I have a thread on the Accelerated Board for my 11th gr.daughter looking for advanced lit. and writing programs. I don't know how to link things yet, but you could go there and see what the others suggested. Maybe you will find something that will work.

Cal. dreaming, thanks for starting this thread. It is so encouraging to hear all the different ideas! :001_smile:

Two other options- go back to book 2 and have him go through those again, or pull out some short passages from the books he enjoys reading. Just till he gets the hang of it. Sometimes writing dictation from a favorite book is more enjoyable for them. This worked at our house. Some of mine loved dictation, and others really struggled with it. You didn't say where he was in spelling abilities- he may not be quite ready for the 3rd level if his spelling skills are not at the same level. Just my 2 cents. Hope you find something that will work.

In Reply to your comment of using Sonlight: Sonlight's P45 core has a wonderful reading list! I never bought the guides, but I've tracked down almost all of the books. We read all of them last year! :laugh: I would ditch the Little House series till core A where they do Little House in the Big Woods as a read aloud (we are finishing it this week!) and go for the P45 books. The only one we had to discuss was Nana upstairs, Nana Downstairs. It was a gentle exposure to death, but was appropriate since we had a death in the family. Core A is so easy and gentle most 4-5 yr. olds can sit through it. I have ages 5, 6, & 9 (dyslexic) all in core A and they love it! Just a note on the LA guides- they are not the best in my opinion. We just use the readers. My last 2 cents- aside from the premier movie, the Little House TV series is not accurate to the books and has some topics that may be disturbing to a sensitive, young child.

She should have no problems skipping into gr. 3 R&S. They do so much review. Just a note, R&S usually covers dictionary skills in the last chapter of their books. We have used the series up through gr.9. My kids have all tested very well on the English section of their standardized tests, I know R&S had a part in that. You don't have to do all their practice problems though, it is kind of over kill in some areas. But we have appreciated the extra practice in other areas. The teacher manuals are necessary, very well done, and extremely helpful. Last note, book 5 has seemed to be one of the hardest, be prepared to spend some extra effort in that one. Happy teaching!

We have used Spunky math for 2 of our kids. It was a inexpensive choice when things were really tight. Did a good job for grades 1 & 2.

Have you tried Charlotte Mason's approach to schooling? Maybe it would fit your family. Some times though, school just isn't fun. As they get older the subjects get harder and more demanding. Find what they like and run with it. Pull them through the rest the best you can. They need those core subjects- even if they think they're as boring as dirt. :laugh: I wish elementary school years wouldn't go by so fast!

If the help is still needed: Sonlight also has lists of graded readers as well as the core books. My daughter enjoyed Frog and Toad, Little Bear, and all of those level 1-4 readers at the library. Any of the "B" is for Betsy books are very sweet and fun. Hope you found some good books!

Is your son currently in 9th grade doing Geometry? Is that correct? If it is, and he will do Alg. 2 in 10th grade- you could start Saxon Advanced Mathematics using Art Reed's CD's that summer after Alg. 2. That would give him extra review of Alg. and Geometry. He should do very well on the PSAT's. The Adv. math will cover Trig./ Pre- Calc. skills during his 11th gr. year, then continue into 12th with the Calc. book. Or just use Khan Academy over the summer to keep his Alg. skills sharp till the test in October. Then continue with your favorite math choice. Either way he should be fine for both tests. :001_smile:

Ok, that was what I thought would be said about IEW's material for her. Thanks for saving us the frustration. Thank you also Choc.-chip for letting us know about MOOC. We will be doing a lot of comparing. I really appreciate all the help. I never knew there were so many options for her.

TT runs a bit behind grade level in some concepts. With my oldest we also have doubled up on lessons until the material is harder. She completed Geometry in 4 months with an A. She did switch back to Saxon because she wanted something harder. TT is a spiraled math program, so she may test out of one unit but need help in another. I would pretest her before each unit, then determine if she needs to cover the material or not. My second daughter (Pre- Alg.) did great on one unit, then she had a lot of problems with the next- they switched the type of concepts being taught. I do agree about them learning how to trick the program, maybe test her with another curriculum occasionally to make sure she really knows the concepts or if she just learned how to get the right answer on the computer. They also get to be slightly dependent on the hints offered. It would be nice if you could disable the hints. Good program over all. It has saved me a ton of time not having to grade my older ones math work. They enjoy using it too.

I have always loved the Little House Books. The pictures in the picture book set are sweet and gentle, very appropriate for young beginning readers. My children liked the beginning books when they were little, but usually lost interest around Shores of the Silver Lake. They do have 2 new additions to the series, but neither would hold the attention of a 5/6 yr. old. None of my children really enjoyed the last two books in the set, even when they were older. They just couldn't understand them. They did enjoy most of the Caroline and Martha books when they were a little older though. The Rose series is a bit rough and has a lot of superstitions in them. Sonlight has a nice list for ideas to read aloud for that age group if you need more ideas for later.

