All, I was planning on using Latin Prep 1 and 2 with my sixth grader next year. He has already had Latin for Children A and B, but didn't really enjoy them. We loved the looks of Latin Prep, but now they are out of print. We were really excited about the humor and rigor of these books. He loves to translate and HATES busy work. I have looked everywhere for the Latin Prep book 1. I can pay about 60 dollars just for the main book on Amazon, but that seems crazy. Has anyone looked at the new Galore Park Latin curriculum? I have no idea what to make of it. Should I try and get my hands on SYRWTLL before that is gone too? Help this mama with new Latin woes.

I LOVE Shurley English. I taught it for years at a private school. My 4th and 5th graders had an extremely good grasp on grammar concepts. Some of the jingles are cheesy, but it you have an auditory learner, there isn't a better program. My class made up their own jingles to familiar tunes and I am happy to share them with you. I think the writing portion is just OK. There are many better writing programs out there. I would just skip the writing and use something else. Shurley has a steep learning curve in the beginning, but if you keep at it, it makes a ton of sense. It is very classical in the sense that you just memorize in the beginning and with practice the concepts will soak in and become clear. I don't see any point in beginning Shurley before 3rd grade. I would use it lightly in 3rd, hit it hard and 4th and 5th (maybe 6th if weak) . After that they would be ready to tackle a challenging curriculum like Analytical Grammar with confidence in middle school. I would be happy to answer any questions. I like the new versions not the old homeschool versions. All you really need is the teachers manual and the student workbook. You might also want the jingle CD (or you could have my jingle list).

Has anyone done the GHF latin classes? Are they rigorous enough? Are they enjoyable? Not having a textbook makes me nervous.

I would use the OUP books until they ran out, then use SOTW focussing on American History with A History of Us by Hakim. I would use library for non-american happenings, but a lot is covered in History of Us. The Hakim books are fabulous reads, my kid loves them and they would set your child up to do excellent in high school American History. You could also use Kingfishers for the non-American material.

I second the Oxford University Press books. I do a book of centuries, timelines, vocabulary, and summaries with them. More in depth than SOTW- perfect for middle grades. Question: What benefit does the Human Odyssey provide that OUP does't? They seem like pretty similar texts to me. Why use them together? #curious

My son is a precocious 11 year old with good grammar knowledge already. We are going to hit grammar one last time with AG and then we will be done. I want to make sure he has a solid foundation. Maybe Analytical Grammar sometime between now and 9th grade?

If your kid is musical and likes to make up songs, Shurley might be good. I am a huge fan of Shurley- quick, easy, and has plenty of practice. My students who learn with Easy Grammar forget everything. My old students who learned Shurley remember almost all of it. My own child has done both and much prefers Shurley. The jingles with the curriculum are lousy, but my class made up their own jingles to nursery songs or common songs. I can send you mine if you like. I plan on starting my littles in Shurley about 3rd or 4th grade.

All Orton Gillingham based programs are very similar in that they ask the child to spell the word before seeing it. During the spelling analysis are you giving enough hints? For example for the word chowder. I would say "chowder chow*der" "how many syllables?" What letters go with the sound "ch" "how do you spell the sound "ow?" "d" "er" Tell them it is the e-r er (so they don't think ir). They should spell it correctly the first time and not guess. Correct them before they write it wrong. Writing it wrong just implants it wrong in their brain. Repeat the sounds or word as much as needed. Spell to read and write has some videos that might help.

We are doing Saxon 8/7 and Aops Pre-algebra next year. I like the spiral review in Saxon and want to keep him practicing the concepts he learned in Aops, plus all the concepts from earlier grades. My plan is to teach Aops and have him just do odds or evens in Saxon as a review. I will pretest the Saxon material this summer and see where he needs more practice. He is used to having math "homework" and he could do it quickly for 20 min while he eats breakfast or as a warm-up in the morning before we start "school".

