My boys use Elementary Greek and Hey Andrew. They worked through Hey Andrew Levels 1&2 before starting Elementary Greek. They really like Hey Andrew for the variety of activities - I don't see it but they like it. I like them doing Elementary Greek once a week as a review/ different presentation of the material. We are taking it slow and steady with Greek.

My boys use Elementary Greek and Hey Andrew. They worked through Hey Andrew Levels 1&2 before starting Elementary Greek. They really like Hey Andrew for the variety of activities - I don't see it but they like it. I like them doing Elementary Greek once a week as a review/ different presentation of the material. We are taking it slow and steady with Greek.

I to have followed the WTM for the most part. Yet, we don't use many PHP books as my kids have never done well with them when we tried. For history, I have figured out what time period I want to cover in a year. Then determine what are the topics we can not miss and plan units. Each year we do between 4 and 7 units to cover our history period. Some units are a week and some are a month. Then there are the random books thrown in the middle that hit an event in history that I want to touch on but not something I want to make into a unit. I have found doing units keeps things fresh but also allows me to do history in an orderly fashion. This year, we are doing Apologia Science and it has been a huge hit. I never thought studying one topic all year would work but my boys are loving all the new information and doing the experiments. They are also enjoying creating animals to put in our year end ocean box. We do still do random short units that are interest based, again to keep things new and fresh.

My oldest son has completed Singapore 4B. But, he doesn't do well on the book test. He can complete the reviews in the book fairly easily and with good scores. He has convinced himself that he is not good at math and it takes to much work to do well. He wants to be an author when he grows up and sees no reason for learning math. As a result, math has become a battle ground in my house and I am tired of fighting. Learning math is not an option but the fighting has to stop. I am looking to completely change our math up for him. Right now he is set to start Singapore 5A but I don't want to. We also do Life of Fred on Fridays and I don't think that needs to be changed. He has worked through the entire elementary series and is in Mineshaft - the third book of the intermediate series. What can we do to change things up and build up confidence? I am looking at Khan Academy but I am not sure how to implement this. I would love for something to be on the computer as I think that will be motivating. I don't mind starting with review but it needs to build to a challenge too. Everything has really come easily for him so he anything that requires a bit of work is deemed to hard. What would a good program be to try for a kid who has completed Singapore 4B but needs a different program for awhile?

I do spend a lot of time planning. Each summer I try to look at what are the big things I want to cover for the next year. What period of history? What kind of writing I want my kids to be able to do? Are there certain books that I want them to read from the period of history we are studying or just for their age? Once, I have my really high level plan made, then I work on 2 or 3 months at a time. If I go farther then that it is usually just a waste of time. For math and grammar it is do the next thing, yet looking at where I can add in something fun or different, like LOF or Beast Academy. I, also, try to look at what are my boys interests and plan to help them explore those more. Eventually, I need to have daily plans. My boys thrive with weekly assignment sheets. So most Sunday evening are spent filling in their assignment sheets. Then, I go back every few months and look at my high level plans and see what we are missing. I ask questions like, when did they last read a biography, how can we work on learning to do research, what about non-fiction, mystery or fantasy? Are they understanding geography, what needs to be changed to continue making history alive and appealing? Are we doing the art projects and having fun with science? I am not sure this is much help. I just really do spend a lot of time thinking about how I can continue to make school interesting while still meeting goals. Oh and I usually re-read sections of the TWTM every six months or so. This helps me see what goals I need to make for each boy in different areas. I try to have only 2 big goals for each boy at a time and then the basics so I don't get to overwhelmed.

I agree, I don't think we are that unique on the WTM board but we are IRL even within our homeschool group. My oldest hopes to be an author one day, so he participated in National Novel Writing Month, my middle wants to design video games so he is learning Scratch Programming, my youngest is enthralled by maps and is working on memorizing where all the states are and currently many of the countries in Asia. When we do projects they appear to be big and over the top but are well remembered by my boys and their learning shines through. My DH is of the mindset if you are going to do something do it right and make it memorable. We are also very involved in Cub Scouting. I do to really try to play off of my kids interests while helping them to build a wide and solid foundation.

