I love CLE. I don't remember there being a lot of Christian content, it's more on the wholesome side using rural scenarios in the word problems. There's a small article at the beginning of each Light Unit, but you could skip that. The only reason I switched to Teaching Textbooks for my youngest is that he needed someone else to tell him he was wrong. ;) CLE doesn't grade for me. And now we have peace in our home again. My children's standardize test scores were very high using CLE. I hope TT doesn't change that. They also test two grade levels above in the TT placement. I kept my youngest back (still working 1 grade above) to continue working on math facts.

I don't think it's a good idea to tutor if you aren't impressed with the material. Tutoring that class is a lot of effort if you only want your children to learn diagraming.

I thought Red was meant for 2nd grade? I don't think it will work... I found the upper levels, we used the purple level, to be lacking and needed much supplementing. We also use Rod & Staff and added in more literature. I ended up dropping LLATL before the year was out. I did enjoy blue and red for my younger children.

CC was intending to use the HBWL as a source book to work with TWSS. If your tutor didn't clearly understand or explain this, then I can see why you would be confused. Did your tutor not give you updated checklists based on what was being taught through TWSS? Did you watch the TWSS videos as a group? I really think this was an issue with the tutor because the CC tutor portal had a syllabus and updated checklists to use based on the skills taught in class. I emailed already created checklists to my parents for each paper. Parents would alter them based on their student's level or skills. Honestly, I don't understand why CC didn't just find some writings to use for each unit to cause a lot less confusion for the tutors and parents. If IEW is taught correctly, a child should be able to use ANY short source for their writing. Timeline cards, Aesop's Fables, etc. could have been used instead of making parents skip around in that book. And it would have saved a few bucks too. But I heard that they are reworking HBWL to work with the IEW units so there will no longer be skipping around. It is my understanding that HBWL is really meant to be used after a student has gone through all the TWSS units. And it sounds like they really need to fix their tutor training. We had the same issue last year. I tutored this year and I'm sure I did a lot incorrectly because I didn't get enough guidance to muddle my way through a very confusing system. I know IEW is a great curriculum. If you haven't watched TWSS, then try to borrow it and watch it this summer. The Student Writing Intensives with their corresponding workbooks are good too. You probably won't need the first one since you have some experience with IEW.

It just shows the music you've been playing. Your followers can't access the files on your computer.

I bought it a couple days ago since I enjoyed last year's bundle. I haven't read enough to say if I like it.

I had this issue with different curriculum with my 7 year old. I came up with a deal that if he worked diligently for thirty minutes, he was finished with math for the day. He often was able to finish the assignment. But, I had to stay in that room to make sure he was working. I did not push or nag. The timer did that for me and it showed him that if he stopped goofing around, he could finish a lesson in a timely manner. Timer no longer needed!

You might find it this summer. Some communities are still in session and those moms haven't decluttered curriculum yet.

No, you can't buy it online without putting in your director's name and then CC verifies that you are enrolled before shipping. (oops, I'm sorry, I missed that important USED word. :s Yes, used can be found online!)

1. Well, everyone makes mistakes. A second chance during practice gives them an opportunity to correct the error and learn from the mistake. I'm not sure how that can be a downside when trying to master something. My children don't make careless mistakes because of the time it takes to redo the problem or watch the lecture again (as I often make them do if it was clearly a concept mistake). That motivates them to do their best. And there have been a few times that they have a typo when keyboarding the written answer. 2. If you are self grading the quiz, then the program isn't going to offer a second chance. But, yes, the tests give second chances.

The only thing you can purchase is IEW. They do not have ownership of that component. They will not sell a guide to you without proof of enrollment. (maybe they will at a practicum?) You may be able to find a used guide though. You can purchase an English grammar trivium table which will give you some of the charts that they use for drill. But the grammar itself is very much derived from Our Mother Tongue. The drills/charts are definitions of grammatical components. It would not be hard to create your own charts or flashcards using any grammar curriculum to help with memory drills. Much of the "question confirmation" comes from Our Mother Tongue.