We bought snap together molecules for 30 dollars and a the Molecule book by Theodore gray after my child exhausted the periodic table of elements. My kid spends all his spare time putting molecules together. He loves it. I love it when science is play. https://www.amazon.com/Molecules-Architecture-Everything-Theodore-Gray/dp/1579129714 https://www.amazon.com/Chemistry-Instructional-Stereochemistry-Structure-Scientists/dp/B01NCU854K/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1494077650&sr=8-15&keywords=molecule+set

I really like the Abeka State history notebook for 4th grade. I am not an Abeka fan, but I do enjoy note booking and think that the activities were worth while and provided direction. http://www.abeka.com/ABekaOnline/BookDescription.aspx?sbn=108731

My kid was the same way. Had wonderful ideas, but couldn't put them on paper. The problem was actually the fact that his brain worked so much faster than his hand could. He would always loose track of this thought. He needed practice with just writing fluency and speed. Until a kid is able to write as fast as they think (or almost) it can be a very frustrating experience. I would work on copy work (focus on neatness) and speed writing (make it a fun game-not focussed on neatness). I would also dictate spelling words. As teacher's we work on reading fluency, but rarely work on writing fluency. I strongly believe that for these kind of kids we should focus on orally narrating and allow them to dictate their amazing ideas. That way they get the composing practice without the frustration of handwriting. They can also work on grammar and mechanics by adding it to copywork. Later, 2nd or 3rd work on composing short sentences. 3rd and 4th can be short paragraphs. The good news is my kiddo is now in 5th grade and he finally writes as quickly as he thinks and very much enjoys writing. It isn't beautiful, but the word choice, ideas, and mechanics are amazing. He is a prolific writer and very much enjoys putting his amazing words on paper. He has no problem writing an essay with more than five large paragraphs. Typing is around the corner for us. Also, I do regret not looking into occupational therapy at an earlier age. He is a lefty and I think that hand strengthening would have helped. Think about all of your child's fine motor skills and strengthen them all. Please don't frustrate your kid and have him dumb down his amazing ideas just to write a 1st grade sentence.

I also used the Wordly Wise words for spelling when I taught 5th grade in a private school. Good review of words. I think it is important to continue to do a formal vocabulary program simply because of the SAT and ACT. I am assuming your child is upper elementary or middle school. If you haven't started Latin yet, I would do that if he has time. No need for a formal spelling program if he has spelling mastered. My own rising 6th grader is not a great speller, but he has an amazing vocabulary. We will finish up spelling this year and move to MCT Caesar's English II. I think it will be too easy, but I want him to be secure with roots, prefixes, and suffixes. He has also will continue with Latin. I looked at other root books, and thought MCT might be more fun. I know personally that if I allow vocabulary to only be from literature it will not necessarily get done. You could also get a PSAT book and study vocabulary from that.

I have spent a lot of time trying to decide between the two programs for my 4 year old b/g twins. I landed on Logic of English because I am not crafty and I think LOE game based approach would work better with two. My daughter (who is already a great beginner reader) would probably enjoy the crafts, but my little guy who I need to focus on, would do better with a game based and less pencil oriented approach. I would take a good look at both, look at your kids' strengths and weaknesses, and decide from there.

I would purchase just the daily grams that go with Daily Grammar- level 5 maybe? They give a quick review of capitalization, punctuation, grammar, and my favorite part is the sentence combining at the end. They take max 5-10 min per day. Correct them with your child so that he can see his mistakes and orally explain them. I love the way it builds and keeps skills up.

I second the Oxford University Press books. My students loved them and we put together our own Book of Centuries with timelines, key words, people, places and maps. OUP is good if you kid likes to read and loves history. OUP can be found on amazon. My class did Ancient Mesopotamia, Ancient Egypt and Ancient Greece. My own kid wants to add all the Asian cultures too. He is a voracious reader though. 3 books would be enough for most kids. I would buy used. https://www.amazon.com/dp/0195161599/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_nS_img?_encoding=UTF8&colid=2ED41RN1OKUB5&coliid=I1VE4O31LNTYM4A A less time consuming and reading intensive route would be Human Odyssey.

Can you just have her do another narrative piece? Have her make up her own, "Just so Story" or create short story from a photo or picture. My thoughts are that then you could compare one narrative piece to another. Talk about improvement in plot development, the addition of dialogue, word choice, sentence fluency etc.