I do a combination of both. The work that typically needs to be done in the afternoon is reading or independent. If it is reading, I do my best to do it right after lunch. Anything independent can be done during quiet time, after literature is complete - independent reading, other wise we do it at the end of our quiet time at 3. My youngest is done before lunch so it is only the older two that have anything after lunch. I, too, need my daily quiet time to regroup and be a happy mom.

I have been finding as my oldest is completing R&S 4 that I really like the worksheets. He has enough writing in other places that the worksheets help to move grammar along without adding to his frustrations. I have always used the tests, as my boys don't have any other tests and I think it is good practice for them. No, they will never have tests in adulthood but there is alot of time before they are adults. I have also seen that my oldest freaks out at tests and by using these tests we are slowly working on his panic. As I constantly remind him, what happens if you don't do well? We review it and make sure you really understand the material. Slowly, he is realizing that figuring out if understanding it there or not, oh and not to mess around because reviewing material he already knows really isn't fun :)

My K son flew through phonics. He is now reading the Little house books. I do ECT with him to review phonics rules and to work on his writing. He is capable of writing but dislikes it, this seems to be a good middle ground for him. He knows how much he has to write and I know that he is getting a good phonics review. He doesn't think the ECT books are to easy because they are writing books and not holding him back from reading. So just let her read and do phonics review through writing :)

My oldest is in Singapore 4B. With that in mind, this is what I would do if I were in your situation. Option 1:Let her skip LOF Decimals, with the understanding that if she is struggling she will need to go back to the book. Option 2: Have her take the bridges in Decimals to prove that she understands the material. Then have her start the pre-A books so that she is learning from Fred. I think there is a big difference of reading Fred and it being review and reading Fred to learn new topics. My oldest wanted badly to start fractions. He was ready according to the site but I didn't think he was quite ready to learn from Fred. I let him start, it took alot of work on his part but he did learn. However, after I got the 3 new new books, he requested to do those to help him be able to do Fractions better. I guess my point is at some point we need to listen to our kids about our curriculum choices for them. Are they going to make some mistakes? Yes, just like we do. If she thinks she can do it why not let her try? What is the worst case scenario I think going back to do Decimals. How this is handled I think is a lot on how you present it her and let her own the decision and the consequences - good or bad. This is just my opinion. Hopefully something will help you in your decision.

My son is loving Galloping the Globe. We are doing a lapbook and spending about a week per country.

My boys are all required to read everyday for a set amount of time based on their reading level and age. Our biggest rules are that you can not re-read books during literature and the book needs to be approved by mom. This has helped my boys read a wide variety of material and allowed me to help guide them in their choices. I, also, do not allow graphic novels - as these are consumed at a rapid pave during free time. For my oldest, I assign at least one book per month and/or give him a few choices to make sure he is reading more than fantasy. For my middle, I assign a book about every six weeks, as he is a slower reader. He is also required to narrate in some form - typically orally but he loves to draw his narrations too - everyday to help him be accountable for his reading time. My youngest is assigned a chapter to read or a set time daily.

It depends on how well your dd understands long division. Fractions gets harder as you go through it and uses some big numbers in the bridges. My oldest went from Jellybeans to Fractions and seems to be doing okay - although it takes him at least 2 tries to pass the bridges. With my middle, I purchased K-M as I think he needs some more practice and I feel no need to rush him. My boys love the story of Fred, in fact my oldest wants to go back and work through K-M because "Fred is fun."

My older boys read independently then answer the Your Turn to Play on their white boards. If they get one wrong they need to bring it to me and we go over it together. When my boys read fast and skip what they don't understand it shows up in wrong answers so I am able to go over it with them. I am also available for questions if they decide to ask before getting to YTTP. I read aloud to my youngest and he answers the YTTP on his white board.

I received mine last Friday and they look great. I have scanned through Kidneys, Liver and Mineshaft. They are going to be a great bridge for my 7yod who has completed Jellybeans but I don't think is quite ready for Fractions. Not to mention all the other fun stuff they learn. He will be starting Kidneys on Friday and can not wait.

Thanks for letting us know about K,L and M. I ordered them last night as one of my boys just finished Jellybeans but is not quite ready for Fractions.