Just wondering if anyone has used IEW's Window to the World: Intro to Literary Analysis? Is it an easy overview of the basics or a more difficult course? Thanks everyone for the continued suggestions. Thanks MedicMom, we will take a look. :001_smile:

The Advanced Saxon book was apparently meant to be 2 separate course books: Geometry with Advanced Algebra & then Trig. /Pre-Calc.. It covers a lot of material. Which is why it is recommended to be spread over 2 years. If you have done Saxon Alg.1 & 2, then you should not need to use another book for Geometry since it is covered through the completion of the series. My daughter (16) has just started this book after completing TT Algebra 2 course last yr. & TT geometry course this yr. (over the summer and fall). She wanted more work on her Algebra skills and chose Adv. Math because it covered more concepts than TT Pre-Calc.. She is using the Art Reed cd's, but doing a whole lesson per day (her choice because she is getting ready for the SATs). She only has needed about 1- 1 1/2 hrs. to watch the lesson and then complete the seat work. She is still at the beginning, so it may take longer further into the book. She is enjoying it over all and is doing well. We plan for her to work through the summer and finish next school year. My friend's son is using the book this year and splitting it over 2 yrs., but he is a year younger than my DD. It basically comes down to how much your child likes math, and how much math is desired to be covered. You can always start out with a whole lesson per day then slow it down if it get to be too much. That is what we are going to do if needed. If I could go back, I would have put her in this book last spring instead of the Geometry course. She would have gotten the geometry without sacrificing her algebra skills she needed on the PSATs. With the few month gap of no Algebra, she forgot some concepts she had learned in Alg. 2. :sad: I do highly recommend the Art Reed cd's. He Is enjoyable to listen to and also tells how to label the courses covered by the book so they look like "normal" high school class names on your transcript. Hope you can find something of use here. Edited for typos

Tried it years ago and my daughter grew bored hearing the same thing over and over. Have you looked into Sonlight?

Agree with the others, use the library and keep up the oral reading to improve skills. 1st Language Lessons (Lv. 1) and Writing With Ease (Lv. 1) are both great products. We have enjoyed the easy and quick lessons.

Never needed them. Just extra busy work for the classroom teachers to hand out.

Sorry, didn't want to start an argument.

Are you sending them to school just because of the C-section? Please don't if that is your only reason. You can work your school schedule around your recovery time (been there done that). Maybe have a friend or relative come and help out for the first few weeks.They will learn so much more at home and be so much happier. You will treasure all those memories later on. Your children will be able to read and do math at or above grade level. Which is more than most public schools can say. If you want the socialization aspect, could you join a good co-op or church group? :001_smile: Middle school is the worst time to introduce your child to the public school, it is a "kid-eat- kid" setting. :eek: Ask almost anyone about their middle school experiences- very few people have good memories. If you have to put them back in, wait till high school. If you don't have to, don't send them.

We have friends whose daughter has RAD. It is very difficult for them. I would also stay off the internet. Teaching Textbooks and Switched on Schoolhouse sounds like a better option.

We do! Got a set for free (1996), and we use them all the time! If you have space, get as new of a set as you can, for as cheap as you can. :) We have one reliable computer and 7 in homeschool. We needed other research options. Some information doesn't change, so they are still reliable.

Question: Are your students solid on their basic math facts and skills? Just because they hit the age for Pre-Algebra doesn't always mean they are ready for it. If they are struggling with remembering basic math facts and other basic math skills, then they will struggle the whole way through higher math. Go back and remediate. Are the parents noticing any gaps that may be causing problems? Khan Academy may help if you can identify those trouble spots to concentrate on. Also A+ math was recommended to us as a site to print your own math sheets. I haven't used that one yet though. If that is not the issue they may find Art Reed's DVD series helpful. Saxon is tough, but there are few math programs that can compete with it. Another option is to have the kids go back and review the lessons for the problems that they miss or don't understand, (those little numbers next to the problems). Sometimes is just takes a few exposures to the same concept for them to "get it". Could you split the class? That way the faster kids won't be held back by the ones who need more instruction. We did 87 then pre-algebra, kind of over kill, but pre-algebra was a breeze. Hope you can find something that will help.

As long as you are buying quality literature you can never go wrong. As long as you have storage space! :laugh: Avoid the popular cartoon based book series. If your child must read all "168 + books" in the Baby-sitters Club series or read the latest Bob the Builder/Barbie Princess book, use the library. Those type of books will soon be outgrown and left to gather dust. If they must own them, you can always donate them to Good Will later. We have thousands of books. For a young family just starting out, I would suggest investing in the classic children's literature. They will never "go out of style" and are fabulous for improving language skills. Think Beatrix Potter, The original Winnie-the-Pooh books, books of children's poetry, Robert McCloskey, James Harriott's Children's Stories, Beverly Cleary, Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Andrew Lang's Fairy books. Sonlight has a great book list for children. We have found lots of wonderful books through their web site. Classical Christian Education 1000 good book lists are another place to find a free list of good literature. Usborne books have wonderful history and science books that would be beneficial to any child's bookcase. As they get older they can decide what they enjoy to read. But as little ones you can fill them up with lots of good literature. Don't over look the great resource of books on CD's. I love to pop one of them in during nap time or while they are coloring, ect. Last bit of advice for using the library: I write our due dates on our calendar in Bright Red Ink. I also try to keep our library day on the same day every week, usually when I know we will always be out, like on piano lesson days. When you get too many different due dates that causes problems. If your library offers an automatic reminder service you could sign up for that. Hope you can get something helpful out of this! :001_smile:

Thank you Amoret! I am the daughter that my mom is trying to figure out curriculum for. Your assignment sounds exactly like what my mom has been trying to figure out for me. To everyone else, thanks so much for all the input. My mom has been driving herself nuts trying to figure out what to do with me, and your suggestions are really helping! Probably our biggest problem right now is finding some type of guides for the types of books I want to read, and some sort of writing guide. I would like something that will prepare me for a English w/ emphasis on Creative Writing major in college. I love to write, but my mom is concerned that I'm not getting enough guidance in that department. She has been looking at logic/rhetoric courses for me. Are there any good ones that are self-explanatory? Again, thank you very much for all your input!

I agree 100% with Tibbie Dunbar! She has some great ideas! If you are feeling overloaded, is it possible for your 16 yr. old help with the 9 yr. old occasionally, or for your 9 & 12 yr. olds to work together for some subjects (same assignment/ topic, different levels)?