This is exactly my complaints with Easy Grammar. I have so many students who can't put the pieces together and forget what a preposition is as soon as we move on to verbs. I am very frustrated with it. I do like the Daily Grams and use them for morning work. They are great review, and I especially like the last section where they have to write a complex or compound sentence from simple sentences. So I vote "yes" on Daily Grams and "no"on Easy Grammar. If you have something that works I wouldn't change it

Another thread just reintroduced to me to Matt Whitlings work. I think it is much easier and kinder for the younger kiddos. I love IEW for 4th, 5th or 6th, but I think it a bit unnecessary and complicated for the younger set. At that age you just want them to practice putting words on paper. I wouldn't worry about dress-ups or other skills yet, besides basic editing. If they have been retelling stories orally they should do well with Whitling. It is worth checking out. http://www.logospressonline.com/writing/

Ok- I looked at the website and Logos uses Matt Whitlings Imitation in Writing. Which I really like. I have completely forgot about them. They are similar to IEW in idea, but not as thorough with skills. I have taught both and very much like the simplicity of Whitlings. However, I think the skills in IEW are an important part for most writers. If your kid is a natural writer, with excellent word choice, sentence fluency, and only needs help with organization, I would go with Whitling. If your kid is not a natural writer I would do at least one year of IEW. I will be doing IEW with my own kid next year (6th grader too) simply because I want him to craft the "super essay" in the intermediate level books. I also like Whitings stuff for kids under 4th grade. I think most of the skills taught in IEW are important to get in one or two doses in 4th, 5th, or 6th grade. Thanks for reminding me of these fun, less expensive resources from Whitling. I have never used the Writing Trails, but I am sure they are very similar to Whitings work and not the exact same thing as IEW.

Ok- I looked at the website and Logos uses Matt Whitlings Imitation in Writing. Which I really like. I have completely forgot about them. They are similar to IEW in idea, but not as thorough with skills. I have taught both and very much like the simplicity of Whitlings. However, I think the skills in IEW are an important part for most writers. If your kid is a natural writer, with excellent word choice, sentence fluency, and only needs help with organization, I would go with Whitling. If your kid is not a natural writer I would do at least one year of IEW. I will be doing IEW with my own kid next year (6th grader too) simply because I want him to craft the "super essay" in the intermediate level books. I also like Whitings stuff for kids under 4th grade. I think most of the skills taught in IEW are important to get in one or two doses in 4th, 5th, or 6th grade. Thanks for reminding me of these fun, less expensive resources from Whitling. I have never used the Writing Trails, but I am sure they are very similar to Whitings work and not the exact same thing as IEW.

My kiddo had terrible handwriting and fine motor skills. Patience and practice were the only thing that helped. He needed lots of practice with writing fluency. I distinctly remember being super frustrated with him in 3rd grade. I thought he should have had it down by then. He hated writing. Copy work and consistency helped. I would suggest short copy work passages and build to longer and longer passages. I found a passage on airplanes that he liked and he practiced writing it over and over again. He also began writing things on his own-details and specs on airplanes and tanks. He liked to sort them into categories. I let him work on "his projects" as long as he wished. I was happy he was holding a pencil. Until he could write his ideas down quickly, I never got any good compositions out of him. When I allowed him to dictate compositions, they were fabulous. Now (end of 5th) my kid LOVES to write and is an amazing writer. (His handwriting is still not amazing, but it doesn't inhibit is ability to put words on paper and I can mostly read it.- typing is around the corner) Don't give up and make sure he practices. It is a skill like any other. Have patience, but insist on good daily practice.

Thanks! I think he would like to write book reviews because he could persuade others. Great idea! I'll look up National History day too.

It turns out the my reluctant writer has miraculously turned into an amazing writer!!! His fine motor skills has finally stopped holding him back and what pores out of his pencil is beautiful, amazing, and extremely advanced for a 11 year old. He hated writing as an 8 and 9 year old and I thought he would never write, but now he will write and write. He has grown so much in one year, that I am confused on what to do next with him. He loves argumentative writing and proving his point. I think we will just do more essay writing and learn to site sources. I would love more ideas. What has worked for your advanced writer? Does anyone know of writing contests for the middle school age group or above? Fiction is not his thing. Thanks!

Yes, but don't blame the teacher or assume that she/he has bad intentions. It is probably that half of the class really didn't master how to boil the water and so it needs to be retaught or practiced. Many kids need repetition in order to learn skills. What is busy work to a few students is necessary practice for others. As often as we teachers talk about differentiation in the classroom, it is often very hard to implement with everything. Some kids end up doing "busy work" while others get the necessary practice they need. Avoiding busy work is a blessing that homeschoolers have because they can teach each child individually. However, I would bet that many who homeschool a variety of ages together do use "busy work" with their littles or older in order to keep the day running smoothly.