I don't use HOD but have you thought of looking at Spelling Wisdom. It is studied dictation which I believe is the same as HOD. Then you can start your son where he needs to be and just use it for his dictation passages instead of the ones provided by HOD.

You can read "How to Make an Apple Pie and See the World." It is a picture book that I think is generally recommended for younger kids. But, I know my boys would love finding the places on a map and making a pie. I would extend the book by learning more about each country in the order presented in the book and about the ingredient found there. To me this could be a several week process and we would go back to re-read the book several times.

I spend lots of time looking at many curriculum options. I have learned to only purchase what I am going to use now not what I am going to use in 6 months. I have chosen what we are using for the basics -Math and Grammar - These do not change. I may add to them when I feel we need to. Or use something else to teach the topic but I always come back to my main choices for scope and sequence. For History, I am committed to about a four year cycle being chronological. I have tried many things. Some working, some failing. Some fail because of me, some because they are not right for my boys. I am learning that I don't like to use the same thing for a long period more than 3-4 months. This knowledge has allowed me to have various plans while still covering the same basic knowledge. For example, we have been using Simply Charlotte Mason this fall, but will soon start Time Travelers. The time periods will be the same if I use either but the change in how we look at and work with the information will change. This is good in our house as our needs change and we are stuck inside more in the winter which allows more time for crafts. My boys love to the crafts but if it is nice I want them outside. Science ends up being similar except it is much more interest led in my house. I have certain things I want the boys to get but they also get to direct more of our science studies. I am finding that having a balance in what we use is our key. I need to be able to change things up but don't want to create holes. My boys need some thing to be the same or they are always trying to figure out what is expected for school. At this point, this is working for us but is subject to change at any time.

I do. I stop my kids from whatever they are doing unless they have chosen to start school. We run best on a pretty set schedule. So we start school at 8:30 and they always get free time at 11:30 before lunch. What happens between 8:30 and 11:30 looks different many days but that is our set school time

My boys are different ages but we rotate who starts or does the oral narration. The don't know who I am going to ask so they all pay attention. I to rarely type out their narrations but do on occasion so they can see what they are saying in print.

I have 3 boys in 4th, 2nd, and K. My 4th and 2nd grader do math, grammar, bible (Awana memory work) everyday, my 2nd grader also does Greek. In addition to this they read for 60 min and history, science or geography. (Seems light when writing it out this way) We are typically doing school from 8:30 to 11:30 am. They do all of their reading in the afternoon as well as finishing up anything from the morning that doesn't get completed. So they do about 4 to 4.5 hours of school daily. I work very hard to make sure that we are focused in the morning so they have free time in the afternoon. We do stop everyday at 11:30 pretty much no matter what - by that time they need a break and so do I.

There are many great responses already. We have a family in our co-op that is first generation in the US. The biggest thing I see is Mom is willing to learn from all ages. For example, last year she was discussing snack with my then 4 year old. She said, "Are you eating grape for snack?" My son looked at her and said, "Grapes, I am eating grapes." I guess this went one for a few rounds before she realized she wasn't saying the s. She thought it was funny that a 4 yod could hear the difference and she didn't, but also that it helped her to list for the plural more often. She is open to tips on her English and is able to laugh about it. So be open to learning and you will do great - which from your great concern I think you are.

I to have added in my youngest this year and it is more tricky with 3. All of my boys get a weekly assignment sheet, with daily assignments. They are allowed to chose the order of subjects as long as everything is started in the morning. They also set timers for each subject to keep things moving along. They all have things that need to be done with me each day and can come to me on the couch at anytime as long as I am not working with one of their brothers. This seems to work as most days my oldest wants to do grammar while my middle wants to do his math or Greek and my youngest is usually finishing up breakfast or starts his Explode the Code. At the end of the morning or right after lunch we are all together for History or Science.

My oldest has struggled with neat printing too. I found a medium level of neatness that I could read. If I am unable to read the writing he has to rewrite the assignment. This has only happened a few times and now he slows down enough to write so I can read. He is also transitioning to always writing in cursive which has really taken care of the issue for us.