My daughter was given an exception to go into Challenge A early. But I know they have buckled down on giving that exception. I can tell you that it may seem that even though the student is ready for Challenge A, the problem comes in at the later levels. I have noticed that some of the thinking skills have come along a bit later for my DD than her classmates. She is still very successful working at this level but she works very hard to keep up with Challenge 1. Most parents don't realize that she is younger until I tell them because of her maturity. However, another boy was given an exception the same year. He did fine in Challenge A but totally failed and became difficult in Challenge B because the work was too difficult. His mom blamed the material and the tutor. I really don't think he was ready and would have benefited to wait another year. She was going to advance him on to Challenge 1 anyway rather than repeating B. Some issues came up that pulled them out of CC altogether so the issue was avoided. I think they no longer give exceptions because this happens too often. It has nothing to do with the age of graduation. CC doesn't graduate anyone, the parent does. It's more a matter of being developmentally ready for the skills and not just looking at the year in front of you.

I think it is important but it doesn't have to be based entirely around academics. Does your child have any interests that are extra curricular? For example, acting, robotics, scouting, public speaking/debate, Bible study, etc? Those are all opportunities to work with other students and dialogue beyond the typical social setting. Academic summer camps through local colleges or parks and rec can provide that opportunity as well.

The CC timeline cards have more information about the person/event on the back of each card than the VP cards offer.

With a book, she is repeating information that was given to her. With an open creative writing assignment, she is just answering a question like she would on a worksheet. You have to teach her the skill of brainstorming and using that to develop an outline so she has something to write about. It doesn't always come naturally to kids, so some modeling may be needed to get her going.

I have a Boos country work table as an island in my kitchen and love it! But I don't ever cut anything on it. I do have a small Boos wood butcher block and love it too!

Maybe they were considering it but were too scared to try it. But then something happened to push them over the edge to make them change their minds? I considered it midyear the year before we started but decided to finish it out.

Magic Shell

A free tool that I like for menu planning is http://ziplist.com . I use this when we get tired of emeals. It has a bookmarklet so I can save recipes from blogs and from there create a customize menu. It also creates a shopping list from the ingredients. That will allow you to be more specific about your plan. You won't get the menu you posted above with emeals.

I think the family plans are like this but I never used it so I'm always confused when someone says this. They have healthier Meal plans. The weight watcher one is not at all this way.

I use the weight watcher plan for Wal-Mart. It fits in my daily points for day and usually offers a lot of veggies. My family gets burned out on it and we go back to favorites again. It does save me time and money. The recipes are simple enough that my 11 & 13 yo make dinner. There have a few processed food ingredients and that is generally the only thing they get dinged for on this board, But honestly, I'm looking for convenient meals to keep us out of the drive thru. I don't have time to over think my food. If I can sub with something less processed without it adding a lot of time to dinner hour, then I do it. Emeals has been using less packaged over the past year but not totally eliminated. The plan does occasionally have a crock pot or grilling Meal based on the season. They have a clean eating plan, so that might work better for some families.

I like Homeschool Planet. It is intuitive and manages multiple children's schedules well. And it's not bad to look at either. I tried HST+ a few years ago and didn't like it but I don't remember the specifics to compare to HP.

I don't think that will work. It's not the same material and you will probably end up with a melted mess in your laminator.

I found this for Cycle 1: http://www.scribd.com/doc/16862364/cycle1sotw Is that what you are hoping to do?

It can be done but it isn't exactly in order of SOTW and you will probably leave out big chunks of SOTW to stick to CC's schedule. Are you in a CC community and on C3? Someone has matched it up and it can be downloaded from C3. The other option is to do the memory work and not even worry about matching it up. Sometimes SOTW will be review for the memory work or the memory work will be review for SOTW.