I didn't buy. Yes, you could all read the same book with those ages of kids, and have a group lit analysis discussion. It is totally up to you as far as how much time you spend. It depends on how many books you the teacher are able to read (which is a criteria for any books you analyze with your kids -- you have to read and analyze them too. ) You can do it where you have daily/weekly lit analysis class on one end of the frequency spectrum, to doing it quarterly or less on the other end of the spectrum (meaning read one book to be analyzed a quarter -- of course you'd probably have your kids reading on their own a whole lot more than this). I was so excited after hearing Adam Andrews speak. He is an excellent speaker and lays out how to do lit. analysis so clearly and simply. He has you start with analyzing good children's books (when you're learning to do lit analysis yourself, and when you teach your kids). This is exactly what I need for my dd9 and I'm really looking forward to using it next year.

I did CC Cycle 1 with a 1st grader 2 years ago, but at the same time we were reading SOTW 1. It went great for her, and really ignited a love for history. She still remembers many of those history sentences. However, in retrospect, I wish I'd held off on doing ancients and the history cycle until 3rd or 4th grade and made K-2 an early intro to American history (just my opinion, not trying to start a debate). Had we not been reading SOTW 1, I doubt she or I would have enjoyed it as much. Not having the memory work in context is one reason I am probably not doing CC with her again next year (4th grade), because I want to do our own history study at home of late modern history. I felt like this year CC flew too fast through American history, so little ended up being in context for early modern history that we did at home. I've really wrestled with the "filling the bucket" vs. "lighting the fire" thoughts recently as I've read more about Classical and CM methods, and I'm now becoming more of an "in context" believer. There have been times we've been reading something new that one of the Cycle 1 or 2 history sentences pop into my or dd's head. However, I think learning the memory work in parallel with exposure to the material makes it stick better for her and me both.