I agree to be cost effective you must have a laser. I, too, have a Brother. I get my toner refill kit from Tonerrefillkits and save even more! I can print entire books for a small fraction of bought books. I have printed several history readers, literature, and 2 math books. This printer was used when it was given to me, and I have printed many thousands of pages. It is still going strong.

The red one looks exactly the same, inside and out, as the one I have. Copyright 1928, 1929, 1934 Last edition 1989 Reprinted 1996

Oh this is great! Thanks!

There are a few reasons that copying from a reading book would not be best for my dd, though in my perfect world it would be. I do like the suggestion, and I may have to resort to it despite the difficulties. I have Dictation Day by Day, but can only find up to level 4. SM, do you know of one that goes higher on google books?

I would prefer a free download, like those at google, if it exist for this age. TIA

There are so many different curricula we have used and loved...and have benefited from a great deal. Mostly unit studies. But I wish my teacher would have used unit studies and CM mix. Hands on, Bible, living books, connections (by her as well as students), nature study, etc. Math that showed connections with life instead of just numbers on page. Grammar beyond nouns and verbs. Writing.

I tried Portraits of American Girlhood when my dd was in 2nd and had to put it away due to the writing assignments being over her head. She did well with it in 4th and we will finish it in 5th. But I could see it working for her back then if I would have dropped the writing. When she was younger she really enjoyed the CLP history readers that are listed in the HOD Beyond Little Hands program mentioned above.

Pentime 8

It is an excellent program. I my opinion it is close to R&S, but in a workbook form (up to 5th). There are themes for each unit and the math concepts are explained very well. There is a good amt of review of previous concepts and the TE has excellent guidance. I didn't always use the oral lessons (depending on dd's understanding of the concept), but when I needed it, it did a great job at helping me to do my job. I found the advancement of concepts to not move too quickly for my dd, like ABeka would . The flash cards are numbered like CLE and are very easy to use. Each week has: ~~two 2 page lessons, ~~then a practice page, ~~then two more 2 page lessons, ~~then a two page weekly check up. If my dd did well I skipped the practice and check-up pages. My only issues would be: 1) a bit cluttered (like R&S and others), 2) wkbk ends with 5th grade. Price is right. Best price at RR.

I think you are probably right. And it probably has always been so. Just that now, because of hsing, we are able to see it more. With a school system kids just make it or they don't. They get passed with a D, but in hsing we are able to keep them back just a tad longer so that they get an A or B....in their own timing. In their strong subjects they are promoted early.

Your son sounds like my dd. Though she was not writing books, she does have the imagination for them. And she learns English and spelling very easily. Math is not her suit. She also loves farms so Book 1 was great for that. I belive RS would be an excellent addition to MLFLE.

Oh I wanted to say that I love the way Angela O'Dell teaches how decimals, fractions and percents are basically the same thing, and has the child show on their dry erase chart just how they are related. She makes it so clear.

For my dd it has been a blessing. It didn't move too fast and the lessons weren't too long. She will shut down with cluttered pages of numbers. The story breaks the monotony, and helps dd to see how math applies to her life. Most of the time she doesn't need more practice than what is in the book, but when she did it is easy enough to add a print out free from the web. So far I have only needed to supplement when she got hung up on not remembering the process of long division. We did half of Book 1 in first grade and it was great for her. I only stopped because at that time I didn't have as much time as needed to help her with math, and needed something I could just hand to her. I wish we would have been able to continue with it thru Books 2 and 3. She is in book 4 now and loving it! She loves the hands on and using the charts with dry erase. And today was a fun day. For her math she had to measure out and prepare 2 recipes which included fractions. FOr added lesson I had her cut one recipe in half. I have seen people who feel it is too easy and to some degree I agree. At times I wish the problems were a bit tougher, but I see the process being learned without stress. I did compare Book 5 to Rod and Staff 5 and there are a few things in R&S that are not covered in MLFLE Book 5, like dividing fractions. I am not going to worry about it. We will get to it when we get to it. This has been the BEST math program for my dd. Truly. If you have a child who shuts down with a page of numbers this may be the answer. Or if using a curriculum which really shows well, just how math applies to life, again this may be a blessing. However if you want strong rigor this will not be for you. I don't think a child would be quite ready, though not far behind, for Alg after book 5. We will use R&S 5 to cover the few things not in MLFLE 5. Things like 1 gallon and 3 quarts plus 3 gallons and 4 quarts = how many gallons and quarts. Chances are she will not have any problem getting it on the first try due to years of learning the measurements and conversions. Edited to correct misinformation: MLFLE 5 DOES cover dividing fractions. I apologize for the mistake.

Set up a bird bath and plant sunflowers around it.

There is no real writing instruction except there is a Limerick worksheet. But most are like the one I quoted in post #3 and here are a couple more: Write about a dream you have had in which you tried to wake up and couldn't. There are also list of events, or adjectives, etc. Write what you know about Aslan's character. Write a paragraph or poem about freedom.

I always thought OIS would be a great history additon, and Burgess Animal Book good to add for science. There is other science in there besides the animals (like caves, vacuums, etc) but it is light. I love that idea of a wardrobe made from a fridge box! That is a wonderful idea for anyone with the space.

This history is light, so adding in geog or more history would be good.

Well, you could. But you will need to leave off parts. For instance: The vocab puzzles are fairly advanced with words like impeccable, waterbutt, rheumatics, etc. They are not all that hard, but a good amt are. This would be over most 8yo's heads. Some suggested readings are like 1894 and Shakespeare. YOu can use the children's version of S and be fine there, but Prelandrial may be a bit much. Some readings will be fine for a 2nd grader like Androcles and the Lion and Village Blacksmith. Most science topics and be surface level or dug into, so you should be good there for the most part. Same for history. Writing like writing out dialogue from the book in script from using Hamlet as a model may be too hard but drawing a scene may work well depending on your youngest's talents or likes. Scripture knows no age range, so that part will be fine for sure. There are not a lot of hands on past the drawings. Just a few and they are not overly complicated.

I was thinking you were going to use it for cutting out pictures for notebooking. :w00t:

Praying God's peace wash over the family.

Another vote for Pentime. I couldn't be happier with the quality and the price.

Christian Kids Explore series may be an option. What makes it multi-level is the guide gives you the basics to read to the student then you add in videos and/or library books at each child's level to beef up the material or just add pics , whichever is the need. In the Earth and Space vol you are giving a hands-on project nearly every week. The Biology vol is less hands on and more research and report. From the looks of Susan Evan's blog the Chemistry looks very hands on. Your 4nd grader would do best in Biology or Earth and Space. The Chemistry is better suited for olders. But you can make any of them work for any age depending on supplemental materials. http://susanevans.org/blog/earth-space-series/ http://susanevans.org/blog/elementary-chemistry-series/ Different vols and sample pages: http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/easy_find?Ntt=christian+kids+explore&N=0&Ntk=keywords&action=Search&Ne=0&event=ESRCG&nav_search=1&cms=1

Life. Eat healthy foods (more veggies than anything else--no gluten, etc), and keep junk to a min. Brush your teeth. Wash your hands. Take a bath. Herbals for healing (taught as we go). Things like that. We did do The Body Book also. Pretty cool.

Perfectly doable. =)

Hi CT! Good "seeing" you! :seeya: You know I am more of a lit study gal, but if your dd prefers Holt then I vote --go for it! Her life will not suffer if she has not read the entire Jane Eyre or Old Yeller. To me the two main purposes in learning to read well, it to be able to communicate well, and know how to rightly divide the Word of Truth. I think you have your bases covered. :)